From behind her, Miss Lydee finished the packing and told her she’d take the valise downstairs. The knot in Juliette’s throat made a reply impossible, but she lifted her hand in acknowledgement. Finding another sheet of paper, she wrote her appreciation to Carianne and Rhyan. To Deck for caring for the boys. To Effie, Harriet, and Maria, Katherine and Maggie. And special thanks to Mrs. Darlington for helping Annie, making it easier for Juliette to leave her in good hands.
Before she finished, Mrs. Darlington came into the room. “Miss Kendal, I heard you were leaving.” Her tone indicated she’d been told why. “Please come by my room and say good-bye to Annie.”
Juliette swiveled around. “I’ll be there in a moment.” She addressed two envelopes, one to the Casons and one to Jake. Before folding the letters, she added, “Please forgive,” stuffed them in the appropriate envelopes. Then she kissed the locket and slipped it into the envelope addressed to Jake.
Shaking the regrets crowding her mind, she took both letters and fled the room.
Finding Mrs. Darlington’s door open, Juliette entered without announcing herself. The nurse and Annie sat at her desk, and they got to their feet and came toward her. “Mrs. Darlington, would you deliver these letters when Jake and Mr. and Mrs. Cason return?”
Mrs. Darlington took the envelopes and slipped them in her apron pocket. “Of course. Do you wish to speak to Annie alone?”
“No, I really don’t have much time.” She pressed her hands to Annie’s cheeks. Fear already shone in her sister’s eyes, and Juliette forced a wide smile, hoping to reassure her. “Annie, I have to go back to Georgia for a…for a while to…to take care of some business. Mrs. Darlington and Harriet will take good care of you.”
Annie shook her head so violently her braids swung back and forth. She darted a wild look around the room and dashed back to the desk, returning with a slate and chalk.
Juliette waited as Annie wrote.
Annie thrust the slate at her and Juliette read, “I go with you.”
Juliette handed the slate to Mrs. Darlington and took the girl in her arms. “No, dear, there isn’t time for the arrangements. Besides, Thad and Corky will be here working, and I’ll return as soon as I can.”
Annie held on, her arms like a vise around Juliette’s waist. “Besides,” she whispered in Annie’s ear. “It would break little Davy’s heart if you leave.”
That did it. Annie loosened her hold, though tears welled in her eyes.
“The train is waiting, dearie, but I’ll write.” She kissed Annie’s forehead and turned while she still could.
Mrs. Darlington followed her to the door. “We’ll take care of Annie, Miss Kendal, but this will likely set her back.” The normally stoic woman touched Juliette’s arm. “Please know I’ll be praying for you.”
***
Juliette, along with Miss Lydee and the lawmen piled into the yard. She shaded her eyes with her hand, gazing into the wide expanse of sky, maybe for the last time. The clouds had gathered in cotton candy masses, and the sun beat at full strength. A coach with a team of four stood in the circular drive.
She waited for Miss Lydee to be seated and gathered her skirt to follow when her brother’s voice stopped her. “Wait, Juliette.”
Thad came at a trot around the corner of the portico. The sheriffs hadn’t given her time to bid Thad good-bye. Someone must have told him.
When he reached her, huffing, she grabbed him in a hug. “You take care of Annie and Corky while I’m gone.”
“I’m going with you.”
She noticed the carpetbag in his hand. “That’s not possible, Thad. You have your job.” She put on a brave smile for his sake. “I’ll be fine.”
“I told Deck, and I am going.”
“We don’t have a train ticket for you, son,” Sheriff Vaughn said from the driver’s seat.
Miss Lydee stuck her head out. “We can purchase another ticket. He can stay with us Sister and me. Naturally, he wouldn’t want you to go on this journey alone, Juliette. Come on in, Thad, you can sit by Sheriff Greer.”
Juliette would rather Thad stay here. There were circumstances he was better off not knowing. But the matter was out of her hands.
The coach was just pulling away, when Arabella came toward them waving her hands. She looked up at Sheriff Vaughn, her face showing all the signs of a mad woman. “What’s the meaning of this? Maria told me you were taking Juliette away.”
“That’s right, ma’am.”
Juliette stuck her head out the window. “I’m sorry, Arabella. I didn’t have time to let you know.”
Arabella shaded her eyes with her hand, still staring the sheriff down. “How dare you come into our house and take one of our guests away without any warning. If my son were here, you wouldn’t get away with that.”
“I didn’t have a choice, Mrs. Cason,” Sheriff Vaughn said. “The sheriff from Georgia had an arrest warrant. We got to be going, ma’am.”
“Arrested for what?”
Sheriff Greer answered her. “Premeditated murder.”
Chapter 23
The rusty cell door slammed shut, making Juliette jump. The first thing she noticed was the smell. She pulled a cotton handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it to her nose to keep from gagging.
Sheriff Greer cleared his throat. “I’ll be back to get you when your lawyer gets here, Miss Kendal. Miss Lydee and Miss Maybelle will…take care of your needs.”
After her eyes adjusted to the dark place, Juliette swept a glance around the surprisingly spacious cell. It was obviously designed to hold more than one inmate, as most of the floor space was taken up with two cots and two rolled up bedrolls. In the corner was a small table and a wooden chair. And a slop bucket.
Overall, not a bad setup for prisoners.
“Juliette.” Miss Lydee’s voice made her swing around. “You remember Sister?”
Miss Maybelle, the sister, standing a couple of inches taller than Miss Lydee, and carrying a few less pounds, shot a bony hand through the bars. “Wish it could be under better circumstances, Miss Juliette, but we’ll try to make your stay a pleasant one.” She made it sound like this was Abbeville’s best rooming establishment.
Juliette smiled into Miss Maybelle’s eyes, the same dancing brown as her sister’s. “Indeed, I remember you.”
“We just wanted to let you know we have Thad settled down. We’ve given you the room next door to his. You’ll find your luggage there. As soon as the sheriff leaves for the day, we’ll come and get you for supper.”
It sounded like she was to be let out for supper—a good thing, since she didn’t think she could eat a bite in this stinking place. But what did she mean, given her the room next door?
Miss Lydee piped in. “Don’t sit on either of the cots or the bedrolls.” She dipped her head, and sent a knowing gaze from under her lashes. “Bedbugs and fleas.”
“Oh—where will I sleep?”
Miss Maybelle chuckled. “In your room upstairs, of course.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “We’ll bring you back here after breakfast, before the sheriff comes in.”
“Is that against the rules?”
“Only for inmates we can’t trust—and drunks. We can’t abide drunks, even if they are female.”
Miss Maybelle nodded. “Just play along with our little game. Sheriff Greer turns a blind eye to our doings, but he’d get in trouble if anyone found out he was letting us bend the rules.”
“So you’ll have to stay in the cell while the sheriff is here, I’m afraid,” Miss Lydee added. “But we’ll try to clean it up a bit. Get some of the stench out.”
Miss Maybelle fanned the air like that could clear the smell. “It’s a shame a man isn’t incarcerated, then we’d have to make accommodations for you.”
“That’s the truth. Any other time we’d have all sorts of lawbreakers crammed in here.” Miss Lydee pressed a finger in her cheek. “I wonder if we could get some man drunk enough to be disorderly. It shouldn’t be
too difficult.”
“Sister!” Miss Maybelle’s grin belied her outrage.
Juliette couldn’t help but laugh. Then she couldn’t stop. She knew the sisters were just jawing, as Pa used to say, but it released her pent-up nerves. Grabbing her stomach, she bent over in hysterical giggles.
Miss Lydee reached through the bars and patted her on the back. “Oh, no one we know.” Her tone was serious enough for Juliette to regain control.
She straightened and smiled. “You’re both angels in disguise, but I don’t want you to get in any trouble.”
“Don’t worry about us, dear, and don’t worry about the trial, either,” Miss Lydee said. “Your lawyer will have that fancy prosecutor they’re sending down here running in circles.”
A fancy prosecutor? Juliette wanted to know more, but she supposed her lawyer would tell her.
“Oh, my, yes,” Miss Maybelle rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Matthew Ward is a genius and so handsome. If we were only twenty years younger.”
“Sister!” It was Miss Lydee’s turn to feign outrage, and it was just as easy to see through. “He’s married. It’s the prosecutor who’s single.”
Miss Maybelle shrugged her thin shoulders. “And no wonder. He thinks the sun comes up so he can crow.”
Miss Lydee gave her sister a playful push and turned back to wink at Juliette. “We’ll be back directly with a bucket and mop. Just don’t touch those beds.”
They took what little comfort Juliette would find in this place. She lifted the hem of her dress to blot the sweat on her brow, nothing else being available. She wished she’d asked the ladies for her valise. But was that even allowed? Her experience with jails was limited to what she’d read in books.
Books. She’d need something to read to pass the time, though reading in the dim light would probably ruin her eyesight.
The creak of the outside door startled her.
Sheriff Greer huffed in and unlocked the cell door. “Your lawyer is here, Miss Kendal. Follow me, if you please.”
She had a notion it didn’t matter whether it pleased her or not, but she was ready to get out into the fresher air.
Matthew Ward got up from the table in the corner of the outer room when she entered. Suitably dressed for the Georgia summer in black trousers, white shirt of fine linen, and silk vest, he was an imposing figure. He was almost as tall as Jake, and she tilted her head, taking his measure.
His curly brown hair fell over a broad forehead and matched his short, well-trimmed beard. His dark, deep-set eyes appeared sympathetic but probing. He missed being handsome by no more than a degree or two.
Sheriff Greer didn’t give any introductions. “I’ll be out on the stoop, when you’ve finished,” he address the lawyer.
She held out a hand and gave Mr. Ward a smile she didn’t feel. “Thank you for representing me. I’ve heard how in demand you are.”
He gave her a warm clasp, just firm enough to show strength as his moustache twitched into a smile. “I do stay busy, Miss Kendal, but your case interested me.”
She waited until he gestured for her to sit to take the ladder-back chair opposite. Papers scattered across the tabletop, and she noticed her two letters. Her lies and her confession. She tapped the first one with her fingertip. “I’m sorry for this. I was…just afraid.”
“I’m going to do my best to win this case, Miss Kendal.” Mr. Ward lifted her second letter. “But I have a few questions to fill out my understanding of what happened. Did you not have any idea your sister, Annie, was being abused by Harp Munson before the day you shot him?”
Her mouth went dry. He’d touched on her most vulnerable guilt. This was a question she’d stewed over every minute of every day since and still had no good answer. She moistened her lips. “Looking back, I realize I should have seen the signs. Annie had always been a fun-loving child who liked teasing her brothers and trying my patience at times. After her mother, Grace, died, she changed into a secretive, morose girl. I thought it was grief.”
“But you didn’t notice how she interacted with her step-father?”
“She didn’t like him—never had. None of us did. Harp beat the boys unnecessarily until I upbraided him for it.”
“Was that before Grace died?”
“Oh, yes. He beat Grace too, although she tried to hide it.”
“But Grace didn’t intervene when he abused the boys?”
“I think she tried to, to divert his attention away from them, and probably got beaten for her efforts. I don’t know that for certain, Mr. Ward. You must understand, I worked every day, leaving the house at seven and not returning until six. I didn’t see a lot that went on, and Grace was good at hiding things. I think she was ashamed she’d married Harp even after I’d begged her not to.”
“How long after your father’s death did Grace marry Harp?”
“Less than a year. I think she thought I objected to her marrying Harp because it would be disloyal to my father, but that wasn’t true. I knew Harp Munson was evil from the first. Oh, he could feign charm, and was good at flattery. I didn’t know why Grace couldn’t see through him.”
Mr. Ward hunched over the table and studied the letter. She scrubbed her perspiring palms over her skirt.
Abruptly, he speared her with a penetrating stare. “Did he ever accost you?”
“Only once, right after Grace died.”
“What happened?”
This was something she’d tried to push out of her memory and digging it up made her close her eyes. “He came in almost drunk…and—” She cleared her throat. “He grabbed me around the waist and tried to kiss me. I pushed him back and plucked the iron poker from the fireplace.” She might as well tell him all. “I told him if he ever touched me again, I’d kill him.”
“And he backed down?”
“He seemed stunned at first. I told him, furthermore, if he ever beat the boys or Annie, I’d kill him. I might have to bide my time until he was drunk or asleep or his back turned, but I’d kill him. Yes, he backed down, and he stopped beating the boys.”
“What about Annie?”
She rested her arms on the table, palms up. “He showed Annie great favor, bringing her gifts and candy, making the boys jealous.” She stared at her hands. “I should have seen what he was doing.” Hot tears gushed before she could forestall them. “I thought he was just trying to provoke me.”
Mr. Ward pulled out a linen handkerchief, like he kept it for weeping clients, and gave it to her. “Yes, hindsight is so clear. Did anyone else hear you threaten Munson with those words, that you’d kill him when his back was turned?”
“Thad did. Actually, I told all of them if Harp harmed them to let me know, that I’d promised to kill him.” She suddenly realized how that would sound to a jury. “That doesn’t have to come out in the trial, does it?”
“It doesn’t have to, but it likely will. We’ll present you as a very sympathetic defendant, Miss Kendal, but the prosecutor will do his best to tear your character down. Before we meet again, I’d like for you to consider anything else that could be used against you.”
The anguish must have shown on her face because his smile encouraged her. Then he pulled her into deeper waters. “Let’s go to the day you shot Harp Munson. You were working in your kitchen garden, is that right?”
Why was he going over all this? She’d explained in the letter. “Yes. Corky had sown my tomato seeds too close to the house, in a place that didn’t get enough sun. The plants were almost ready to bloom, so I knew I’d have to transplant them before then. There was a piece of soft dirt in direct sunlight further back, and I was digging it up. I’d already dug up the plants, but since they were so mature, I knew they’d have to be planted deep.”
“And that took you awhile, I expect.”
“Yes. I’d been working out there for at least an hour before—”
Mr. Ward referred to her letter. “Then you heard Annie scream?”
When she nodded, he prodded. �
�And you immediately thought she was in danger and grabbed your gun. Why? For all you knew, she could have been frightened by a mouse.”
“I saw Harp’s horse tied up at the side of the house and knew he was back.”
“But why did you think he caused Annie harm? You said he showed her favor. He’d never beaten her like Grace and the boys.”
She could only stare into his probing eyes. All those doubts she’d tried to avoid seemed to reach out and weave tentacles around her throat, choking her. Tears welled and spilled over. She blotted them with the handkerchief. “I…I don’t know, Mr. Ward. I think I subconsciously did know he was a threat to Annie all along, but I’d looked the other way because—” She blew her nose and straightened her shoulders, knowing she had to be honest with this man if he were to defend her.
“This may be hard for you to understand, Mr. Ward, but sometimes there are some…things…so evil you refuse to accept they may be present. Looking back, I can see that Annie gave plenty of signs. Whenever Harp was expected from a trip to town, she’d disappear into her hiding places—the woods or barn.
“I found one of the presents he’d brought her, a rather nice pendant, thrown away in the bushes. Then she put a lock on her bedroom door, even bought the lock with the money she’d been saving for a new dress.”
“Did you ask her why?”
“She said she didn’t want the boys bothering her.” She sniffed. “I think she was like Grace. She felt the shame so deeply she couldn’t admit the truth. Or maybe she feared I really would kill Harp, and…get into trouble.”
The lawyer stared off into space for long moments, gently tapping the pencil with each tick of the clock.
“Mr. Ward?”
He seemed to awake from a trance. “Oh, pardon me, Miss Kendal. I have a bad habit of lapsing into thought like that. It annoys my wife exceedingly.”
“I understand.”
“Sometimes, Miss Kendal, we forget how subtle Satan can be. He uses fear to make us hide the details of what is really happening, but it’s in those details we find the truth. And the truth is your greatest defense. I want you to think about the details, however painful. Anything you can remember will help our case.”
Escaped (Intrigue Under Western Skies Book 4) Page 20