Saving Grace (The Grace Series Book 2) (8 page)

“I am going to be helping Sam with his older students in the afternoons and evenings,” he told her.

“Is that your way of saying you don’t want to see me again?” Jessica asked.

“No. I—” Sebastian closed his eyes to hide the devastation. He had to take a deep breath before he could open them again. “Jessica, you are welcome in my home anytime, I just—” Again he cut himself off. There was no way to put what he wanted to say into words. He had no right to say anything to her. Not anymore. “Will you allow me to escort you home? It’s dark.”

Not long thereafter, Sebastian brought Apostle to a halt at the end of the drive at Bent Oak Manor, where he and Jessica always parted ways. This was the first time their evening ride to her home was made in silence.

She wasn’t moving on. She just sat there on her little mare, staring off into the distance. But then she turned to him and smiled. It was the saddest smile he’d ever seen.

“May I stay and visit with you after church on Sundays? We’ll have a whole week’s worth of things to talk about. If it’s okay with you?” she asked timidly.

As lightly as he could he said, “Yes, that sounds like a good idea.”

“It’s right for you to spend your time teaching,” she said. “Your students need you more than I do. I shouldn’t be so selfish.”

This was the type of comment he expected to hear from her, affirming why he felt the way about her that he did. He said, “I will miss you… so much.”

“I will miss you, too.” Jessica’s words, however, were lost in the wind. Sebastian never heard them. He was already gone.

* * *

Jessica’s sleep was disturbed by sounds from the piano. At first she thought Willy had come to practice. As she came fully awake, she realized the hour. Willy would never be in the manor house at this time. Whoever was playing was just tinkering, one note at a time, not attempting to play anything specific.

For a few minutes she listened, but curiosity got the better of her. She got out of bed and donned her robe. The notes were coming less frequently, but every so often a key would be struck and held. Whoever was down there was still there.

At this time of night all the lamps in the hallway and foyer were out, but as soon as she was at the top of the stairs, she saw light coming from the parlor. The doors were wide open, another oddity for the middle of the night. Tiptoeing, Jessica headed down. While she went, the person began playing again, this time hitting thirds, going up the keyboard very slowly, one chord at a time, but when she peeked around the parlor door, she couldn’t see who was behind the piano. It wasn’t until she looked underneath the instrument, by the pedals, and saw boots that she realized who it was.

She couldn’t see him because his head was down. His arm was perched on the shelf above the keys that held her music and his forehead was resting on his arm. Shortly after they married, Jessica had offered to teach Jon to play. He said with his lack of musical talent, he would never understand it. He preferred listening to the virtuoso in the family. Despite her insistence, lack of time prevented any serious study on his part. Even so, she’d shown him a few things. Thirds were one of them.

There was something in his posture, the way he was just sitting there with his head down, sporadically pressing one key after the other that belayed an abject despair. She wondered what was going through his mind, and for a very brief second she contemplated trying to talk to him. The idea was quickly dismissed.

His head came up. In reaction she ducked out of the doorway. She heard him close the piano lid and begin to move through the room. Slightly panicked, she sped through the foyer and ducked behind the staircase. It wasn’t the best of hiding places. If he intended to go anywhere in the back of the house, like the kitchen or the library, he would pass right by her.

She waited while he went about dousing lamps. In the ensuing darkness, all she could see of him was a shadow emerging through the parlor doors. The image of him, so dark and sinister, reminded her of Trent’s warning. Trent thought Jon would become violent with her. Jessica had never worried about this before, but she knew he was capable of atrocious acts of violence, and she knew he had not one iota of remorse for the brutalities committed by the Klan. There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t attack her. It had been foolish of her to think otherwise.

Thankfully the vile beast didn’t come toward the staircase. Instead, he strode right out the front door. Where he was going, Jessica didn’t know and she didn’t care. Her prayer, as she hurried back to her room, was that he would never return.

That prayer, however, was not to be answered. In the morning, when she went down for breakfast, he was there, in the dining room, standing by the window. He turned around and said shortly, “Good morning.”

Jessica ignored him. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d joined her for breakfast, and she certainly didn’t want him to now. But he did, taking his seat at the head of the table, corner to hers. For a long time he didn’t speak. He didn’t bother dishing up his plate either. He just stared at her. Finally he said, “There are a few things I need to discuss with you.”

Once again, Jessica maintained her silence.

“You have been spending a great deal of time with Reverend Nash at the church and parsonage. I want to know why.”

“That’s none of your business!” Jessica spat.

“Jessica, I understand you might feel safe keeping company with a man of God, but Reverend Nash is not who you think he is. He is dangerous. He has done something—”

“He did nothing wrong!” Jessica cut her husband off. She knew exactly what he was alluding to. The rumors Stephanie started were supposed to have been kept quiet, but of course, they hadn’t been. People in this town enjoyed their gossip entirely too much. With rising ire, Jessica spouted, “You know nothing about Sebastian!”

Again, for the longest time, Jon didn’t say anything, but he was still staring at her. By then, Jessica wished she’d never sat down in the first place. She should have left the minute she saw him.

In that same low monotone, Jon said, “What do you do at the parsonage?”

“What do you think we do, you fool? We talk.”

“What do you talk about?”

“You. I told him how much I despise you.”

“Hmm.” His blank expression didn’t change. “I am glad you’ve found someone to confide in, but I am concerned about your safety—”

“No, you’re not. You’re jealous,” Jessica scoffed.

“Perhaps.” His tone lowered even more and he said, “Should I be jealous, Jessica?”

“Sebastian is a good, kind man, not evil, not filth, like you! You’re the one I’m not safe with!” She couldn’t resist adding, “I love him!”

It wasn’t a lie. But her purpose in making such an impetuous declaration was more to cut Jon than to admit her feelings. Pointedly she stared at him to gauge his reaction. His expression didn’t change. Had she not been paying close attention, she wouldn’t have noticed it. He didn’t make a sound, but with each breath his chest visibly rose and his nostrils flared.

Jessica focused on her breakfast, but peripherally she continued her silent vigil. At least he stopped looking at her. Instead he stared off toward the window.

Several minutes went by before he turned to her again. “The second thing I want to talk to you about is the illnesses the children have had lately. For now, I would like you to stop teaching them. Being around them in your condition—”

“My condition is none of your concern!” Jessica barked. “This child is my son and my son alone! It is his misfortune to have you for a father, and I will do everything in my power to keep him away from you. I’m glad you don’t want him. My son will have nothing to do with you!”

“Jessica, that’s not—”

“Sebastian supports my school. Unlike you, he knows the difference between good and evil, and he knows what I’m doing here is right. He would never force me to quit. I wish I was married to him instead of you! I wish he was my son’s father instead of you! I hate you! You can’t stop me from teaching the children! You can’t stop me from seeing Sebastian!”

Jon’s fist slammed down on the table so suddenly and so loudly, Jessica’s entire body jolted. He rose out of his chair and like a terrifying demon towered over her.

“Be clear on one thing!” he raged. “Your condition is of great concern to me! Our son is of great concern to me! If I feel your health is in jeopardy, I can, and I will stop you from teaching, and I will stop you from going to see your precious reverend!”

Jessica shoved her chair back and skittered out from under him. “I have suddenly lost my appetite! There is an awful stench in this room!”

Jon rose to his full height, clipping his chair in the process. It clamored loudly to the floor behind him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Stay and enjoy your breakfast!” he seethed. “I’m sure your appetite will return as soon as the stench leaves!”

Jessica was still standing there, staring at the door Jon slammed, when Martha came through the servants’ entrance. “Are ya okay, Miss Jessica?”

Jessica shivered, not from revulsion this time, but from fear. “Would you mind if I finish my breakfast in the kitchen?”

Martha went around to right the heavy chair Jon knocked over. “Sure ya kin, Miss Jessica. Ya don’t hafta ask. Herlin was in town yestaday runnin’ errands fer da cap’n an’ he heard some new stories ’bout da spook.”

That was all Jessica needed to get herself back on track. The exciting exploits of the spook could easily take her mind off her brute of a spouse. She always looked forward to the stories Martha and Ruth shared about him. She helped Martha clear the table, and with her arms full, followed the pretty colored woman back to the kitchen.

Because it was Saturday, she wasn’t holding classes so there was plenty of time to listen. But then, the tales Martha and Ruth shared weren’t nearly as uplifting as others had been. With each one Jessica found herself growing more and more heartbroken.

In one of the stories, the Klan boarded the windows to a house and then set fire to it. Their intent was to burn the people inside the house alive. What the Klan didn’t know, however, was that the spook had been there before them. The entire family was safely hidden in a nearby root cellar. The Klan had been foiled once again. They’d burned an empty house. No one was harmed by that fire.

Had the story ended there it would have been a good story, but it didn’t end there. There was a three-year-old boy who somehow got away from his family and didn’t make it to the root cellar. The child, Ruth said, was deaf and mute, which made his terrible fate all the more upsetting and tragic. One of the Klansmen caught him, and then shot him. The child died.

There was another gruesome accounting of the Klan going after four men. Their only crime was being in the Klan’s path that night. They’d done nothing wrong. They were just enjoying a walk in the snowfall. All of them were young, two of them were still teenagers. Only one survived.

That same story involved a young girl. She was with her brothers. She’d been beaten, raped and left to die. Martha ended the horrific tale by saying, “Da spook found her tied up in da woods. He put his coat ’round her an’ carried her home.”

Jessica supposed her expression must have revealed how sickened she felt. Martha and Ruth were equally solemn. Ruth, she supposed, was trying to lighten the atmosphere when she brought up a family the spook had helped months before.

“Do you remember he gave them money, food and horses and told them to go to West Virginia to find work?” Ruth said. “The family sent a letter saying everything worked out just as the spook said it would. They found a comfortable home and they spoke of several others that the spook had directed to the same place. All of them are doing well. They encouraged others to come to West Virginia, too. They said there are plenty of jobs at the mining company, and colored people are safe there.”

This warmed Jessica’s heart, but she couldn’t shake the despondency either. The spook needed help. Up until now, her sole purpose for eavesdropping on her husband and his friends was to find out whether they intended to go after Sebastian. That needed to change. She could get more information. If she was more diligent, she could find out about upcoming raids, and she could tell Sebastian about these as well. As if she’d been struck, she looked up. Something else suddenly occurred to her… something critical!

“Ruth!” Jessica couldn’t hide her enthusiasm. “Does Ditter know the spook? Has he ever told the spook the things he’s overheard the captain say?”

“No, no,” Ruth said. She looked terribly stricken. “He doesn’t know the spook, Miss Jessica. None of us do. And even if we did, Ditter couldn’t do that! It would cost him his job!”

“But he should, don’t you see? This is how we can help the spook. We can listen to Jon’s conversations. He and his Klan friends are always making plans right here in the parlor.”

“Miss, Jessica, dis be a bad idea!” Martha declared. Like Ruth she looked frightened, and she was vehemently shaking her head. “We cain’t afford ta lose our jobs, ma’am. ’Sides, we don’t know who da spook be.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s just that I want to help him.” Jessica conceded for their sake, but she was still determined. She couldn’t forget either, how vital it was for her to protect Sebastian’s identity. In blurting out her thoughts, she’d almost given him away. To cover her flub, she said, “It has to be terribly difficult for him to find out who the Klan is going after. Do you know how he finds out? Do you know who tells him?”