Just Above a Whisper (11 page)

“Why are you here?” Gerald tried.

“Because I was told to come.”

“Do you always do as you’re told?” Gerald asked, and Reese heard a tone she didn’t like. She looked up into his eyes and saw something she dreaded: interest.

Reese’s gaze returned to the work at hand, even as she wished she had a reason to stand up. If Gerald was no taller than his father, he would find himself looking up to Reese. She’d yet to meet a young man who could overlook this fact and believed it to be the quickest way to cool any ardor he might be feeling.

“Well, do you?”

“It depends on who’s doing the telling,” Reese responded, trying to keep her voice light.

“You’re different,” Gerald said, lounging back in the opposite chair as if he had all day.

“Am I?”

“That’s what I mean.” Gerald came forward in his excitement, as though she’d made his point. “Just by the way you said that! I can tell you don’t let folks boss you around. You’re your own person.”

Reese glanced up at him and then back down before he could read the unbelief in her eyes. He clearly had no idea to whom he was talking. It was true that the Jenness house was not situated on the green, but it was still in town. Reese wondered if Gerald Jenness got out of the house much. Every other person she knew, and many she didn’t, had heard about her situation with the bank.

“Gerald?” Mrs. Jenness called from the other room. “Gerald? Where are you?”

Reese listened to Gerald’s impatient sigh, but he still pushed to his feet and exited by way of the door his mother had used. Reese heard their low voices from her place at the kitchen table but didn’t try to listen. She went back to polishing, humming once again and wondering what she would be asked to do for the rest of the day.

“So tell me,” Mrs. Greenlowe waited only until they’d sat down for tea to question Reese. “How did it go at the Jenness house?”

“It went fine,” she said, surprised even now.

“What did Lillie Jenness have you do?”

“Not much. A bit of silver polishing and trimming the frayed edges of an old rug. I did a lot of sitting around, waiting for her to come back to tell me what to do. I don’t think she wanted me to help with the cooking.”

“She does nothing but clean,” Mrs. Greenlowe muttered, pushing more food in Reese’s direction. She still served her main meal at noon, but now that Reese lived with her, she made sure she always had plenty to offer with the evening tea; the girl was too thin for her liking.

“Did she give you a proper dinner?”

Reese had to think about that and then admitted to herself that it hadn’t been that great. Mrs. Jenness clearly hadn’t wanted to waste a bit of meat on her. Reese’s piece was so small she finished it in three bites. Mrs. Jenness had prepared Reese’s plate and told her to stay in the kitchen to eat. She was used to that, but not used to having little more than bread and vegetables with not even a dessert to take her through until tea. At least Mr. Zantow had let her eat what he enjoyed.

Mr. Jenness had not come home for dinner, and Reese had been surprised by that. But she’d been pleased that Gerald had spent most of the day out of the house. She sensed that his mother might have sent him on an errand.

“And at the bank?” Mrs. Greenlowe asked before Reese could gather her thoughts to answer the other question; she thought it might be just as well.

“There isn’t much to do,” Reese explained. “I dusted and swept some. I’ll mop the floor next time, but today there were folks inside, so I couldn’t. I’ll probably have to wash the windows at some point.”

Mrs. Greenlowe allowed Reese to eat in peace for a short time and didn’t have anything to complain about until Reese began to help with the cleanup.

“You work all day,” that lady muttered darkly, but Reese wasn’t tired and knew that she was years younger than her landlady. And although Reese wasn’t weary, it didn’t hurt her feelings at all when Mrs. Greenlowe said she was ready to turn in, freeing Reese to seek the privacy of her own room.

She had washed in the kitchen after tea, stripping down and scrubbing every inch of her, and now it felt wonderful to slip her nightdress over her head and crawl onto the middle of the mattress. Here she knelt, as she had every night since her conversion, and prayed. Her knees were too bony to manage the floor, and she was certain God understood.

For long moments she didn’t pray. The candle flickering more noticeably as the light faded from the windows, Reese looked around at the most wonderful bedroom she could ever remember having.

It was done in greens and pinks, soft and inviting. The wallpaper was subtle and blended nicely with the quilt Mrs. Greenlowe had made for the bed. All the drawers in the dresser worked properly, and Reese’s bed was soft and comfortable.

“Thank You, Lord,” Reese finally began to whisper to her heavenly Father. “You have given me so much. I still wish to be released from my papers, but if that is not to happen, please help me to be safe where I work. Help my actions and words to be honoring to You.

“Help me to be careful around Gerald. I don’t want his attentions. Help me not be amusing or too fun. He seems to be drawn to that. I think he’s lonely and needs You, Lord. Help him search in the right places.”

Reese went on to pray for the church family and the people of Tucker Mills, especially folks she knew personally, like Mrs. Greenlowe and the Jenness family. She confessed the irritation she felt with Mr. Jenness, but that did not come easily. Just the thought of him made her tense and upset.

Reese sat very still, working to control her emotions, but she was having little success. She finally climbed into bed, using just a sheet on this warm night, and planned to speak to Douglas or Alison about the Jenness family. Mr. Jenness reminded her of her powerlessness with Mr. Zantow, and right now Reese’s heart couldn’t take it. With both men on her mind, she fell asleep in agitation.

“Return to my house” were the only words Mr. Jenness said the next morning. Reese assumed her days would look like this for a time and hoped Mrs. Jenness would not be quite so surprised.

She wasn’t surprised, but neither did she look happy. Reese was shown through the kitchen and into the buttery where she was asked to churn butter. Everything was prepared; she was not to touch more than the handle and to call for Mrs. Jenness when the butter was ready. Reese was working steadily along until she was joined by Gerald.

“I thought I heard you humming,” he began, and Reese wished she’d kept quiet. “Swimming in the pond again today?”

“Something like that,” Reese said, working to be careful with her words.

“How long will this take?”

“I wouldn’t think very long.”

Gerald fell silent, but Reese knew she was being watched. She would have asked Gerald to leave the room had she known that his mother was standing outside the door in the kitchen, listening to every word.

“You got a boyfriend?” Gerald tried.

“That’s none of your business,” Reese said firmly.

“You can tell me.”

“I’m sorry, Gerald, but I don’t wish to discuss private matters.”

“Is your hair soft?”

“That’s another private matter, Gerald.”

Reese had kept her eyes on her work, but she was aware when Gerald moved toward her.

“Don’t touch me, Gerald.” She held his eyes and slanted away from him. “I don’t want you to.”

Her eyes and tone were just stern enough that Gerald stopped, looking uncertain and frustrated all at the same time. At the same moment, they both heard a noise in the other room, where Lillie, shaking like a leaf, pretended she’d just come into the kitchen.

“Where is that boy?” she muttered a bit loudly, going to the door that led outside and opening it a bit. “Gerald, are you out here?”

Reese didn’t begin breathing again until Gerald sighed in annoyance and walked from the buttery.

Five

“Go ahead and mix that dough, Reese,” Lillie made herself say. She hated having this woman working with their food, but she was desperate. She would keep Reese busy in the kitchen until Gerald was close enough to hear their conversation.

It took longer than she had hoped. Gerald clearly wanted to be alone in the kitchen with Reese. Lillie saw him come into view several times, but when he spotted his mother, he would go swiftly on his way.

For many reasons, Lillie did not want this woman in the house, but in all fairness, Reese knew how to behave. Her manner was docile, and she had said nothing in the buttery to encourage Gerald. Lillie had even given her a little more dinner today, thinking about how thin she was and wondering whether Mr. Zantow had fed the woman properly.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Reese,” Lillie said as soon as she realized Gerald had parked himself in the small sitting room off the kitchen, giving him a view of Reese. “How old are you?”

“I’m 22.”

“And you’ve been an indentured servant for how long?”

“More than four years.”

“And how long do you have to go?”

“Almost two years.”

“What did your father do to indenture himself to Mr. Zantow?”

“I’m not sure.”

This stopped Lillie. She thought Reese would know all about it. Her mind scrambled for a new topic.

“Where is your mother?”

“She’s dead.”

“That’s too bad,” Lillie said, trying to sound compassionate. “Two more years before you can have any kind of life to call your own. What an awful thing.”

Reese didn’t comment. She had heard a noise in the other room and assumed it to be Gerald. She thought she understood why Mrs. Jenness would do this, but she was tired of being used. Why didn’t Mrs. Jenness simply speak to her son about this issue?

Both women heard a chair move in the next room, and then all was quiet. Reese kept on with the chore she’d been given. Lillie did the same with her own work, not knowing if her little plan had done the trick or not. Nevertheless, she would tell Victor that if this woman was at her door in the morning, she would personally bring her back to the bank and do her best to embarrass him in front of anyone who happened to be watching.