I gave him a look that should have penetrated his heart like a spear. I put the receiver to my ear.
“Hello.”
“Bekkah, it’s Cathi Cummings.”
My gaze slid to Effie. She was pretending to eat, but she was watching me closely.
“We’re eating supper. My mother is home from California.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. This is important. I’ve got a line on those Redeemers. Listen closely. They were up in the Delta, just like Nadine said, but it was four years ago. They’d taken over an old campground on Lake Beulah, just near the town of Beulah. They weren’t there six months before all hell broke loose. Some woman claimed they’d taken her baby against her will. She said her parents had snatched the infant and given it to the Redeemers to raise, and she wanted it back. As it turned out, the baby wasn’t with the Redeemers, so she claimed that they’d sold it, like black-market babies.”
Cathi was talking so fast I had trouble following her. Effie was watching me, and twice she’d started to get up and come into the hall, but Mama Betts had stopped her.
“Are you listening, Bekkah? This is very important.”
“Go ahead.”
“Things got ugly. The Redeemers were attacked by several people in the Beulah community. The woman, a Dianne Salter, got the local people stirred up. She was from Beulah, or at least she was living there when all of this took place. She’s sort of a fuzzy character because when she left, no one knows where she went or exactly where she came from. Once the Redeemers left town, she didn’t stay long. She’d lived in a trailer court, had just had the baby with no evidence of a father. A strange case, from what I can tell. Trailer trash but not exactly. She had long brown hair, a very bold young woman. I’ve got to find out where she went, Bekkah. Folks around here say she never got her baby back, but there was never a report filed with the local sheriff. She started all of this trouble and then did nothing. None of this makes sense, and after four years people don’t remember the fine details. It seems like I’m running around in circles, just catching a whiff of the real story but not able to grab it.”
“I can see that.” Effie was listening to everything I said. I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left. If I turned my back to Effie, she’d wonder. I wanted to call her to the phone, to tell her it was Cathi Cummings, and that she was trying to help out with the Redeemers, but Effie was so happy. She was doing everything right, and Daddy was coming home tomorrow. I couldn’t throw Cathi into the middle of them, especially not when she didn’t mean anything to The Judge. I knew that.
“Bekkah, is something wrong?” Effie got up and came toward me.
“No, ma’am.” I smiled at her and pointed at the phone. “It is Mrs. Pierce. She wants to know something about a paper I wrote, and she wants some help with the Fall Festival booth.”
Effie looked meaningfully at the table, meaning I should say I’d call her back after supper. I put my hand over the receiver. “She’s going to Mobile in a few minutes, and it’s something she wants me to get tomorrow, from the woods.”
“Okay,” Effie said. She went and sat down and started eating again. Arly cranked up a conversation about how he needed to buy his own car. That got Effie and Mama Betts involved, and they forgot about me.
“I’m sorry,” Cathi said, “but this won’t wait. I wouldn’t put you in a spot like that for anything, Bekkah, but I have to know. What was Nadine’s maiden name? I can’t find a damn thing on a Nadine Andrews, not anywhere in the entire county. No one in Cleveland’s ever heard of her. She must be using one of her married names.”
“Why do you need that?”
“Nadine’s the last link I have to the preacherman. No one in Cleveland knew anything about the Redeemers, or at least they won’t own up to it. These little churches protect each other against outsiders. Beulah’s only about twenty miles from Cleveland. If Nadine was married to the man who became their preacher, then I can trace him through her marriage records, if I can find anything.”
“I don’t know her name. Try the horse people around there. She had a big stable, and she’s shown in Madison Square Gardens.”
“I’ve already tried that. Nobody around here remembers her. There are several big estates with stables, but they mostly fox hunt.”
I didn’t know what to say. Who would ever forget Nadine once they’d met her? I remembered the pill bottle, the one with the little red tablets in it. The prescription had been typed out to Nadine Sellers. I told Cathi about that and spelled the last name.
“I’ll check that,” Cathi said. “In the meantime, would you go down there and simply ask her?”
“Sure.” I remembered what Cathi had said. “I didn’t think you wanted to do that, to be so direct.”
“It isn’t a good idea, but I’m up the creek without a paddle here. I can’t go any further unless I have something to check. So far I’ve managed to dig up a bunch of gossip, some juicy rumors, and not a single supporting fact. There’s not even a record of the Redeemers renting the old campsite. They apparently just moved in and took over, without anyone’s knowledge or permission. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t do the same thing at Kali Oka. I can check those records when I come back through.”
“Well, I can take care of the other for you, Mrs. Pierce. Would tomorrow about five be okay?”
“I’ll call back then,” Cathi said quickly. “Bekkah, stay away from those church people. If they really are stealing babies, they’re capable of anything at all. If they think you might expose them, they’ll try to hurt you.”
“I understand. I’m going on a picnic tomorrow.” “Talk to you at five.”
Cathi hung up, and I said a few more school things and put the receiver back. My appetite was gone.
“Are you in trouble at school?” Effie asked carefully.
“No, contrary to what Arly thinks, I’m doing fine. My teachers all think I’m wonderful.” I made rabbit teeth at Arly. I had to do something to shift the attention from the phone call, but I didn’t have to worry. The screen door banged, and Alice came in with a gleefully squealing Maebelle V.
“I swear, I think she’d rather stay here than at home,” Alice said, fixing on Mama Betts’ persimmon pudding with a hopeful eye.
“Help yourself,” Mama Betts said as she reached out her arms for the baby.
“I’d rather be here too,” Alice said. She got a bowl from the cabinet and spooned up a portion of pudding.
“Quit gabbing and eat,” Arly said fiercely. He’d slumped back into a bad mood.
“Arly’s being stood up by Rosie,” I explained with a bit of delight to Alice. “He’s going to be a bear, so watch him.”
“Sorry,” Alice said to Arly. “Y’all will patch things up.”
“What’s the quarrel about?” Effie asked.
“Nothing.” Arly lowered his gaze to his pudding and started shoveling it into his mouth.
“Rosie’s getting even with Arly because he gave old hyena-face Beth Burgess a ride in the car Wednesday after school.” I grinned at Arly, proud of my secret knowledge. He’d made me ride the bus, pretending that he was going over to Butch Schultz’s house to study for an hour.
“Loyalty is a serious part of a relationship,” Effie said.
“Loyalty!” Arly pushed his bowl back and stood. Alice recognized the signs of imminent departure and went after her pudding. “I gave Beth a ride home. It was on the way to Butch’s. Butch and Raymond Rollins were with me.”
“Yeah, but she had to sit in the front seat.” I couldn’t resist.
Alice kicked me under the table.
“Are you going to the game stag?” Alice asked. She was meeting Mack there but riding with Arly, as usual.
“Yeah!” Arly got his jacket from behind the chair. The nights were getting cold. That was the only thing that tempted me to even think about going. I loved being outside at night when my breath frosted in front of me.
“You can sit with us,” Alice said. �
�Mack won’t mind.”
“Nothing like being a third wheel, Arly,” I said, and then regretted it when I saw the hurt look on his face. “You could take Alice and then come back home. We’re going to make popcorn and watch the TV. It’ll be fun.” I didn’t want him to stay home, but he looked so downtrodden.
Arly slipped his arms in the jacket. “Rosie’ll show up at the game. Maybe I can explain it to her.” There wasn’t much hope in his eyes.
I was sorry to see him in such a state. I’d gotten so used to teasing him and being teased by him that I hadn’t realized his feelings were so delicate.
“Have a good time,” Effie and Mama Betts called after them in unison as they banged out the door.
Mama Betts wiggled Maebelle in the air. “Get this baby’s bottle, Bekkah, and let’s get the television warmed up. I think I’ll wait until this one goes to sleep to wash the dishes.”
“You watch, I’ll wash,” Effie said.
“No, I’ll wash.” I got up and cleared the table so there would be no further argument. The sooner everything was done, the sooner we could all pile up on the sofa and get the bejesus scared out of us during Thriller. Even Mama Betts had agreed to watch it all the way through. It was Friday night on Kali Oka Road.
I was humming and packing the picnic lunch Mama Betts had put together for us when Alice finally woke up. She’d been so happy when she’d come home the night before. She and Mack had had a seriously good time, she said. Frank Taylor, a solitary man and one who had avoided Krissy Elkins like the plague, had sat with them for a while, as had Arly. Alice was certain that both me and Arly would overcome the difficulties of love.
Mama Betts was out in the garden, and I had Maebelle V. on the floor beside me. She was rolling wooden thread spools around and having a time of it.
Alice picked up the baby and held her on her lap, kissing her ears and face and neck until Maebelle shrieked with delight. She was a baby that loved lovin’.
She was also going to spoil our picnic if she had to go along.
“Any chance we can escape without that baby?” I asked.
“I asked Sukey if she’d keep her, but she wouldn’t,” Alice said. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“Couldn’t your mother keep her just one Saturday? I mean, we never get to do anything like a picnic, and …” It wasn’t Alice’s fault, but it just wasn’t fair. Everything we did, we had to drag Maebelle along with us. It wasn’t that we didn’t like her, but there were some things a one-year-old just didn’t fit in doing.
“I’ll ask,” Alice said, bundling up the baby’s things. “She’s going to say no, but I’ll ask. I’ll take her on over, and if Mama won’t keep her I’ll have to get some clean diapers and bottle and things. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Okay. We’ve got chicken salad, bacon and cheese, roast beef and horseradish, potato salad, dill pickles, cheese curls, some chocolate chip cookies, and tea.”
Alice’s eyes were wide with delight. “I’ll be right back,” she said, lifting Maebelle and all of the baby stuff. She went out the door while I put the napkins and the red-checked tablecloth on top of the basket. I was looking forward to this picnic more than I wanted to admit.
Frank and Mack were supposed to pick us up at eleven, and we’d be back by two. Effie said that was plenty of time to eat and talk and walk around the old lake. It was too cold to swim.
I had everything ready when Alice returned thirty minutes later. Her arms were conspicuously empty.
“Maebelle?” I was afraid to ask. Alice had probably put her down at the door in an attempt to trick me.
“Mama got so aggravated at me she said one of the others could watch Maebelle V. and for me to get out of her sight.”
“She was mad?”
“Let’s just say she was in a bad mood, but that doesn’t change much. Every day she’s a little bigger and a little meaner. You’d think she’d figure out how to keep from getting pregnant. I mean, your mother doesn’t.”
The idea of Effie pregnant was terrifying. It could happen too. She was younger than Alice’s mother. It could actually happen. I pushed that aside and focused back in on Alice’s problem. “Do you think you’ll have to pay when we get back?”
Alice shrugged. “It’ll be worth it, whatever the price. Betty and Rhonda never have to keep any of the younger kids. They go to choir practice and Y-teens all the time. They never have to take a baby with them. I’m surprised I don’t have to take Maebelle V. to school with me. If it wasn’t against the rules, I’m sure Mama would make me, whether I learned anything or not. In fact, she told me she didn’t care what kind of grades I made. She just thinks I’m going to meet some boy and get married, and the sooner the better. She’ll probably send Maebelle V. on my honeymoon!”
I laughed out loud even though I sympathized with Alice. Maebelle V. was almost as much a part of my life as hers. The frying pan clock in the kitchen showed 10:55. Alice and I picked up the lunch and went out on the porch to wait.
The day was wonderful. It was warm enough for shorts, but we’d decided to wear our brand-new Lady Lee Rider stretch jeans that Effie had brought us from California. Mine were sky blue, and Alice’s were sort of an army green. They made us look very sophisticated, Alice said. Even Arly said he liked them and wanted Mama to write Rita and have a pair sent for Rosie for a Christmas present. They’d patched things up at the game, and Arly had promised never to let another girl, except me and Alice, ride in the car with him.
At exactly eleven, Frank turned into the yard. He tooted the horn, then thought better and jumped out of the truck and came up to the house with Mack at his heels.
Effie appeared like magic at the door.
“You kids have a good time,” she said. She smiled at Frank, but she was checking him out. His short-sleeved plaid shirt was ironed. His jeans were neat. He had on clean socks, and his shoes were shined. He passed. Then she cast a look at Mack Sumrall. She didn’t get past his shaved head with the three little curls on his forehead.
“Mack had lice and had to get his head shaved,” I said innocently.
Effie’s gaze quickly left his head, but she didn’t miss the look he threw at me.
“Bekkah!” she reprimanded, realizing she’d been sucked into my joke.
I laughed. “It makes more sense than just having it cut that way.” Since Mack had been running around with Alice, I’d gotten to be friendly with him. I teased him about his haircut all the time.
“It’s cooler,” Mack explained. “Maybe now that winter is coming on, I’ll let it grow a bit.” He grinned at Alice.
“Be back by two,” Effie said, kissing me on the head. “Take care of my little girl, Frank,” she added, and there was extra emphasis on “my little girl.”
We piled into the pickup and headed to the lake. Frank switched the radio on and we sang along for a number or two. It was a tight squeeze, all four of us in the truck, but it gave us the excuse we needed to sit close.
“Where’s Maebelle?” Frank asked, suddenly realizing the baby wasn’t with us.
“We escaped,” Alice said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Too bad,” Mack said, “I thought we might use her for alligator bait.”
We all laughed and didn’t stop until we got to the lake.
The blue October sky shimmered in the mirror of the lake, disturbed on occasion by a rock or a fish jumping. The upside-down trees would ripple into fragments and then reshape themselves on the still surface. We rode all around the lake and checked out the other picnickers. Some of the other kids we knew, but not well. At last we settled on a water oak that threw a giant shade that was perfect for our picnic. Frank helped me spread the tablecloth.
Frank and Mack were awed by the lunch Mama Betts had packed and kept trying to steal parts of it. We weren’t really hungry, so we walked around the lake. Frank took the opportunity to lead me away from Alice and Mack, and we found a secluded log to sit on. I was greatly reminded of the night we’d gone d
own to Cry Baby Creek.
“You’re thinking about that night,” Frank said. “I didn’t tell Krissy any of that, not about us doing anything. She made that up. But I guarantee she won’t be repeating it. Not ever again.”
“After I thought about it, I didn’t believe you’d said it. I’m sorry I made out like I didn’t believe you about the naked woman.” At the time, I remembered that he’d fairly frightened the wits out of me. He’d been scared too.
Frank frowned. “We should have gone after her. It makes me feel like a … coward.”
“What would we have done with her if we’d caught her?” I asked, almost laughing at the picture of the two of us wrestling down a naked woman.
“Good point,” he said, laughing out loud. “It doesn’t matter now, as long as you understand.”
When he leaned down to kiss me, I was prepared. Our teeth sort of chipped together. It wasn’t painful, but it made me want to giggle. He steadied my head with his hands, and we finally made lip contact. It wasn’t like what I’d expected. It was more pleasant, and once we got aimed at each other right, I found I had a definite talent for it.
“How many boys have you kissed?” Frank asked when we stopped for a while to breathe.
“You’re the first,” I admitted, and he gave me a strange smile.
“We’d better go find Alice and Mack,” I said. The kissing was fine until we stopped, but then I realized I had a lot to think about. I was only thirteen. I knew plenty of girls my age were doing a lot more than kissing, but they were all looking to get married too. In some strange kind of way, the idea of spending the summer in Spain or Hollywood had taken hold of me. It was going to be hard enough to leave Kali Oka Road, and I didn’t need to get addicted to kissing Frank Taylor to make it even worse.
“You’re not like the other girls, Bekkah,” Frank said, standing up and pulling me alongside him. “Sometimes I think you jumped out of one of your mama’s books.”
Summer of the Redeemers Page 41