By damn, he’d forgotten to get anything for Lucas and the girls. The drugstore was usually open for a few hours. If not, he could get Stan to open for him. He could get something for the girls there…but Lucas was another matter.
An idea hit. He went through his navy duffel bag and found a knife he’d taken off a dead Jap on Ondonga, a small island in the Pacific, where unexploded Japanese shells and buried mines were more of a danger than the nightly air raids. Even now he could smell the mud and rotting vegetation on that hellhole. That was all behind him, thank God.
He worked on the blade, polishing it with steel wool, then sharpened it. It was a wicked weapon. The grip had a notched bow called iron knuckles. Barker would make sure that Lucas understood that the knife was a memento from the war and not a plaything.
Dressed in his good tan twill pants and a blue shirt, Johnny left the ranch. He reached town just as Stan was locking the door of the drugstore. Fifteen minutes later he was back in the car with Blue Waltz perfume and Tangee lipstick for the girls, fancy soap for Mrs. Fisher, and a cigarette lighter for Barker.
At Kathleen’s he parked behind the Nash. With her gift in hand, he knocked on her door. After a minute or two he decided she wasn’t there, that one of the Flemings must have come for her. Disappointed again, he went back to the car and drove slowly out to Barker’s ranch.
Marie, followed by Janna and Lucas, answered the door.
“I’m so glad you came. Merry Christmas, Johnny.”
“Merry Christmas to you.”
“Hang your coat there on the hall tree, Johnny, and come on over by the fire,” Barker called from his easy chair beside the fireplace.
A Christmas tree stood in one corner of the room with presents on the floor beneath its branches.
“Here are a few things to add to the tree. I didn’t put names on the packages, but I know what goes to who.” Johnny handed the sack of gifts to Marie.
“We thought you might go by and bring Kathleen. We were waiting for the two of you before we opened the presents.”
“I stopped by, but she wasn’t home.” Johnny hung his hat above his coat. “Her car was there, so I thought you’d picked her up.”
“I offered, but she said she’d drive out.” Marie set Johnny’s gifts beside the tree. “We saw Adelaide at church last night, and she was surprised that Kathleen wasn’t there. Janna and I and Mrs. Fisher went by the house after the service, and she wasn’t at home then, either. She doesn’t usually go out at night except to the movies, and then she drives the car.”
“She’ll be along.” Barker was pleased that Johnny was there. It was the first time since he came home from the war. “How are things going out at your place, Johnny?”
“Pretty good, I guess.” Johnny backed up to the fireplace. The heat felt good on the hands clasped behind him, but he continued to worry. “When did you last speak to Kathleen, Marie?”
“It was Sunday, I think. She was baking cookies, then she was going to the movie. She usually goes to the show on Sunday night. I asked her to go with us to church Christmas Eve. She said she’d meet us there. That’s why we went by her house last night.”
“She said that she’d be here at a certain time; it’s not polite to be this late and especially at Christmas.” Mrs. Fisher, concerned about the meal she had prepared, spoke bluntly.
“Kathleen is never inconsiderate.” Marie jumped to Kathleen’s defense.
“No, she isn’t,” Barker said. “And she is one of the most punctual people I know.”
“Maybe she’s sick and can’t get out of bed to answer the door.” Janna voiced what had suddenly occurred to the others.
Johnny immediately started putting on his coat. “Do you have a key to the house?”
Barker reached for the sheepskin hanging on a hook beside the door. “Yes. I have a master key.”
“Why don’t you wait a little longer?” Mrs. Fisher said. “You may pass each other, then we’d have to wait for you.”
“She’s almost an hour late. I think they should go.” Marie had a worried look on her face. “Will you call, Daddy, if…she’s sick or something?”
Barker nodded. “Why don’t you go ahead and open a few presents.”
Janna and Marie shook their heads. “We’ll wait.” Lucas scowled.
Barker followed Johnny to his car. Johnny didn’t speak until he had parked behind the Nash and they had walked up onto the porch.
“The window shades are still down.”
He rapped on the door several times, then stepped back to let Barker insert the key. The door opened easily and Johnny went inside.
“Kathleen,” he called.
Hearing no answer, Johnny walked quickly to the bedroom. The bed was still made. With his heart in his throat, he passed through the bathroom to the other small room and then into the kitchen. Barker was behind him.
“Sunday she told Marie she was baking cookies. They’re still here on the counter.” Barker opened the back door and looked out, then closed it.
“It’s cold in here.” Johnny touched the small gas heater in the corner of the living room. It was cold.
In the bedroom once again, he opened the wardrobe. Her clothes were there. The pages of her manuscript were neatly stacked beside her typewrite. A sheet of paper was in the machine. He glanced at it and back when a word or two caught his eye. His heart was thudding in his ears when he jerked the paper from the roller.
After thinking about it for a long while I have decided to leave Rawlings. I don’t want anyone looking for me, and I don’t want anything in this house that would remind me of the past.
I AM STARTING A NEW LIFE
Johnny read the note twice and handed it to Barker. Sick with fear, he watched as Barker read the note.
“She didn’t write it,” Johnny declared when Barker handed him back the note.
“How do you know?”
“Because if she had made a decision to go, she wouldn’t have baked cookies and she wouldn’t have left her purse.”
Johnny reached down beside the bed, picked up a brown-leather handbag and opened it. Kathleen’s driver’s license was inside, as well as six one-dollar bills. In another compartment, he found her wedding ring.
“She wouldn’t have left without this. She was taken by force and during the night because the shades are still down.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“Call the sheriff. I’m going outside to look around.”
After Barker made the call, he phoned Adelaide to see if Kathleen was there.
“The last time I saw her was on Friday. Paul and I were planning to go over to her place tonight. You can’t find her? Oh, my Lord. Is there anything we can do?”
“The sheriff is on his way. We’ll let you know.”
Johnny didn’t wait for the sheriff. He went directly to Dale Cole’s house, where he knew he would find Pete.
“Is Kathleen here?” he asked as soon as Dale opened the door.
“What’s up?” Pete appeared in the door behind her.
“We can’t find Kathleen. When did you see her last?”
“Saturday. She said she was going to the Flemings’ today for dinner.”
Johnny told them about finding the note and Kathleen’s purse. “She wouldn’t walk away and leave her purse, even if she didn’t want the rest of her things.”
“She’s not at Jude’s. I was by there before I came here to get Dale and Danny. We were getting ready to leave. I’ll take them to Jude’s and help you look for her.”
Four hours later Johnny had to face the fact that Kathleen had vanished without a trace. He went back to her house for the fourth or fifth time to see if there was any news. Marie was there by the telephone. Bobby Harper, on his crutches, was with her. Adelaide and Paul were there, too. Barker met Johnny on the porch.
“Anything?”
Johnny shook his head. “We need men on horseback to look into every building or vacant shack. Some sick bastard may ha
ve taken her to an out-of-the-way place like that and left her there.” Johnny’s eyes were bleak with worry. “Barker, I’ve not asked you for anything, but—”
“You don’t have to ask, son. Kathleen is family. I’ll call out the men at the ranch, the tannery, and some people I know on the reservation. We’ll organize a search in the country. You handle the one in town.”
“Thanks.”
“Johnny, Dr. Perry wants you to come by there when you can,” Marie said from the doorway.
“Does he have news?”
“No. He asked if we had any.”
“I’ll go over there.”
Johnny had to keep moving. The thought that he might never see Kathleen again was tearing him to shreds. He drove automatically and stopped automatically in front of Jude’s house and got out. Jude came to meet him. Johnny shook his head when he saw the question in the doctor’s eyes. Jude turned to Theresa, who stood in the doorway, and relayed the “no news” message.
“Let’s sit in the car,” Jude suggested. “You look worn out,” he said after they were seated. “Have you had any dinner?”
“No, but Marie brought some food to Kathleen’s.” There was a world of misery in Johnny’s eyes. “She wouldn’t have just walked away leaving her purse, her money, her clothes. Her picture album is there and her grandmother’s crocheted dresser scarf. She wouldn’t have left the manuscript she’s been working on. Someone else wrote that note or made her write it.”
“I’ve not known her long, but I can’t see her just up and leaving on Christmas and not telling anyone. She sent over a sack of presents with Pete. He asked her to join us for dinner, but she said she was going to the Flemings’ today.”
“What did you want to see me about, Jude? I need to go check out a few things.”
“I’ve been struggling with my conscience. Yes, before you ask, I do have one.”
“I’ve not given it a thought one way or the other,” Johnny said tiredly.
“That was a little play on words because I’m nervous about breaking a promise in telling you this. But under the circumstances, I think you have a right to know that Kathleen came to see me right after the school carnival.”
Johnny’s head jerked around. “Was she sick?”
“No. She was pregnant.”
“What?” Johnny leaned forward as if he had been struck in the back of the head. His hand reached out, then fell back. “What?” he said again more softly as breath returned to him.
“She came to talk to me about the baby you had that died. She wondered if something she had done could have caused its congenital defect. I explained to her that the baby had failed to develop in her womb which occurs without any apparent reason to one fetus out of several thousand.”
“Whose is it?” Johnny turned his head and looked blindly out the window when he asked.
Jude was quiet for so long that Johnny turned to face him. “Whose, dammit?”
“She’s your wife. Do you need to ask?” Jude answered quietly, but his words were laced with anger. “I guess I understand now why she didn’t want you to know.”
“I’ve been with her only one time in five years.”
“Once is enough.”
“But…it took a long time before.”
“Kathleen is pregnant. She’s about two months along now. If you have any doubt that it’s your child, take it up with her.”
“I have no doubt.” Johnny rubbed his hand over his face.
“She made me promise not to tell you. She said you swore you’d not have another child, and she didn’t want you putting a damper on her happiness.” Jude regretted that his words were so cutting.
“She knows why I didn’t want another child,” Johnny said harshly. “I let her go because her top priority was having a family. She wanted a dozen kids if she could get them because she was an only child and never had any family except her grandparents.”
“She was smiling from ear to ear when she left the clinic that day. She kept asking me if I was sure.”
“Would being pregnant make her…do something like run away?”
“Not Kathleen. She’d not do anything that could cause her to miscarry.”
“God, Jude! What am I going to do if I can’t find her?”
“I don’t know, Johnny. I’m here to do anything I can.”
“Thanks. Tell Dale that Pete has gone out with one of the deputies. He said that he’d come by for her later.”
“I’ll tell her.” Jude got out of the car. “Would you take a sandwich or something with you?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got to get on back.”
Johnny drove down the street and stopped. He needed to think. He had sensed something different about Kathleen when they met on the street. Now he knew what it was. She was leaving! She was going to go off some place, have his baby, and never let him know. Godalmighty! What a mess he had made of his Me and hers.
Unaware of the tears in his eyes until his vision blurred, Johnny started the car moving again, then braked. Something Jude had said suddenly came to his mind. Undeveloped in the womb…one in several thousand births. Dear God! Had he been wrong all this time thinking that their deformed child was his fault? He had been so sure! He had deprived himself of being with the woman he loved because he was so sure. And Kathleen. What had he done to her?
She had come into his arms willingly, eagerly that morning. She had been as loving as a woman could be. He had touched a little bit of Heaven again; but feeling undeserving of her and angry at himself for having been carried away by the moment, he had rushed off. He hadn’t considered how she felt then. Now that his child was growing within her, what was her attitude toward him? Would he ever know?
Kathleen might have come to the end of her patience with him. Even if that were true and she was going to leave, she would not have done it in this manner. She wouldn’t have wanted to cause pain to Adelaide and the Flemings…especially not on Christmas.
God, let her be all right! He had to tell her that he had never stopped loving her; that was why he never stopped wearing his wedding ring. He wanted to be with her when she had his baby. He wanted them both, even if this baby was like Mary Rose.
Why would she even consider taking him back? He put his head on the arm folded across the steering wheel and cried the harsh, dry sobs of a man who was a stranger to tears.
Chapter Twenty-seven
FIRST DAY OF CAPTIVITY.
When evening came, Teddy, as he wanted to be called, rolled in a serving cart with a tray of food and a pot of tea. On the lower shelf were several fancily wrapped packages. Kathleen was served noodles in a sauce, green peas, bread, and a sliced orange. The food was good, and she was surprised that she could eat.
Wearing a white shirt and tie and the tweed coat, he silently watched her while she ate. When she finished, he removed the tray to the hallway and placed the packages in her lap.
“Are you giving these to me?” When he nodded, she asked, “Why?”
“Because it makes me happy to give you pretty things.”
“I have nothing for you.”
“I told you, my Christmas gift is you.” He handed her an oblong package. “Open this one first.”
Kathleen removed the paper and lifted the lid from the box. She gasped. Lying on dark velvet padding was a large emerald suspended on a silver chain. Her eyes flew to his face. He looked like a child on Christmas morning.
“I can’t accept this.”
“Don’t you like it?”
“That isn’t the point. I can’t accept something like this from someone I hardly know. It cost too much money.”
“I have plenty. Open the other packages.”
In the other boxes were a set of earrings and a ring. All were set with large perfectly matched green emeralds.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“ ‘Thank you, Teddy’, would be nice.”
“I can’t accept them, but thank you for the kind thought.”
�
��Put them away. We won’t talk about it now.” He didn’t seem to be offended by her refusal. “This is your first day here. You may want to go to bed now. Play the radio if you like. Sometimes music is soothing. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Is there a lock on the door?”
“Yes, but I won’t lock it. You have the chain.”
“I mean on the inside.”
“Why would you want one?”
“So that I can undress in privacy,” she shouted.
“No need to yell, my precious. I will never come into this room without knocking first.”
“I would rather you didn’t call me endearing names. I am your prisoner, not your precious.”
He laughed. “My darling, beautiful Kathleen. You are far more wonderful, more precious, to me than I dreamed. Everything about you is perfect from the top of that glorious red hair to the tip of your lovely toes. I would worship at your feet, but“—he paused—”you might kick me,” he said, chuckling.
“And you would be right, Mr. Know-it-all!”
He went out the door laughing.
SECOND DAY—CHRISTMAS DAY.
By the end of this day, Kathleen was acutely aware that she was at the mercy of a man who was highly intelligent, terribly kind to her, but mentally deranged. All her wit and courage would be needed to escape from him.
She began to form a plan, make some rules for herself to follow. She could not afford to irritate him, yet she would not be docile. She would eat the food he brought her, not only because she would be needing her strength, but because of her baby. If she could make him think that she had accepted her captivity, he might grew more lax and maybe even remove the chain.
He had measured carefully. The chain allowed her to go anyplace in the room, but not out the door and into the hallway. Slipping the chain from her ankle was out of the question. She had tried it. It was a snug fit within the cushioned pad.
How did the idiot think she could put on the underwear he had supplied with the chain on her ankle?
She decided not to mention it to him. In a dress without panties, she felt naked. So she wore two of the nightgowns and a robe and, because she didn’t want to anger him, the emerald necklace, the earrings, and the ring.
After the Parade Page 30