“Well now, that’s a right smart thing you did there. And you’re right about Harvey. I’m glad to hear all this Lee. Makes my job easier. And…don’t get me wrong, I like you well enough, but once you are gone, most of the trouble around here will stop. Especially since you did Frank in.”
Lee smiled. “I’ll fetch Tor over to ya. Thanks.”
Lee tipped his hat and went over to get Tor. Doc Witherspoon patched Lee’s knife wound and handed Tor over to him.
Lee took him into the sheriff’s office and told him what had happened.
The Sheriff scratched his chin and glanced at Tor.
“You ain’t gonna lock me up for shootin’ a Negro, are ya?”
“‘Fraid I gotta, Tor. Don’t want to but I gotta. Don’t worry, your father can get you out on bail in a day or two,” Sheriff Carter said as he headed him to a cell.
Satisfied, Lee returned home to check on Hattie.
The old retired doctor, Doc Smithers, was there when Lee returned. Lee had known him most his life, a contrary old doctor who stirred up trouble most of the time with his constant gossiping. Lee guessed Sam didn’t know anything about Doc Smithers or he would have rode into town and fetched Doc Witherspoon from town. “How is she?” Lee asked as the old man came out of her room.
“I got the bullet out. She’s resting. She’ll mend. I guess I should congratulate Joe.”
Lee twisted his head in question. “Why? What do you mean?”
“She’s pregnant.”
“She’s…she’s pregnant?” Lee repeated. “Are you sure, doc?”
“Well, it is early, but she complained of being sick in the mornings and so I told her I’d do a thorough check on her if she didn’t mind. And yes, she’s pregnant. You want to tell Ole Joe or should I?”
Lee stared at the doc for a long moment, his smile fading for a second. “Doc…you don’t understand. It’s my baby…”
“Yours?” The old doc frowned up at him.
“Yes, mine. Hattie and me…well…Well, we’re gonna get married, and be a real family soon. But this is wonderful news, doc. Is the baby okay?” Lee asked anxiously.
“My God, boy, what have you gone and done? You’re a white boy! What are you doin’ with a black woman? A black family? God forgive you…and you fought in the war! I’ll be leavin’ now.” The old doc shook his head and sent him a scornful glance. “You better rethink this boy, and get while the gettin’ is good. You don’t know the abomination you have brought upon yourself.”
“I love her,” Lee said calmly. “As far as abomination, God knows how I feel.”
“Good day, and don’t you be callin’ me no more. You’ve just become white trash to me. And I don’t serve white trash. You go to those city docs, don’t be comin’ round me.” The old man walked out of the house as Joe came into the room.
“Doc gone?” Joe asked.
“Yeah…he’s gone.” Lee firmed his lips. “How’s Hattie?”
“She’s sleepin’. How about you? How’d you make out?” Joe wanted to know.
“It was Tor. I found him; followed the blood trail. We fought and then I took him to town to the Sheriff,” Lee said dully.
“Well, for someone who got his man, you don’t act too happy. What’s wrong?” Joe asked.
“The doc, that’s what’s wrong.”
“That old man? Now what happened?” Joe asked, narrowing his gaze on Lee with questions.
“Hattie’s pregnant.”
Joe sat still for a minute, soaking in that news. He nodded. “Well, I guess that was bound to happen sooner or later, the way you two been goin’ at it. But…I take it you ain’t happy about it?”
Lee paced the kitchen, then turned a chair and straddled it, looking straight at Joe. “You’re wrong, I’m thrilled to be havin’ a baby with that woman I love so much. But…he thought it was your baby.”
“Mine?”
“Yeah…and I told him it wasn’t that, it was mine. He got all upset and left; he won’t be back.”
“Well sir, we don’t need him. We sure don’t. I’m sorry, Lee. I guess he put a real damper on your celebration.”
Lee felt tears stream down his face as he stood up. “I guess it’s hard to accept…people like that. But…Joe…I love her, Joe. I’ve always loved her. I can’t stop. She’s all I ever wanted for myself. And now we gotta baby comin’…I’m so proud I could shout it to the whole world. She’s havin’ my baby!”
Joe stood up and put his arm around Lee’s shoulder. “Don’t go thinkin’ I’m goin’ soft. But I guess I do have my moments. I never had no kids. Always wanted some. But you …and Dil…well sir, you’re the closest I’ve ever come. You do what’s in your heart, boy. People…well, people gonna talk and disapprove and call you names, especially here. But we’re goin’ to Texas…ain’t we?” Joe asked.
Lee glanced up at him, and felt his heart melt at Joe’s words. “Yes sir, we are. As soon as she can travel. So we’d best get to packin’ up. And Joe…you are a part of my family, always have been and always will be.”
Joe smiled slowly and nodded. “Yes sir, we gots to pack up. Does…does she know yet?”
“I don’t know…” Lee looked a little stunned. “We’ll tell her…”
“Yes sir, we will.”
Hattie slept ‘til the next morning and Lee didn’t have the heart to wake her. He knew she’d be in some pain and he didn’t want to see her hurt. He stared down at her that night and prayed to God. “Please take care of her. I love her so.”
The next morning, Joe and Lee fixed breakfast. The kids all gathered around the table. “Can we help, daddy?” Violet asked.
“You bet you can. Set the table, honey.”
Violet set about fixing the table while Lily and Daisy got the butter and syrup on the table as Joe was making flapjacks. The kids watched him because when he flipped them, he flipped them high in the air. The girls all giggled as he caught them with the pan.
As they all sat down, Lee smiled at them. “Want you all to know something.”
Sam came in from feedin’ the chickens.
“Come on in, Sam, want you to hear this too,” Lee called him to the table.
Sam washed his hands and came to the table.
“I got sort of an announcement. You see…we’re going to have a little one in the family.”
Lily and Daisy stared at him wide-eyed. Violet looked at him. “Littler than me?”
“Yes, you see Mama’s gonna have a baby.”
Sam sat very still then turned his head toward him. “Your baby?”
“Yes Sam, my baby. Our baby. Our family is growin’ already.” Lee stared into his eyes.
“This just sorta makes us a real family. Ties us together. Strengthens us, don’t you see?”
“You mean that, don’t you?” Sam frowned.
“With all my heart.”
Sam stared long and hard and then slowly extended his hand. “Then I guess I’m gonna be an uncle again, huh?”
“You are.” Lee smiled.
“And you girls are gonna have a brother or a sister…”
“I love babies!” Lily smiled.
“Does Mama know?” Violet asked.
“I’m not sure, honey. But I’m gonna tell her, when she wakes up,” Lee said.
“Tell me what?” Hattie asked as she came through the kitchen, her arm wrapped up and moving about slowly.
“We’re gonna have a baby, Mama…” Daisy burst out.
Hattie stood very still, glancing at each one at the table. When she landed on Lee, she stopped… “So that’s what it was…?” She looked at him, as though waiting for some reaction from him.
When he didn’t smile, didn’t say anything, she gripped a chair. “Well…what do you know?”
All of a sudden, Lee stood up, came up to her, picked her up in his arm and whirled her around the room, gently so he didn’t hurt her shoulder. “Yes darlin’, we’re gonna have a baby. And I’m so happy I’m about to burst.”
/> When his lips came down on hers in front of everyone, the kids giggled and Joe laughed aloud. “Yes sir, we’re havin’ a baby!”
Sam stood up and smiled at his sister. “Yep, and we got to get packin’. We’re goin’ to Texas.”
Chapter Fifteen
Hattie mended well and was up doing immediately. Everyone began to pack the house up and the wagon that Lee bought was full.
As they began to pull out of the yard for the last time, Lee looked about the land.
“Do you hate leaving it, Lee?” Hattie asked from the seat of the wagon.
“No, not at all. I look around here and I think what it was that even brought me home. It wasn’t the land. It was a hope.” He turned to look at her as he checked the horses.
“A hope?”
“Yeah, that you and Sam and Gloria had come out here. Hope that we could pull together to make a home out of it, like it once was.” Lee looked about the land and nodded. “We made it a home, Hattie, but not our home. Now we’re gonna make our home. And that’s our dream.”
“I never looked at it that way, but you are right. We are gonna make our home now. And it will be a happy home.” She smiled.
Joe and Sam came up to Lee with their horses. “Let’s get out of here.”
But there was one more stop that had to be made. Mr. Jeffries had picked up the deed and he could now pick up the money and leave.
As he stopped off in town, he came out of the bank with the money and there stood ole man Jeffries.
“You tricked me! You killed my son, and tricked me with this…deed. I want, no…I demand satisfaction,” Jeffries said.
He knew. He knew about the water and mineral rights. Lee had hoped they would be long gone before he found out. But there was one more thing to settle.
“Mr. Jeffries, I never promised the rights to you. Not once. You never asked. It was a deal. You agreed. You have the deed. It’s legal,” Lee said, giving the money to Hattie.
He turned around and faced Jeffries, who stood in the middle of the street. He adjusted his gun and stared at him. “I demand satisfaction.”
“Don’t do this, please. I’d like to leave peacefully.” Lee squared his legs as he readied himself for the inevitable.
“You Nelson’s have been a bur under my saddle too long. First your folks, then you and Dil, now that black woman you got there you’re beddin’. Ain’t no secrets. We all know why you are leavin’.”
“I’m leaving to make a better home, for my family,” Lee corrected.
“It’s best you do leave. We don’t want white trash like you around here. That is if you can live through this…” And he pulled his gun.
The dust flew, Hattie stood up and cried out, and Jeffries lay on the ground, his leg hit.
He lifted his gun to shoot again and Lee hit the other leg.
“I’ll kill you, you son-of-a-bitch,” Jeffries cried out.
“Don’t do this…” Lee ground out with all his might.
But Jeffries didn’t listen and he shot his gun off again. He missed again, and Lee shook his head. “That’s it, old man. Alabama is history to me…”
And he mounted the seat and whipped at the horses and took off, with half the town coming out in the street to see what was happening. They all stared at Lee and his family. Hattie pulled her wrap closer and Joe shook his head. Lee ignored them all.
The trip to Texas would be laden with hardships and hazards but it was a new home, full of hope and love and Lee knew they would be better off there.
“When you get tired, I want you to go lay down in the wagon and Joe or Sam will come help up here, you hear me?” Lee instructed her.
“Yes, I will. Stop frettin’, I’m gonna have a baby, not die…” she cried.
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll try.”
As they left Alabama, a big storm came up and Lee made everyone get in the wagon. Him and Joe sat in the wagon seat taking turns driving the horses. Getting bogged down in the mud, they lost a wheel and had to camp there for the night.
The next day, Lee and Joe tried to fix the wheel, but they needed a part that had broken off and fallen down the trail. Lee grimaced. “I’ll ride into the nearest town and get this fixed. Let’s pull the wagon under that tree over there and ya’ll stay here ‘til I can get back.”
“Want me to go along?” Joe asked.
“Nope, I should be back before nightfall,” Lee instructed.
Lee rode toward the north. Seeing smoke, he figured he was close to civilization, but it was just a farmhouse. He stopped by the corral where a man was mending a gate.
“Can I help you, friend?” the man asked as he looked up from his task.
“Maybe you can. I gotta wagon wheel here that needs mendin’,” Lee said.
“Well, let me take a look at it, neighbor.” The man smiled.
Lee glanced at the man, a tall lean man with a long beard. He wasn’t as old as his beard made him look though, Lee decided, as he looked into a pair of bright brown eyes.
“I can fix this for ya.” The man chuckled. “Have some water.”
Lee nodded and looked about: a woman stood on the porch in a long dress with a bonnet on her head. She had a wrap around her as the air was chilly this morning. Lee went to the well and brought up a pail of water. Sipping it, he noticed the kids. They were dressed much like the woman and Lee deduced they were of a religious cult. It mattered little to him, as he merely needed his wheel fixed and the man had been so helpful, he certainly wouldn’t be casting any stones.
“Where’s your wagon?” the man asked as he pounded out the metal on the wheel so it wouldn’t warp.
“Down the road apiece; left my folks under a tree…” he said, sipping the water and putting it back at the well bucket.
“You should bring them in. We’re having a bout of storm around the place. It might not be too safe. Lightning hits trees and causes fires about.”
“Well, if we get the wheel fixed, we’ll be movin’ on real quick like.”
“Where ya headed?” the man asked.
“Texas. Well, actually, the Red River…”
The man looked up. “Been travelin’ long?”
“Just came up out of Alabama,” Lee informed him.
The man stopped his hammering and stared up at Lee. “Well my name is Jonah, and that woman on the porch is my wife, Sarah. We’d be pleased to have you sup with us. But of course, if you have something against the Amish we’d understand.”
Lee studied the man for a moment then smiled. “Amish, well, no, I have nothing whatsoever against the Amish, but…I should explain, my wife…is black sir, and if that bothers you I would like to know it now…”
“All people in our belief are the same, equal in every way. You may bring your family for supper if you like; we’ll be eating in a couple of hours. We go to bed early as we rise early. If you would like to stay ‘til morning you are welcome.”
“Thank you…it would be nice. As my wife is expecting.”
“Then bring her, and let her sleep in comfort.”
Lee rode back to the wagon to tell everyone.
“Did you get the wheel fixed?” Hattie asked.
“It’s being fixed, yes, and we’ve been invited to stay with the people, as there is a storm coming up again.”
“That’s right nice of them,” Joe said.
Lee nodded but added, “Yes, well, these people are Amish.”
“Amish?” Hattie questioned.
“It’s their religion. They are very simple people, religious people. And they think we are married,” Lee explained.
“Did you tell them that?” Hattie asked.
“Sort of, yeah. So, if you don’t mind, just go along with it. We’ll only be there a night and I didn’t want to stir up any trouble. They welcome any people so it’s not like they judge us. But I thought it better to say we are married.”
“Alright. It’s only for a night, as you say.”
So, Lee led the way to the Amish farm whe
re Jonah was fixing the wheel. He introduced them to his family and the woman Sarah came to invite Hattie and the children inside.
The meal Sarah fixed was very special to Hattie; everything was made from fresh produce and milked cows. She even had a fruit pie for them to enjoy. The woman was uncommonly kind, although she didn’t speak much.
As they finished, Hattie offered to help with the dishes, but the woman explained her children would see to it. As they helped their children with their homework from the local school, Hattie and Lee took a stroll around the place.
“I’ve never seen such a pretty place in my life, nor been treated so sweetly by a white woman. These are very special people, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are. I was hoping you would see this too. The wheel is already on the wagon. I offered the man pay, but he wouldn’t take it.”
“I’m so glad we are leaving Alabama behind and going to Texas,” Hattie cried, clinging to Lee.
“Oh. Why?”
“Because we are getting to see what the rest of the country is all about. It’s like an education for the children. I’m so happy, Lee,” Hattie cried.
“It’s just the beginning honey, you will see,” Lee assured her.
As they returned to the cabin, they heard Jonah reading a story from the Bible and they saw Lily, Daisy, and Violet curled up close to the Amish children to listen. Then they were all sent to bed and tucked in with love.
That night, Lee and Hattie lay in a bed holding each other close and dreaming of their future together in Texas.
The weather turned colder as they headed out the next morning. The children were sad to leave their new friends.
Joe made mention of Jonah and Sarah the next night when they made camp. “I never seen such gentle, quiet people. At first, I thought they was unfriendly because they didn’t speak much, but I soon realized it was just their way. They sure do work hard. They were all up before we got started to leave.”
“Can we come back someday, daddy?” Lily asked.
“Maybe…someday.” Lee smiled. “Now get some rest, we have a long day of travelin’ tomorrow.”
Mississippi was another state torn by the war and they witnessed the Chickasaws and Chocktaws along the way. The kids were especially curious about homes their funny shaped homes called Wattle houses, and they were greeted by them with a “Chokma.”
Just One Kiss (The Dream Catcher Series-Book Two) Page 19