East of Orleans (24 page)

“Yes, that you’d give me the money or yes that you’d marry me?”

Jules teased, “Little lady, suppose I said both? Don’t answer me now. I’ll tell you what. Tonight I’ll take you to dinner. This afternoon I’ll give your proposition some thought and we’ll discuss it tonight.” Jules removed his pocket watch and glanced at it. “You got the rest of the day off?”

“Yes.”

“What do you say we just go over to
Charleston
? Hell, I need some time off myself. Go get yourself dressed, and we’ll leave this afternoon.”

“Am I coming back tonight?”

Jules slowly grinned. “Darling, that’s up to you.”

Isabella left the warehouse and ran down the tabby steps to Riverstreet. She ran into the tavern. The place was quiet this time of day. She looked around for Jesse, but did not see him. Charlie was behind the bar counting money.

“Where’s Jesse?”

“He ain’t felling well. He’s in his room.”

Isabella ran to the back of the tavern and knocked on Jesse’s door. There was no response. Slowly she opened the door. Jesse was curled up in the bed with an old gray blanket wrapped around him. He was shivering. Isabella rushed to his side and placed her hand on his head.

“You’re as hot as a frying pan. How long you been this sick? How long you had this fever?”

“Since early dis morning.”

“You ate anything?”

“Don’t feel like it.”

“You drank anything?”

“Nah.”

“Well, you got to drink. You can’t just lay there and burn up with fever. Why didn’t you send for me?”

“Ain’t a thing you can do.”

“There sure is a thing. You stay here. I’m going to get Kate.”

“I ain’t going nowhere.”

Isabella ran out of the tavern and down the steep tabby steps to Kate’s. She opened the bakery door and smelled the aroma of peach pies. She rushed up to Kate looking very distraught.

“What’s the trouble, Isabella?” said Kate, shaking a bag of flour out on the table.

“It’s Jesse, he’s sick. He’s got a high fever.”

“Does he hurt anywhere?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask him. I wanted to come get you.”

“All right, let’s get moving.” Kate dusted off her apron and took it off. “Where’ve you been this morning all fancied up? Don’t you look pretty.”

Isabella knew that Kate would not understand, and at this moment, neither did she.
What
was I thinking?
What about Tom?
How could she possibly marry a man like Jules McGinnis? She wouldn’t; she couldn’t. She would run and tell him that she could not go with him to
Charleston
, right after she took Kate to Jesse. She would have to come up with some other way to save the farm. Maybe Jules McGinnis had a bigger heart than anyone knew and he would just lend her the money and not expect any collateral.

Kate held Isabella tightly by the arm as they hurried back to the tavern. When the two women reached Jesse’s bed, he was almost unconscious. Kate leaned over his bed. “Jesse, you hurt anywhere?”

“Nah, nowhere, but my arms and my feets feels like needles sticking in dem,” Jesse said in a weak voice

Kate shook her head. “That ain’t good.”

“What can I do?” asked Isabella.

“Go find Doc Chandler. This boy might need some kind of tonic or a needle. I think that he may have pneumonia. The way he breathes sounds like it, but I ain’t sure. Hear that rattle in his chest? Hurry.”

Isabella leaned over Jesse and her eyes filled with frightened tears. “Jesse Rucker, don’t you go and die on me, you hear? I’m gonna go find Doc Chandler, I’m gonna bring him back and he is gonna to make you better.” She placed her thin arms around Jesse’s hot body, and cried, “No matter what it takes, I’m gonna get you well. I’ll be back.”

Isabella ran out of the tavern and into the warehouse, searching for Jules. She ran outside and bumped into Hoyt. “Miss Isabella, ain’t that right?” he said as he eyed her.

“That’s right. Where is Jules?”

“He’s a little old for you, isn’t he? You sure are pretty.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Said he had some business to take care of over at his place on Oglethorpe.” Hoyt pulled out his pocket watch. “He ought to be back by now. You might check over at the stables.”

Isabella heard him before she saw him. “Hell, I got a house over on Oglethorpe that I can’t even get a night’s sleep in and I paid for the goddamn place. I bought a goddamn whore a house and she kicked me out of it. Now that’s loyalty.” Laughter roared through out the stable. Isabella walked fast to the back of the stable and saw Jules untying his horse. “You headed somewhere?”

“I was, but I ain’t in any hurry.”

“Can you take me to Doc Chandler?”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s Jesse; he’s burning up with fever. Mrs. Kate told me that he might have pneumonia and for me to go and get Doc Chandler.”

“Where’s your baby?”

“Nell’s got her, and then at four o’clock she’s gonna take her to Kate’s.” Isabella dropped her head. “I won’t be going to
Charleston
this afternoon. I’ve got to see that Jesse’s alright.” She looked up into Jules’s face.

“Get in the buggy,” he said. “We’ll go get the doc.”

“Will Doc Chandler charge Jesse any money?”

“Little lady, everything in this world has a price.”

“You think I’m a lot of trouble, don’t you?”

Jules laughed.”Hell, I don’t think you’re a lot of trouble. I
knew
that the first day I laid eyes on you. The Yankees wouldn’t have stood a chance had you been in
Atlanta
.”

“Did you fight the Yankees?”

“I shot them bastards every chance I got.”

“Why do you think we lost?”

Isabella had Jules’s full attention now. His gaze was like none she had ever seen.

“Because our boys were way outnumbered,” Jules said. “Even so, we still put up a hell of a fight. Some of them didn’t even have uniforms to fight in or shoes to wear in the winter. I seen many a boy in gray, often no more than fifteen years old, with their feet cracked open and festering with blood and pus. There wasn’t any food for them to eat. They starved to death on cornbread and grits while
Sherman
’s gang of outlaws stuffed their bellies with ham and sweet potato pies that they forced some Reb’s mama or wife to cook for them. They were forced to cook for the very men that may have just killed their husbands or sons. And if they were lucky, they didn’t get raped or left to starve.”

Jules pulled his buggy around the side of Doc Chandler’s house. Jules leaned over to talk to one of the Negroes in the yard. “The doc in?”

“Nah sir, he’s gone to deliver another one of Mrs. Kennedy’s young-uns. Can I tell him you called?”

“I’m Jules McGinnis.”

“Yes sir, I’se knows who you is.” He pointed at the house. “The missus, she in dere if you need to see her.”

Jules looked at Isabella. “Stay here, I’ll be back.”

Isabella watched Jules until he disappeared into the house. In a few minutes, he came back with a cobalt blue bottle in his hand.

“What’s that?” Isabella asked.

“Mrs. Chandler said to give him two spoons full of this until doc can get over to the tavern. She said he should be there before dark.”

Isabella took the bottle from Jules’s hand and removed the top. She sniffed and made a face. “It smells awful!”

“If it don’t smell bad, it won’t do him any good. The worse it smells, the quicker he’ll get well.”

“Who told you that?”

“I thought everybody knew that. Smell it again and see if you think it smells bad enough to do him some good.”

Isabella glanced at Jules with uncertainty, then removed the top again and smelled the tonic. “Shew!”

Jules let out a loud cackle.

“Jules McGinnis, I ain’t ever gonna believe another word you say to me!”

“Little darling, I’ve heard that before,” he said and broke up laughing.

Jules stopped the buggy in front of the tavern on
Bay Street
. “I best get going. I’m sure doc will be over soon as he gets back.”

Isabella climbed down from the carriage, paused, then turned around. “Where do you live?”

“That’s a damn good question. What have you heard?”

“I ain’t sure.”

“Lately, darling, wherever I hang my hat,” Jules said with a tilt of his head and a slow smile.

“I did hear you say that you bought a whore a house on Oglethorpe.”

“You been eavesdropping?”

“No, I just heard you when I came into the stable. Do you love her?”

“You ask too many questions; questions that ain’t any concern of yours.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Darling, it takes a lot more than that to upset me.” Jules put his hat on his head.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me again.”

“You’ll repay me someday,” Jules said and winked as he rode away.

“Now dat wuz something I didn’t expect to find.”

Isabella opened her eyes and looked at Jesse’s hollow face.

“You find a snake or a ghost in your room? Is dat what you doin’ here?”

“You took your medicine this morning?”

“I reckon.”

“What you mean, you reckon? You know if you took it or not.”

“Yeah, if it makes you feel any better, I did. Don’t know what you went and got da doc for. He got better things to do than to see after me.”

“Are you thirsty?”

“Yeah, I’se kinda thirsty.”

Isabella got up, went over to a small table and poured Jesse a glass of water from the pitcher. Jesse didn’t have pneumonia, but he did have scarlet fever. She knew that in a day or two he would want to go back to work. But Doc Chandler told Isabella that Jesse’s heart had been damaged. He could not work as hard as before. If he did, it could kill him. She decided not to tell this to Jesse because that might kill him first.

Now, more than ever, Isabella was forced to make a quick decision. Not only did she need to pay off the farm, now she had to get Jesse out of the tavern. She glanced at him and thought she could never tell him what she was about to do.
Nobody can do this but me
.

“Everything’s gonna be alright,” said Jesse.

“Yes, everything’s gonna be alright.” Isabella forced a smile and left the room.

Isabella ran up the stairs, opened the shutters in her bedroom and looked out across the river. She stood and watched innocent children play down below. It seemed that all her young life had been taken away, gone, with no hope of a future. Not one that she had dreamed about anyway. She was tired. She wanted to be somewhere else, but there was nowhere else for her to go. Maybe if she married Jules McGinnis, she could save her family name. Most girls that ended up in her circumstances were looked upon forever as poor white trash. Isabella lay down on the bed and quickly fell into an exhausted asleep.