Slamming the book shut, she started to set it down, then tucked it under her arm and reentered the kitchen where the aroma of grapes made the air sing.
“Hallie, I’ve changed my mind. You may clean out the room. Pack it all up, and I’ll give you an address to send it to.”
Hallie nodded. “Yes’m. You want me to do it now?”
“You may finish what you’re doing first.” Hallie looked relieved, and Serepta swept from the room intending to crush any remaining emotion the way Hallie was crushing her grapes.
Colman had to get to Ivy to warn her that Mack was up to no good. Johnny and Elam had spent the night, and by the time Colman made it back to the Gordons’ cottage, Ivy had already left to watch over Emmaline for the day. Now he was making the trek to Walnutta on foot. And while he had made strides in regaining his health, he’d been doing an awful lot of walking the past few days and worry had been stealing his sleep.
When he saw a fallen tree near the road, he sat to dig a pebble out of his left boot. It had been boring a hole in his foot for the past twenty minutes, and he could bear it no more. Stone removed, he was lacing his boot back up when he heard the rattle of a horse and cart approaching. His first instinct was to duck back into the brush, but maybe whoever it was would give him a ride.
As the cart drew nearer, Colman saw that Lena and Nell were braced on the rattling board that served as a seat. Nell drew back on the reins and brought their stout workhorse to a stop.
“Hey there, Preacher. Been too long since we seen you last,” called out Lena. She didn’t look altogether pleased to be seeing him now. “Thought you would have called on us again by now.”
Nell gave him a pouty smile. “I thought there was going to be a baptizing. I was so looking forward to it.”
It occurred to Colman that Nell might not be anticipating her baptism for all the right reasons. Of course, his motives hadn’t exactly been pure since he came to Hinton, either.
“I’ve been busy back in Thurmond,” he explained, “helping Maggie with her baby.”
“We heard the hotel burned down over there.” Lena looked Colman over from the crown of his head to the toe of his boot. “Some folks say it was a Harpe what started the fire.”
Colman opened his mouth to protest, then snapped it shut again. He had no proof Mack had set the fire beyond what Jake told him, and these two ladies weren’t likely to believe that he and the man who killed his cousin had been going over recent events together. It seemed preposterous even to him.
“Well, if it was, I hope they catch him. That fire could’ve killed somebody.”
“Un-hunh.” Now Lena looked like a cat with some cream. “Guess maybe the Harpe name’s come up around that babe of Maggie’s, too. Anybody claim him yet?”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Colman said. “Say, I’m on my way to see Ivy at Walnutta now. Don’t suppose you could give me a ride?”
“Walnutta?” The older woman’s eyebrows climbed her forehead. “I wouldn’t have supposed you were what you’d call welcome over there.”
Colman shrugged. “I’m probably not. But I need to talk to Ivy, and that’s where she is.”
Lena gestured toward the back of the wagon. “Climb aboard. This sounds more interesting than visiting Maude.”
Nell perked up and dimpled at Colman as he scrambled up onto the rough planks. “You can sit on up here between us if you like.”
“That’s alright, don’t want to crowd you,” Colman said, trying to settle himself comfortably.
She narrowed her eyes and slapped the reins, starting the wagon moving again with a jerk. Colman grabbed the side and felt a splinter stab his finger. He stuck it in his mouth and nearly fell off with the next lurch of the wagon.
Soon enough, they were approaching Walnutta. The wide front porch looked welcoming, but Colman knew better. Nell pulled the horse to a stop just as Serepta stepped out onto the porch. He saw a pistol tucked into the waistband of her slacks.
Serepta nodded. “Lena. It’s been quite some time since we last visited.”
Lena snorted and muttered, “We ain’t never visited.” She raised her voice. “Brung you a preacher.” She pointed a thumb toward Colman.
He scuttled to the back of the wagon and dropped to the ground. His finger throbbed, but he ignored the pain.
Serepta eyed him. “Why would you bring that man to me?”
Nell piped up. “He’s hunting Ivy.” She glanced at him. “Although he didn’t tell us why.”
Serepta traced the butt of her pistol with her thumb. “Ivy is occupied at the moment. Perhaps you could call on her once she returns to her own home.”
Colman took several slow steps toward the porch. “My business with her is . . . urgent. I’d sure like to talk to her now.”
“Urgent, is it? Well, why don’t you tell me, and I’ll pass the information along.”
Colman squared his shoulders and tried not to look at her gun, though looking her in the eye was equally uncomfortable. “I need to warn her that your son is trifling with her.”
Something flickered in Serepta’s icy eyes. “Is that so?”
“It is.” Colman swallowed hard and figured in for a penny, in for a pound. “He might be trifling with you, too.”
Serepta threw back her head and laughed. It was a deep belly laugh that sounded genuine. Colman didn’t know what to think. Finally, she drew in some air and took a step closer to him. “God must be on your side to give you the courage to suggest such a thing to me right here on my front porch.” A strand of hair worked loose and fluttered against her cheek, softening the look of her. “Why don’t you step into my office and tell me just exactly how it is that my son is trifling with Ivy.” She turned to go inside, then paused and looked over her shoulder. “Not to mention trifling with me.”
Colman moved up the steps feeling like he’d just been invited into the lions’ den. He prayed that God would shut up this particular lion’s mouth while ensuring that his own tongue didn’t get the best of him. Inside, he noticed a stillness to the house and wondered where Ivy and Emmaline were. If he could just see Ivy, he thought it would give him the courage he needed. He tuned his ears to hear any trace of her, but all he heard was the throbbing of his own heart.
Serepta swept into her office and stood behind her desk. Colman figured he’d best stand on the other side of it, facing her. He realized his hands were shaking and clasped them behind his back. Serepta stood staring at him, giving him the feeling she could wait a month for him to speak, if that was what it took.
He cleared his throat. “There’s gas in the caves on the Gordons’ land.” Her eyes threw a spark. “We . . . that is to say, I think Mack is trying to win Ivy so he can have access to the gas. Market’s strong for it right now, except Hoyt’s deeded that land over to the federal government, so it won’t do him any good.”
The skin along Serepta’s jaw tightened. Colman could hear her teeth grinding. “Well now, sounds to me like Mack’s working to expand the McLean family holdings. And I approve of Ivy, so even if his plan is flawed, I see no reason to stand in his way.”
“There’s more to it,” Colman said. His instincts told him to cut and run, but he decided to stand his ground regardless. “I heard Mack talking to Ivy about breaking the Harpe-McLean feud.” He flinched at his own words.
Serepta flinched as well. It was a small movement, but Colman was watching her as though his life depended on it, because he feared maybe it did. She frowned. “Been eavesdropping, have you? That’s an excellent way to misunderstand a conversation.”
“It’s also an excellent way to hear uncomfortable truths.”
Serepta crossed her arms and drummed her fingers. “Well. I have long believed that sleeping dogs should be awakened. Let’s fetch Ivy, shall we?”
Colman felt his mouth go dry. He really didn’t want to share Mack’s duplicity with her in front of Serepta.
“Hallie,” Serepta called in a voice with more power than volum
e. A young colored girl popped in through the door. “Go fetch Ivy and watch Emmaline for her until we’ve finished.”
Hallie looked like she was going to protest, but one look into Serepta’s stormy eyes and she nodded and ran from the room. Serepta settled into her chair as if settling in for a cozy chat after dinner. She nodded to the chair nearest Colman, and he took a seat finally.
They waited.
The ticking of the clock began to sound like a great beating drum. It chimed the quarter hour, and Colman nearly jumped out of his skin. He gave Serepta a nervous smile without thinking, but when she continued to sit stone-faced, he let the smile fade.
Another excruciating five minutes passed. After ten minutes, Serepta stood so suddenly that Colman yelped. She glared at him and exited the room. In her wake, Colman felt like a physical weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He wondered for the first time if Lena and Nell were still outside. He slipped over to the window, feeling like a boy escaping his school desk while the teacher wasn’t looking.
Outside, the two women had pulled their wagon into the shade and were talking. It appeared they had decided to stay in case there was going to be a show. He hoped they would be disappointed. He went back to his chair and sat again, thinking it was good he hadn’t been caught. Then he shook his head—caught doing what? He was certainly free to come and go, to move about the room as he pleased. Serepta had the strangest ability to make him feel like a child. He stood and walked to the office door, peering out into the hall. While he didn’t see anyone, he could hear voices out back. He followed them.
Hallie and Serepta stood on the back stoop. The girl alternately waved her hands in the air and wrung them while talking animatedly. Colman thought Serepta looked stern before, but now her face was a thundercloud and her eyes shot lightning.
“I don’t know, I just don’t know,” the girl was saying.
Serepta planted her hands on her hips and glared. “They were in the garden not thirty minutes ago. Did they take a wagon? Did they set out on foot?”
“Wagon’s still here. They could’ve wandered off down to the crick.”
Serepta heaved a sigh. “Did you look?”
“Yes’m.”
“And were they there?”
“No’m.”
“Well then, it’s not likely that’s where they’ve gone, is it?”
The girl burst into tears, burying her face in her apron. Serepta spied Colman and turned to him. “It would seem Ivy and Emmaline have gone exploring, even though I expressly told Ivy to remain near the house.” She pursed her lips. “And it’s not like her to disregard my wishes.”
Colman felt a nudge of worry. “It’s not like her to ignore anyone’s wishes. Do you think—?”
Serepta jerked the apron from Hallie’s face. “When did you see them last? What were they doing?”
The girl sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. “Miss Ivy come in for a basket to pick beans in. Said she was going to teach the little one to make leather britches.”
Serepta’s frown deepened. “And she didn’t return?”
“No’m. I ain’t seen her since.”
Serepta shot a look at Colman that he decided to take as an invitation as she strode across the yard into the garden. They walked down tidy rows, and Colman had the passing notion that even weeds knew better than to cross Serepta McLean. When they got to the bean arbor, Serepta stopped so suddenly Colman nearly crashed into her. He peered over her shoulder.
A basket of beans lay on its side, vegetables tumbled into the dirt. Nearby squash plants were trampled, and there were scuff marks. Colman’s stomach clenched, reminding him of how he felt before Ivy cured whatever had sickened him when in the cave. He swallowed down the bile rising in his throat.
“What happened?” he asked, not expecting an answer.
Serepta shook her head. “Nothing good. It appears to me that Ivy and Emmaline have been taken.”
“Who would do that?” Colman felt shock and horror in equal parts. “And why didn’t I hear them?”
The sturdy woman before him looked like she would as soon spit on him as answer that question. “They must have been abducted before you arrived. Perhaps this is a clue,” she said with a sneer and bent to pick up a ragged, dirty scrap of paper weighted down with a stone. She looked at it, her expression blank.
“What does it say?” Colman wanted to snatch the paper from her hand.
She thrust it at him and strode back toward the house. It held just three words. What matters most?
Colman darted after Serepta, but then paused when he noticed larger, deeper footprints in the soft garden soil. Men’s boots and shod hoofprints. A wave of weakness washed over him as though the illness he’d fought for so long were returning. But he stiffened his spine and determined not to succumb to it. He hurried on to the house, wondering what Serepta intended to do.
chapter
thirty-one
Serepta considered taking a glass of whiskey to steady her nerves but decided it would not do for Colman to see how unsettled she was. There was only one person—except for maybe Charlie—who could have any inkling about how much Emmaline meant to her.
Webb Harpe. It had to be.
It wasn’t enough that he’d robbed her of Charlie. Now he had stolen Emmaline knowing it was the only way he could hurt her. She supposed Ivy had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anger at Ivy spiked briefly. How dare that woman allow Webb to steal the child? She pushed the thought away. Ivy was the closest she had ever come to having a friend. Other than Charlie. He would know what to do. She pushed that thought away, too. How had she allowed herself to care about anyone, much less three people? She knew better. And now she was paying the price.
She went to her gun cabinet and pulled out a rifle. Colman Harpe was still trailing along after her. She handed him a Winchester 30.06, Model 54, then took up a Model 94 for herself. His eyes widened as she thrust a box of cartridges at him, but he took them and quietly loaded the gun.
“Fine rifle,” he said.
“Of course it is,” she snapped.
“Who are we hunting?” His voice was low and hoarse.
“Most likely your uncle Webb.”
Colman swallowed hard. “I saw prints—a man and a horse.”
That made her pause. “I suppose he needed a way to carry them off. Which means he’s taken them some distance.” She glared at Colman. “Are you too much a man of God to do what must be done?”
“I don’t plan on shooting anyone.”
She snorted. “I do.”
The infernal man gnawed at his upper lip and then handed the rifle back to her. “Guess that’s between you and God. I’ll come with you, but I’m not shooting anyone.”
“God has no more use for me than I do Him. Go unarmed if you choose, just know I’m planning to defend my own and you aren’t counted among those.”
He almost smiled. “Can’t say as I’m surprised.”
She spun on her heel and was confronted with Mack, standing in the open doorway. “What are you doing here?” she spat at him. “You’re supposed to be checking on my mines.”
He walked over and picked up the rifle Colman had surrendered. “Came back for something. And a good thing, too. Seems your enemy has stolen Ivy and Emmaline out from under your nose.”
Rage set her veins to humming, and she wanted to strike Mack the same way she had Jake, only she wouldn’t make that mistake twice. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and spoke through gritted teeth. “We shall discuss this later. For now, your assistance may very well be welcome.” She flicked a look at Colman. “You’re certainly likely to be more help than a pacifist Harpe.”
She stormed out of the house, passing those two meddling women along the way. Colman paused and spoke to them as she threw open the barn doors to reveal her car. Colman hurried to the passenger seat and climbed in while Serepta slid behind the wheel, forcing Mack to sit in the back, which clearly perturbed him. Her son’s dissatisfacti
on allowed Serepta to gloat for a moment. She was still in control.
She glared at Colman, wondering how her world had come to this—chasing after Webb Harpe while his nephew rode shotgun. “If you give me the slightest hint you’re siding with your uncle in any way, I’ll shoot you as well.”
She saw his Adam’s apple bob. “Yes, ma’am.”
She laughed without humor and started the car.
Colman wondered what kind of idiot he was. He should have at least carried the rifle. Even if he didn’t plan to use it, a gun would give others the impression he might. And knowing Mack was behind him with his own rifle was no comfort at all.
But no. He’d have to trust in something more than bullets to resolve this mess. Of course, Serepta might be wrong. Maybe it hadn’t been Webb who took Ivy and the child. And he was still trying to figure out how Mack was mixed up in things. At least he could keep his eye on him in the back seat.
What would happen if Mack were indeed working with Webb? Would Serepta choose her son over the child she’d taken in? Over Ivy, who had shown her such unmerited kindness? He prayed with a desperation he’d never felt before.
Serepta reversed the car out of the barn, then slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Colman into the windshield. He twisted around to see what the problem was. Webb stared at them from atop his silver sorrel. Serepta cursed softly and got out of the car. Colman followed.
Serepta strode toward the horse and rider, making the animal shy. “Where are Ivy and Emmaline?”
“Tucked up someplace where you won’t find them anytime soon.”
“Fetch them back this instant.”
When Silence Sings Page 24