Southern Ruby (50 page)

A card was attached to it. I opened the envelope and read:

We're coming to get you.

Your caskets have been measured and made.

Your family will pay for its sins.

Fear gripped my stomach and my vision blurred. I could almost feel on my fingertips the malevolence of the person who had sent the wreath. But Philomena was watching me and I didn't want to alarm her.

‘I'll take it,' I told her, avoiding her gaze as I carried the wreath and stand into the house. ‘It's from a distant relative who has only just heard that Maman passed away.'

I tore off the ribbon and card before taking the wreath and stand out the back and asking Ned to burn them.

‘The wreath has got oleander in it,' I told him. ‘I don't want the children or Theodore to touch it and get poisoned.'

Ned took the wreath, but the way he held it away from himself told me he knew it was suspicious. It wasn't merely my lame excuse — after all, I could have had it sent straight to the cemetery — but Ned's uncanny ability to size up a situation in an instant and take the appropriate action. He put the wreath on a pile of dry garden scraps and set it alight. I'd always liked Ned and at that moment I found myself liking him even more.

But as I watched the flames, I thought of another time and the cross that had burned on the Thezan family's lawn. An ominous feeling came over me, as if something — or someone — had returned from the past. I shivered and went back into the house.

On my way upstairs I passed Clifford in his study, poring over some papers. He turned in my direction. ‘Who was at the door, sugar?'

When we'd married we'd promised each other not to keep secrets, but I didn't like the pallor of his complexion these days and didn't want to burden him with any more worries than he already had.

‘Just a broom salesman,' I told him, walking into his study and kissing him. But when he left in the afternoon for a meeting with Christophe, I drove straight to Kitty's house.

‘Oh, those people are such chickens!' she said, reading the card that had come with the wreath. ‘Everybody in Save Our Schools is getting death threats.' She opened the hall table drawer and showed me four notes that had been put together with cut-out letters from newspapers.

‘Aren't you scared?' I asked her, cringing at the obscene words.

‘When I get one of these, I ask myself how Mother would have reacted.' She tore up the notes, including mine, and tossed the scraps into the fireplace in her parlour. ‘She would have said that these notes were sent by cowards, because only cowards write threatening letters and don't sign their names. So who's going to be afraid of a coward?'

Kitty's words got me thinking that the wreath might have been sent by Aunt Elva. After all, she'd been sick enough to show poor Ruby Nell Bridges a Negro doll in a baby casket. Well, I wasn't afraid of old Aunt Elva. She was full of hot air.

My mind was further set at ease by the bravado of the other women in Save Our Schools when I learned at the next meeting that several of them had been shot at.

‘They just want to scare us,' Grace said. ‘The most important thing is that you never let those crazy people inside your head. You mustn't let their distorted view of life get to you.'

I forgot about the death threat as things gradually settled down at the schools. The mobs thinned and white children began to return to their classes unmolested. Even little Ruby Nell Bridges didn't need the protection of the Federal marshals any more.

The following month, Philomena returned to Biloxi to help her elderly mother after she'd had a fall. The house and children were too much for Mae to handle on her own, so I helped out where I could. I didn't mind because it kept me busy. One morning, when I was trying to work out how to assemble the vacuum cleaner, I glanced out the window into the garden and saw Mae collecting the cut flowers for the day from Ned.

‘Oh, my!' I gasped when I saw the way Ned smiled at Mae, and the way she blushed in return. ‘How long has this been going on?'

I watched their giggling and eye-batting a little longer before I turned my attention back to the vacuum cleaner. Mae was in love! The thought of it tickled me pink.

Clifford and I had already planned to take good care of Mae when she retired, with a generous pension and a house of her own, and she would always remain part of the family. But I'd been worried that she would be lonely once she didn't have the children — or me — to look after any more. Now I was glad that she would have the company of a very good man.

My light mood was cut short when Clarita Galafate appeared at the door looking flustered. ‘Ruby,' she said, ‘Clifford collapsed at the office.'

My knees buckled. Terrible images of the day Helen died crowded my mind. ‘What do you mean?' I asked, trying to catch my breath. ‘Where is he?'

‘He was stable when they put him in the ambulance,' said Clarita, taking my arm to steady me. ‘I'll drive you to the hospital now to see him. It's exhaustion, I'm sure. You know how hard he and Christophe have been working.'

I told Mae we were going to the hospital and to look after the children. On the way in Clarita's car, I stared out the window and berated myself. I should have seen this coming. Clifford hadn't slept properly for months but had kept himself going on multiple cups of strong black coffee. I'd hoped that
now progress was being made, he'd ease off. I wished I'd been more forceful with him that he needed to rest. What would the children and I do if something happened to him? He was their beloved daddy — and my best friend.

Clifford was dozing when we arrived at the hospital and were shown to his private room.

‘I'll be out here,' Clarita said, taking a seat in the waiting area.

I sat in the visitor's chair beside the bed and took Clifford's hand. His face was so pale I could see the blue veins under his eyelids. ‘Oh, Cliff,' I said. ‘How did I let this happen to you?' His eyes flickered for a moment before they opened, and a smile stretched across his face.

‘Hello, beautiful,' he said.

I tried to say something back but the words snagged in my throat.

He put his hand on his chest and looked rueful. ‘The doctor said my ticker isn't in such good shape. Apparently I have the heart of a sixty-year-old man.'

I sighed and kissed his palm. ‘You've got to slow down, honey. You've pushed so hard and things are changing. Let others take over for a while.'

He stroked my hair. ‘You're right, Ruby. For your sake and the children's, I've got to pace myself better.'

We sat quietly for a while, then Clifford looked into my eyes and said: ‘Do you even realise how exceptional you are, Ruby? You've been tested time and time again and yet you haven't broken.'

‘We all break, Cliff. Maybe I've just never been pushed beyond my limits.'

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Kitty and Eddie.

‘What are you doing in the hospital, Cliff?' Kitty cried, smothering her brother in kisses. ‘If you die, I'll never forgive you!'

She began bustling about the room, adjusting the window blind and ordering Eddie to find a vase for the flowers they'd brought. After she'd retucked the bedsheets so that Clifford looked like he was pinned under them and propped him up on two pillows instead of one, she sat down and sent him a stern look.

‘Even the hardiest of us need a break, you know,' she said. ‘I never would have survived the schools debacle if I hadn't kept up my tennis and gotten a weekly massage. Now as soon as you are out of here, I'm booking us all a cabin on Avery Island. We are going to have a family holiday together — and no arguments! You won't do anyone any good if you drop dead.' Then she turned and winked at me.

I was transported back to that tennis game where I had partnered with Clifford to play her and Eddie. Kitty had been so bossy then and it had annoyed me, but now I realised how lucky I was to have her for a sister-in-law. Sometimes somebody had to take charge.

When the visiting hour was up, a nurse arrived to tell us we had to go. As we were leaving the room, Clifford called me back.

‘No matter what happens, Ruby,' he said solemnly, ‘I want you to know that I love you and I love our children. If I had to live my life over, I'd do it all exactly the same way again. Promise me, if anything should happen to me, you will continue the fight. Our children deserve a better world. All the children deserve a better world.'

I was surprised by his seriousness. When I thought of all Clifford had achieved for civil rights, I felt immense pride. But when I looked at him lying in that hospital bed, pale and exhausted, I feared for our future. I didn't want to grow old without him.

‘I won't give up,' I said. ‘But you have to promise me you'll take better care of yourself.'

‘You're looking exhausted too,' Kitty told me as she, Eddie, Clarita and I made our way to the parking lot. ‘We can't have you collapsing as well. Let Eddie and me look after Dale and Louise for a few nights. That way you can care for Clifford without having to worry about everything else — and we'd be delighted to have them.'

I hated to be separated from the children, but I knew Kitty was right. I needed a rest so I could concentrate on helping Clifford recuperate. But when she and Eddie picked them up the following night, I despaired at how lonely the house felt without my husband and the children in it. I even missed Theodore, the dog. Dale, who was deeply attached to him, had taken him to Kitty and Eddie's home too, but I kept listening for his pattering paws on the floorboards and expecting the feel of his soft muzzle nudging me to get my attention.

I took a seat in an armchair in the sitting room and leaned my head back. From the garden came voices: Mae saying good night to Ned, who lived in the gardener's cottage.

‘You put the potato poultice I made for you on that cut tonight like I showed you,' Mae said. ‘It will be good by tomorrow. See you in the morning, sugar pie.'

I smiled and hoped she and Ned would announce their engagement soon. We could use the summerhouse for the wedding ceremony, like when Clifford and I got married, and Ned could choose the bouquet from his favourite flowers in the garden.

I heard Mae come inside and go to her room next to the kitchen. I picked up
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and read the first chapter, bringing back comforting memories of Maman and me reading it together. But the fire was dying and the room
was turning cold. I decided to read more of the book in the warmth of my bed.

I turned off the lights and climbed the stairs to our bedroom. Once I'd changed into my nightdress and snuggled into bed, I picked up the book again. But I was exhausted and fell asleep with the bedside light still on. I dreamed I was Jewel again, on stage at the Vieux Carré Club, dancing to ‘Chloe'. I turned and caught a glimpse of Leroy through the curtain with his band. A wave of tenderness washed over me.
You haven't gone
, I thought.
You've been with me the whole time, watching over me like you promised you would
.

Then the music stopped and Leroy shouted, ‘Wake up!' I jolted and opened my eyes. My thoughts were clumsy and slow and it took a moment for me to remember I wasn't Jewel on the stage at the Vieux Carré; I was in my bedroom in the house on Prytania Street and I was Mrs Clifford Lalande.

I rubbed my forehead and reached over to turn off the light. An eerie sensation sent a chill down my spine. I felt a presence in the room.

I turned to the door. A man was standing there, staring at me. Stark cold terror clawed at my heart. I knew him, although he didn't know me, as Ruby. He was older and rougher-looking, with a short beard and a scar under his eye. But his aura of malevolence was unmistakable. It was Jimmy, the former barman from the Vieux Carré Club.

‘Hello, Mrs Lalande,' he said, in a voice that was chillingly calm. ‘Isn't it a shame your husband's not home.'