The Pink Bonnet

by Tolsma, Liz;

  “Well.” The man drew out the word.

  “Do you own a car?”

  “Yes, sir, I most certainly do.” He puffed up at that declaration. “Own three of them, to be exact. When I’m not busy running this place, I like to tinker with the engines. Got one to purring right nice.”

  “I need to borrow it.”

  “Well.” Another drawn-out word.

  Percy reached into his billfold. The stack of cash inside was dwindling fast. But so were their hopes of locating Millie alive and well. He slapped a generous amount of money on the counter.

  The man picked it up and counted it. “Don’t know if’n this’ll cover the gas you’ll use.”

  Percy slapped down another few dollars. “That’s it. I’ll return it to you in the same condition you have it now, and I’ll fill the tank with fuel. I’ll be needing that pink bonnet too.” God, lead us to the girl that belonged to it. Cecile was sure to want it to keep her hope alive or, heaven help her, mourn.

  “Then I reckon you have yourself a deal.”

  The man told him where to find the car and handed Percy the keys and a box. He raced from the building and motioned to R.D. and Cecile.

  He thrust the box at Cecile. “Millie’s bonnet. You’ll want this when we find her.”

  “Oh Percy, thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. Let’s go.”

  They didn’t have a moment to lose.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Swish, swish, swish. Fanny worked at sweeping the parlor while Gladys dusted her bedroom. “Come on, Fanny girl, time to get crackin’. It’s a big, important day. My sister’s getting married. She’s your aunt now. Yours and Quinn’s. And she ain’t the only one with a pretty little girl. We gotta hurry and get these chores done.”

  The whisper of bristles against pine wood floors stopped. “I go fast.”

  “I know. Just get it done real quick like, and then you get to take a bath, just like it was Sunday.”

  “I don’t wanna bath. I don’t wanna go.”

  “Oh, you’re gonna have so much fun. You’ll meet your passel of cousins for the first time and get to play with them. Why, when I was little and me and my cousins got together, we made the best of it with relay races and tag. Once we finish feeding the men lunch and getting the kitchen cleaned, it’ll mean no more chores for the rest of the day.”

  Gladys left out the part about how much moonshine Willard was sure to consume and what state of mind he would be in when they returned home. She pressed on her stomach. She’d have to keep Fanny away from him. Herself too, if that were possible.

  “Play?” Was that a hint of a smile in her voice? Those were as few and far between as a two-headed cow. When she did smile, it sure made the tyke pretty enough.

  “I suggest we shake a leg.”

  The swish started again, this time with more speed. Hopefully, Willard wouldn’t inspect her work.

  Soon the menfolk came in from the barn and plunked down at the table for lunch. Willard wasted no time in trying to spoil her day. “Don’t see why we have to drive for an entire hour just to see your sister say I do. For the third time. Woman can’t keep a husband for nothing.”

  “We’re all going, and that’s the end of that discussion.” Gladys set the coffee in front of her husband with more force than necessary, and it sloshed over the side of the cup.

  “Watch what you’re doing, woman. Can’t you even put down a cup the right way? Hard to believe I’ve stuck around all these years.”

  He stayed because he knew he wouldn’t find another wife who would put up with his treatment of her like she did. “Sorry. Just a bit excited. I think this time it’ll all work out for her. Can’t you just be happy for one day?”

  Quinn stabbed one of the slabs of ham off the serving platter and dropped it onto his plate. “I don’t wanna go to no dumb old wedding. Just a bunch of sissies all dressed up.”

  Willard whacked the boy on the back of his head. “If’n your ma and I say you’re going, then you’re going.”

  “I don’t wanna go.”

  Gladys almost dropped the hash browns she was carrying to the table. This had to be one of the first times Fanny had ever spoken in Willard’s presence.

  Willard slapped her across the cheek. “Like I done told your brother, you gotta go. We all gotta. Just for mouthing off, you don’t get no lunch. How’s that suit you?”

  In answer, Fanny slipped from the chair and left the room.

  Gladys sighed. “Why’d you have to go do that? Don’t ruin this day for me. Goodness knows, I get few enough of them.”

  “You don’t do no work. Quit your bellyachin’ and get me more ham. I need fortifyin’ for this wedding.”

  They finished the meal in near silence, and Quinn and Willard went to the barn to bathe. Once they were out the door, Fanny appeared in the kitchen and picked up a dish towel to dry.

  Gladys ruffled Fanny’s butchered hair. She’d tried to cut it herself and hadn’t done the best job because Fanny wouldn’t sit still. Even so, the girl was cute as a kitten.

  Fanny was wiping the last plate when a black motorcar roared by, stirring up a cloud of dirt. It halted just beyond the house. A large woman in pants and a man’s shirt stepped from the auto. A flash of recognition shot through Gladys. What was Georgia Tann doing here? They hadn’t seen her in weeks, not since they’d completed Fanny’s adoption. She locked her knees to keep them from knocking together. She snatched the plate from Fanny’s hands and pulled the child to her side.

  Miss Tann pounded at the door. Gladys turned Fanny around. “Go to your room. Don’t come out.”

  Hardly able to put one foot in front of the other, Gladys went to the door. “Miss Tann, what a—”

  “Where’s the kid?” Miss Tann pushed her way inside the house, breathless.

  This was no social call. The woman’s eyes were large behind her round glasses, wild, like a lion on the hunt. For whatever reason, she wanted Fanny.

  But Gladys would never give her up. “She’s not here.” Gladys stared at the floor and worked on putting on her saddest face.

  “What do you mean she’s not here?” The volume level of Miss Tann’s voice was sure to burst Gladys’s eardrums.

  “She got a fever.” Gladys swiped at pretend tears. “We took her to the doctor and all, but it was too late. Poor little thing up and died just a little more than a week ago.” She sniffled for effect.

  Miss Tann took three giant steps in Gladys’s direction, backing her against the still-warm stove. “Where’s the grave?”

  Gladys swallowed hard. Miss Tann was smarter than her by a mile. Now what was she going to do? There was no grave.

  Just then, Willard and Quinn burst through the door, wet hair slicked back. Willard eyed their visitor. Either he didn’t recognize her or he chose to ignore her. “Ain’t you ladies even had your baths yet? You told me we needed to get there early. Get Fanny and start moving. I don’t wanna miss the food.”

  Gladys dared to peer at Miss Tann. If possible, her face turned redder than a Mississippi sunset. “You lied to me.”

  “Please, what do you want with my girl?”

  “Where is she? I’ll find her.”

  Miss Tann set off for the parlor, her heavy orthopedic shoes clunking on the floor.

  Gladys grabbed Willard. “Make her stop. Tell her she can’t have Fanny.”

  “What’ve you done to bring her here?”

  “I don’t know. Honestly. But she can’t take Fanny. I won’t let her.”

  Two seconds passed. Miss Tann emerged from the lean-to. Under her arm, like a football, she carried Fanny. The child screamed. Twisted. Kicked. But to no avail.

  Gladys blocked the door. Willard watched from the other side of the room.

  “Gimme my baby.”

  “Get out of my way.” Miss Tann clipped her words.

  Gladys stood her ground.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let her pass.” Gladys spun ar
ound. A colored man held a dull black gun and aimed it at her heart. Her lungs burned.

  Miss Tann shoved Gladys to the side. “There will be a grave now.”

  Through the door. Out of the house. Into the car. Away from Gladys.

  At the crossroads in Memphis, Percy turned the car right just as Griggs instructed. The back wheels skated as he kept his foot on the gas. He clung to the steering wheel.

  “Keep it steady.” R. D. hollered from the backseat.

  “But keep going as fast as you can. We can’t be too late. We just can’t be.” Cecile bit her lip and gripped the door handle, her knuckles white.

  He patted her knee. How his heart broke for her. Somehow, he had to give her hope. “Don’t think the worst. All the woman said was that she no longer needed the bonnet. That could mean anything. Millie might have outgrown it. Perhaps the woman had other bonnets she preferred. There could be a million reasons. You have to keep fighting for your daughter. Don’t give up until you have solid proof it’s time to stop.”

  She turned away from him and stared out the window. She rubbed the side of her leg. “I’m afraid.”

  “I know. Me too.” His hands sweated on the steering wheel.

  “What if …?”

  “Don’t play that game. I left home at thirteen. Up until that point, my life had been nothing but a what-if. But that wasn’t the way to live. Dreams don’t come true unless you act on them. To make my way in the world, I had to believe in when. When I got a job. When I got a place to live. When I had it all.”

  “But you don’t. Have it all, I mean. Not anymore.”

  “Oh, but I think I might.”

  They bumped along for a minute or two more. Up ahead, rising from the cotton field, was a low-slung gray house. A long porch hugged it. A bramble of wild roses covered in pink blooms ran up a trellis on one side of the dwelling.

  Griggs gave a single clap. “This is it.”

  Cecile slid forward in her seat. Ready to pounce.

  Percy braked, sliding to a halt. The three of them burst from the vehicle. Cecile dashed up the three steps and across the porch to the door. She banged.

  No answer. In the yard, a rooster crowed.

  Percy got to her side. Pounded on the door. “Hello.”

  Silence. A donkey brayed.

  “Hello, hello. Is anyone home?” Cecile knocked with her fist.

  Griggs joined them. “Open up, Willard. We have urgent business.”

  But still no one came to the door.

  Holding the screen to the side, Percy tried the knob. It turned. He pushed it open.

  Griggs held him by the shoulder. “What are you doing?”

  “Acting like a gumshoe.” He stepped inside.

  Cecile followed him. “Do you think Tann did something bad to them?”

  “Remember what I said about what-ifs? Think about when we find her.”

  “I am. Trying, anyway.”

  His throat dried out. Swallowing was difficult. “Then keep it up.”

  The kitchen, small as it was, was neat. Tidied, though dishwater filled the sink. He tested the temperature. It was still warm. They hadn’t been gone long.

  Griggs moved from the kitchen. “I’ll search the parlor. You check the back bedrooms.”

  Percy peeked into one, a bright quilt over a wrought-iron bedstead. A lace runner covered the walnut bureau. It was like the kitchen. Simple. Clean. Nothing here. No clues.

  “This is a boy’s room.” Cecile exited the adjoining bedroom. “Not one helpful item.”

  They joined R.D. in the parlor. Another spic-and-span room. “No items out of place as far as I can tell.” He rubbed his mustache.

  Percy slammed his fist against his palm. “I thought for sure we’d find something here. If not Millie, an idea of where she might be.”

  “Tann has her. I just know it. She’s come and taken her. We’ll never find her now.”

  Percy embraced Cecile and whispered in her sweet-smelling hair. She was so small, so fragile, so vulnerable in his arms. “Fight, Cecile, fight. Now is not the time to give up. Millie needs you more than ever. Don’t disappoint her.”

  “Look over here.” R.D. interrupted the moment. “I think I found something.” He pulled aside a light purple flower-sprigged curtain.

  Percy squinted. “What’s that? Some kind of closet?”

  “A lean-to, I think. Looks like it’s been converted into a bedroom.”

  Cecile broke free of his hold and crouched to enter the tiny, cramped room. Percy peered over her shoulder as there was not enough space for them both. A small mattress covered the entire floor, a thin pink blanket balled up at one end. Two hooks hung on the wall. One held a white nightgown. The other, a mint-green dress.

  Cecile cried out. “This is for a girl.” She pulled the dress from the hook. “One about Millie’s size. I don’t recognize it. It’s not the one she was wearing the day she was kidnapped, but it would fit her.”

  “Then we do know a small girl lives here.”

  “But look at this room. So tiny. She has nothing. I gave her more than this. How could Tann rip her away, look me in the eye, and tell me she was giving Millie a better life? This isn’t better than what I offered her.”

  “She doesn’t vet the adoptive parents like she should. If they can pay her exorbitant fee, that’s all she cares about.” Percy sighed.

  She thrust the dress at him. “Money. Always about the money. Riches trump even the welfare of children.”

  R.D. stepped aside as Cecile exited the tiny space. “So we know Millie was here. And the family isn’t.”

  Cecile swayed. “Perhaps they ran when they knew Miss Tann was coming.”

  “That’s a guess.” R.D. adjusted his glasses. “Let’s deal with the facts. Maybe they went out for the afternoon.”

  “That’s another guess. And would they leave with the water still in the sink?”

  “Could be that someone forgot to drain it.” Percy made a circuit of the parlor. “Maybe a neighbor knows where they are. They might even be at the neighbor’s or in town, for all we know.”

  R.D. nodded. His bowler slipped. He righted it. “Good place to start.”

  They retraced their steps through the kitchen. The screen door squeaked open. A bear of a man filled the doorway. He brandished a rifle. “What’re you doin’ in my house?”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cecile stared at the giant man filling the doorway. A deep frown covered his pockmarked face. He took long, heavy breaths. She bunched her skirt in her hand.

  “I asked y’all, what’re you doin’ in my house?” He cocked the rifle.

  Mr. Griggs stepped forward. What was he doing? He was going to get himself killed. “Willard. Good to see you. We’re sorry to barge in.”

  The bear of a man wrinkled his forehead. “Who’re you?”

  “R.D. Griggs. Don’t you remember?”

  “Aw, yeah, weird little kid, always acting too big for his britches.”

  “Again, I apologize for the intrusion.”

  “You’d better have a good reason for being here.”

  A frumpy woman in a baggy yellow dress, her oak-brown hair a mess, appeared behind the man. “Willard, what’s this?”

  “These people was just about to explain why they broke in. Then I’m gonna shoot ’em.”

  Cecile darted from behind Mr. Griggs. Willard pointed the rifle between her eyes. She clutched her chest in a vain attempt to still her racing heart. She stared down the barrel then forced herself to gaze at his dark brown eyes. “Please. We’re here because we’re searching for my daughter. Miss Tann was here earlier, wasn’t she?”

  “That ain’t no business of yours.”

  Sweat trickled down the side of her face. “I’ve had dealings with the woman.”

  The lady behind Willard, possibly his wife, ducked under his arm. Red rimmed her eyes. “She was here.”

  They had the right place. Cecile fought to keep herself standing. “You have a dau
ghter.”

  The woman gave a slow nod.

  Willard exploded. “Don’t you tell these people nothin’, Gladys. Do you hear me? They’re just causin’ trouble, is all.”

  Cecile maintained her attention on Gladys. “We aren’t here to cause trouble. Just the opposite. We’re here to right a wrong.”

  “What wrong might that be?” Gladys whispered.

  “Miss Tann kidnapped my daughter a few months back. She was just three at the time.”

  Gladys puffed out a breath. “Then you have the wrong place. Our daughter turned six a few days back.” She chewed her upper lip.

  Percy spoke over Cecile’s head. “Brown hair. Bobbed. Round cheeks.” He pulled Millie’s picture from his coat pocket. He carried it around? How beautiful. He really cared about finding her.

  Gladys grabbed it from him. Stared at it for a moment. Shook like a poplar tree in a windstorm. “Hard to tell. That’s an old picture. Fanny’s six.” With trembling hands, she reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a photograph. “This is the one Miss Tann showed us of Fanny.”

  For the first time in months, Cecile stared into her daughter’s eyes. “That’s her.”

  Gladys crunched the photo in her hand. “No. No. You can’t take her from me. Don’t do this to us.”

  Cecile fell backward against Percy. He held her up, his arms strong. They had found Millie. Oh Millie Mae, Momma’s here for you. “Where is she? Let me see her.”

  Gladys handed the bent picture back to Percy. “Like you said, Miss Tann, she was here earlier. Like a house afire. Come in and swiped Fanny right from her room. Carried her outta here.”

  “In her black Cadillac?”

  Gladys nodded, sweat dotting her upper lip.

  Mr. Griggs approached Willard, reached out, and pressed the gun lower. “Which way did they go?”

  “I dunno.”

  “I don’t think they went back toward town, that’s for sure.” Gladys wiped her forehead with a yellowed handkerchief. “We’ve been lookin’ and lookin’, and no sign of neither of them. Nor of that pistol-packin’ man she had with her.”

  Cecile grabbed Gladys by the upper arms. “You have to help us find her. Miss Tann will kill her. You know that.”