Hell With the Lid Blown Off (28 page)

He stopped talking again for a spell before he said, “Do I have to tell you what he threatened to tell the sheriff about us? Going to prison is bad enough. I don't want to do it wearing a suit of tar and feathers, too.”

I knew what it was, of course, but I pretended like I didn't. Wallace was right about the suit of tar and feathers. If he had an inkling that some folks knew his secret, I didn't see how he'd ever be able to relax again. “I don't see why it's important anymore,” I told him. “Unless y'all are German spies, that is.”

He glanced at Randal then, and smiled. “That's one thing we assuredly are not.” Then the dam broke and the story flowed out. “When Beldon came by the house, he confronted Randal and me in the backyard and I gave him the money. Then after he left, I found out that Gran had been sitting on the back veranda the whole time. You know what my first thought was? How much did Grandmother hear? Enough, as it turns out, and she believed it, too. I was a hundred times more devastated that Grandmother would hold me henceforth in contempt than worried about what the rest of the world thought of me.”

His voice caught and he fell silent for a spell while he struggled to get control of himself. “Anyway, we made a plan for me and Randal to take the shay and head out for Muskogee then and there before Beldon could get to the sheriff. Granny would follow on the late train. Well, I couldn't let it go like that. Randal and I decided to find Beldon and put an end to it, but I told you the truth about what happened next. He wasn't home and as far as we knew he had gone directly to the sheriff. We lit out of town before y'all could catch up with us.”

He stopped talking again. He looked at Randal, then at me. I could tell that he was at terrible odds with himself. His expression hardened. “What could Mr. Eichelberger have seen? I don't believe you. You're trying to trap me.”

I felt myself droop. “Lord a'mighty, Wallace! I never heard of so many folks eager to take the blame for murder. What is wrong with y'all? Well, once Mr. Eichelberger tells his story to the judge, somebody will have to admit the truth. Then the judge can decide what to do with you, because, durn it, it's beyond me.” I stood aside. “Now, go out and discuss the matter with your grandmother, and maybe she can convince you to come clean.”

Wallace flushed, then rose abruptly and walked out of the cell and into the office without another word. I could hear him talking to his grandmother and the sound of her weeping. I figured the emotions were thick out there, so I sat down on the cot. I intended to let things calm down a bit before I had to go out there and make a decision about what to do next. I would have given a thousand dollars if the storm-damaged telephone lines were magically fixed, and I could have called Scott and asked him to take charge.

Randal Wakefield

Trent and Randal eyed one another in silence for a good while. Finally Trent said, “I'll unlock the cell and let you out directly. Unless you're in an all-fired hurry to join the congregation in the front office.”

“I expect I can wait a few minutes for the flood to abate, Deputy.”

Trent eyed his prisoner. He liked Randal Wakefield for his gentle, unassuming manner, if nothing else. But he was hard to figure. Now that Wallace was not in the room, Trent wondered if Randal would be any more forthcoming. “Are you really going to keep quiet and let Wallace say he did it even if he didn't? Or are you going to confess to the crime along with everybody else?”

Randal dropped his hands from the cell bars and slipped them into his trouser pockets. He chuckled. “I didn't stab Jubal, Trenton Calder. And no, I'm not going to let Wallace say he did it.”

Trent sighed. “So it was her after all.”

“That I don't know, Deputy. I only know that after Miz Beckie reached her son's house Sunday night, she drew Wallace aside and told him that he didn't have to worry about Jubal Beldon anymore. I don't know that she stabbed him. Perhaps it was Mr. Eichelberger, or Hosea Beldon. I only know that on Sunday night, Miz Beckie knew Jubal was dead.”

“If this is the story you aim to tell the judge, Wallace won't be very happy with you,” Trent said.

Randal gave him a slim smile. “I hope it won't be necessary for me to say anything. But I don't intend to let him swing for something he didn't do.”

Trent leaned forward and draped his forearms across his knees. “Well, we'll let the judge decide when he gets here in a couple days. When were y'all planning to leave for basic?”

“We meant to leave next week, though if you arrest Wallace or his grandmother for murder, I expect we'll miss our train.”

“If the hearing goes like I think it will, I expect y'all will be able to leave on time.”

It took a moment for Randal to digest the implications of what the deputy had said to him. “Does this mean you don't intend to charge us with…anything else?”

Trent didn't let on that he knew perfectly well what Randal was asking him. “Since y'all didn't kill Jubal, there isn't anything else to charge you with.”

The sound of weeping had abated and Trent could hear Alafair's voice, though he couldn't tell what she was saying. He stood up and went to unlock the other cell. Randal picked up his jacket off the cot. He turned to leave, but hesitated and gave the deputy an odd look out of the corner of his eye.

“You want to know the real irony of this situation, Trenton Calder?” He was almost whispering. “What Jubal said about us…it isn't even true.”

Trent almost gasped. Considering all the trouble the rumor had caused, Randal's statement was the last thing he expected to hear. Neither man had made the slightest attempt to deny it. Of course it didn't matter whether it was a fact or not if people wanted to believe it. He opened his mouth to ask why on earth they hadn't at least enlightened Beckie and saved her so much grief. But then it dawned on him. “But you wish it was…”

“Yes, I wish it was. But it is not.” Randal looked away. “Wallace has known about me practically from the moment we met at Vanderbilt, Trenton Calder, and from that moment he has accepted me and even championed my cause when the need arose. He has kept my secret at great cost to himself. Wallace MacKenzie is without doubt the bravest man I know.” His gaze was level when he looked at Trent again and answered the question he hadn't asked. “Wallace loves his grandmother, but I believe it hurt him deeply that her love for him seems to be conditional. He should have told her the truth. Don't worry, Deputy. Before we leave town, I will enlighten Miz Beckie. For her own peace of mind, if nothing else.”

With that, he walked out and left Trent standing in the middle of the jailhouse floor, stunned. Trent had been taught that there was nothing good one could say about people who have amorous urges toward members of their own sex. But he was thinking that Randal Wakefield was pretty brave himself.

Trenton Calder

When I finally went back out into the front office, I found Randal sitting in one of the chairs under the front window with Miz Tucker and Grace on one side of him and Ruth and Marva Welsh on the other. Wallace and Miz Beckie were standing arm-in-arm by the desk, looking resigned.

I sat down behind the desk, trying to look official and keep my eyes off of Ruth. She smiled at me as she caught my gaze sliding toward her when my attention should have been on the business at hand.
I know what you're thinking,
her expression said. I could feel my face burning.

“Well, Miz MacKenzie, Wallace, Mr. Wakefield,” I said, “I've already contacted the circuit judge and he should be here day after tomorrow. There will be a hearing, and he'll decide at that time whether or not to bind any of you over for trial. In the meantime, I'll have Lawyer Meriwether come round and see you this afternoon. I suggest that y'all tell
him
the truth, at least. Once he knows the whole story, I expect he'll be able to mount an effective defense for you. He'll have no trouble finding plenty of other folks with a strong motive to stab Jubal Beldon. If Jubal was stabbed at all and didn't just fall on something, that is. That's all for the time being. I reckon y'all can go home now.”

Miz MacKenzie blinked at me. “You're not going to arrest me?”

“Do you aim to skip town, ma'am? …I thought not. You just stay at home until you're told otherwise.”

She still looked as though she couldn't believe her ears. “And Wallace is free to go as well?”

“Yes, ma'am. I have no particular reason to keep him locked up.”

She shot Randal a stern glance. “And the other matter?”

“What other matter is that, Miz MacKenzie?”

Wallace barked out a laugh, though it sounded a little like a sob. “Come on, Gran, let's get out of here before Deputy Calder changes his mind.”

Marva jumped up. “Now, Miz Beckie, you listen to what Mr. Wallace says. Let's go on back to the house and I'll fix y'all up a nice supper.”

Miz MacKenzie still looked like she'd been slapped when Wallace and Marva dragged her out of the office. Randal shook my hand, then went back to the hotel. But not before Miz Tucker had invited him out to the farm for supper.

After he was gone, I turned around to see Miz Tucker standing there with little Grace on her hip, grinning so big that her face was like to split. “Trent, you ought to come for supper, too. I may not have bedrooms at the moment, but I've still got a kitchen and folks have brought us more food than I know what to do with.”

“Thank you, ma'am, but since Scott is out of commission, it depends on if I can get Butch to do my rounds for me tonight.”

“Well, I hope he will. Ruth, are you going to stay at Miz Beckie's house tonight?”

“Yes, Mama, I want to be whatever help I can. Besides, Martha and I decided we'd just as soon wait to come home until there's a place for us to sleep.”

Miz Tucker nodded. “Well, Grace and me better go relieve Alice of her little sisters and get home. If Trent manages to get free this evening, maybe he'll ferry some of you girls out to the farm and back, and we'll all be together and have a right old feast tonight.”

When she said that I knew that I'd be free if I had to kidnap Butch Tucker and tie him to a chair right there in the sheriff's office.

After Miz Tucker left, it was just me and Ruth in the office. She was still in the chair under the window, sitting real straight with her hands folded in her lap, her curly hair caught up in a yellow ribbon. The ribbon made her eyes take on a golden bronze hue, like asters in full bloom. She looked me up and down like she wanted to say something, but didn't know quite what it was. I knew the feeling.

“Do you think Miz Beckie did it, or is she trying to save Wallace?” she finally asked.

“I don't know, Ruthie. They may all be trying to save each other. But her story fits the best. Once Mr. Eichelberger talks, we'll know for sure.”

“If it was her, will Miz Beckie go to prison?”

“The MacKenzies can afford the best defense. Besides, if anybody on the jury was acquainted with Jubal Beldon, I imagine she'd get off light.”

“It's awful that nobody in the world is going to mourn Jubal's passing.”

That made me smile. “You're generous to say so.”

“What do you think Scott will say about your letting Miz Beckie and Wallace go home?”

“That it was justice, I hope.”

That was the first of a thousand times since that I looked in those chameleon eyes and knew that I had done right.

Alafair Tucker

The morning star was just fading when Shaw caught sight of Alafair walking up the path from Mary's house. The sky was still the color of tarnished silver with a strip of pearl on the eastern horizon, and since Alafair was coming from the west, her silhouette was no more than a dark outline against a darker ground. Shaw put down the feed sack he had slung across his shoulders and stepped out into the barnyard to meet her, worried.

Kurt Lukenbach had shown up on horseback in the middle of the night and announced that Phoebe was in labor and needed her mother. That had been less than five hours ago. “What are you doing back here so soon?” he asked. “Is Phoebe all right?”

She came up to the corral fence and draped her elbows over the top rail. The twist of dark hair at her crown was askew and her eyes were drooping with fatigue, but she grinned at him. “Phoebe's fine. Everything is fine. She gave birth to that child easy as pie. It's a boy.”

Shaw blinked at her, not sure he had heard her correctly. “A what?”

Alafair laughed. “Pull your eyeballs back in, honey. It's a boy! Hair as black as coal and eyes so blue I reckon they'll stay that way. He's a good squaller, too. Our boys will bust with joy when they hear.” She put her hand on Shaw's arm. “John Lee says they aim to name him Shaw Tucker Day.”

Shaw couldn't help but gape. He could hardly take in so many unexpected pieces of information at once. “What in the…” He smiled, then frowned, then smiled again. “That poor child!”

“John Lee said they're going to call him Tucker. I figure that's because one Shaw is all we can handle in this family. Doctor Ann almost didn't make it in time, but she's there right now, and I'm so dog tired that I figured I'd come home for a spell and get some sleep. Now that Martha's home she can get breakfast. We can go back over to Mary's later. I thought we could bring Zeltha home with us then. Mary and Kurt have enough to do what with little Judy, baby Tucker, and two invalids to take care of. I offered to take Chase as well, but Mary said he's a good helper and she'd just as soon he stay. I thought he'd pop his buttons when he heard that.”

“Who'd have thought it of Chase Kemp?”

“Well, he just needed a place to fit in, and he fits in here with us just fine.”

Trenton Calder

It took a long time for the town of Boynton to get over that twister. People were digging trash out of their yards for years, things like forks and bloomers and broken lamps. To this day folks around here love to tell tales of all the strange things they saw, like eggs flying for miles and landing unbroken in somebody's yard. Or how Oscar Smith's hay store caught on fire from a lightning strike, but when they went to put it out him and his sons discovered that the twister had sucked all the water out of the farm pond. Fortunately a downpour of rain put the fire out before everything burned to the ground. Things of that nature. I admit that the tales did get taller as the years went by.