Shadows and Lies: A World of Gothic: United States

by Raine English

  I lost track of time. It wasn’t until a group of noisy teenagers walked past the car that our lips parted.

  During the ride home, neither one of us spoke, both lost in our own thoughts. What did tonight mean? Anything? Or would Jaxon brush our kisses off again? I supposed I would find out soon enough.

  Back at Turnberry, the house was quiet. Everyone was either asleep or in their rooms. After a polite good night, we retired to ours as well, leaving me not knowing what to make of that man.

  I couldn’t fall asleep. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, so instead of fighting it, I turned on my bedside lamp and began to read Ellis’s journal.

  November, 1851

  After seeing Jane in Boston, I couldn’t get her out of my head. All the way back to Louisiana, she was the only thing I thought of. I know I should have been wondering how my wife and son were doing, but Jane, never far from my thoughts before, was front and center now—demanding all my attention.

  Although I was ecstatic to have run into her and discover that she was alive and well, dispelling once and for all my fears of what might have happened to her, the other part of me—the part that had fought so hard over these twenty years to maintain some kind of contentment, if not happiness, knew those days were gone. Jane’s face, her touch, her smell, was burned into my soul, and would remain there forever.

  The next day, I went to Turnberry, not caring that I was unwelcome. I was doing this for Jane. William deserved to know that she had made it north and had obtained the freedom that she’d craved. He also deserved to have a part of her. I gave him her necklace. Like Jane, I no longer needed it. Everything that I held dear was seared upon my heart, now and forever.

  That was the last entry Ellis had made. A painful knot twisted inside me. I closed the journal and turned out the light. At some point before dawn, I fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  AS I HEADED downstairs for breakfast, I wondered, after last night if things would be weird and awkward with Jaxon.

  I need not have worried, though, because as I entered the kitchen, he rushed by me with a blueberry muffin in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, and said cheerfully, “Good morning, Liv. Busy day today. The restoration on the slave quarters and the rest of the buildings out back should be completed this afternoon. When you have a chance, come have a look.”

  “Great. I will.”

  He flashed me his awesome smile and disappeared down the hall. After he was gone, I glanced around the kitchen, expecting to find Molly back at work, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  “Theresa, where’s Molly?” I asked.

  “She got really sick durin’ the night, Miss Olivia,” she replied grimly.

  I raced into the pantry and up the back stairs toward her bedroom. Without bothering to knock, I flung open the door. Molly lay on the bed, her face ashen.

  “What happened?” I asked, going to stand beside the bed. “I’d thought after seeing Dr. Becker that you were doing better.”

  “I thought so too.” Her voice was small and weak. “Guess, ya were wrong, Miss Olivia, and it really was the curse out to get me.” Sobs racked her thin body.

  Something weird was going on, and I doubted it had anything to do with a curse, but Molly did, and it wouldn’t help her condition to have her hysterical because she thought she was going to die.

  I reached around my neck and undid the clasp to my spinel pendant, taking off the necklace and then handing it to Molly. “Keep this with you. It’ll protect you from danger.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, it’s an amulet made especially for that purpose.”

  A hopeful gleam lit her tired eyes.

  “I know you don’t think he can help, but I’m going to call Dr. Becker. I’ll be back soon.”

  She clutched my necklace, and I was glad I had something to give her hope.

  After I left her, I ran up to my room to call the doctor, but got his voice mail, so I left a message explaining that Molly’s condition had worsened. While I waited for a callback, I turned on my laptop and did a search on her symptoms. I could barely believe what popped up—arsenic poisoning. The tasteless white powder mimics the symptoms of a natural illness, causing severe gastric distress, vomiting, skin irritations, hair loss, and eventually heart failure.

  Prickles of fear crept up the back of my neck as I remembered the baggie of white powder that had fallen out of the kitchen cabinet when I went to take down a pitcher. I knew I could be jumping to conclusions and that could have just been a bag of sugar, and Molly’s illness might not be from arsenic at all, but if I was right… Well, the thought was beyond comprehension. And then I recalled how sick I’d been… I was getting way ahead of myself, but I couldn’t help it. All kinds of crazy thoughts started to pop into my head. Who would do such a thing? And why would anyone want to hurt Molly? Or me, for that matter? It didn’t make sense, but then nothing that had been happening here since I arrived did.

  I hurried down to the kitchen to look for that baggie, but after searching all the cabinets, it was nowhere to be found. I was trying to think of where else I could look when Jessica walked in. She went over to the counter and took a banana from a basket of fruit. As she started to peel it, I said, “Have you heard Molly’s taken a turn for the worse?”

  She took a bite of the fruit, chewing slowly, and then said, “No, I didn’t know that. What’s wrong with her, do you know?”

  “Seems like some kind of mysterious illness or maybe arsenic poisoning.” I knew I was taking a chance saying anything to her, but if someone was poisoning people, I needed to do what I could to try to find out who that might be.

  She put her banana down on the counter and stared at me. “Seriously? Arsenic?” Her face was ashen. “Do you think it’s in the water? Could we all be in danger?”

  I wasn’t about to tell her that I didn’t think it had anything to do with the water or that I’d found a baggie full of some kind of powdery white substance. “I don’t know. I’m going to have some testing done, just to be sure, though.”

  “Good idea. Let me know what you find out.” She finished her banana and then left the kitchen.

  About mid-afternoon, Dr. Becker came by to reexamine Molly. When we were alone, I told him of my concerns.

  “I think it’s a little farfetched to think that someone would intentionally poison her, but I’ll have some blood work done, just to rule it out. Regardless, though, she needs to be in the hospital. I’ll call for an ambulance to come pick her up.”

  Before Molly left, I tried to reassure her that the hospital was the best place for her. I could tell she didn’t believe that, but thankfully, she didn’t put up a fuss.

  “Thank ya for lettin’ me borrow this.” She handed me the spinel pendant.

  “Don’t you want to take it with you?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t seem to be doin’ any good. But I appreciate yar attempt to help.”

  My heart went out to her, and I prayed that she’d get well. After she left, I remembered that I’d told Jaxon I would take a look at the refurbished buildings, and I headed out back. As I walked through the French parterre garden, I was lost in thought, trying to wrap my head around what might be going on at the house.

  I went through the white swinging gate and was almost at the slave quarters when I heard voices from behind one of the old cypress trees. It took a moment for me to realize it was Jess.

  “I think Livvy might be on to us,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.

  “What makes you think that?”

  It was a man’s voice. Jax? It was too muffled to know for sure, but who else could it be? My heart pounded, and I was frozen with fear.

  “Because she was talking about arsenic poisoning,” Jessica replied. “You should have seen the way she was looking at me. I’m telling you, she might have seen me put it in the sweet tea.”

  I clasped my hand over my mouth to silence my gasp. I’d given Molly a glass of sweet tea the other day. They
’d been poisoning her, and probably me too. I thought back to how I’d had a whole glass of that tea, and later that night was when I’d gotten so violently ill. How could my cousin do that? And Jaxon? How could I have been so wrong about him? I must be a terrible judge of character to think that I was falling in love with someone capable of murder.

  I needed to get out of here. If they saw me, who knew what they would do? I took a step back, but my foot crunched on a twig.

  “Did you hear that?” Jess asked, peering out from behind the tree. Our eyes met, and what I saw in hers was pure hatred. “Livvy’s here,” she spat.

  I wanted to run back to the house, but they’d intercept me if I went in that direction, so I headed toward the river instead. Footsteps rang out behind me. I ran as fast as I could, but they were closing in on me.

  I expected to feel arms around my throat at any second now. Instead, someone yelled stop and then there was a loud thud.

  I had no idea what was going on behind me, and I wasn’t about to turn around to find out. I just kept running and running, like I had from Tucker’s men, centuries ago. I came to the spot where I’d tripped over the log. Only this time, luckily, there was nothing there to make me fall.

  “Livvy,” Jaxon yelled, from not far behind. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

  How big a fool did he think I was? I might have been taken in by him before, but I sure wasn’t about to be again. I should have known better. He was a Clairmont, after all, and there was good reason to fear them. His great-great-great-grandfather had wanted me dead, and now he did too.

  “We’ll be together again, someday…somewhere. I promise.”

  Had I really just heard Ellis’s haunting words? I must’ve slowed down some, because Jaxon caught me around the waist, bringing me to an abrupt halt.

  “What did you say?” I gasped.

  “I’ll love you forever, Jane. Nothing will ever change that.” He pressed his mouth to mine.

  His kiss sent spirals of ecstasy through me. “Ellis?” I whispered.

  With one hand, he unbuttoned his shirt, letting it drop off his left shoulder to expose a birthmark in the exact spot where Tucker had stabbed him centuries ago. That horrible scene replayed in my mind.

  “It is you. I can’t believe it,” I cried, and then his mouth was on mine again, moist, firm, and demanding a response. As I kissed him back, I thought I was being transported through time on a soft and wispy cloud, then everything seemed to stand still, and I realized we were at the edge of the mighty Mississippi River.

  When our lips finally parted, I stared into his gorgeous blue-gray eyes. “How long have you known you were Ellis?”

  “For a while. I started experiencing my past life years ago.”

  “And when did you know I was Jane?”

  He smiled. “As soon as I saw you, and your necklace confirmed it.”

  My brow furrowed. “But you never let on. You never said a word.”

  “Lily advised me not to. She said you needed to come to terms with things in your own time and in your own way.”

  “So you did know Lily. She wasn’t just someone you found at random.”

  He laughed. “No, I’ve seen Lily many times. In fact, my mother referred her to me.”

  The mention of his mother reminded me of my own family and my despicable cousin. “Where’s Jess, and why were you conspiring with her?” Although all my instincts told me there was no reason to fear him, I knew there were many more secrets he hadn’t told me.

  He held me snugly in his arms. “It’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it now?”

  I gazed up at his handsome face and thought I detected a flicker in his intense eyes. “I have all the time it takes to tell it.”

  “I wasn’t conspiring with Jessica, I was trying to find out what she was up to. I knew that when Asa as much as cut her out of his will and left everything to you, she’d be out to get you. I just didn’t think she’d resort to murder. Jess has always been only about Jess, and I knew she was unscrupulous…but using arsenic… Liv, that’s insane.”

  I shook my head, still not sure why she would want to hurt Molly. “But why was she trying to poison a kitchen worker?”

  “My guess is she was trying to cover her tracks. If Molly died from some mysterious illness, then it wouldn’t seem suspicious when you became sick shortly after that. And of course, many people would just assume it was the curse. No one would ever suspect poisoning.”

  “How did you?”

  “I didn’t. Not until the other day. I thought she might try to find a way to get you to leave here before the six months were up. But even with that, I figured she’d need help to execute such a plan.”

  “So it wasn’t you I heard her talking to behind the cypress tree?”

  “No.” A look came over his face that I’d never seen before. “When I went with her to New Orleans to look at fabrics for the guest rooms, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to try to get her to open up to me. Maybe see if I could find out if she was involved with someone.” He took a deep breath before continuing, and it was apparent this was painful for him. “When we were at dinner, she went to use the ladies’ room. As she got up from the table, her purse fell off the back of the chair and onto the floor. A baggie full of some kind of white substance fell out. She doesn’t use extra sugar in her drinks and I’d never known her to use drugs of any kind, so I was curious to find out what it was. She quickly pushed it back into her handbag. But a little had spilled onto the floor, so when she was gone, I scooped it into a napkin. And when you were with Lily, I took it to a lab to have it tested. I got the results this afternoon when I was finishing up with the restorations in the slave quarters.”

  “It was arsenic,” I said flatly.

  He nodded. “I immediately called the police. I was waiting for them to arrive when you ran by like your hair was on fire.”

  “So it was an officer who yelled stop?”

  “Yes, before tackling my stepfather.”

  My body stiffened in shock, and I let out a gasp. “What?”

  A look of tired sadness passed over his features. “I not only have to tell my mom that her husband was having an affair, but that he’s also a criminal.”

  “Oh, Jax. I am so, so sorry.” Pain squeezed my heart as I thought of how difficult it would be for him to do that.

  “Thank you.” He kissed me softly, then asked, “Are you ready to go back to the house?”

  I nodded. As we walked, I tried to process everything that had happened, and I was sure Jaxon was trying to figure out the best way to break the terrible news to his mom.

  When we reached the mansion, Jess and Nigel were in handcuffs. A police officer walked up to us.

  “I’m sorry about this,” he said to me. “It’s no way to welcome you into our town. I knew Asa. He was a good man. Luckily, Jaxon took it upon himself to do some investigating, or we could have had a real tragedy on our hands. We need more citizens like him.”

  “I was just doing what had to be done to protect those I love.” His eyes locked with mine.

  After Jessica and Nigel were taken away and all the police had left, Jaxon said, “I should spend the night at Clairmont.”

  “Of course. I know you’re worried about your mom.”

  Fatigue settled in rings under his eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

  I stroked his cheek. “Of course. I have Gerard and the rest of the staff. It’s not like I’ll be at Turnberry alone. Besides, now that Jess is gone, there’s nothing to worry about.”

  He kissed me tenderly, then headed over to the neighboring plantation.

  Inside the house, the back hall smelled of onions and spices. The kitchen staff was busily preparing dinner. Theresa was at the stove, stirring a big pot of gumbo. When I entered, she spun around and then ran over to me, giving me a hug.

  “Oh, Miss Olivia. We’re so glad ya’re okay. We can’t believe what Miss Jessica tried to do. And d
at Nigel Harris. What a horrible man he turned out to be.”

  I hugged her back. News sure traveled fast.

  “You must be starvin’.” She took hold of my arm and led me over to a stool. “Sit down and let me fix ya somethin’ to eat.”

  Without waiting for my reply, she was at the stove, getting me a bowl of gumbo. When she set it down in front of me, she said, “I’m so worried about Molly. Is she goin’ to be okay?”

  I wished I could say for sure, but I just didn’t know. “She’s in good hands at the hospital. They’re doing everything they can for her. But she can use our prayers. Let’s not talk of anything negative tonight, all right?”

  “Of course.”

  “I plan to visit her tomorrow, and I’ll be sure to let you know if there’s any improvement.”

  After I finished eating, I headed upstairs to my room. On the way, I stopped at the bedroom that Jessica had used. I didn’t want anything of hers in this house, so I started to pack up her things. When I finished putting the clothes that were in the closet into her suitcase, I began to empty out the dresser. The only thing left was the nightstand. I opened the drawer, expecting to find a novel or two. Instead, I discovered my grandfather’s journal.

  I gritted my teeth as I stuck it in my pocket, saying a silent prayer of thanks that Jessica had been arrested. That woman was pure evil.

  I had Gerard take her suitcases downstairs and put them on the back porch so that in the morning, he could drop them off at Uncle Paul’s house.

  Night had fallen by the time I headed back to my room. The darkened hall was eerily quiet with everyone gone. As I was about to open my door, from the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowy figure dart by. My hand froze on the knob as I scanned the hallway, but nothing was there. Had I just seen the ghost of Tucker Sheldon?

  With my heart racing, I bolted inside my room, locking the door behind me. I stood there for a few minutes, trying to find a logical explanation for what I had just seen, but I couldn’t find one. Yet, despite my meeting with Lily Dewitt and my past life experience, I still wasn’t sure I believed in ghosts and curses. So what dashed by me, then? Could I have imagined it? I was exhausted, and my nerves were shot. That seemed the most probable, or at least what I hoped to be, the explanation.