“I been fornicating, Jesus, and I needs forgiveness.”
Brother Carver was shocked but he kept on blessing poor Katie.
Mags was right. He looked over at her and her eyes met his. How would he let her know that she was right and he should have listened to her?
Katie blubbered on. “I got a baby in me, God, and I don’t know what to do.”
Mags stood then and moved forward to help Katie away. However, she was not the only one. The lawmen came forward and shoved Mags to the side to get to Katie before Mags could.
Asa was up on his cane and at Mags’s side to help her up. “I’m fine. Help Katie.”
Everyone watched as the lawmen each took one of Katie’s arms and dragged her up the aisle, kicking and screaming.
The lawmen ignored the shouted protests of Brother Carver and Sister Jane as they boldly hauled Katie away. However, they went down the wrong aisle. Asa followed them as fast as he could, shouting, “Where are you taking her? This is a worship, and she should not be hauled away.”
“Mind your own business. This girl is causing a public disturbance”
“I cannot let you do that in God’s house.”
They stopped because Katie quieted and the sheriff threw her arm off in the red dirt. “See, she’s quiet now. Let the service go on.”
“I don’t like you, boy,” the sheriff growled. “You been getting into business that you shouldn’t be getting into.”
Asa caught up to the two lawmen, helping Katie to her feet. “If someone is coming into God’s house and trying to arrest someone, that makes it my business, and I’m going to say something about it.”
“Move out of my way ’fore I shoot your other leg. Then you won’t have any good leg to stand on.”
That struck the sheriff as funny and he and his friend laughed.
All of Asa’s anger charged up his arms and he reacted in the way he should have when the sergeant shot off his leg.
He reached out and punched the sheriff right on the jaw.
Chapter Fifteen
Forever after, Mags always regretted that she didn’t stand to help Katie when she first started babbling. She could clearly see that the Carvers were a bit stunned by Katie’s ensuing revelations and Margaret was her friend, or at least she thought she was.
She was too angry at Katie’s betrayal and had sought to stay away from her for as long as possible. She felt pride—that terrible sin—at the fact that she had kept away from Katie when she admitted in front of God and the revival crowd that she had been impure. Her sinning, willingly, with Paul Winslow had resulted in a baby. It all seemed to be too much to take in.
She should have felt compassion. She had hoped people would feel the same toward her sister when she had been attacked and had a child. People didn’t. They judged. And now, when her supposed friend had fallen in the same desperate way as Ruby, she stood back and judged.
Because of her pride and judgment, chaos ensued at the revival.
First, when those lawmen came forward and started dragging Katie off, that confirmed everything she suspected. Katie was in the pay of Paul Winslow. She had been his lover and had betrayed Mags. When her friend was dragged off, she didn’t feel compelled to stop it—she felt pride that her friend should be publicly humiliated.
Her stomach twisted into a knot when Asa confronted those men. They had guns. That was when she stood. She knew that she loved him and didn’t want him to come to a bad turn. He stood his ground and Mags was shocked to see his attack on the sheriff. Secretly, she was thrilled, because someone should have attacked Winslow’s sheriff years ago, but at the same time she was horrified because Asa was putting his life into deep, deep jeopardy. Men had been lynched for far less.
“Asa!” she shouted and in the scuffle, several gunshots went off. The fear of the crowd increased and all of a sudden, crowds of people came between her and Asa and she clawed and fought her way to get back to him. She had to see if he was hurt. Since she was tall, Asa was about to find her and fought his way to her through the panicked crowd that rushed out of the tent.
“Are you alright?” she said, but even when it was halfway out of her mouth, she could see that he was. Thank you God.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Asa shouted above the loud horrified roars of the people. He grasped her hand and she briefly reveled in its warmth and strength.
Her heart jump started when she thought of her family. She turned around and was relieved to see her sisters heading for the side of the tent and her mother and father following them, her father shielding her mother. Thank God. They were alright.
Asa and Mags headed up front to where the Carvers were standing, the only ones not panicked.
“We’ve got to get out,” Asa repeated to them and she could see the reluctance of Brother Carver and Sister Jane to leave.
“Someone done been shot back there,” Brother Carver craned his neck to see.
“It’s Katie. They shot her,” Asa said. “We’ve got to get out. There’s nothing more that can be done for her.”
Something evil twisted inside of her at this revelation. Her friend was dead? Gone? How had things turned upside down so quickly? All at once, she saw the one lawman heading for them, trying to get to Asa through the crowd. She grabbed at Sister Jane’s hand with her other free hand and pulled. They followed him through the crowd and went outside to where the car was. He started the car and gestured to her. She hopped into the passenger side of the car.
John Bledsoe came up to them with a panicked expression. “You got to get out of this county, the law will be after you.”
“I’m not afraid,” Asa said resolutely.
“They’ll kill you,” Mags shouted. “They’ll lynch you.”
“Guess I’ll have the inside story then.”
“Go!” John smacked the car and Asa pulled the car off.
She knew she shouldn’t but she needed to see where those horrible lawmen were. The crowd had surrounded the car and the deputies weren’t able to get out as quickly as they might have wanted to. They both struggled to get into their car in order to chase Mags and Asa down. “Leave the car at the house, so Paul Winslow can get it. You don’t need to owe him a thing,” Mags directed. “We can hide in the woods. I’ll show you where.”
“You’ll stay at the house. I’ll hide in the woods.”
“I’m coming with you, Asa. You cannot stop me from coming with you,” Mags looked at him. “I owe you.” She wanted to say, I love you, but she didn’t know how he would take it.
Thank God the crowd had given them a head start. Those fool lawmen would have made it faster down here if they just ran, but they were too stupid to realize. She ran into the kitchen and packed a rucksack full of cold biscuits and some leftover sweet potatoes. She ran back out to Asa. “We have to go on foot.”
“I can do it. Let’s go.”
Getting to the pond was a much tougher job in the dark than when they went fishing in the first of the morning. However, she had gone there so often, she knew the way. They could stay at the old parsonage, where Reverend Dodge used to live, before the new pastor had come and wanted something better for his wife and family in town.
The inside of the parsonage was very dark, but she knew where the church’s stores of kerosene were kept. She retrieved a lamp and brought it back to the parsonage where Asa waited. She put the lamp down in a corner and laid a small blanket on the floor.
Asa had retrieved some wood from the woodpile and tried to start a fire in the fireplace. She took some of the kerosene to help him and soon, there was a fire in the fireplace. Maybe it wasn’t a necessity in July, but it made her feel better. Asa sat himself on the blanket and she sat beside him. Now that they were able to stop and breathe, all of her sensible aspect went away from her and she shook uncontrollably at what had just happened.
Asa a
ttacked the sheriff. Even if he had pushed on him, Paul Winslow and his henchmen would not stop until they came to get him.
“Stop. Look, I need to tell you some things before they come for me. I want you to go home where it is safe,” Asa said in a calm voice, reaching over to pull her to him. Her trembling in this terrifying moment allowed her into his arms willingly.
“Mags, you know that they’ll come for me. I don’t want you to be here when they do. I wanted to tell you that my notebook with all of my research is under the front seat of the car. I want you to get it and take it up north to Ruby. Now, today, as soon as you possibly can. The investigation notes need to stay safe. This thing is bigger than me, and we’ve got to make sure that other people know what is going on down here.”
She held on to his boiled shirt just a little bit more. She was happy to feel his broad chest against hers, and their hearts beating in time together. He felt so safe and secure. She didn’t want to give up this feeling for anything. Pulling back, she touched his face. He touched her cheek as well and she put her lips to his and they kissed, freely, holding nothing back. They were kissing each other desperately, as if it were their last kiss, which it might have been.
When they parted, he grabbed her shoulders, and gave her a sad half-smile. “You probably should leave now Mags. You’ll be in bigger danger if you stay here in my arms than in facing some lynch mob.”
Mags wanted to shout at him for joking and that she didn’t care. She could give herself to him right there on Dodge’s unswept floor if he would have her. Then, she took her own shaky breath and realized what he was saying was wise. She was endangering her own life, as well as her virtue, if she stayed with him.
“The first train out doesn’t leave for a few hours. At about seven in the morning.”
“That’s fine. Go to the mill house until the train comes. I’m afraid that they’ll be after your family until they know where I am and then they’ll be after you.”
He was right. Taking in a horrified breath she realized that her family was vulnerable to questioning. She had to get back to the farm to make sure that they were all right. Asa drew a key out from his pocket and handed it to her. As he did, his pant leg hitched up and she could see the false leg, just a little bit. He could see that she could see his leg and he made a move to grasp his knife sharp cuff and pull the pant leg down a bit. Mags touched his hand and stayed it.
“No, don’t,” she said. “Let me see it.”
He started to open his mouth in protest, but then he let go of the cuff. Mags traced her hand down cuff to the edge of the pant and kneeling in front of the leg, she slowly lifted the pant leg up, surprised to see that the fake leg was brown, and almost matched Asa’s skin tone. It was not wooden as she thought.
“It is made of something called Bakelite. It’s thought to have more give than wood.”
She continued to pull his pant leg up and saw where the Bakelite leg ended and where the stump of his real leg began, wrapped in bandages. “Do the bandages keep it from hurting?”
“That’s what they are meant to do. It doesn’t always work that well.” He smiled ruefully.
She touched the bandaged part of his leg, and she heard him take in his breath sharply. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t hurt. Not anymore. It is just that…no one has ever touched it before.”
“No one?”
“Besides doctors.”
“Not even your mother or sisters?”
Asa smiled and his eyes betrayed a sadness there that she had not seen before. “My mother would rather pretend that I’m whole and that there’s nothing wrong with my leg. What she does, my sisters do.”
Mags touched the bandaged part again and stroked it lovingly. She patted it and pulled his pants leg down again over the leg. She sat back on her haunches and looked at him in the dim light. “You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”
She could see that he was about to deny that he was ashamed. But he couldn’t. “I’m not a whole man, Mags. Forget me.”
She took him by the shoulders. “I’m never ever, ever going to abandon you. Not because of your leg. Not for anything. I want to stay with you.”
“I won’t have it. You must be safe.”
“They got to Travis. I won’t let them take someone that I love again.” Asa put a hand on her arm and drew her closer to him once more. They kissed again and he could feel her tremble as she pulled back from him.
“Your lips are so sweet,” Asa said. “If I could, I would kiss you over and over again.”
“And you’ll have the chance to.” She stood up on her shaky legs. “Once we’re married.”
“I cannot marry you. You need a whole man who will take care of you.”
“I can take care of me. You avenged me and Katie tonight. That has to count for something.” His face was a puzzle, mulling it all over. Once again, she was purposeful. “I’m going to go into town and get train tickets for us.”
“Leave mine at the train window. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it.”
“No!” Mags knelt down and kissed him again. “You will because I say it. We must pray to God.” She stopped and bowed her head. When she looked up, she could see that Asa was looking at her, not praying.
“How can I go wrong with such a precious Pearl praying for me?”
Mags lowered her head. “I have to confess that I do like that name better.”
“Then it’s what I’ll call you, from now on. And no more Mr. Thomas from you.”
“I love you, Asa,” Mags said, and she was surprised at how easily it came to her lips now when their lives were on the line.
“And I love you, my Pearl. Now go and stay safe. See that the research notes are kept safe.”
“I will.” She slipped out into the night away from his warmth. Hearing nothing, she started back through the woods to the farm, feeling hot tears slip down her cheeks. God, please, please, please keep him safe. It isn’t fair that something should happen to him, and to love for me now, once again, once it is so close. Please look out for us. Please.
A glow reached her through the woods, as she got closer to the farm. Had God heard her prayer? Maybe it was too late. With her heart pounding, she peered through the trees, and saw them. Night riders. In the front yard of the peaceful Bledsoe farm, they burned a cross in the clear front yard of her beloved family’s farm.
Asa was filled with fear, not for the lynch mob to come, but over Mags. Was it right to tell her to go back into the woods to her family? They may have caught up with her there.
Time went by, and he even was able to nap a little, but no one came. His dreams were full of visions of dogs hunting him down and a lynch mob coming to get him. Still, when none of those things happened, rather than feeling secure in his safety, he felt fear.
Within a few hours though, that felt like days, he determined the best course of action was to turn himself in. No more fear like this. It was too much tension. He would rather just hand himself over and face his punishment, whatever it would be.
And he felt better about it now than he felt when he was in bed, ready to use the contraband gun on himself. He had lived and he had helped a worthy young lady to learn about love. He had left a legacy and Mags would see to it his reporting would reach the world.
Emerging from the parsonage, he ate some of the food that Mags had bought in the rucksack and stored it up on a high shelf where it was before. Pulling up his suspenders, he went in search of some fresh water to drink from the creek. The freshness of the water made him feel revitalized, and he splashed some on his face when the sound of a car engine reached him.
His first inclination was to run, but he knew that he wasn’t going to go anywhere. He was ready to face his punishment. He stood and turned to face the oncoming car. It was Bob, the chauffeur for the Winslo
ws, and Paul Winslow was in the back of the car.
“I was worried about you. ’Fraid you might not report to work this morning.” Paul Winslow alighted from the car, settling his bulk just so.
“I’m fine.”
“Said you caused a bit of a ruckus at the revival last night. I said, I couldn’t believe that my manager would do that. He’s a good one, he is, but no, they said it was you what attacked an officer of the law and then ran off.”
“I did it,” he said not sure if this confession would incriminate him. He didn’t care.
“That’s a shame,” Paul Winslow nodded his head. “We had worked so well together. Well. Clearly, you cannot stay around here. I cannot have Negroes of any stripe, not even ones with college degrees going around and punching lawmen.”
He stepped closer to his boss. “They were torturing a lady. A young lady of your acquaintance. I had to stop them.”
Paul Winslow reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a large wallet. “Katie? She’s no lady. No, if this whole thing was over Katie, then that makes it even more tragic.”
“She was a good worker for you. She did what she was told.”
Paul Winslow thought about this. “True. That’s one reason why I am going to miss that girl. She did what she was told to do. She wasn’t no rebel like that Mags. I have put up with enough from that girl. Been getting the wrong ideas lately. I don’t know who is to blame, but I want my obedient Negroes back. That’s why I’m giving you all of your pay and telling you to get out of my town within twenty-four hours. If you don’t, then I’ll let my boys have you. And they are some kind of mad at you. Don’t know what they’ll do. You better not be around to find out.” Paul Winslow held out some money.
Taking the money as his final pay, he said, “Your car is at the Bledsoe house.”
“Yes, I’ll get it from there,” Paul Winslow said. Asa’s face registered surprise as he continued. “You know, the boys were at the Bledsoe farm last night. I told them that since they couldn’t find you, that they should pay the Bledsoes a visit. All cause of you. Those are some good people.”
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