BURN IN HADES (31 page)

“Answers to what?”

“Long forgotten questions.”

“These men always get what they want, Charlie. And for whatever reason, they want you. It’s best if you come willingly.”

“Don’t act like you care about me.”

“I’m not heartless. I know what people say about me, but they don’t really know me.” She paused and stared out into night. “Haven’t you ever wanted someone to notice you? Just to acknowledge that you exist? I have five brothers. My father does everything with them, but it’s like I’m invisible. And I just thought that if I could convince you to come work for our family, then my father would finally pay attention to me.” She turned sideways on the seat and faced him. “So will you?”

He understood her discouragement, but she was still acting on her selfish priorities and not in his best interest. She didn’t care about his wellbeing more than she desired to be exalted in the eyes of her father. Charles had to look out for himself as he always did.

“I know what that feels like more than you know,” he said. “But, I’m sorry, Vivian. Actually, I’m not sorry. Why would I be sorry for making my own decisions? I’m staying with the Carsons. Now, you sit back before you fall out.”

“I’ll sit how I like. Thank you very much.”

Charles rolled the carriage over a stone on purpose. The carriage rocked. He grabbed her arm and hoisted back onto her seat before she could fall out.

She slapped his hand away. “Get your filthy hands off me.” She slid her back flat against the backrest. Charles grinned to himself at his ability to bring out her true personality.

“You’re staying because of her aren’t you?” said Vivian. “Because of Kate?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Of course you are,” she said. “All the men at the party seemed to have lost all their dignity fawning over her. I don’t know what you all see in old rat-face Kate.”

“I thought Kate was your friend.”

“You know, it just occurred to me that the way Kate speaks of you verges on scandalous.”

“I do my job well, apparently.”

“You must do it dreadfully well because she speaks as highly of you as she does her mystery man.”

“I doubt she speaks of me at all. Even if she does, I think you might be exaggerating her words about me.”

“I don’t think so. The way you two were making those faces tonight, her dancing with Jesse is the only thing that put the kibosh on any gossip before it started to swirl. But what if that was just an act?”

“Jesse’s a good fellow. Any woman would be proud to walk arm in arm with him. Why would she pretend?”

“To protect her mystery man.” She danced a finger in his view.

He swatted her finger away. “Kate can choose any guy she wants. If you’re implying that me, her house worker, is the mystery man, that there deserves quite a laugh.”

“Laughable to some. Blasphemous for others. And I don’t see you smiling. You know, if something like that were to ever get out, it would be terrible for all parties involved. Kate’s good reputation would be soiled. And you—”

Charles pulled the reins. The carriage skidded to a halt. “Don’t you threaten her.”

Vivian slid across the seat away from him. “You sit back down,” she said. “If you dare think about putting your filthy hands on me again, you’ll hang.”

Charles sat back down and whipped the reins. The carriage pulled off with a jolt. They rode in silence the rest of the way to the Garrett’s sprawling ranch. Vivian leapt out of the carriage, refusing his helping hand, and she stormed up to the mansion.

He took his time returning to the ranch. He wasn’t too anxious to stumble upon Kate and Jesse in a compromising position. His imagination ran wild with all the ugly possibilities.

Back at the Carsons’ silent and dimly lit ranch, all the partygoers had gone. Kate met him outside alone.

“You’re still in your dress,” he said.

“Mother thinks I’m in bed.” Kate hauled him by the arm over to the vacant puncheon floor. “You owe me a dance.”

The one thing he thought would never be possible. “There’s no music,” he said.

“We’ll make our own.”

They started out prancing around, swinging about in a dosado, all the while giggling in hushed tones, trying to keep their voices down. But when Kate tripped and stumbled forward into his arms, the air changed. Their bodies touched for the first time since their first hug when he rescued her from the runaway buggy. He welcomed the warmth of her angel eyes. They bore into his spirit, and planted a piece of Kate’s soul in his for safekeeping, for remembrance, and for eternal residence.

With the weight of a feather, she rested her hand in his as though laying an infant in a crib. She held his other wrist and placed his hand on her waist. With a firm grip on her side, he drew her into him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, sending tingles all over the surface of his skin. Together they warmed the cool air around them as they swayed. He sensed the music they made together and knew that she heard the same melody as they were both in tune to each other’s steps. They didn’t just dance; they were gliding as if on ice, as if flying. They levitated and lifted off into the Heavens, liberating themselves from the prison of reality.

Dancing with Kate was too good to be true, too perfect to last. He felt like she was doing him a courtesy before she went out with Jesse.

“So, you and Jesse seemed to have quite a bit to discuss.” He regretted bringing up the topic as soon as the words left his mouth.

“Oh, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.” She placed a comforting palm on his chest.

His heart pounded.

“I’m not very fond of Jesse at all,” she said. “I remember the terrible things he did to you and to me. And I’ve heard rumors of worse things he’s done since. The only reason I agreed to dance with him tonight was because me and you started to get funny looks from folk. And everyone expected me to dance with Jesse. He’s handsome. He’s a war hero. According to everyone, he and I are the perfect match.” She halted her steps and shoved Charles away. “I don’t know why I’m so different. Why can’t I just be like everybody else?” She turned away from him.

“What do you mean?” Charles stepped up behind her.

“I’m not supposed to like you. Not in the way I do.” She twirled back around to face him. Her eyes widened. “But I can’t help it. I wish I could help it, because it’s so exhausting keeping up a false appearance all the time. But I don’t know how else to survive. Everything you and I are doing is supposed to be wrong but it just doesn’t feel that way to me. We’re not even doing anything at all.”

“It’s just a dance,” he said.

Her posture stiffened. “It’s not just a dance. Not to me. Not to anyone else either. Everyone would say we shouldn’t even be out here together. But I don’t want to be anywhere else or with anybody else.” Her small frame relaxed. “That terrifies me because I don’t want anything bad to happen.”

He took both her hands in his. “Nothing bad is going to happen because this is going to end. I’m gonna leave the ranch.”

Her mouth fell open and she didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “What? Leave? Go where?”

He lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with her. “To work for the Garretts.”

“I saw him watching you earlier. I assumed it was because we were getting too close to each other.” She glared down at the ground and paused. “So, he thinks he can go behind my mother’s back since my father’s gone, does he?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s my choice.”

“You can’t go,” she begged. “Especially not to work for Vivian. I don’t like the idea of her bossing you around.”

“Yeah, that part ain’t ideal. But if I stay here it’s just asking for trouble.”

She folded her arms. “So, you’re just going to leave?”

He reached out to her. She spun away.

“Mr. Garrett made me a really good offer,” he said. “It’s not the kind of deal that someone like me should pass up.”

Kate gazed up to the stars. “Do you think there’s a world somewhere out there where this sort of thing doesn’t matter?”

“I know a place.” He reached around her and grabbed her hand.

She accepted him this time, and allowed him to lead her over to the stable. He saddled and mounted a horse. She gathered her dress, and he hoisted her up onto the saddle.

She wrapped her arms around him from behind and they flew away, galloping over prairies until Charles found his favorite spot in the land near the talking tree. It didn’t actually speak. He had given the tree that nickname because there was a round notch in the middle of its branches that was shaped like a skull. It had what resembled a mouth and hollow eyes. Its leaves whispered in the breeze as he helped Kate down the stirrups.

“Oh, Charlie, this is a lovely sight,” said Kate. “Look at all this. It’s perfect for building a home and settling down with a family. I can just picture it.”

“When you’re in school,” he said, “sometimes I come out here to escape the humdrum routine. And sometimes I get lucky enough to forget my life. The only thing I ever miss is you.”

Kate beamed. Wind whistled and she shivered. He embraced her and guided her down to the grass. They sat with their backs against the talking tree. She rested her head on his chest.

“My father promised he would bring me back a new floor mirror,” she said. “I never told you what I saw inside it. Remember the story ‘Little Snow White?’”

“From the
Children’s and Household Tales
. I remember them all.”

“Then you remember the Queen’s magic mirror.”

“If you’re saying that your mirror was magic—”

“I know it sounds silly but—”

“I know. I know it was magic. Everything in your house is magic.”

“
Our
house. You live there too.” She rose off his chest and faced him. “So, how do you know my mirror was magic? Did you see something in it? You never said anything to me about it.”

“We don’t always get to talk this much,” he said. “Today is a very unique day. What did you see in it?”

“Well, my friend Phoebe showed me that if you ask the mirror questions it will answer. And I asked it to show me my one true love.”

“And it showed you my face.”

“How’d you know?”

“I was spying on you that day. And after you left the room, I saw my face too.”

“Shouldn’t you have seen my face then?”

“I don’t know. It’s your magic mirror.”

“It would make sense for you to have seen me because—unless, I’m not your true—” She stared down at the grass and fiddled on the ruffles on her sleeve.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Maybe because I didn’t ask it a question. You said that’s how it works.”

“That could be it,” she said. “At least you didn’t see a skull. Because Phoebe also said that if a skull appeared it meant you were destined to die before marriage. Is that why you really broke the mirror? Because you saw your face in it? I never believed your story about how the statue in the hall fell on the mirror. They were too far apart. It didn’t make sense. You’re a terrible liar, you know that?”

They shared a laugh.

“I never said anything until now,” she said, “because I didn’t want to get you into any trouble. I hope the mirror didn’t frighten you though.”

“I’m sorry I broke it,” he said. “But let me ask you something. I’ve always been curious, but we never talked about it.”

She slid closer to him. “Ask me what?”

“What made you save me that day, when we were kids? I was just some runaway slave for all you knew, but you stuck your neck out for me. You always do. I’m thankful. But it just never made sense.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. That day, I remember feeling compelled. I just had this sense that if I didn’t help you, then the world wouldn’t be right somehow. You were important. Still are. I don’t want you to leave, Charlie. I want you to stay with me.”

He brushed her curled hair from her cheek. She bit her bottom lip and leaned in to him. Her delicate body pressed against him and soft lips met his. No cold could touch her warmth. She was more magic than any object in the mansion.

Charles grabbed her with the same clutch as the majordomo held his pocket watch. He lost himself in the vast and limitless space of her paradise. It was the most beautiful night of his life.

The fiery glow of the morning sky marred the beautiful night that came before. They had enjoyed each other’s company too much and lost track of time. He and Kate scrambled in a panic. No one would ever believe the truth: that they had simply shared an innocent night of talk. The most they did was kiss. It would be the only thing they would have to lie about. They rushed back to the ranch, hoping to get there before Mrs. Carson noticed their absence.

Mr. Garrett stormed out of the mansion wielding a rifle. Charles’s stomach felt as if it had dropped into a black pit of nothingness.

“Miss Katie,” said Mr. Garrett. “You get away from that boy right now.”

Kate hopped off the horse and met Mrs. Carson’s wide-spread arms.

“Now you get down,” Mr. Garrett ordered Charles off the horse.

Charles froze in terror and hesitated before he finally climbed down off the horse, trembling. The bearded man shoved the rifle in his face. Charles cowered in fear.

“Let’s give him an opportunity to explain himself first,” said Mrs. Carson.

“I’m not interested in his words,” said Mr. Garrett.

“Well, I am. And seeing as this is my land and that is my house servant, you are in your best interest to respect my wishes and lower your weapon.”

Mr. Garrett lowered his rifle. His eyes glared fiery blue. His chest heaved up and down. Every inch of Charles’s body grew rigid and shook all over. He was going hang.

“Mother what’s this about?” asked Kate.

“I could ask you the very same question. And I’d like you to answer first.”

“Charles and I—well—we—”

“I won’t let him hurt you, Miss Katie. Whatever lies he told you to say—”

“No one told me to say anything. Charles and I just rode out on the land. That’s all. It was my idea.”

“And what were you two doing out there?” asked Mrs. Carson.

“Nothing. Honest. It’s not as it seems. It was just such a beautiful night and I didn’t want it to end. Charles only came with me because I asked him to come. I feared the coyotes.”