by Tolsma, Liz;
“Quiet back there.” The chauffeur’s roar filled the compartment. Driving with one hand, he brandished the gun. He was in control.
Percy shook his head. “Too dangerous.”
“I done told y’all to shut up.”
“Are you taking us to Miss Tann? To Millie?”
“You’ll see Miss Tann.”
She held her breath. Despite the breeze, heat rushed through her, Percy and Griggs too close to her.
God, what has happened to my baby? She can’t be dead. Please, don’t let her be dead. Even if Miss Tann kills both of us, give me one more chance to see my daughter alive. To hold her in my arms again. To tell her I love her. Let me cradle her and keep her from being afraid.
Don’t let her die alone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Come back, come back.” Gladys tightened every muscle in her body. The car carrying the people in search of her daughter pulled away. How could they go off and do that to her?
She turned to the owner of the hat shop. “I gotta go after them. They were taking me to Fanny. Where’s your man’s truck?”
“He’s out with it. Done gone to pick up a load of wood.”
“No. I gotta have one now. If’n they get to Fanny first, I’ll lose her forever.”
Another puff of dust rolled down the street and neared the shop. Maybe she could flag down the driver. They could give her a ride. Go after those people. The ones trying to destroy her life.
A few minutes later, Willard’s dirty red truck pulled up. “Dad blame it, woman. Where you done run off to? Been looking all over DeSoto County for you.”
“Willard, Fanny’s gonna get killed. I just know it. Feel it in my bones. We gotta find her before anyone else does. Them people from the house done took off without me. Left me here.”
Under his breath, Willard mumbled something about good riddance. But once Gladys climbed into the cab, he gave the truck the gas, and they took off. “I seen ’em go in this direction.” She pointed to the right.
“Do they have much of a lead?”
“A good bit. Stranded me there at the haberdashery.”
“I spent a fair of piece of money on Fanny, and I ain’t gonna have that wasted.”
Gladys ground her teeth together and willed herself not to get worked up. No matter what reason Willard had for searching for Fanny, at least he was willing to fight to get her back. That was most important. She’d take it.
They hadn’t driven far enough to be out of sight of town when a black car pulled in front of them from a narrow lane. Willard had to stand on the brake to keep from hitting them. He swore.
“That’s them! Get after them. Don’t let ’em out of your sights.”
“The things I do for you, woman.”
She suppressed the sarcastic laugh that begged to be released from her throat.
They drove for the longest time, just able to keep up with the expensive, once-shiny, now dust-covered car. “You’re losing ’em, Willard. She’ll kill Fanny for sure, if she hasn’t already.”
Darkness pressed on them, a physical weight. Seeing the car ahead of them was difficult.
Willard slowed the truck. “We ain’t gonna be able to follow ’em anymore. Gettin’ too dark.”
“Don’t stop. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”
“But we’ll never find ’em.”
“I don’t care. We can’t give up on Fanny. You said yourself she cost a big chunk of money. Don’t throw that away.”
He backhanded her across the cheek. “I can’t do the impossible, woman.”
Her face stung, and tears burned the back of her throat. How had he ever charmed her? How had she allowed herself to fall in love with such a beast?
Whatever emotions she’d had toward him had long ago evaporated like the morning mist. “My Fanny.” All she had left that was good in this world.
Then, with the moonlight slanting through the clouds, she glimpsed the big car turning off the main road into a piney grove. “There they are.”
“I can’t go in there. I’d scratch up the truck.”
“You have to. For Fanny.”
“It’d be cheaper to get another kid than to get another truck.”
“Then let me out. I’ll run after them.”
He came to a stop, the gravel on the shoulder crunching underneath the tires. “Do what you want, woman. I ain’t waitin’ around for you. I’m going home. You and the brat can find your own way.”
“We will. Oh, you’d better believe we will.” Once she had Fanny in her arms, she’d never subject herself to Willard again. She’d find Quinn, and the three of them would run.
She jumped from the cab and raced into the thicket. Though she tried to follow the car’s path, she lost it in the undergrowth. Branches reached their twiggy arms toward her, gruesome shadows in the moonlit darkness. They clawed at her face. Slapped her cheeks. Tripped her. As she hit the ground, the hard-packed earth smashed all the breath from her lungs. The world teetered. She drew in air and clambered to her feet.
Twigs cracked. An owl hooted a warning. A possum’s beady eyes shone in the black velvet of night. She lunged forward. Decaying leaves softened her footfalls. The rotten-egg odor of death hovered in the air. Her lungs begged for air, her legs cried for relief. On and on she ran until a stitch in her side radiated pain through her midsection. Sweat bathed her, making her wetter than any rainstorm would.
And when she couldn’t take another step, she burst from the unholy canopy above into a clearing. Like a spotlight at a stage show, the moon beamed on the rough, unpainted cabin in the middle of it. She climbed the steps. Underneath her feet, they creaked. She shivered and walked through a spider’s web, the sticky threads clinging to her hair, face, and hands.
As she entered, someone covered her mouth, stifling her screams and holding her fast.
Percy leaned against the back of the Cadillac’s tan upholstered seat and stared at the ceiling. He halfway smiled at Cecile’s suggestion they leap from the moving car. Her plan was bold and gutsy, that was for sure. But it was not going to work. James traveled too fast. They traversed the empty, uneven road.
For three of them to escape before James turned to fire was impossible. Before they could run far enough to be out of pistol range, he would shoot. And not miss. A tremor raced through him.
No, they had to stay put and go along with what James had planned. He suggested he was taking them to Tann. All the better. They’d confront her. See Millie. Perhaps at some point, a true path of escape would open. They would leave with the child, and this nightmare would end.
Cecile nestled against him and clutched at his hand with a death grip. He held her trembling body close. Her breath tickled the base of his neck. It was warm. Soft. Inviting. His heart flipped and flopped. If he could deliver Millie to her, if he could grant her the greatest desire of her heart, would there be a chance for them? Would either of them ever find joy again?
His joy had evaporated the day he’d assisted Tann in kidnapping Millie. He’d believed he’d had it all. Everything necessary for happiness. Wealth. Prestige. Social standing. In that moment, however, it all morphed to sounding brass.
Obtaining wealth didn’t justify this kind of cruelness, this level of violence. Nothing did. The life, welfare, and happiness of children and their parents was priceless. Jesus had already purchased their lives with His blood. They were no longer up for sale.
James directed the car off the dirt road and onto a path into a dense stand of trees. The darkness around them deepened. Only thin slivers of moonlight peeked through the thick branches, highlighting the night’s blackness. Twigs extended their menacing fingers and screeched along the side of the car. Percy’s arms broke out in goose bumps. Cecile covered her ears.
They traveled on, encased in a cocoon of trees and vines and night. Thunk. James swore. “Possum.” Percy recoiled. They’d run over the animal.
Humidity and dampness pressed on Percy. Sweat covered his forehead, his u
pper lip. Cecile’s bare arm was cool but clammy.
The trees parted. Before them ran a narrow stream, a silver snake slivering through the ink. In one motion, James cut the engine and spun around. Training his gun on Percy’s heart, he shouted, “Hands up. Get out. All of you. Now.”
Percy emerged from the car as a breeze caressed his cheek and mussed his hair. Cecile, letting go of his hand, came after him, followed by Griggs. “Now what?”
James sneered. “Anxious, aren’t you? Ready to die?”
No, God, no. Not like this. Not before they found Millie. Not before he acted on his desire for Cecile. He bent over to her, pressed his lips against her ear. “I love you. I’m sorry I did this, put you in this situation. I could have prevented it.”
With a touch of her finger against his mouth, she hushed him. “I love you too.”
“Let’s go.” James’s command broke the spell. “Over there.” He waved the gun, indicating they should move to the creek bank.
The boggy, marshy ground silenced their steps. A fishy odor permeated the heavy air.
Cecile stumbled and fell to her knees. He pulled her to her feet and helped her along, steadying her. If only he could steady himself. Inside, he quivered. James intended to kill them. Murder them.
“Line up!” James barked the order.
A small cry escaped Cecile. “No. Please, let me see my baby. Don’t let me die without holding her one last time. Just so I know she’s safe. Well. Happy. That’s all I need. Do what you want with me, but keep my daughter from harm.” Her voice broke.
A tear trickled down Percy’s own face. He’d failed her, himself, and Millie. At the end of the day, he was an utter failure.
“Shut up. You ain’t gonna see that kid ever again. No one is.” A ghost-like apparition shadowed against the car’s headlights, James lifted the pistol.
Their lives couldn’t end like this. Not in this manner. Not without a fight. Lord, show me the time. Give me the opportunity. Don’t let Tann and her kind win.
He squeezed Cecile’s hand. Sucked in a breath. His last?
From the forest behind them came a rustling. Snapping of twigs. Crackling of branches. A huffed breath. A deer bounded into the clearing.
“What the …?” James spun around.
Opportunity. Percy powered forward, tackling James to the ground. With an oomph, they both hit the leaf-covered dirt. Percy pinned James’s arms to the ground, but James pushed back stronger than Percy anticipated. James flipped Percy, now with his back against the earth.
Cecile screamed. Griggs pounced on James. With a kick to the groin, James sent R.D. sprawling. Meanwhile, Percy rolled away and tried to stand. The world tilted in front of him. Returning his attention to Percy, James shoved him to the ground and punched him in the left temple. The stars before his eyes mingled with the ones in the sky. They merged into a single bright light. Percy blinked. Blinked again. His vision cleared. The gun. James held it in his left hand.
Cecile screamed again. The stillness-shattering sound bounced in Percy’s head. Didn’t stop. The gun. The gun. He focused. He grabbed James’s left wrist and banged it on the ground hard. James yelped, releasing the weapon. Percy grabbed for it and touched the cold, hard metal. He reached it at the same time as James did. They both held it and rolled. Left. Right. Back again. Neither let go of the gun. Then, a single shot rang out.
Chapter Thirty
Well, well, well, you aren’t the person I expected to show up.” Miss Tann’s voice in Gladys’s ear sent goose pimples breaking out up and down her arms. “This puts me in a tight spot. What am I going to do with you?”
With the woman’s large, fleshy hand over her mouth, Gladys couldn’t answer. She worked to maneuver herself from Miss Tann’s grip, but she couldn’t any more than she’d been able to overpower Willard.
A dank mustiness hung over the place. The small oil lamp on the table in the middle of the room didn’t illuminate much. Shadows writhed in every corner, reaching out, inviting Gladys to their macabre dance. She stomped on Miss Tann’s foot. The woman howled like a coyote and shoved Gladys. She fell against the rickety table. The lamp tilted then righted.
Gladys pivoted to face Miss Tann. The flickering light carved deep, dark crevices into her features, hardening them more. Miss Tann moved forward. Gladys was trapped.
Miss Tann grabbed her by the neck. “You’re nothing but trouble. Helping them. For that, you’re going to lose your daughter.”
Gladys attempted to squeak a few words through the narrow opening in her throat. She failed. What was the point? Miss Tann already had Fanny. Had stolen her out from underneath her. The pungent odor of burning oil churned Gladys’s stomach. Was Fanny here? In this house?
Pink dots scattered on the blackness in front of her eyes. For Fanny, she had to fight. Couldn’t stop until she won. With everything she had left, she shoved Miss Tann off her. Gladys stumbled and teetered, falling against the wall.
She righted herself. “Fanny. Fanny, where are you?”
Miss Tann charged her, the scrape of the soles of her shoes on the warped wooden floor the only sound.
“Fanny!”
“You’ll never find her. I won’t let you.”
“You won’t stop me. Not ever.”
Three doors led off the main room. Fanny must be behind one of them. Gladys flung one open. It was a narrow pantry with a few cans of Campbell’s soup dotting the shelves. With a burst of energy, she raced for the next. Her hands sweated, and she couldn’t take hold of the knob. Heavy footsteps came up behind her. Using both hands, she turned the knob. A rush of cool, damp night air washed across her. A chorus of bullfrogs. A trickling of water. The back door.
Before Gladys could turn inside, Miss Tann thrust her out the door. Click. It locked.
No, she couldn’t leave Fanny alone. Not with that woman.
She raced for the front of the cabin. Her right foot landed in a hole. It twisted, and she felt burning pain. She cried out. As she came to her feet, she bit her lip. The pain of it equaled that in her ankle. Broken or not, she had no time to figure it out. Wincing, she limped the rest of the way around the building. Grabbing the wobbly handrail, she hopped up the two steps and tried the front door. Barred.
Now what? She had to get inside. Had to. No telling what Miss Tann had in store for Fanny. The woman was out of her mind. Crazier than a rabid dog.
Gladys leaned against the loose porch rail. The doors were locked. Even if she had two good feet, she could never kick them in.
Oh, why was she so stupid? If she had half a brain in her skull, she could figure this out and get Fanny back. But not a thought came to her. Willard was right. A tree stump was smarter than she was. The ache in her ankle worsened. She covered her mouth to keep from yelling. Squeezing her eyes shut, she blocked out the agony. She had to figure out how to get inside to rescue her baby.
The rail moaned. Cracked. Splintered. Fell away. Gladys caught herself on the post and clung to it for dear life. In the thin light from the window, she gazed at the pieces on the ground below. Then she glanced at the window and back at the rotted timbers.
Wouldn’t Willard be surprised? She wasn’t so stupid after all. Two hops down the steps, a few over to the broken rail, and she snatched one of the posts. Using it as a cane, she hobbled to the window.
Miss Tann peered at her through the glass. Her eyes blazed in the lamplight.
With a mighty screech, Gladys hammered the post through the window. Glass shattered, tinkling as it hit the floor inside. Miss Tann jumped back. Gladys withdrew the rail then struck the window again. And again. And again.
Only a few shards remained, glinting in the light. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Gladys climbed through the window, dragging the post in with her. One sharp piece of glass dug into her palm’s calloused flesh. Miss Tann approached. Still holding the wood, Gladys raised it above her, her chest heaving. “Gimme my girl.”
“I gave her to you once. I can take her away if I want
.” Miss Tann’s hands trembled as she held the oil lamp.
Gladys approached. The room burned red. She clenched the post. “No one takes Fanny from me. No one. Not even you. I done protected her these past months. I’ll never stop.”
Miss Tann grimaced, her ugly face even uglier. “You didn’t protect her. I took her. For keeps.”
“This ain’t no child’s game. This is a girl’s life we’re talking about. She needs a momma. I’m her momma.” Forget about that other woman. “Now tell me where she is.” Gladys could hit Miss Tann, but then she’d never find out where Fanny was.
“Some kind of mother you are. Ha. You don’t even know where the girl is. Can’t keep track of her. You deserve to lose her.” Miss Tann’s eyes glowed yellow like those of a wolf about to spring on its prey. “You deserve everything that’s coming.”
Miss Tann flung the lamp to the floor. The chimney broke. Oil and fire spilled from the base. Flames leapt in front of Miss Tann, separating her from Gladys. Heat seared Gladys’s legs. She swung the post but hit nothing more than air. She swung it again, but it flew out of her hands. The flames rose higher.
“Fanny!”
“Percy!” The scream ripped from Cecile’s throat. R.D. held her back, but she shook him off. She rushed forward then dropped to her knees on the soft ground beside Percy, the man she loved. Tears clogged her throat and rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t live without this man. She wouldn’t lose another beloved.
“Percy, Percy!”
James groaned.
Percy pushed the driver off him. James’s body flopped to the ground. He moaned. Percy came to his feet and stood over James, the revolver pointed at James’s heart.
Cecile grabbed him. “Did he shoot you? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” He cocked the gun.
Was he about to kill James? “Don’t.” She yanked down his arm.
“Let me go. Let me finish him off.”
“No.” How could he think such a thing?
Percy turned to her. “He tried to kill us.”