The Haunting of Josephine (15 page)

“Your a
unt would be so proud of you today.”
Jo turned a
nd looked at her
u
ncle. Over his
shoulder
Jo
could see her a
unt
smiling at them
.

“She would be more proud of you. She would want you to go on and live your life and not spend the rest of it missing her. I bet that she would really love for you
to go on that vacation that the
two of you were talking about taking while she
was planning my wedding.” Mr. Cline
looked saddened and shook his head no.

“I could not do that. It was supposed to be something for her and I to do together it would not feel right to go on it without her.”

“I bet that if you went on it you would be able to feel her be
ing there with you in spirit.” Katherine
smiled at Jo. They headed outside to their waiting carriage.

“I know that it sounds silly but sometimes I swear that I can feel her with me still. I wake at night sure that she wa
s just here.” Jo smiled at her u
ncle.

“You know sometimes I have that same feeling.” Together they got up into the waiting carriage and headed into the town square. When they arrived there were several carriages circled around a large group of people on foot that surrounded the stage and noose. Jo found herself
beginning
to get nervous over the thought of seeing Mr. Genus again even for the moments before he was hanged. As she sat toying with her hanky she jumped when a hand was placed over hers.

“Nervous my dear?” Mr. Kinsley asked as he climbed up into their carriage. “If you do not think that you can watch this then we can leave at
any time
. That is one of the reasons that
your u
ncle and I insisted that you bring the carriage.”

“No, I need to see this. I need to know that he is really gone or I am never going to fully trust that he is.” Mr. Kinsley’s heart hurt at the thought that Mr. Genus had shattered the safety in Jo’s world so completely that she felt she needed to physically see that he was dead for her to believe it and feel safe.

The crowd
roared
loudly when they brought Mr. Genus out of the jail. Jo watched as he scanned the crowd of on lookers and her blood seemed to turn to ice when his gaze settled on her and a
menacing
smile crossed his face.
Jo tried her best to keep her composure under the intensity of his stare.
She did not want to give him the satisfaction of
affecting
her.

He was led to the rop
e and it was strung around his neck. The
bailiff
stood up and read the charges against Mr. Genus for which he was being hanged. The other
families
began crying at the reading of their loved ones name. At the reading of
Katherine
’s name Mr. Genus’s smile grew bigger as he continued to stare at Jo.

“Is there anything the
prisoner
would like to say before the carrying out of his sentence?” The
bailiff
asked. This is what Jo had not
wanted
to hear. Whatever Mr. Genus was about to say would do nothing to comfort any of the families and was sure to haunt them all.

“I have nothing to say for myself. Every whore I
succeeded
with I am sure has duly learned her lesson. For those who died…” Mr. Genus broke his gaze from Jo’s j
ust long enough to look at Mr. Cline
and then back at Jo. “I am sure that th
ose who were supposed to learn something from their deaths
have
managed
to learn
the lessons that they were supposed to learn.”

Jo wished that she could go up there and spit in Mr. Genus’s face but she did not dare get that close to him.

“I just wish that I would have been able to get a taste from the last one. So pure so sweet. The only non-whore in the bunch.” The
bailiff
cut Mr. Genus off and sounded the warning to the dropping of the
prisoner
that was coming.

The crowd
silenced
at the grinding of the gears of the platform. There was a loud slapping sound of wood on wood as the floor of the platform parted. The sound of the tightening of the rope and the snap of Mr. Genus’s neck was louder than Jo had ever imagined possible. Her
stomach
ached and she feared that she was going to be sick.

As the coroner announced that Mr. Genus was truly dead and the cheers of the crowd rang out Mr. Kinsley signaled to the driver to take them all home to
Mr. Cline
’s house. “How are you doing?” Jo looked up at Mr. Kinsley and smiled sweetly.

“I am doing better
than
I thought that I would be doing. I know that it must seem crass but I cannot wait until our wedding this afternoon. A part of me wishes that his hanging would have been for tomorrow so he would have been alive to hear the pronouncement of our marriage.”

“Yes, that would have been so much more wonderful would it have not been? Too late now.” The carriage pulled up to the house and Mr. Kinsley stepped down and helped Jo with her exiting of the carriage. “Well, I leave you here to prepare for our wedding.”

“It will not be long before I am your bride.” Jo smiled at Mr. Kinsley and suddenly found herself yearning for the wedding to be over.

“And it will not be long before you all will be living in my home with me.” Jo suddenly looked confused.

“What do you mean ‘you al
l’?” Mr. Kinsley looked at Mr. Cline
and then back at Jo.

“Your u
ncle and I have decided that he is going to close up this house and that you both will be living with me.” Jo threw her arms around Mr. Kinsley’s
neck
.

“How did you know that I was dreading having to leave
my u
ncle behind? This is such a wonderful day!”

“Well, dear. Mr. Kinsley and I came to the agreement a while ago. Though I do not think that I will be moving in right away. I do believe that I will take your advic
e and take that trip that your a
unt had been dreaming of. I would just be letting him win if I gave up and stopped doing the things that she and I had planned for so long.” Jo smiled at her Uncle and then left the two men behind as she went inside to prepare for her wedding.

Chapte
r 17

Standing in the back of the church wearing her dress Jo found herself overcome with calm.
She had thought that a part of her would be scared at joining herself to someone forever. Instead, she could not help but feel how right it was to be with Mr. Kinsley and how she could not wait to make a home with him, to bare his children, and to spend the rest of her life with him.

“You have to be the least nervous bride I think that I ever did see.”
Katherine
drifted into the room with a big smile on her face.

“Oh Aunt,
I am so glad that you can be here today. Even if only in spirit.” Jo found herself suddenly tearful.

“Oh please do not start crying. It is your wedding day. You are supposed to be happy today.” Jo shook her head.

“I am happy. I am so beyond happy there needs to be a new word for it.
”

“That is good. I am so glad that you decided to still be married today.”

“It almost felt as if I had to. Mr. Genus had admitted that he had killed you in attempt to separate Bradley and me so it feels almost fitting that we are getting married today despite what he did. I am just glad that we were able to finally give you the peace of having your murder avenged.”
Katherine
smiled at Jo and faded into the background just as
Mr. Cline
was coming through the door.

“Are you ready for this?” Mr. Cline
asked Jo with a big smile on his face.

“I do not think that I have been more ready for anything in my entire life.”
Mr. Cline
lead Jo to the double doors she was to enter the sanctuary in. As the doors swung open everyone in the room stood and faced her. Jo felt like a beautiful princess.

Jo was halfway down the aisle before she was finally able to see Mr. Kinsley standing next to the priest who was to marry them. Her heart skipped a beat as
her u
ncle handed her hand over to Mr. Kinsley and they finally touched. As the ceremony
started all Jo could think about was the fact that she was finally marrying the perfect man for
her and she owed it all to her a
unt.

“You may kiss your bride.” Jo could not believe that the ceremony was over. As Bradley leaned over to kiss her she heard the priest say the best words she had ever heard before.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr
.  &
Mrs. Bradley Kinsley.”

About the Author

Kathleen Whelpley is a stay at home mother whose dream of becoming a writer finally came true in August of 2011 with the publication of her first book “Changes”. Ms. Whelpley keeps mostly to herself and spends a great deal of time with her family
writing
in her spare time. Her biggest dream is that someone will read one of her books and be touched by it.

If you are interested in information about other books by Kathleen Whelpley please look her up on Facebook at www.
facebook.com/KathleenWhelpley.
You can also find her books listed on
www.goodreads.com
where she has a blog. Feel free to contact her through her
pages for
any
questions or discussions about her work
(
s
).
Her Facebook page is the best way to
find more information about any previous or upcoming work she may have coming out!