Tenderness (36 page)

When she reached the store, Patricia was sitting in the back room with a cloth in her hand to dry her tears. She hadn’t combed
her hair, and evidently she had come the half block to the store in an old wrapper.

“Pat, what in the world is the matter?” Jesse knelt down beside the woman while her husband hovered near by.

The bell on the door jingled and Dick had to leave the room.

“Pat, tell me,” Jesse urged.

“It was… it was… that man. Dick went to meet the mail train about four o’clock this morning. After he left, I dozed off and
the next thing I knew… he had covered my eyes and my… mouth.”

“Oh, my God! That beast has got to be stopped. Did he hurt you?”

“Not really. He stripped me naked and looked at me. He said he wanted to see my… stomach and touch it. He rubbed his hand
on it and felt the baby kick. I was so… scared.”

“Of course you were. Did you see any part of him? Do you have any idea who he is?”

“No. But his face was smooth. He rubbed it on my… stomach. Oh, Jesse, I was afraid he’d do something to harm my baby.”

“But he didn’t?”

“No.”

“Did he put his fingers inside you? If he did we must tell my father.”

“No. But he asked a lot of questions.”

“About what?”

“He wanted to know if the baby could hear in there. And he asked if the baby would… split me when it came out.”

“That’s all?”

“He wanted to know if I like it when Dick… when Dick and I—”

“It’s all right. I know what you mean. Are you going to tell the marshal?”

“I’d die of embarrassment. Please don’t tell.”

“I’ll not tell anyone but my father. He should know because he’ll deliver your baby. You can trust him not to say a word to
anyone.”

Jesse stood. “This pervert has got to be someone who knows that Dick leaves early to meet the train.”

“Everyone knows what time the mail train comes in. Do you think he saw me… at the ball game?”

“He could have. But you don’t have to be afraid now. I’ve not heard of him visiting a place twice.”

Dick came back and went straight to his wife and hugged her. “Is she all right?” His worried eyes looked up at Jesse.

“She’s distraught as any woman would be who has gone through what she has. But I don’t think there is any permanent damage
to her or the baby. She needs to get back in bed and rest.”

“I’m not going back there by myself,” Pat protested.

“You don’t have to, love. I’ll send for the Johnson girl to stay with you. I’ll tell her that you’re tired and that Miss Jesse
suggested that you rest in bed today.”

“I’m sorry that I’m not much help to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re my sweetheart and I love you… and our baby. Miss Jesse, will you walk her home? I can’t lock
up and leave just now. People are coming in for their mail.”

“Of course, I will, and I’ll wait until the Johnson girl gets there.”

Jesse went directly from the Efthim house to the marshal’s office. On the way she encountered James Crane, the schoolteacher.
She felt a little guilty thinking of him as Old Ichabod. Susan had good reasons for her nicknames usually, but this poor,
shy man should not be ridiculed. He glanced up, nodded and lowered his head. He walked as usual with his long stride and awkward
gait. His arms held several books. Poor man, she thought, books instead of friends. She was going to have a talk with Susan
about him.

Edsel Harper was standing in the doorway of the bank when she passed.

“Miss Jesse, I’m glad to see you looking well again… and so pretty. I declare. You’re the prettiest girl in Harpersville.”
His eyes swept over her as if he were looking at a horse to buy.

“What you mean is, I’m not tainted anymore and my reputation has been restored now that I’m not seeing Wade Simmer.”

“Now, I didn’t mean—”

“Yes you did!”

“Miss Jesse, I—”

“Oh, shut up, Edsel,” Jesse almost shouted and kept walking.

She found the marshal at his desk.

“Mornin’, Miss Jesse.”

“Morning.”

“What brings you out so early? You look as mad as a hornet.”

“I am mad. Something has got to be done to catch that mangy polecat who’s stripping women. He did it again early this morning.”

“Who?”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell. The poor woman has been humiliated enough.”

“How will I ever catch him if the women don’t cooperate?”

“I can tell you as much as she can. I’ve talked to four of the women. He uses the same pattern every time. He knows when the
women will be alone so he must be someone who lives or works in town. He gets in and out of the house without being seen.
Does that tell you anything?”

“Sure. It tells me that he’s no dumbbell. What we need to do is set a trap for him.”

“You mean let it be known that some woman will be alone and lie in wait for him?”

“I don’t know of any other way.”

“Hmmm… that might work.”

“It would take some doing. If one word got out, it would be all over town.”

“I know that. I’ll think on it and get back to you.” Jesse paused. “I’d like to be the bait.”

“Your pa wouldn’t allow it. Wade would be mad enough to kill me.”

“What I do is none of his business.”

“How are you two getting along?”

“We’re not and you know it.”

To her surprise the marshal laughed. “I’ll be at your wedding.”

Jesse looked directly into his eyes. “You’ll not live that long,” she replied and went out.

Jesse passed the bank with her nose in the air knowing that Edsel sat at his desk looking out onto the street. Damn him, why
was he always watching her? Now that Wade had stopped coming to town to see her, Edsel seemed determined to pursue her again.
He was so darn sure she would be unable to resist him.

Three days later, Jesse went again to the marshal’s office.

“Miss Jesse, come in. You just missed Wade.” Dusty noticed the color leaving Jesse’s face on hearing Wade’s name. “He was
telling me that Jody has settled in at the boarding school. He had a few bad moments at first, but things worked out or Wade
wouldn’t have left him there.”

“I came to talk about The Looker,” Jesse said frostily.

“Yeah. Well, sit down. What’s on your mind?”

“Mrs. Pennybrook’s daughter, Martha, wants to go to Knoxville for a few days. The problem is her mother. The old lady is deaf
as a stone and Martha is reluctant to leave her alone. She asked my father if he knew of someone who would spend a few days
and nights with her. I volunteered.”

“And—?”

“Don’t you see? It’s a perfect setup. We can have Ralph put a small news item in the paper about Martha leaving town and that
I will be staying with her mother. The Looker is bound to see it. If he comes, you can be nearby to catch him.”

“What does your father say to this?”

“He doesn’t like it. But I’m of age. I want this man caught.”

Dusty looked at the girl across the desk from him. Jesse had lost weight, but more than that she had a hard, cold look about
her that she hadn’t had before. Her breakup with Wade had had as much effect on her as it had on him. Dusty knew, although
he hadn’t mentioned it to Wade, that the man came to town purposely to find out how Jesse was doing. He had been here this
morning and had asked a half-dozen questions about her before he had even sat down.

“If we do this, I want you to have plenty of protection. I’ll have someone with me,” Dusty said.

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Yes, the best man I know for such a job.”

“Ethan Bredlow?”

“Wade Simmer.”

“No!” Jesse stood suddenly. “I’ll not do it if you have him.”

“Don’t get all riled up. I’ll ask Ethan.”

“All right. Martha wants to leave at the end of next week. That will give me time to get an item in the paper and to spread
the word. The way the people in this town gossip, every person within forty miles will know that I’ll be spending a few days
with Mrs. Pennybrook,” Jesse spat out the words contemptuously.

The girl had been hurt and hurt badly. Dusty didn’t know the reason for her breakup with Wade, but both of them were suffering.
As he stood in the doorway and watched Jesse leave, his mind was busy with a plan. He would ask Ethan Bredlow to keep watch
with him, as he had told Jesse he would do. And he’d also ask Wade, who would be mad as hell when he found out Jesse was going
to be used as bait to catch The Looker.

On the following Friday morning, Jesse packed a small bag and headed uptown. That morning she’d had a lengthy session with
her father.

“Jesse, I wish you wouldn’t do this. Every woman who has admitted to being visited has said the man carries a knife.”

“I’ll be all right. If The Looker comes, the marshal and Ethan will be there.”

“I had a long talk with Dusty. He said he and Ethan would be in an adjoining room, not twenty feet away. That may be too far
if the man intends to hurt you.”

“He hasn’t hurt any of the women yet.”

“Don’t resist him, whatever you do.”

“Don’t worry, Papa—”

“Jesse—” Pauline stood in the doorway. “Be careful. He may decide to do more than look.”

“He might not even show up. I’ve got to be going.” She kissed her father on the forehead. “Don’t worry, Papa,” she said again.

Pauline walked with her to the door. “Part of me hopes you catch him, and part of me hopes he doesn’t show up.”

Jesse laughed. “He may not want to look at my old disfigured body.”

“Old? You’re not as old as some he’s looked at.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t have a breast with a side drawn in with a puckered scar. Maybe he’ll want to see it.”

Pauline watched her friend walk down the street. Her reddish-brown hair was coiled neatly at the nape of her neck, her shoulders
were squared and her chin raised. Jesse had changed since she had been abandoned by Wade, and Ethan was sure that misery was
eating the man alive. Pauline hadn’t laid eyes on Wade since she and Ethan had gone to the train station to see him and Jody
off to Tuskegee. He had looked hollow-eyed and gaunt even then.

Jesse stepped onto the boardwalk that ran the length of the business district. She passed the newspaper office and waved to
Ethan through the window. Proceeding on, she entered the mercantile. Pat Efthim was seated in a chair behind the counter.

“You’re looking chipper,” Jesse said by way of a greeting.

“If this baby doesn’t come soon, I’ll be as big as a cow,” Pat said with a little laugh. “Dick can hardly wait. You’d think
that this was the only baby ever to come into the world.”

“He’ll probably decide to meet his parents in the middle of the night, and Dick will run all the way to our house,” Jesse
said teasingly.

“I hope not. I’d hate having to disturb the doctor’s rest.”

“He’s used to it. Send someone right away. He hates coming in at the last minute.”

“I hear you’re staying with Mrs. Pennybrook for a few days.”

“Her daughter told Papa that she was worried about leaving her mother alone, and Papa asked me to stay with her. It’ll be
a nice vacation. I can catch up on my reading.”

“Be careful.” Pat gripped Jesse’s hand. “Lock all the windows and doors.”

“I will.”

The jingle of the bell on the screen door sounded.

“Mrs. Harper,” Pat whispered. “She comes in to check prices so she can compare with the prices in their store.”

Jesse waited, thinking she would slip out the door when Mrs. Harper went to the back of the store. She wasn’t that lucky.

“Jesse, dear. I didn’t see you at first. We’re all so glad you’ve recovered from your terrible… ordeal.”

“—And come to my senses, huh, Mrs. Harper?”

“That too, dear. We would like for you to come to dinner Sunday after church. Edsel has been so concerned about you.”

“I’m busy this Sunday, Mrs. Harper, and every Sunday for the rest of my life. Tell Edsel he needn’t be concerned for me. He
should be concerned for his own reputation. The kids found the dirty magazines he had hidden in the back of his buggy. They’re
having a high old time looking at the pictures of naked women.”

Mrs. Harper’s mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, like a fish out of water. She gasped for breath. Jesse, looking
her straight in the eyes, felt not a whit of sympathy for the woman.

“I’ve got to be going. Bye, Pat. See you in a day or two.”

Jesse took her leave feeling a little guilty about leaving Pat with the town’s “first lady” as Mrs. Harper liked to be called.
She hadn’t meant to tell about the dirty magazines, but the viciousness of the Harper attack on Wade, the snubs she had received
when she was keeping company with him, had caused her to want to bring the woman down a notch. The revelation did a mite more
than that, Jesse thought. It had shocked her speechless.

A light shone from the front bedroom window of the rambling old house. Jesse moved about the room just as the marshal had
told her to do. Wade and Ethan squatted in the bushes in the back of the house until the light was extinguished. When they
slipped in the back door, Dusty was waiting for them.

“Any trouble?”

“None,” Ethan said.

“Where is Mrs. Pennybrook?” Wade asked in a whisper.

“She sleeps upstairs,” Dusty replied. “If the guy comes, he’ll come in the front window. I told Jesse to leave it open as
we did the side window. It’s too hot to close them anyway. There’s a split in the screen on the front window, and it can be
opened easily. If he comes, he’ll pull down the shade and after he blindfolds her, he’ll light the lamp. All we can do is
sit tight and wait.”

“How’s Jesse holding up?” Wade’s anxious whisper came out of the darkness.

“Good. She’s got grit. She’s ready for him to come. She doesn’t know you’re here, Wade. She said she’d not do it if you were
here.”

Dusty heard an indrawn breath before Wade sank down on the floor just outside the doorway to the room where Jesse was sleeping.
Just before dawn he nudged Dusty awake.

“It doesn’t look like the bastard is going to take the bait tonight.”

“We’ll wait a while longer. Jesse said he came to one woman just before daylight.”