Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy (34 page)

“Leave me be,” I said and closed my eyes
again.

“You are a stubborn girl for sure. Don’t know
what I’m gonna do with you,” she said and left fuming.

In the distance, throughout the day, I could
hear the rumbling of thunder. The mansion was dark and chilled, and
I was content hiding away under my quilt, sleeping through the rain
that came in the evening, unaware that for hours Hattie had been
sitting next to me beside my bed, watching me sleep and waiting
patiently for me to wake.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I
blinked the sleep away from my eyes.

Hattie was worn, her eyes full of worry. She
took hold of my limp hand and held it in her own, the way I had
held hers on days before when she was sick in bed. It no longer
mattered that we’d had a falling out and hadn’t spoken in so long.
The moment she came to me, all was forgiven. Hattie was a sister to
me and wasn’t about to overlook my predicament. Hattie loved
me.

“Momma told me about your condition,” she
began. “I knew something was wrong, Amelia. Don’t be mad at Momma
for telling me. She swore to you, but I just know you need me now.
I can’t believe you’re going to be a mother.”

I slipped my hand out and covered my face,
ashamed and full of regret.

“I knew you loved Patrick. I just never
thought . . .”

I stopped her before she had the chance to
say any more. “What’s done is done. It doesn’t matter. Patrick is
long gone, and I shall be as well. Eugenia is demanding I leave
Sutton Hall. She is searching for Warren Stone to take me away,” I
sobbed.

“The war is closing in. Maybe it is a good
plan to leave Savannah. Run off with Warren, marry him. After all,
he loves you. I just know he does. I’ve seen the way he looked at
you - the same way Patrick did.”

“Oh, Hattie, if it were only that
simple.”

I slowly lifted the quilt and exposed my
large belly. I took her hand and placed it on top so she could feel
the baby moving inside me. Hattie’s eyes widened, and I studied her
expression as it faded from astonished to distressed. Hattie sensed
my fears; she of all people knew of my mummy’s own fate.

“Stay with me, keep by my side until the end.
I want you and Jacob Thomas with me every waking hour. Come to see
me, and we’ll steal away like we did when we were little. I want my
very last days here at Sutton Hall and on this earth to be filled
with memories of you and my brother. I am sorry for being such a
terrible sister to you, for letting you feel worthless. I love you
with all my heart!”

Hattie came and held me. I nuzzled in her
protective arms, longing to be comforted.

“I will be here for you,” Hattie crooned
while stroking my hair. “I love you too, Amelia. We will see
through these troubled times. Together.”

~ ~ ~

I could have never imagined it was possible
to go back in time, but Hattie, Jacob Thomas, and I found a way. In
our own make-believe world in our minds we were able to abandon the
present and journey back to the past. The burdensome war, the lost
hope, the dreadful days ahead - all those things, we disregarded,
in order to allow only happy times into what was left of our
lives.

The oppressive summer days approached, and
even as my belly grew, I managed to forget I was with child.

Hattie, Jacob Thomas, and I stole away every
chance we could get, and instead of being frightened by the
challenges, we relished in them. Once again, Eugenia no longer took
interest in my daily existence, since she believed I was withdrawn
and hidden away in my rooms, plagued with misery over the loss of
my baby, so we were able to steal out of the mansion, escaping to
the woods where we were free.

I never felt so alive and happy as when the
three of us splashed and frolicked in the waterhole every
afternoon. We laughed and laughed, sang our favorite childhood
songs, and played hide and seek, just as we used to. It was the
first time Jacob Thomas was old enough to participate in such fun,
and I couldn’t imagine life without him.

He had grown from a baby to a little boy in
the blink of an eye. He was tall for his age, and his mannerisms
were mature.

Jacob was astute and wanted to know about my
belly, yet the moment he saw the look of anguish in my eyes when he
asked, he quickly said in his wispy voice, “Sing me a song,
Amelia.”

I leaned back into the trunk of a tall pine
tree and placed him on my lap.

“What would you like me to sing to you today,
Jacob?”

Hattie was quietly lying nearby drying
herself in a small spot where the sun filtered through the
trees.

“‘Go Tell it on the Mountain,’” he
requested.

I smiled, gently caressed his soft cheek, and
gladly granted his request. “
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the
mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.”

The birds above fluttered from branch to
branch, swooping in. The squirrels stopped gathering their nuts,
while the air became still, as if the wind selfishly refused to
share my melody. Jacob Thomas gazed up at me with adoring eyes and
said, “You sing so pretty.”

I cupped his small face in my hands, and
trying not to cry from joy, I said to him, “God made my voice
pretty for you, Jacob Thomas, and no other.”

We hugged and I sang for him some more. I
sang without wavering until the peaceful pale blue sky slowly faded
to light orange and then a spectacular deep red. We made our way
back to the mansion, hand in hand, under the midnight blue of the
evening sky, by the light of the full moon.

No longer did I climb in bed depressed or
melancholy. In fact, I became excited about each new day. I began
to dream of better days to come. But my life was irrational, and
Mammy did all she could to protect me from my own foreseeable
mistakes.

“You mustn’t be leaving this room. Mrs.
Arrington is sure to come upon you. And what will happen if she
sees your condition?”

“Oh, Mammy, Eugenia has no interest in me.
She hasn’t come in to my room in weeks and weeks. And if she does
see me by chance, my dresses still cover my condition. Eugenia is
so preoccupied with finding the whereabouts of Warren Stone that
she pays me no mind, I’m certain of it. She goes off to Savannah
every weekend without concern for me,” I said while I sat by the
now opened windows brushing my long hair.

“Without concern for you?” she repeated in
disbelief. “Mrs. Arrington is out looking for Mr. Stone all ’cause
of you. You need to think straight.”

“Hattie, Jacob Thomas, and I are having
harmless fun,” I replied, trying not to become flustered. “We have
nothing to fear.”

Mammy took the brush from my hand, took hold
of my chin, and made me look up at her. “Dear girl, you have
everything to fear. If Mrs. Arrington finds out what we done, don’t
know what she will do!”

I abruptly pushed her hand away and went back
to brushing my hair.

“Everything will be fine. I said
convincingly. “You need to trust me. Everything will be just
fine.”

The depth of Mammy’s concern didn’t faze me,
and I went to take out my doll and talk to her. Mammy stood about,
but I continued to ignore her. Soon she became irritated and left
without another word, for I wasn’t interested in the least, and she
knew it.

That evening and nearly every evening
thereafter, once the mansion was settled for the night and the
doors to Eugenia rooms were locked, and Mammy and Hamilton blew out
the lamp to their cabin, Hattie, Jacob Thomas, and I stole outside
and played in the dark shadows of the night. When we weren’t
running about in the woods with candles in hand, playing hide and
seek, we were sitting by the river’s edge telling ghost stories.
Sometimes we swore we saw our plantation’s ghosts hovering near,
listening and watching us. Especially when we were near to the
slave cemetery where Hattie’s relatives were buried, we swore we
could see their spirits wander.

Jacob Thomas was frightened at first and
clung to me with sheer terror, but as soon as he learned the
spirits meant no harm, that they were there to watch over us, he
calmed down and even decided to converse with them.

Jacob Thomas brought books out to read to his
dead ancestors, leaning himself up against their tombstones, making
himself comfortable. He had learned to read at an early age, thanks
to Hattie. His favorites were Mother Goose rhymes.

Owls hooted up above the cemetery and below
it, night creatures scurried around. When the night had no moon, we
were a bit spooked at times, but Hattie and I dared to challenge
our fright.

“Let’s go explore the Montgomery mansion,”
she suggested one May evening. It was very late, nearly two in the
morning, the time we usually wandered back to our beds.

I gasped at the thought and said no. I
couldn’t bear to enter his place.

“Come, it will be fun,” she said, pulling my
sleeve and nudging me on.

“It’s late and Jacob is tired,” I replied,
tugging my arm away.

“We’ll put him to bed first and then go.”

“No, I don’t want to,” I protested.

She brought her candle up to my face.

“You’re scared. I can’t believe you’re
scared!” she taunted.

“I am not! It’s just not fair to Jacob,” I
stammered.

“Look, he’s already asleep,” she said,
pointing down at him. He had rested on the ground by Helen’s grave
and fallen asleep.

“We can’t leave him alone. What if he wakes
and we’re not here?”

“We’ll hurry. Come on, let’s go,” Hattie
insisted, and she led me along.

I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to be in
Perry’s home, even if it had been long-since abandoned. That was
where he lived with Myrna and his girls. And the memory of our one
passionate night together remained, especially when the baby
tumbled within me - our baby.

I couldn’t allow Hattie to think I was
frightened or give her any other reason - the real reason I didn’t
want to participate in the venture. So, I quietly followed along,
dreading the approach to the Montgomery mansion.

In the daytime, the mansion appeared merely
dilapidated, but at night it was ominous, and I hesitated before
entering. Hattie had no patience for me and pushed me toward the
door.

“Go on. The door isn’t locked.”

I slowly eased the door open as Hattie
hovered behind me. We both stepped into the foyer and used our
candlelight to look around.

The mansion was empty, with the exception of
countless cobwebs that inhabited every corner of the ceilings. From
the tornado last fall there was a hole above that had caused damage
to the inside from the weather. Inside, the plaster from the once
creamy walls had begun to peel, and the planks of the wood floors
were now warped and covered with dirt and debris.

I felt sad, knowing how much Perry had loved
his home, and of course his family. I recalled when Myrna died
giving birth. The memory gave me chills.

“I want to go upstairs,” Hattie whispered, as
if not wanting to wake Myrna Montgomery’s ghost.

“No!”

“I’m going. Stay here alone if you want. This
is fun,” she said and started walking up the staircase. With each
creak I shivered, then reluctantly agreed to follow her.

“Maybe we’ll see Myrna’s ghost,” Hattie said
when we reached the balcony on the second floor. “You go into the
east wing and I’ll go to the west wing. If you see her, the ghost
of Myrna Montgomery, call for me.”

Perry’s bedroom was in the east wing. I
gulped. Outside, the wind began to kick up and a gust blew in from
the gaping hole in the ceiling. Our candles blew out. From behind,
it sounded like footsteps were making their way down the hall. Then
a door closed, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. I couldn’t
see Hattie, although she was right in front of my face.

“Did you hear that?” I gasped. “I think
someone is here!”

Hattie reached for my hands. “It can’t be. No
one could live here.”

“We need to get out - hurry!”

Hand in hand we hugged the wall, scurrying
along quickly until we felt the banister to the staircase. I led
Hattie, clutching her hand.

“Slow down!”

A door slammed closed again, followed by
footsteps. I quickened my pace, and just as we neared the bottom of
the long staircase, Hattie lost her balance and tumbled past
me.

“Hattie!” I cried. Once she landed, she let
out a howl.

I was careful not to fall off the last
remaining steps and got to her by following her cries.

“Hattie, are you hurt?”

“Help me up.”

I took hold of her and lifted, then
painstakingly carried her toward the door. The wind had blown it
wide open.

“I think my head’s bleeding,” she cried.

“There is someone here. Try! Try and walk.
You can lean on me.”

It took what seemed like forever to get back
to the cemetery at Sutton Hall where we’d left Jacob Thomas
sleeping. The night had moved on, and now because Hattie couldn’t
walk fast enough, we got back to Jacob Thomas too late.

Dawn was approaching and there was no sign of
our brother. His book lay beside the tombstone but he was nowhere
in sight. I sat Hattie down, out of breath and exhausted, and then
wasted no time looking for Jacob.

“Stay put. Perhaps he went to bed. I’ll bet
he is in the cabin. But I want to make certain.”

Hattie sat in Jacob’s place and waited while
I set off. I hurried, my pace quick, as I wanted to check on him
before Mammy and Hamilton woke. There was only a short amount of
time before they would rise for the long day ahead.

Finally I got to the cabin and crept up the
front porch and peeked in the window. Jacob’s bed was in clear
sight, but he wasn’t there! Mammy and Hamilton were still
asleep.