Cottonwood Whispers

by Jennifer Erin Valent

  A creak on the stairs warned of Gemma’s descent, and I was certain she’d done it on purpose since she knew full well how to avoid the creaky step. Luke backed away from me, and Gemma pretended she didn’t notice a thing and plopped onto the couch on her knees, staring outside at the rain. “Don’t look likely to stop. Sure is a blessin’ to see some rain.”

  Luke walked away from me and stood at the front door. “Hope it helps the crops some.”

  “I got to get into town tomorrow,” Gemma said determinedly.

  “What for?” I asked, joining her on the couch. “You got big plans?”

  “I got to see Mr. Poe.”

  “Mr. Poe, he’ll be fine,” Luke reassured her. “Sheriff’ll take care of things.”

  Gemma didn’t have a chance to reply before a truck pulled up in a good hurry. Mr. Hanley, who owned the general store, hopped out and waved an arm frantically to get my daddy’s attention. As if the mud-spewing stop he made in front of our house hadn’t done the trick.

  Daddy stood up from the porch swing. “Hey there, Harry.” His words were easygoing but his face was tight with anxious expectation. “What brings you out this way?”

  “We got trouble in town, Harley. And I thought you ought to know about it since you’re one of the few men who’s got sense left in his head.”

  “What sort of trouble?” Momma asked.

  “There’s a riot in town. Joel Hadley’s got them all stirred up, sayin’ Gemma done accused him falselike and it was Elmer Poe who got her to do it. They’s all excited, sayin’ no half-wit and Negro are goin’ to keep justice from takin’ place. I swear, they’s ready to string Elmer up first chance they get.”

  Gemma pushed herself off the couch and marched to the front door, squeezing past Luke to fling the door open. “That Joel Hadley will stop at nothin’ to save his own neck. I knew this would happen.”

  Daddy put a hand on Gemma’s neck to calm her down. “Now, Gemma, don’t you worry none. We’ll get things straightened out. Luke and I can go on into town and have a chat with the sheriff.

  “I don’t trust that sheriff one bit,” she muttered. “Fact is, I think he’s in the Hadleys’ pocket. And if that’s so, them Hadleys might get him to do something wrong to Mr. Poe.”

  I took my place in the doorway next to Luke. “We can’t let them hurt him. Mr. Poe ain’t never done an unlawful thing in his life.”

  “If Mr. Poe takes a fall for Joel Hadley, then Joel Hadley won’t never have to take responsibility,” Gemma said. “You can bet he wants this town to believe it’s Mr. Poe’s fault. Seein’ Mr. Poe strung up will mean no one will ever point a finger his way again.”

  Momma was already crying quietly and wringing her hands so hard it’s a wonder she still had any blood in them. But I didn’t feel like I had much blood left in me either. I was cold all over, and I rubbed my arms to try to keep the chill away. Luke put an arm around my shoulders, and though I relaxed against him, there was no appreciation of his nearness. All I could think about was Mr. Poe’s safety. There weren’t that many people in this town who would stand up to the Hadleys, and with the chance the sheriff was against us too, I didn’t figure on us having a good shot at protecting Mr. Poe from an angry mob.

  Daddy trudged to the kitchen to get his rifle, and Gemma stalked off after him.

  “I gotta go with you.”

  I stepped around the corner to watch my daddy’s face, and what I saw there didn’t surprise me one bit. “Now, Gemma, you ain’t gonna do nothin’ of the sort,” he said with a hard shake of his head. “Don’t even go thinkin’ it.”

  “Ain’t no one else who knows what I know. I told my side to some, but not to all. People got to hear it from my lips.”

  Daddy leaned his gun against the wall and put his hands on her shoulders. “Now listen here. Them people, they ain’t thinkin’ straight. They don’t want to hear reason from nobody just now, and they sure won’t go hearin’ any from . . .” Daddy stopped short, but Gemma finished for him.

  “From a colored girl. That what you were goin’ to say?”

  Daddy’s face dropped. “Gemma, it sounds a sight, I know it. But it’s the truth. I don’t want you takin’ a chance at gettin’ hurt, especially not for nothin’.”

  “But I’ve got to go.” Gemma was desperate, and her voice rose uncharacteristically. “Mr. Poe needs me to stand up for him.”

  But my daddy was firm, and he gently moved her aside, grabbed his rifle, and walked past her. Gemma looked at me with eyes that begged, and I stepped forward to catch my daddy’s arm.

  “Don’t you start too, Jessilyn,” he said firmly.

  “But, Daddy, you don’t understand. Gemma and me, we carried our secret about Joel Hadley all the time Mr. Poe sat in that jail cell. We did it all for fear of what them Hadleys would do to us, Daddy, and we’re both carryin’ guilt over Mr. Poe spendin’ all this time in jail. Now it’s bad enough that he might get hurt, and we’ve got to go do our part.” My grip on his arm tightened like I was slipping off a cliff and he was my only lifeline. But then, at that moment, I felt like he was. “Daddy, please!”

  Daddy looked down at the floor and squeezed the back of his neck with his free hand. Gemma and I watched him anxiously, fearing we would be left behind to wonder and wait, but our help came from an unexpected source.

  Momma.

  She took my daddy’s arm from me and and held it in both of hers. “Let them go, Harley. You can see on their faces, they won’t be at peace unless they do this.”

  “Sadie, there’ll be violent men there.” He still held his rifle, and he nodded toward it. “Violent men with guns will be there.”

  “But so will our Lord.”

  There was a hush that settled over all of us following those words, and I instinctively reached out a hand for Gemma. I knew then without even looking at my daddy that we’d be going with him.

  The sight we saw when our truck pulled into town was one that made my heart leap. Dusk had settled in, and the crowd of men equipped with torches and guns pounded hard against the front door of the jailhouse. There were no men in uniform to be seen, and I pictured them all inside settling their weight against the doors to keep the mob out.

  As soon as I hopped out onto the sidewalk, I saw a hand squeeze through the bars in the front window and heard three shots pop out of a pistol. I jumped a mile and grabbed onto Luke’s shirt for safety. He shoved me and Gemma behind him, but I peered around him and saw the pistol pointing through the window, smoke from the barrel making a gray cloud against the damp darkness. The rain had slowed, but a fine mist dusted our faces as we watched the crowd back down a bit in the aftermath of gunshots.

  “Now everyone clear off,” Sheriff Clancy shouted. “And I mean now!”

  “You ain’t got the right to keep us out, Sheriff,” Joel Hadley cried. “These here men have a right to justice and this here’s a public building.”

  “Son, don’t be an idiot,” Sheriff Clancy called back. “You boys ain’t got no right to vigilante justice, and you know it. Now just back away while you still got the chance. I done called the sheriff in from Richmond, and he’s sendin’ some men out, so you best leave before they come in with their fancy rifles and whatnot. You know how these big-town boys like their guns.”

  “Sheriff’s tryin’ to run ’em off at least,” I whispered to Gemma.

  “Probably just tryin’ to save his own hide from bein’ trampled,” she muttered.

  “Don’t matter none why he’s tryin’ to run ’em off long as he does it.” I stood on my toes to whisper in Luke’s ear, “We got to get to Mr. Poe.”

  “Jessie, you ain’t goin’ nowhere near that jailhouse.”

  “But Mr. Poe’s got to be scared to death.”

  He turned around and put his face right up close to mine. “You step foot near that jailhouse over my dead body, Jessilyn.”

  Every muscle in my body flexed at his command, and I reared further up on my toes. There wasn’t much more a b
ody could do to rile me than to tell me I wasn’t allowed to do something. I’d had enough whippings in my day to prove it. Amid the potential tragedy that surrounded us and the angry voices of senseless men, I found the time to let my pride swallow me whole.

  “Don’t you go tellin’ me what I can and cannot do, Luke Talley. I ain’t goin’ to let Mr. Poe sit in there and rot, and you ain’t got no right to tell me I am.”

  Daddy came around the front of the truck and separated the two of us by grasping each of us by a shoulder. “Dang it all, if I ain’t got to spend most of my time breakin’ up fights between the two of you.”

  “He’s tryin’ to tell me what to do, Daddy,” I argued without taking my angry eyes from Luke’s. “He thinks he knows all.”

  “I ain’t said I know all,” Luke returned. “I said I ain’t goin’ to let you get yourself killed.”

  “All right, now, that’s enough.” Daddy put both hands on my shoulders and pushed me back down to flat feet. “This ain’t no time for you to be on your high horse, Jessilyn. We got bigger fish to fry.”

  “I ain’t on a high horse. It’s Luke who is. He done told me I can’t go nowhere near Mr. Poe, and I say Mr. Poe needs us.”

  “Well, you’re right, Jessilyn. He does need us.”

  I crossed my arms and flashed Luke a strong gaze of satisfaction.

  “But he’s right too. You ain’t goin’ nowhere near that jailhouse.”

  My satisfied smirk settled into an angry pout in two seconds flat. “Daddy!”

  “Now, Jessilyn, you get back in this truck and stay there until I say you can leave.” He lifted me so my feet left the ground by an inch and steered me into the truck. “You stay there until I say otherwise, you hear?” He pointed a finger at me and flashed me that look that said, “You listen up or be sorry.”

  “But, Daddy . . .”

  The finger came a little closer to my face. “Stay!”

  I flopped down onto the seat, fully aware that I’d lost this battle, and when you’d lost a battle with Daddy, you’d good and lost, plain and simple. Daddy opened the door wider for Gemma, and she hopped in beside me, though reluctantly.

  I kept my head down in embarrassed defeat, but I angled my eyes upward to see Daddy and Luke head slowly toward the jail. My feelings were a mixture of anger and fear as I watched the two most important men in my life saunter off into danger while I was stuck cowering in the car like a scared rabbit.

  “We got to get to Mr. Poe,” Gemma whispered. “Them men’ll kill him. Ain’t nothin’ your daddy and Luke can do to stop a whole mob like that.”

  I pulled my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around them. “Daddy says stay put. Ain’t nothin’ we can do.”

  “Oh, there’s somethin’ we can do all right.”

  I turned my head toward her, resting my cheek on my knee. “What’ve you got goin’ on in your head?” She didn’t say anything, but I could nearly see the wheels turning in her head by looking into her eyes. “Gemma! What’re you thinkin’?”

  “I’m thinkin’ we’re goin’ to get Mr. Poe out of here.”

  “That’s stupid! A jailbreak? You been readin’ Jesse James stories or somethin’?”

  “I ain’t talkin’ jailbreak.”

  “You near about are if you think we’re gettin’ Mr. Poe away from here. It ain’t like you can sweet-talk the sheriff into lettin’ him go.”

  “Well, we’re goin’ to find a way. That’s all there is to it.”

  “But that don’t make no sense. We can’t just amble on up, unlock the doors, and let him out.”

  Gemma dug her elbow into my thigh. “If you’d just shut up for a while, I’d be able to think of somethin’.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I muttered, elongating each syllable. “You ain’t got to shout.”

  Gemma’s long sigh indicated her dissatisfaction that I had to get the last word in, but she said nothing else, and I knew deep down she’d figure out some way to extract Mr. Poe, no matter how impossible it seemed.

  My heart fluttered like bird wings, and I gripped my knees, fearful the rioting would get out of control. I was fearful that everything would get out of control.

  And I was afraid that Gemma would find a way to make it happen.

  The tug on my arm told me I was right. I had every intention of arguing, and I turned toward her to do so. But the look on her face made me think twice. We looked at each other long and hard until I finally let out a sigh.

  “Daddy’s gonna kill us.”

  “Not in the same way that mob’s gonna kill Mr. Poe.”

  I gave her a nudge. “Best get on out now while Daddy ain’t lookin’.”

  Gemma opened the door and slid out first, keeping her eyes peeled in Daddy’s direction. But the crowd was overwhelming, and Daddy had his hands full.

  “You go ahead,” I whispered, giving Gemma a shove. “I’ll keep watch to make sure no one follows you, and then I’ll come along in a few minutes.”

  We locked eyes in silent agreement; then Gemma took off across the muddy road. My gaze ran back to Daddy, and I saw him with his arms folded, shaking his head in disgust. Sheriff Clancy was on the porch now, trying to make them see reason, but reason wasn’t on anyone’s mind then.

  The sky was aptly moonless since no light could possibly have been found in the evil that went on outside that jailhouse, and the torches cast an eerie glow. I had a sudden flashback to the cross that had burned in our front yard only four years earlier.

  It always amazed me the evil men did at night. It was as though they felt the darkness hid their misdeeds, but my momma always said God had the only pair of perfect eyes in the world, and there wasn’t any amount of darkness that He couldn’t see through. I pictured Him just then looking down on us, seeing every bit of evil that colored every heart in that mob, and I hoped He had a mind to do something about it.

  Chapter 20

  Once a couple of minutes had passed, I began my own trek across the road toward the back of the jailhouse. I took a quick look around for Luke, but I couldn’t pick him out, and that got me nervous since I could usually pick him out anywhere. He stood a good head taller than most, but he was nowhere to be seen. I wondered if he had spotted Gemma.

  I had only traveled several yards down the road when something grabbed at my shirt, tugging me to an unexpected stop. Instinctively I cried out, but a hand slapped over my mouth.

  “Dang it, Jessie, you’re goin’ to wake the dead.”

  Luke’s whisper in my ear did nothing to allay my fear, and I ripped his hand from my mouth angrily. “Don’t you go gettin’ sharp with me,” I whispered, twirling around to face him. “You’re the one’s sneakin’ around. What were you thinkin’ grabbin’ me like that? You scared me to death!”

  “Weren’t no other way to get your attention. I’ve been whisperin’ your name since you came around the corner.”

  I put my hands on my hips and stared him down. “What were you doin’ hangin’ around here anyways? You spyin’ on me?”

  “Just savin’ you from yourself, is all. I knew you’d go and do somethin’ stupid, so I kept an eye out.”

  I ignored his comment and grabbed his hand. “Come on. We need to find Gemma.”

  “Wait a minute,” he said, yanking me to a stop. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere with you when your daddy said to stay put in that truck. Your daddy’ll skin me alive and bury me on his back hill.”

  “Well, I ain’t stayin’, so you best let me go.”

  “I ain’t lettin’ you go, Jessie. You think I’m crazy?”

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Luke, I ain’t got time to waste standin’ out here arguin’. Gemma’s out there by herself, and I got to go find her.”

  “Then let’s get your daddy.”

  “So you’re worried more about your hide than Gemma’s? ’Cause he’ll light into her like a rabid squirrel if he finds out she went against him.”

  “No, I’m thinkin’ about Gemma. She needs someone with her
.”

  “That’s right,” I said, tugging his arm again. “So let’s go.”

  “Jessie!” He drew my name out like it had ten syllables. “Your daddy’s goin’ to kill us both!”

  “Best we go down dyin’ for Gemma and Mr. Poe.”

  I could see his better judgment told him to get my daddy, but I could also see that better judgment fade in the light of my pleading. My last tug at his arm did the trick, and I dragged a resigned but anxious Luke Talley toward the jail.

  Luke kept one hand on me and one hand on his waistband, which I knew meant he was ready to draw his pistol at a moment’s notice. My mind reeled, grasping for ideas, but it found nothing but hopelessness. We couldn’t manage to hold up against so many men with poisoned minds and a determined mission. I’d heard a story in Sunday school once about a man who had sinned and been swallowed up whole by the ground, but I hadn’t heard of God doing any such thing lately, and I wasn’t about to depend on that now. I was just about to yank away from Luke when I spotted movement toward the back of the jailhouse.

  “Gemma!” I whispered loudly.

  “Jessie! You done scared me to death.”

  “Well, you’re scarin’ me to death with all this craziness. We’re even.”

  “Gemma, what’re you plannin’ to do?” Luke asked. “Break the man out?”

  “I don’t know what I’m goin’ to do. I’ve been prayin’ for help since we left the house. All I know is I’ve got to do somethin’, and the Lord’s goin’ to help me do it. He told me so.”

  I squinted at her and shook my head. “And just how’d He do that? You got a burnin’ bush somewheres I don’t know about?”

  Gemma’s face lit up in anger so fiercely I could see it even in the dark, and I swallowed hard under her gaze.

  “Jessilyn Lassiter, just ’cause you don’t claim no belief in my Jesus ain’t no reason for you to scoff at Him, you hear? I got me a certain feelin’, and I got to believe in that feelin’ no matter what you think.”

  Shame crept up into my cheeks, seeped out of my pores, and I stepped back a bit to lean against Luke so my shaky knees wouldn’t show.