Six eggs and a half a pan of biscuits later, Lee rubbed his tummy and smiled with satisfaction. “That was great, thank you. Did you make it?”
Joe’s face fell a little, his jaw opened, but words didn’t come for a few seconds. “No sir, Mr. Lee, I didn’t. And that’s what we gots to talk about.”
“Sure, Joe, I’m listening. What, did you go and get yourself married or something?” Lee asked jokingly.
“I wish sometimes I had, I truly do, but no sir. You see, things around here have changed a bit.”
Lee eyed Joe carefully, knowing there was something going on, and not able to figure it out. He would wait ‘til the old man spilled it all.
“I figured a few things might. Do the Jeffries own this land now? Is that what you are trying to tell me?”
“No, not yet at least, but they are working on it, in a way,” Joe said, his face studying Lee for a while.
“That’s good. I didn’t come home to fight another war. I’m right tired of fightin’ Joe. I managed to put some money away so I can get any back taxes taken care of fast.” Lee sighed heavily. “And I’m sure there are some.”
“That’s good, that’s real good. I guess.” Joe eyed him closely again. “Mr. Lee, where you been? We all gave you up for dead.”
“Sorry I didn’t write no more. I was wounded at Shiloh. Spent nearly a year in the infirmary. I saved my pay for the taxes. I knew if I came back here, I’d need it. But it was hard to write as we were losing the war and so many died. And when I lost my arm, I quit writing, almost quit living.”
Lee went on with his story. “I wanted to get home when the war ended. Thought maybe Dil might be here. Is he? I’m kind of anxious to see him.”
Joe hung his head, his expression changing as he fiddled with his coffee and looked away. Lee noted how his finger tapped the cup for such a long time. And how his voice changed when he spoke, “No sir, and I guess you ain’t heard about that either…”
Lee studied the old man and saw a sadness creeping into the old man’s eyes. For the first time since the war, Lee felt something close to fear.
“There jest ain’t no better way of tellin’ you. Dil died just before the war ended.”
Lee heard the words, but for a minute they didn’t really penetrate. Dil gone! He repeated it in his head, as though they just wouldn’t sink in. Not once had he suspected anything this bad. Not once and his gut hit a bottomless pit. Bile roiled, and a tear filled his eyes, but he didn’t let it spill. He sat there, his finger going over the rim of his cup several times, in a circle, no words coming. He frankly suspected he couldn’t talk. He’d loved his brother, even though he hadn’t seen him in a long while, he’d looked forward to coming home, only because of Dil. Now, blackness surrounded his heart, and a hole deeper than a well made it hard to breath.
Grief gripped Lee like a vise for a few minutes and he turned his head away and pushed his hat down over his face for a minute or two. His shoulders bunched and this time one tear did slip down. Disappointment swelled inside him. All the things he’d stored up to tell Dil about, seemed unimportant now. All the questions he wanted to ask him, had no answers now. Swallowing hard he looked up at Joe, who had watched him and cried with him. Tears ran down the side of his face now in evidence.
“Sorry, I had to just spit it out like that…” Joe gave him a few minutes before he hit him with more news.
“But things have changed around here. I mean, well, the judge said the land had been deeded over to a Ms. Gloria Newcomb.”
Lee remembered the day he signed that deed over and mailed it to Gloria. He’d been told he probably wouldn’t survive his wounds. Gangreen had set in and the doc wasn’t hopeful. That’s when he thought of Gloria, Sam and Hattie. Lee nodded, “That’s right. At least my part of it had been. So she’d be half owner. Is she here?”
“Nah, Miss Gloria died before she ever got here. Miss Hattie and Sam, they brought her out here with them and oh Lord, there they were, with three little kids and half a deeded property and it was just a big mess, ‘cause they had Miss Gloria in the back of the wagon too. I never seen nothin’ like it in my life. I didn’t know who they were. Or what to do. Dil weren’t here, and you weren’t here. So I took her to the judge.”
Lee nodded. “Go on.”
“Well,” Joe stared at him strangely, and scratched his chin. “Well sir, she showed up jest before the war was over and showed legal papers as to who she be, it seems this Goria had gotten the deed from you and she had deeded it to them. So she’s up there now, with those kids. Pretty little things, clean and sweet and a good woman, she is. The kids, well, they are just little darlin’s. You see, she took them in when their folks was hung. She said she learned to help others because of you. That’s what she said. And I believed her. Been a lot of that lately: orphaned kids. Anyways she’s got the papers, and the judge says they’s legal, so I don’t know how you takin’ this. I didn’t want to tell you. ‘Cause Lord knows this is your land.”
“I see…”
“Yes sir, and the judge, he took a look at the papers and he said they was legal as anything he’d ever laid eyes on. It wasn’t too popular how the judge sided with Miss Hattie, not with the Jeffries at least. He raised all kinds of cain, but it didn’t do no good.”
“You’re right, I did sign those papers. At the time I thought I was dyin’. Figured Hattie and the kids could get some use out of it. Didn’t know if Dil made it or not, so I signed my part over to Hattie. Made sense then.” Lee frowned into his face and stood up. “Well, I didn’t figure on this, but—it’s fair. The other half of the property would revert to me, as I’m the only living kin Dil had.”
“She had papers, and it were signed by some Sheriff over in Arkansas,” Joe confessed.
“I thought I’d have to talk to Gloria…”
“Well, I took Miss Hattie to the judge in town when she first showed up. ‘Cause I didn’t rightly know what else to do with her. He said those papers were as good as he needed,” he said and folded his arms across his chest and stared. “I did think you’d write and tell me, but with the war on, I didn’t know.”
“You aren’t making much sense, Joe.”
Joe rolled his eyes, tossed his hands in the air and sighed heavily. “Well sir, I didn’t know what to do. She was all teary-eyed, and had those kids with her and the body. And she seemed so upset when she found out you died. I mean real tears; she cried for days. Sam, he just about went out of his head about it too. I didn’t know these people but when I seen them tears I knew they must had known you and cared about you.”
“Died? But I’m not dead.”
“I wouldn’t have ever let her on this property otherwise. You know me.” Joe shook his head. “Besides, she got pretty little girls and she’s all alone. Cutest little girls you ever did see.”
“So--what do you think of her?”
“She’s a right friendly sort, and hard workin’ as you ever seen. And well, you done tasted her cookin’.”
“That I have, and it’s the best I’ve tasted in a long time. Well, I’ll have to get to the bottom of this. I guess I need to do some thinkin’ on this situation.”
Joe stood up. He paced up and down the shed floor. His lips curled but not into a smile, more worry than anything. Then he stopped in front of Lee and shook his head. “You cain’t turn her out. Not with them kids.”
“Turn who out?” Lee yelled. “Joe, look, the last thing I wanna do is turn her out. But I do need to talk to her. And yet, I hadn’t planned on lettin’ anyone know who I am ‘til those taxes are paid. Maybe not even then. The Jeffries get wind I’m here there could be more trouble.”
“If you think you’re upset, you should have heard the Jeffries when she showed up,” Joe informed him. “Her being black and all shore didn’t help. They’d been helpin’ themselves to the water right up to the day she showed up on the creek banks with the shotgun. She stared them down and told them to get. I guess she wouldn’t have done that, but
I told her about the Jeffries and what they tried to pull on you and Dil. She didn’t waste any time getting down there either. She run them off and then went to the judge and got some sort of writ statin’ that anyone wanting water rights would have to talk to her.”
Lee tried to understand it all, but nothing made much sense. And the way Joe defended the woman had him reeling in disbelief. “What didn’t the Jeffries believe?”
“That you’d ever agree to a Negro ownin’ this land.”
“She has every legal right to be here, Joe.” Lee frowned at Ole Joe.
“Lord have mercy, what now?”
“It’s okay, Joe. You did alright.”
“I didn’t aim to bring this on you, Mr. Lee.”
“I know, it wasn’t your fault. I figured on maybe Gloria and them bein’ here. I had plans to work it all out with her and Dil.”
“Yes sir, I reckon so. It don’t upset you that she’s a Negro?”
“You know me better than that. I’ve always thought Negro women were beautiful, and said so.”
“That’s a fact. I remember that. I remember how Mr. Dil used to give you fits about that too. But you never took it back. Well…this one is for shore. And it sorta looks as though you noticed.”
“I noticed Joe. In fact, it will be hard not to claim her as my own.” Lee’s brow furrowed.
“You sayin’ you care about her?” Joe cried, his face screwing up into a frown. “But–how could you? She was just a kid when you met her.”
“I’m no idiot Joe. I know what it would mean to take a black woman as my wife. But if I could…if there was a way…yes…to answer your question…I care about her. I’ve cared about her for a long time.”
Joe looked at Lee. “She don’t know you care about her?”
“No, besides, she thinks I’m dead.”
“Maybe it’s best she don’t know you’re alive then…at least it would be safer.”
“I agree Joe.”
“I wish I could have told you about Dil a little easier, but I didn’t know how but just to say it,” Joe defended again, his eyes still filled with tears. “Ain’t no fittin’ homecomin’, sure ain’t.”
“Where did you get the idea I was dead? That’s what I want to know.” Lee shook his head, trying to fit all the pieces of this puzzle together.
“It were in the papers. The newspapers. Your name on one of them roll calls.”
“The papers, huh? But I’m not dead, so now what?”
“It’s good that you ain’t dead, Mr. Lee, ‘cause the whole town’s been trying fer a while now to get her out of the place. And things are getting a mighty scary too. Even though she legally has a right to half the house. I mean I think she has a right. Lord, I don’t know now.”
Joe shrugged, a frown lining his brow. “I reckon it’s all up to you, Mr. Lee.”
Lee felt suddenly like some caged animal. He hadn’t expected to come home to this. But what was he going to do about it?
“Mr. Lee…” Joe studied Lee’s face for a long time. “That woman, she talks about you like you was some saint or something. I’d say she cares a lot about you, too.”
Lee hung his head. “I’m glad, but it’s kind of a dangerous situation…it’s too soon, folks hadn’t got over the war yet. I don’t think anyone told them the war is over. And just because it is, doesn’t mean their minds are going to be changed overnight. She’s black, I’m white, it won’t work here, not yet. So maybe it’s best she don’t know who I am…”
“She even buried you, Mr. Lee. Well not you, sir, but she made a grave and put a headstone up for you. Right along with Dil. They shipped his body here, and she took care of everything, just like it was her duty or something. And you never seen the tears like she made. She cried for three days after she got them headstones up. Why, I think she loves you.”
Lee tried to smile. “I want to protect her, Joe. She’s makin’ a good life. Just because I’m home that shouldn’t change. But between you and me…she’s all I thought about during the war.”
“I ain’t never seen you carry on about a woman before…you must care about her.”
Lee nodded. “Yeah…”
Lee pounced on the old man’s chest with a heavy finger. “But dammit Joe, you even buried me? Sight unseen?”
“She insisted on it. She said it was the right thing to do. You lost at war and all. That we should be proud that you served. We didn’t have a body, but you’ll find your grave on the other side of Dil’s, you see, she brung his body home when they shipped it on the train.” Joe hung his head. “And she cried real tears for you too. She cried long and hard for you, Mr. Lee. Why, if I didn’t know better, which I don’t, I’d swear she loved you, too.”
Lee shook his head. “Right about now, I need something to punch, or drink.”
“How you gonna be around, if you care about her, and not say or do somethin’?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Lee. I had no idea,” Joe apologized.
Joe hung his head. “There’s more--”
“Well, you might as well go ahead and tell it all, Joe.” Lee fretted, his fist coming down on a low beam.
“The Jeffries, they been over here a lot. They been threatening Miss Hattie. Somebody even set fire to the house a couple of times. But the worst of it is, the youngest one has an eye for her. Oh it ain’t like that, he just wants to ruin her somehow. He wants her in her place as he calls it.”
Lee whirled around. “Frank! And does she reciprocate this attention?”
“No sir, she don’t. She ain’t no flirt. And she knows her place. She knows he’s pokin’ fun at her. She got more pride than a body would think. She usually has a rifle pointed at them when they come. Otherwise they might have done even more damage.” Joe glanced at his old friend.
Lee shook his head now, hanging it. “If they touch her, I swear I’ll kill them.”
“Yes sir, I believe you would.”
“Well, you’ve handed me a big problem. Now I gotta figure out how to solve it,” Lee said, his voice going softer, his temper easing a bit.
Dil’s death hit him hard. He’d hoped after all this time they could work the land together.
“What you gonna do, Mr. Lee?” Joe asked sadly. “You think I should put her out?”
Lee stared at the old man. “No! She’s a right to the land, Joe. Let me have some thinking time. Can you feed me here for the next day or two ‘til I figure out what I’m going to do?”
“Yes sir.” Joe perked up quickly. “I knowed you wouldn’t have the heart to just throw her out…”
Lee flopped on the floor and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
Joe watched, concern lacing his expression. “Are you alright, Mr. Lee? You ain’t hurt or nothin’ is you? I mean…”
Lee opened his eyes slowly, his dark blue gaze on Joe and then the house. “No, I’m alright. It’s just well, I’ve been runnin’ away from this place for years. When Ma and Pa died, I thought it useless to stay here. Then Dil and me got together again and built the new house and we were proud of it. We both intended on coming back to it. But the trouble didn’t stop. At one point, I thought I’d never come back here, but despite everything, it’s the only place I ever called home. And yet, all after the war I realized I wanted to come home and make this my home, as it should be. I figured me and Hattie could work it all out between us. After all, I gave her the place, myself. But I needed some money for those taxes too. So I gathered all my pay and headed home. I figured if I came home with money in my pocket the Jeffries would never see their names on this deed. I seen death, I seen sorrows, and I seen men die for no reason. I’m tired, Joe. Just very tired. And now to hear that Dil is gone, well, maybe I should have just kept walkin’ west myself. Maybe it’s a sign I don’t belong here. Maybe I ought to just turn around and walk away. Might be better for everyone that way.”
Joe shook his head. “No sir, you belong. You belong more than any
body, I knows that. This is your home. Your folks lived here. It’s fittin’ and right that you live here. We’s got problems, but we can work ‘em out.”
“I’m half in love with her now, Joe. How am I gonna keep my hands off her? I didn’t want to be, I knew it would mean trouble for the both of us, but I swear she’s the only one I thought about all those years. And now she’s here, and I want to claim her as mine…but…”
“I don’t know…I surely don’t know.”
Lee cupped his hand over his face for a minute, thinking about Hattie and then his brother. His only link. He missed him more now than he had in all the years they weren’t together. He could still picture Dil pullin’ a good one on him and laughing about it. The fun they had made it harder to take his death. He hadn’t expected this. Death was all he’d seen for years. Soldiers freezing to death because they had no shoes, or boots or blankets. Brothers killing brothers, fathers killing sons. Now he came home to find Dil dead, his only brother, his only link to family.
“Okay, when I figure out what I’m going to do, I’ll let you know. Fair enough?” Lee asked, trying to clear his mind of it all. “Until then, don’t tell her who I am.”
“Fair enough.” Joe stared down at his friend. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lee. Truly I am. I wish I had better news fer ya. You paid a terrible price for all this.”
“You mean the arm? Actually Joe, I’m still as good as ever, you’ll see. You don’t have to be sorry about me. It’s life. It’s the way it is.” Lee nodded, besides nothing he could say could make it better. “Ever since the war, things have been changin’.”
“This ain’t no fittin’ homecomin’ is it?”
Lee smiled sardonically and shook his head. “I think I need some more sleep.”
“Yes sir.” Joe left quietly. “I’ll leave you alone with your sorrow, but if you needs me, just holler out the door.”
“Where you goin’?” Lee asked.
“I’ll sleep outside. I feel like you need a little privacy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You won’t sleep outside. You’ll stay in here with me. I’m sorry I make you uncomfortable, but it is a lot to take at once,” Lee explained weary from the news and not knowing exactly what he’d do about the woman.
Just One Kiss (The Dream Catcher Series-Book Two) Page 5