Fallen Elements (26 page)

I was surprised by such a revelation as
Isaac had not so much as mentioned a connection between the
families. “No, he must have forgotten.”

Coleen had nodded. “He is a very busy man,
but then again do not all men think themselves busy?”

Her words had been said casually, but I was
still surprised that she would speak so plainly. “They are the
stronger sex by design.” I shifted nervously in my chair, unsure
where our conversation would take us.

“
Because it is so, or because they have
said it is so?” Coleen took a short drink of the ale, frowning
before quickly placing the mug on the table next to her.

“
Is the ale not to your liking?” As I have
said before, I have always enjoyed Isaac’s family’s recipe and was
surprised Coleen seemed turned off by it.

“
I have never cared for warm ale.” In
spite of her words, a warm smile had spread across her mouth, and I
found I could hardly be cross with her.

“
Your husband knew my father-in-law?” I
was keen to direct the conversation back to this interesting, and
previously unknown fact about my husband’s family.

“
He did. They had business dealings in
Europe.” Though she had broached the subject, she now seemed to be
intentionally being vague in her responses, and I wondered if she
was testing my resolve to know the truth.

“
Is that what prompted you to come to
Plymouth?” I had many questions going through my mind, and could
not decide which was more pressing.

Coleen leaned forward in her chair, and I
was again amazed at her beauty. “We came to Plymouth – we crossed
an ocean – for the same reasons you did.”

The intensity of her voice, and the
steadiness of her gaze brought a sudden heat to my neck and I found
difficulty in speaking past the lump that had formed in my throat.
“I – we came for freedom of thought and faith.”

Coleen leaned back, and something akin to a
short laugh escaped her. “Yes, yes. We came for the same
reasons.”

Now, I could not say why exactly, but there
was a telling in her posture, or perhaps a slight hitch in her
tone, but I did not altogether believe her. Though it seems
unimportant in consideration of what else I have been told and seen
today.

After waking me this morning, Isaac insisted
I get dressed and be prepared to travel into the town center. I did
not feel I could as I estimate I am less than a fortnight from
birth. Isaac, though apologetic, was insistent nonetheless, and I
felt obliged to honor his wishes.

An hour later, I stood in the town center
with no less than fifty other citizens. To my horror, Margery,
Abigail and Goody Sebille were pulled before the crowd in stocks.
The chains were so heavy, a constable had to give aid to Goody
Sebille as she was unable to manage the restraints on her own.

Isaac had left me with Goody Payne, and
shortly after, Coleen and her sister Hester arrived in moods I can
only liken to jubilation.

“
What a glorious day!” Goody Tynan had
smiled, lifting her head toward the overcast sky. “Do you not
agree, Goody Allerton?”

I did not agree. Though I understood the
necessity of any good Christian to do their duty in vanquishing the
servants of the devil, I could never abide the public
spectacle.

Coleen took my hand in her cool one, and
clearly seeing my dismay, squeezed my hand reassuringly. “This is
not their end. This is the trial.” She nodded toward the procession
of judges that exited the court house. “You see, there is Isaac
near the front.”

I scanned the crowd, and found Isaac’s face.
His brow was narrowed, and his lips set in a frown. I could not
imagine what a struggle this had been for him or his counterparts
as I can scarcely think of the burdens of men.

I listened, my hand still in Coleen’s, as
the head magistrate read the charges against the Sebille women to
the town’s people. The list was more shocking than one could care
to imagine. Conjuring of the devil, killing farm stock throughout
the colony in ritualistic manners, and perhaps worst of all,
Abigail was accused of fornicating with no less than three savages
in what the magistrate described as desperate acts of
debauchery.

I was not alone in my disgust, and held
tight to Coleen for fear I might collapse under the weight of these
revelations. “I knew she had denied two suitors, but I had not
imagined –”

“
She’s a whore of the devil, and her kind
must be ended.” Goody Payne’s tone was vicious, and though I had
always thought of her as a soft spoken kindly woman, her eyes shone
with a rage I had not thought her capable of.

All I could do was stand and watch as a
woman I once considered a friend and her family were held up to the
light of God for the town to pay witness to their heresy. I cannot
recall the entirety of the proceedings for they seemed so very
distant to me, only that tomorrow at first light the women are to
be taken to the river and drowned.

I pray that God’s light protect this town
and its citizens!

Sunlight peered through the slats of the
wooden blinds in the back office of the Portable Magic bookshop.
Spring was in full bloom, but in spite of the optimism inherent to
the season, the mood inside the office was bleak.

“We have three appraisals scheduled next
week. Are you available Tuesday?” Marty looked up at Leah. The two
sat in the office of the bookshop, Marty at the desk looking over
their calendar on the laptop, and Leah slouched on the sofa with a
cup of coffee in her hand.

“Leah? Hello.” Marty waved his hand in front
of him. “Are you with me?”

Leah looked up, her eyes still unfocused.
“What?”

Sighing, Marty closed the laptop and turned
his full attention to his distraught business partner and friend.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Leah sipped from her coffee cup. “Do
what?”

Pushing with his legs, Marty rolled the
office chair across the small space until he was sitting directly
in front of Leah. “Don’t bullshit me, and don’t play dumb. You’ve
been like a zombie for the past three days.”

“Not really.” Leah sighed.

“I’m going to skip past all this subterfuge
crap – if you miss Ryan, call her.” Marty pivoted around in his
chair, and scooted back to the desk.

“I’m fine.” Leah said flatly. “She
overreacted and that’s not on me.”

Marty hung his head as he turned back around
to face Leah. “You’re
still
lying to her, and bless her, she
can tell, and called you on it.” Marty shook his head. “How is that
overreacting?”

“I’m not
lying
to her, I’m omitting.”
Leah sat up, and put her coffee on the end table next to her. She
couldn’t imagine the truth would suit Ryan any better than a lie,
and at least – even if Ryan didn’t realize it now – there was some
comfort in maintaining the lie.

“You’ve got a nice little game of semantics
going on in that pretty little head of yours.” Marty tapped his
temple with his index finger for emphasis. “But you should know,
omission, lying - it all feels the same to Ryan.” Marty was trying
to keep his irritation with his friend out of his voice. The last
thing he needed was for Leah to be both defensive and angry.

Leah frowned. “You were right. I never should
have gotten involved with her.” Leah ran her palm over the cushion
of the sofa, the memory of her and Ryan together sending a rush of
heat to her face and stomach.

“As much as I like hearing you say I was
right about something, I think you could have – and maybe still can
– make this thing with Ryan work.” Marty got up from his chair, and
closing the short distance between him and Leah, sat on the sofa
next to her.

Leah looked over at Marty as he gently laid
his hand on her knee. She appreciated his concern, but what he
understood about her situation was based on empathy and stories. He
couldn’t truly understand what she had gone through with Ryan’s
family, and the immeasurable fear it left in her heart.

“In my defense, the fact I managed to get
into it at all with Ryan once she told me Lucy was in town is
nothing short of a miracle.” Leah chewed nervously on the inside of
her lower lip. “I can only imagine what crazy that woman is
selling.”

Marty leaned back, an exasperated sigh
escaping him. “So it’s Lucy’s fault you’re
omitting
with
someone you care about?”

“Maybe.” Leah answered quickly.

Marty turned so he was facing Leah. “Why
don’t you fight for this? Why don’t you tell her everything?”

“And risk losing even more in the process?”
Leah’s tone was a mix of accusation and dread.

“You said it yourself, Ryan isn’t Karen.”
Marty took Leah’s hand in his.

Leah laid her head back on the sofa. “Maybe I
was wrong. I mean look at how quickly she doubted me just based on
whatever nonsense Lucy spouted.”

“She doubted you because she knows you’re
lying
about something. I remember when we first met and you
hadn’t told me about your family or your history. I got to a point
with you that I assumed you were lying to me about any number of
things. It’s a cancer, Leah, that can’t be isolated to one thing,
no matter how badly you want it to be.”

Leah’s eyes filled with tears. “You know what
happened before, you know what I lost.”

Marty wrapped his arm around Leah’s shoulders
and pulled her to him. “I do know, but only because you trusted me
enough to tell me the truth.”

Leah laid her head on Marty’s shoulder. “I’ve
already lost so much, Marty.”

Marty pulled Leah closer. “So has Ryan. She
lost her mother – twice.”

Leah’s house was set off the main road that
wound through Oella, Maryland. The historic town was a few miles
outside Ellicott City, and had been founded near the turn of the
nineteenth century by mill workers. The area was heavily wooded and
hilly, lending to privacy even if your neighbor was only several
hundred yards away.

It was shortly after sundown as Leah stepped
onto the covered patio of her house. Her conversation with Marty
had eventually dissolved into a series of worst and best case
scenarios, and Leah was no closer to deciding what to do about Ryan
and her than she had been before.

Leah frowned as she turned the key in her
front door. She didn’t hear the click of the deadbolt, and she was
certain she had locked the door when she left for the shop that
morning.

Opening the door, Leah realized one of the
lamps in the living room was on, something she knew she hadn’t
done. The faint scent of jasmine and vanilla filled the room.

“Come in, Leah. After so many years, to see
you twice in as many months - what a treat.” Lucy was sitting in a
leather recliner with her legs crossed. She was wearing a pair of
black slacks, black Cole Haan heels, and a baby blue cashmere
sweater. If not for the wicked sneer on her face, and the fact Leah
knew the woman was diabolical, she might have found Lucy
attractive.

Leah quickly took stock of the situation.
Lucy’s son Andrew, who she had met at the funeral, was standing
next to his mother with his hand resting on the back of the
recliner. Lucy’s husband Derek stood motionless near the kitchen
entrance. Leah thought to simply run, but knew eventually this
scene with Lucy would have to unfold.

“I don’t recall asking to see you either
time, Lucy, and certainly not in my home - uninvited.” Leah tossed
her keys on the small wooden table next to the front door.
“Leave.”

Lucy sighed. “But we have so much to catchup
on, Leah.” The woman leaned forward. “For starters, I want you the
hell away from my niece.”

Leah’s heart began racing in her chest. Their
past told Leah that engaging in a full-on argument with Lucy wasn’t
useful. “Fine. Done.”

Lucy leaned back in the chair. “Done? You
always were good at throwing people away.”

Leah’s shoulders drooped as she shut the
front door, walked to the sofa, and sat down. “I’ve never thrown
anyone away, Lucy. Karen and I -”

“Don’t you speak her name!” Lucy jabbed at
the air with her finger. “You don’t get to do that!”

Leah’s posture stiffened as the other woman
became incensed. The two men seemed unfazed by the outburst, as
they both continued to stand perfectly still. “Okay -
your
sister
and I were friends, and then –”

Before Leah could complete her thought, Lucy
looked up at Andrew and nodded. The heavy set man took several
quick steps toward Leah, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her to
her feet before wrapping his meaty arm around the front of her
throat.

Leah gasped, and pulled at the man’s arm.
“What are you doing?!”

A split second later Leah felt the man behind
her heave. A second after that and his arm loosened from around her
neck as a series violent sneezes burst forth from Andrew.

“Fuck!” Andrew managed as he flung Leah back
on the sofa, and covered his mouth.

“Goddamnit!” Lucy gestured to her husband as
she sprang from the chair. “Grab her!”

A vise-like grip wrapped around Leah’s neck
as she was once again pulled up from the sofa. Derek spun her
around to face Lucy, pulling her tightly against him as he wrapped
one arm around her throat and the other around her waist.

“Get out of here if you can’t manage!” Lucy
seethed as she hit her still sneezing son over the head with her
open hand.

“For fuck’s sake, son, get out!” Derek
bellowed, the sound causing Leah’s ears to ring.

Stumbling to the front door, Andrew’s
sneezing subsided somewhat. “I can’t help it if I’m allergic to
that bitch!” He threw open the front door, and stomped out, the
walls of the house rattling as he slammed the door behind him.

The only sound in the house now was Leah’s
breathing as she forced herself not to cry, not to give Lucy the
satisfaction.