“But in the meantime, think what might happen to him out there in the wilderness.” Tears welled up in Katie's gray eyes .
“Calvin was raised out at the Boggy Slough without a bit of supervision,”Minna sighed. “And there's no wilder place in Texas. The boy didn’t live this long by being stupid. He'll come home by breakfast tomorrow when his belly starts rumbling. He saw you coming, Beulah, and he knew you came for him. And Katie...stop your fretting. Your father will deal with everything when he gets home. In the meantime we still have to eat...except for Doc of course. He's hanging off the back porch heaving like a cat with a fur ball.”
Granny had said her piece and went into the kitchen to slide a pan of cornbread into the oven, and Katie went about setting the table.
“By the way...set another plate, Katie,” Granny whispered. “Apparently... Beulah's staying for supper.”
“Isn't it enough that we have to be nice to that woman?” asked Katie. “Do we have to feed her as well?”
“Mind your manners. First of all, she's on the board of the child services...and second, you have to understand about crusaders like her. It's like trying to push a fully loaded wagon out of the mud without a board underneath. The wheels just dig a deeper rut. Ignore, her and she'll find another mission. Maybe she'll go back to her temperance marches. At any rate, she's not taking Calvin anywhere.”
“But what if she does?”
“Then there'll be no more cheeks left to turn other than the bigger ones. Beulah Birdwell...and the State of Texas...will find out what an old native woman can do when she's filled with the spirit.”
“I thought you didn't even want Cal around?”
“Only a fool never changes her mind...and Katie...set one more plate. Looks like the Yancy boy is still hanging around like a love-sick pup.”
A new kind of balance came to the big house on the hill the next day. The misty haze lifted and vanished into thin air, and the call of the lone wolf was heard no more. Yet there were those still outside that circle of warmth and acceptance. Two plates were missing from the supper table that evening.
XVII: Resolutions
The front page headlines for the Morgans Bluff Gazette
announced the day's top news:
“TROUBLE IN PINE CREST”
“Mill executive and leading citizen of Morgans Bluff, Jesse McCann, is recuperating in Pine Crest Hospital after an apparent abduction two weeks ago while in town on business. Texas State Rangers have taken control of the turbulent area in an ongoing investigation of the matter.
Other crimes are also under scrutiny: the death of a turpentine worker, Leroy Conner of Shanty Town, as well as an explosion at the turpentine distillery and a fire at the timber mill. (It has been reported that both operations have been destroyed.) It is unknown, as yet, whether these incidents are related.
The area has recently come under fire from state authorities for its lawlessness and violence.”
From his hospital room. Jesse issued orders to withhold pay from the turpworkers until the culprits responsible for destroying the mills had been caught. He figured the good men among them knew who had done what and would find the courage to testify to what happened. Then they would be rewarded with their pay. Jesse had learned to “do battle by being devious” as Buck had once advised. Seeing how the eternal greenhorn had advanced, The old lumberjack had slapped him on the back and told him he was “proud as a peacock.”
Jesse had been visited in the hospital that day by the state lawmen, and he had told them everything. As far as his being held for ransom, he doubted anyone would be ever be punished. Unless Lorena could bribe her way out of it, she would be locked up in the state facility for the criminally insane, Domingo was dead, and the sheriff was hidden in Mexico, living on a substantial bribe.
The one shot would be the turpworker who helped Domingo drag him and lower him by rope into the well. If only the man had a pang of conscious and wanted to get things off his chest. But as Buck said. “This is the real world. Don't count on anything.”
If anyone needed to pay for what they had done, it was Lorena. Jesse knew exactly how he would bring justice, the minute Clinton McCann walked into his room. Lorena would be held accountable one way or the other:
“I 'm asking for the only thing I've needed from you since you denied my existence twenty-five years ago,” Jesse told his father. “I 'm asking you to testify against Lorena. She not only had me kidnapped and restrained to the point of death, she orchestrated the murder of Leroy Conner. Try to forget what she once was to you... and what your children will say. They are far past adulthood. They have to finally face the truth just as I did long ago. This one time, I 'm asking you to think of me... your first born who you once denied. I'm asking you to think of a boy named Calvin whose father was brutally murdered at Lorena's command. Tell the truth about Lorena. Let a jury decide her fate...whether they choose the asylum or prison...it matters not to me. I simply want her to spend the rest of her life without mill money, power and privilege. I want her locked up so tight she can never get out to hurt anyone again.”
Clint stared at the floor for a moment, and when he raised his eyes —those clear blue eyes so like Jesse's own— his words were simple and resolute: “I will.”
Jesse felt a renewal of spirit. Everything that had gnawed away at his soul his entire life had come to a resolution. He felt vindicated. That long old journey had come to an end , and, in some strange way, he felt he had the father he longed for as a boy—but on equal terms as a man.
Now the only thing Jesse wanted to do is get out of that bed and get home to Annie and be there for his baby's birth. How he longed to see her slow smile and hear her soft voice against his cheek. He swore over and over to himself that he would never in his lifetime leave her side again.
XVIII: Homecoming!
“Guess we're on the same playing field now,” Buck told Jesse. “Neither of us has more than one usable leg. But your break will mend in time. My ol' leg's been gone sixty years or so.” It sounded to Jesse as if Buck was amused by the sameness of their handicap, even if one was temporary. It was as if they were in a boat with one oar.
The old lumberjack, along with Jesse's Uncle Adam and father-in-law Jerod had holed up in Pine Crest until they could bring Jesse home. They had grown anxious but managed to stay on to help with State investigations into the local violence and corruption. In their spare time, they whiled away the hours playing dominoes with old cronies on the town square. Everyone was homesick as the days dragged on.
Jesse began to get out of bed and practice with the crutches, until he could walk out of the hospital a new man: hydrated and nourished, rested and restless. Finally the day arrived for his release. He left the hospital with a clean bill of health― except for the broken leg which was already on the mend. He had written Annie a letter to name the day he would be home; in his dreams he could see her watching to catch a glimpse of Buck's Lizzy when it rounded the bend.
So it was that he had wrapped up the business and the four men were on their way home. They sped down the road to Morgans Bluff one hundred miles away, unaware of the surprises ahead.
The strange misty fog that had plagued the county had lifted, and all was blue skies and sunshine. The men were in a joyous mood—as lighthearted as children as they reached the rolling hills. They knew they were almost home when they caught sight of Morgan Saw Mill and heard the zinging of the big saw and the wind in the pines. It was music to their ears. At least the mill that was still standing was in full production.
They turned onto Main Street where Beulah Birdwell and the Salvation Army Band were on another temperance march. The ardent ladies carried the signs that proclaimed the evil of Demon Rum, and the band played the old standard “The Lips That Touch Liquor Will Never Touch Mine”—badly.
When the Tin Lizzy careened up the street with Buck at the wheel, the ladies scattered like chicks in a fox infested hen-house. Buck laid heavy on the horn causing the good peopl
e of Morgans Bluff to come running out of the shops and offices. Upon seeing Jesse McCann alive, they began to cheer and clap. On the spur of the moment, the band struck up “For He's A Jolly Good Fellow.” (without the blessing of the East Texas Ladies' Temperance Society.) It seemed the temperance march was quickly becoming a homecoming parade.
“Looks as if you have some friends in this town, Jess,” Jerod remarked.
Jesse was dumbfounded: “ I'll be...”
“...a monkey's uncle?” came Buck 's attempt to finish the sentence.
“No. I suppose that would be me,” said Adam Kessler.
After taking a moment to digest his uncle's dry sense of humor, Jesse grinned broadly.
For the first time in his life, Jesse felt he belonged. The once naive greenhorn from Mount Mission had been accepted as an honest-to-goodness East Texan. It had taken twenty-five years. The crowd continued to cheer him as Buck stopped the Model T in the middle of the road, and townsfolk gathered round it. The four men were coaxed out of the vehicle to mingle and answer questions about the trouble in Pine Crest.
Buck, Jerod and Adam became lost in the crush and ended up in Percy's, while Jesse tried to answer questions for the crowd in the street.
“How does it feel to be the papa of brand new baby boy?” a local farmer asked.
Jesse was speechless.
“Don't tell me you didn't know! Doc told some of us and word spread. He said that Conner boy may have saved that baby's life or Annie's or both. He actually drove her home from the mill when her time came ...drove right over Dead Man's Bridge too...and him only nine years old. Doc says the boy's hiding out somewhere...trying to avoid being taken away. But that baby finally came. Yes-siree.”
Jesse made a beeline for the Lizzy. “Tell Buck Hennessy I'll bring the Lizzy back later. I need to get home. I have a new son to meet!”
He spun off in a cloud of dust sending stray dogs running for the boardwalk, while the good citizens of Morgans Bluff waved him off on his way.
Meanwhile, the blue-grass band arrived and struck up “Old Oaken Bucket” as Beulah tried to bring her errant crusaders back into the fold. She waggled her prohibition sign above her head to summon the scattered band members, while holding the straying tuba player by the collar:
“We did not come here to participate in revelry!” she screeched.
Buck heard Beulah's frantic pleas through the swinging doors and ambled out of Percy's. Right there in the midst of a real hoe-down, he whispered in her ear: “Now Birdy, climb off that soap box of yours, and give me a kiss on my scruffy old cheek.”
“Mr. Hennessy...you are disgusting and vile!”
Buck grabbed the old maid and kissed her as she struggled to free herself. Clancy the barber, seeing Beulah lip-locked against her will, came running out of his shop with fists raised:
“Unhand the lady or be prepared for a whoopin!” Clancy shouted.
“Aw don’t be jealous, Clancy. Maybe Birdy'll oblige you with a little kiss.”
Before Clancy could get in the first punch, Beulah slapped Buck so hard he stumbled backwards, lost control of his wooden leg, and splashed down into the horses' watering trough . The crowd gasped, with some whispering that Buck was “much too old to act like that.”
Buck sat up, shook the water from his Buffalo Bill mane and growled: “Now that's my kind 'o woman! Birdy, I think I'll marry you.”
XIX: A Bright Future
Annie Morgan McCann felt, not like a new woman, but like the woman she was. The months of feeling “outside her skin” had vanished with the birth of her son. She disregarded the secret so–called rites of purification, although Granny swore the Shaman had brought on the transformation by calling upon the spirit of Tahsha.
Whatever had brought the change, the big house was abuzz with happiness once again. Annie received a call from the town know-it-all bubbling over with the news: Jesse had been spotted downtown and was on his way home. So she took extra care dressing and went to the veranda to rock Tobi to sleep and wait for her husband's arrival.
Buck telephoned to say the others would take a wagon out to join them for supper, right after the big celebration. Katie and Granny Minna were preparing a homecoming meal. Everyone would be there with the exception of Cal who was still hiding out. Annie figured he was not too far away—as lots of pears were missing from the orchard overnight. She would talk to Jesse and see if he could look for him.
Even if Cal was still on their property, it was vast and thick with hardwoods. One small boy could easily hide. She had decided to broach the subject of the boy after Jesse had a decent meal in his stomach.
And suddenly, her husband was bounding up the steps. He stopped, caught his breath and gazed at the two of them: the great love of his life and the son he thought he would never have. It was a moment he wanted to remember for the rest of his life. They were all three alive, and now they were reunited. It could have so easily gone the other way.
Annie held out her hand, and Jesse fell to his knees and held it to a cheek now wet with tears:
“Forgive my foolish ways , Annie. Forgive me for what I've always put you through...those old secrets I kept. I only meant to protect you.”
She leaned over and put her head against his chest and sobbed. “I'm sorry...for not understanding what a man has to do. I'm sorry all the way back to that first wedding day...long ago... when I ran away. How could you love me?”
“Oh sweet Annie...how could I not ? You touch a place in my heart no one else ever has. You make me all a man can be. We still have a bright future. We can rebuild Pine Crest ...or we can bring the best of the men to the mill here. I'll do whatever you need me to do.”
Then he rose from his knees and took his son from his wive's arms. He beamed with tenderness and pride: “What a handsome boy he is.”
That evening was the best and brightest ever in that big house on the hill. Katie doted on her papa. Granny Minna had fixed his favorite fried chicken, and Katie refilled her papa's plate until he begged her to stop. He was in a haven of plenty after languishing in a hole of starvation.
The other three men arrived for supper. Godfather Buck and the new grandpa, Jerod, started right in arguing over who would hold the baby first. Uncle Adam pointed out that neither one was tidy enough to touch his great-nephew. Granny Minna agreed and ran them outside to scrub up, and the argument continued at the wash basins. Minna smiled at the sound of men in the house once more.
After the dishes were cleared, and Annie went up to put the baby to bed, Jesse put his arm around his daughter's shoulder and asked her to come take a walk with him:
“Your mother told me about Calvin, and I think the boy needs our help. How about we take a hike out back and look around one more time? I've grown accustomed to the crutches. If we take it slow, I can make it.”
“Papa, I've looked and looked for Cal. I don't know where to look next.”
“I believe you may have your mother's intuition. I believe if you tune into it, something will surface. Whatever it is, it's special. Don't be afraid of it.”
Father and daughter walked to the end of the estate to where the vast primeval forest began. Katie stopped suddenly. “You know... a sweet gum tree is the perfect place to hide.”
She ran ahead to a stand of trees. There beneath the biggest and the leafiest sweet gum, she spotted the remains of a half dozen pears—all containing human teeth marks. Then she thought she spotted something in the top of the tree. “Can you see it? What is that up there?”she asked Jesse who had just caught up.
“Looks like what's left of a tree-house...one that's been demolished...for whatever reason.”
“Cal loved The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Papa! Let's go to the river. I have a hunch.”
Sure enough, there the boy was—preparing to launch himself downstream on some magnificent adventure. Calvin Conner had reassembled his tree-house into a raft in true Mark Twain style
“Come back, Calvin,” Jesse called out as he pro
ceeded to the shore.
“Let me go, Mr. McCann. I ain’t going to no home for delinquent boys...nor orphans' home neither.”
Jesse reached him as quickly as his crutches allowed.
“I'll bet we can settle Miss Birdwell down. If I can't, I'll bet Mr. Hennessy can. He'll win her over. Now...what if I could arrange for you to live with us permanently? It would be nice to have an able-bodied young man around to help me out right now. As you can see, I'm on crutches for awhile...and then there's the new baby. Someday Tobi will need an older brother to look after him....and show him things...like how to build tree-houses and rafts....all sorts of things.”
“The new baby? It's a boy?”
Jesse smiled and nodded. He could see the wheels turning in the boy's head.
Katie gave her father a sidelong look of amazement.
“Well, in that case... ” Cal replied. “Since you need me to help out...I recon I can come back. Besides... I've got an awful tummy ache.”
Jesse chuckled inwardly. “Thank you Calvin. I appreciate it.”
They three walked back toward the back of the McCann house, which by now, was alight with the soft glow of kerosene lamps. Jesse could make out Annie's silhouette as she looked out the window in anticipation. And there, on the back porch, Tom Yancy waited for Katie—in the way of a young man in-love.
As they entered the yard, a fragrant breeze whispered through the ancient pines, as it had done for hundreds of years. And on the far shore of the Big Muddy River, a lone wolf stood watching in the gathering mist.
~ * * * ~
Table of Contents
I: A New Day
II: A Misty Haze
III: The Shaman
IV: Unrest at Pine Crest Mill
V: A Mysterious Death
VI: A Secret Ceremony
A Mist in the Pines: Jesse's Quest (The McCann Family Saga Book 2) Page 9