Bound by Blood and Brimstone (45 page)

Caleb Jacobs, torment screaming from every pore as he eyed Lorrie Beth from beneath shaggy

bangs - Sue Lee standing in a backwash of waning sunlight, shouting obscenities into the

sweltering air - Wonnie’s lithe figure on a stool, eyes intent on her canvas - Reese Watkins,

kneeling in our barn, open wounds oozing from his self-inflicted flogging.

There were hundreds of them, enough to drown in, a moving twilight where time and

space had fled, and nothing remained except a single heart-stopping revelation. Suddenly, from

some unknown place, alien words bellowed inside my head with the force of a battering ram.

GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE! GET OUT NOW!

I opened my eyes to Sam’s stricken face as he knelt over me where I lay on the cool dirt

of the cellar floor. He was still pulling at my nightgown, shuddering, his tears wetting my collar.

“You went away, Ember Mae,” he said between sobs. “You went far away, and I couldn’t

bring you back!”

I inhaled sharply to slow the hoof beat of my galloping heart and pulled his slim body to

mine to stroke the dark curls. “Hush now. I’m okay, Sam, everything’s all right,” I whispered,

fighting the adrenaline splintering through me.

GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE! GET OUT NOW!
Hot urgency, all encompassing, rattled

over me, bolting me off the floor. I grabbed the wooden box with its evil booty and thrust it at

Sam with sweaty hands. “Sam, Honey, you have to listen to me now. Everything’s going be

okay, but you have to listen carefully to what I’m going to tell you.”

My voice, wobbly and faint, didn’t sound like me, and the alarm in his eyes threatened to

spill over again. Gripping his cold arm, I squatted in front of him and spoke in a steadier tone. “I

need you to do something important. Maybe the most important thing you’ve ever done. To do

this thing, you’re going to have to be brave and really grown-up. Can you do that for me, Baby?”

Smelling a challenge, true to his blood, he fisted the last tear out of his way and jutted the

small, square chin at me. “I ain’t no baby, Ember Mae. I can do anything you want. What is it?

What do you want me to do?”

“The box. I want you to take it to the woods and bury it. Mark the spot so you won’t

forget it later.” To quash the questions in his black eyes, I pressed feverish hands around his and

drilled him with my gaze. “After you bury the box, I want you to take Checkers and run to town.

Run faster than you’ve ever run before. Run like a cheetah. I want you to find Sheriff Bates. Tell

him he has to come.”

Startled, his hands jerked within mine, his eyes wide. “The sheriff?”

“Yes, Sam, the sheriff. You have to get him here fast. Tell him there’s a fire and we’re all

trapped in the house.” I let that register for a second before giving him the most crucial of all

instructions. “Under no circumstance are you to come back to the house with him, Sam. After

you’re sure he’s coming, I want you to run straight to Wonnie’s and wait for me. Lorrie Beth and

I will come for you. Now, can you remember all that?”

Loyalty won out over fear. He squared his thin shoulders and eyed me steadily. “You can

count on me, Ember Mae. I’ll remember.”

With a surge of emotion that nearly choked me, I clutched him to me in a fierce hug and

dropped my face into the thick hair, breathing his scent.
GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE! GET OUT

NOW!

“Go! Go out the back door, and don’t let anyone see you,” I ordered, giving him a push

toward the cellar steps. “Hurry!” With that, I gripped the tail of my nightgown and dashed

upward on his heels.

In less than a minute I was dressed, with a change of clothes and a toothbrush tossed into

a pillowcase. I wanted to ransack the house for my missing money, but there was no time. There

was no time for anything but getting my sister and Joshua out of this house.

When I burst through her door with a second pillowcase in tow, she was fresh from her

bath, brushing her hair, clueless to the storm raging within me. “Where’s Joshua?” I demanded,

grabbing diapers and blankets off the bed and shoving them into the pillowcase.

“What? He’s in Momma’s room sleeping. What’s wrong with you, Ember Mae? Why

aren’t you at work?” She barely paused with her brushing, her listless eyes sweeping me briefly.

“I didn’t go to work,” I said, snatching extra socks for Joshua off the bureau. “I played

sick because I wanted us to be out of the house before they get back.”

“What are you talking about?” she queried, her face gone stark white. She tossed the

hairbrush on the bed to stare at me.

“Get your jacket,” I commanded. Wake up Joshua. We’re leaving this house. Now.” I

slung both pillowcases over my shoulder, grasped her hand, and tugged. “Get up, Lorrie Beth.

There’s no time to explain now. That’ll have to come later. You just have to trust me. Now come

on
! We’re running out of time.”

Anyone else would’ve been terrified of the spectacle I made, wild-eyed and hair flying.

My cheeks were burning, and my hands jerked with every movement. Lorrie Beth was

untouched. She held back and started to whine.

“I can’t leave, don’t you understand? Reese will never let me go. You have to stop this,

Ember Mae, before you get us all in a mess of trouble.”

“We’re already in trouble,” I said, panting as I dragged her by the arm into the front

room. “More trouble than you know. Listen to me, Lorrie Beth. Kids leave home all the time at

our age. We’re almost seventeen, for crying out loud. Reese can’t stop us. I won’t let him.” I

attempted a confident tone, but the look on her face told me she wasn’t buying it. “Today’s the

day, Sis. I’m breaking you out of your prison.”

“Have you lost your mind, Ember Mae?” She was struggling against me, resisting the

pull of my hand. “Where’re we supposed to go? How are we supposed to survive?”

Her reluctance set my teeth on edge, and I choked back a squeal of frustration. My voice

was growing shrill, teetering on the verge of hysteria, but I was swimming that adrenaline sea,

bashing the panic that gnawed my insides like a rabid rat.

“I have money!” I lied. “We’ll make it, okay? I’ve spent years planning this. We have to

get to Wonnie’s. Sam’s there, waiting. He has something to show you.

“No! Stop it! You’re scaring me!” She broke my grip, staggering back a step, her

expression bleak. I lost complete control at that moment, blinded by terror. Sputtering, wailing

wordlessly, I slapped her hard.

“WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?” Trapped in our war zone,

we’d failed to hear the back door or the footsteps that must’ve followed. I didn’t even have to

turn my head to know who’d uttered those words. Reese Watkins stood in the doorway, muddy

prints from his soiled work boots trailing his path from the kitchen.

Showtime was now, and God knew I wasn’t prepared. Gripping the pillowcases tighter

and stepping in front of my sister, I drew myself up squarely and glared at him. I would deal my

cards one at a time, keeping the ace for last. “You may as well know, Reese. We’re leaving.

Now. We’re almost seventeen, and you can’t keep us here against our will any longer.”

His face was placid as he shrugged out of his dirty jacket and tossed it across the sofa.

“What in heaven’s name are you babbling about, Girl? I thought you were too sick to go to work

this morning. You seem fine to me. Did you lie to us?”

“What are you doing home this time of day?” I countered. “I thought you were going to

be in the woods until dark. That’s what you said at supper last night. Did
you
lie?”

I could smell the stale sweat of Lorrie Beth’s fear. I could feel her body quivering against

my back, and my anger emboldened me. “It doesn’t really matter at this point, does it Reese?

Arguing won’t change a thing. We’re leaving this house, and you can’t stop us. We’re of legal

age.”

“Oh, really now? Is that so? Maybe before you go spouting off at the mouth, making

trouble for yourself, you ought to get your facts straight. The last time I checked, the legal age in

West Virginia is twenty-one.” His tone was oily, his features serene, but I wasn’t fooled. He was

angry, and growing angrier by the second.

“That doesn’t matter, either,” I responded smoothly. You’ve kept Lorrie Beth chained to

this house for years. She’s done her time, Reese. She’s served her sentence. It’s time to let her

go.”

I turned to Lorrie Beth and draped an arm around her frail shoulders to steady her. “Come

on, Sis. Let’s get out of here.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Reese said, taking a step toward us. His eyes

narrowed, and his color was high as he clasped heavy hands in front of him. “You see, God told

me today this was going to happen. He spoke to me in the woods. He told me to come home and

set my house in order. I sent my crew on their way and obeyed His voice. I always do.”

Lorrie Beth whimpered and tried to pull away from me, but I gritted my teeth and held

on. “And this is what I find,” he said in a cold, dead tone. “Traitorous daughters, ungrateful,

rebellious wretches, thinking they can just walk out on me after all I’ve done for them. Just how

do you think you’re going to make it without me, huh? How’re the two of you going to take care

of a deformed deaf mute?”

With the blood pounding at my temples and every nerve ending screaming for release, I

played my first card. “None of that has anything to do with it, Reese. You can’t talk us out of it. I

found your little box of dirty secrets, and they’re in the hands of Sheriff Bates as we speak. He’ll

be here any minute.” The bluff found its mark. He blanched and caught his breath. He took

another step forward.

“Box? What box?” He tried for a confused expression and failed. Fear was evident in the

fleshy face.

“Your nasty little box in the cellar,” I declared. “The one with all your trophies.”

“I don’t know what you’re taking about,” he insisted, wagging his head, striving to keep

up his charade. I was about to blow his defenses out of the water. Hugging Lorrie Beth tightly

against me, I turned to look at her and spoke as gently as I could, knowing I was about to break

her heart. “He has Max’s collar, Sis. With the tag still attached. He killed him.” Her jaw

unhinged with a gasp, and she gave me a violent shove to sever my embrace.

“No! I don’t believe you. Sue Lee Jacobs did it!”

“Sue Lee didn’t kill Max,” I cut in. “That day when you accused her, she never admitted

it. Remember?” She’d covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes closed for a second. When

she opened them there was green fire in them, and she wheeled on Reese.

“Why? Why would you do that to poor Max? What did he ever do to you? Answer me!”

Her voice broke and a single tear spilled over her lashes. “That’s just one more thing I’ll never

forgive you for,” she said forlornly, a small sob escaping her.

“There’s more, Lorrie Beth,” I continued, hoping for her breakthrough. “There was a lock

of hair and pictures. Dozens of them, all of dark-haired girls. They’re all mirror images of you.” I

cut my eyes back to Reese, who stood mutely before us, his face an ugly shade of purple. “Who

are they, Reese? Girlfriends?”

“You know nothing about God’s ways,” he snapped, his eyes gone to slits. There’s true

evil in this world and I’ve been called by God to smash it! Suddenly, he threw back his head and

roared into the ceiling. “I AM GOD’S HAMMER!”

Lorrie Beth started and gave a pitiful yelp before taking cover behind me again. My

bones felt as though they’d been stuffed with mud, and my legs threatened to buckle.
Please,

Sam. Please hurry, please, God,
bring the sheriff
, I prayed. I cast my eyes about the room,

seeking a weapon if it came to that. Lorrie Beth still had a ways to go before she’d have the

gumption to leave. I had to get her mad.

Reese lowered his voice to barely more than a whisper and looked at us out of dazed

eyes. “They were harlots, all of them. Evil whores who gave themselves over to Satan. I obeyed

God’s voice as I always do.”

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep the tremor out of my voice, and though my blood was

turning cold within me, still, I defied him. “So you killed them, is that what you’re saying? And

the lock of hair? Who was she? Did you kill her, too?”

He actually smiled when I said that. “My mother. She was the biggest whore of all. She

spawned bastards all over Cook County. She was the first. God came to me in all His glory

because of her evil.”

“But, you told us you didn’t know who your parents were, and--that you were raised in an

orphanage,” I stammered through numb lips.
Come on, Sam, hurry, Honey.

“That’s true,” he said, smiling wider. “I found out the truth later. I tracked her down, and

I rid the earth of her sins.”

“Oh, Sweet Lord,” Lorrie Beth murmured, her voice ending in a tortured moan behind

me. “Oh, God.” She began to cry.
No! Don’t cry! You have to get mad!
It was then that I played