Tenderness (32 page)

I
mmediately after supper, Doctor Forbes called Louella into the parlor and told her, that while he wanted his younger children
to have some training, she was bearing down too hard on them. It was causing them to dislike her. He was especially concerned
about her behavior toward Todd and its effect on his stammering.

“You are only making it worse, Louella. Do not mention it to him again if it takes him half an hour to say what he wants to
say.

“Well… I only—”

Doctor Forbes cut off her words with a raised hand.

“I realize that this is a difficult position for you and unless things change, I’ll be forced to terminate your employment.”

“Very well, if that’s what you want. But, Hollis, you told me that the children needed a firm hand, and that was what I was
trying to provide. You have a standing in this town, and I’d hate for you to be looked down on because of the rudeness of
your children.”

“I doubt that someone who was sick would concern himself about how rude my children are,” he said drily.

“Furthermore, I don’t believe they’ve had much guidance during the last few years. Todd and Susan have had a free hand and
they’ve not had to account for their time away from home. And they spend too much time with that nigger boy. It’s just too
revolting to think about. My Lord! I hate to think what the Harpers would say if they found out.”

“Tell them, Mrs. Lindstrom,” the doctor said, his voice rising. “And then catch the next train out of town. I don’t give a
hoot in hell what the Harpers think, but I do care about my children, Jody and Pauline, and the repercussions they would face
in this town if it became known that Pauline was teaching a colored boy right here in my home and Susan was helping.”

“You know that I would never do any such thing. My goodness, Hollis, I thought you trusted me more than that.” Louella’s voice
had softened seductively but she was shaken. Rivulets of sweat ran from her temples down the sides of her face, making little
grooves in the coat of face powder she had applied so generously.

The kids had named her Ghost-face. By damn, the doctor thought, the name fit the woman like a glove. Dora, you’d be proud
of the two smart kids we made together and also of Jesse, who has found herself a fine man who loves her enough to give her
up because he worries he’s not good enough for her. And, to think, I felt for a while that Louella would be a good companion
to help fill the lonely years after the children were grown!

“Hollis, I really do think that I have met the requirements for the job to the best of my ability,” Louella protested, intruding
on his thoughts.

The doctor gave her a long searching look, then said, “That will be all, Mrs. Lindstrom. I need to look in on Jesse.”

He walked from the room wondering why he had been so blind as to not see the woman for what she was. Her presence was too
much for his children. It had to end.

If the doctor had looked back over his shoulder, he would have seen the ugliness on Louella’s face. Her eyes put daggers in
his back.

She could hardly restrain the desire to slam the door when she entered her bedroom after cleaning the kitchen all by herself.
Susan and Pauline had made themselves scarce.

The nerve of that man to backtrack so suddenly. He had told her specifically that the children needed discipline and that
Susan needed lessons in housekeeping. That was exactly what she had tried to give them. In almost any other home her methods
would have worked. Here the parent let the children run as wild as deer. Associating with darkies—now that was the limit.

Louella stood in the middle of the room and silently cursed the day she had come here. It was clear now that whatever harmony
had existed between her and Doctor Forbes was over and that there would not be a permanant place for her in this house where
the doctor still worshiped his dear wife and thought his children could do no wrong.

What to do now? She weighed her options and decided that she had to swallow her pride and stay. Maybe she would hear from
Jack soon and maybe—just maybe—she could persuade that handsome rascal to take her with him. It had been a while since she
had posted the letter to him in care of the rooming house in Buffalo.

But when she left, she thought now with much satisfaction, she would leave a surprise for the self-righteous doctor who had
spurned her attentions so cruelly. The note his wife had received just months before she died was carefully hidden beneath
the dresser scarf. She took it now, read it again and almost chortled.

When she presented this, it would certainly tarnish the image of his precious Dora!

In the night Jesse awakened to find her father sitting beside the bed.

“Papa?”

The doctor shook himself out of a half sleep. “Do you want some water, honey?”

“Yes, please. Did Wade go home?”

“He had animals to tend. I assured him that you’d be all right.”

Jesse drank the full glass of water. “He’ll be back tomorrow,” she said and drifted off to sleep.

Sunday morning the neighbors began to call. Pauline left Jesse in Susan’s care and sought out Jody in the barn.

Jody’s first words were, “Is Miss Jesse goin’ to be all right?”

“Doctor Forbes says she will. Have you been home?”

“Yes ma’am. The marshal was snoopin’ round early. He ain’t goin’ to find nothin’ though. Dude Merfeld brought the wagon back
and told Wade his pa had took the twenty-nine dollars, ever’ cent they had in the world, and skedaddled. Dude hopes he don’t
come back.”

“He left his family destitute?”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means he left them without a cent to their names.”

“Wade gave Dude some money, said to tell his ma it was what he owed Otis for whiskey. But Wade ain’t… he don’t—”

“—Doesn’t. Speak correctly, Jody. I know you can. Listen, I’ve heard from the people at Tuskegee. They’re expecting you the
middle of the month. What do you think of that?”

“Scares the waddin’ out of me, is what it does. I don’t know, Miss Pauline. I’ve never seen a darkie that had enough sense
to stay out of the rain except that Mr. Washington that Wade took me to hear.”

“Then it’s time you became acquainted with darkies that are smart and want to make life better for their people. But remember
one thing—you’re just as smart as they are. Smarter than most.”

“You think so?” Jody had a bewildered look on his face.

“I know so. Think I’d put up with a dumbbell?” Pauline threw her arm across the boy’s thin shoulders. “Now get your head into
those books. I must get back to the house.”

The Forbes’ home was full of visitors for most of the day. It was evening before the doctor had uninterrupted time with Jesse.
He sat down beside the bed.

“Lordy! I’m glad they’ve all gone. This house has been a beehive all day.”

“I was sure Wade could come today.”

Doctor Forbes took his daughter’s hand. “Honey, he waited last night until he was sure you were going to be all right. When
he left, he told me to tell you that he wasn’t coming back. He thinks it’s better to break it off now rather than later. He
feels guilty that people in town are looking down on you because of him. He thinks it’s his fault that you were almost killed.”

“Papa! What are you saying?” The anguished cry tore from Jesse’s throat. “Are you saying that he doesn’t want to marry me
now?”

“He didn’t say that. He feels that his reputation has soiled yours. He’s sure that after a while you would come to resent
him. He’s a hill man born and bred and has more than his share of pride. He’s a rough character and he knows it.”

“He wasn’t rough with me. He was gentle and sweet and I-loving.”

“He feels he’s doing the right thing for your sake.”

“Well, I don’t! I love him.” Huge tears rolled down Jesse’s cheeks and she began to cry. “He changed his mind about loving
me and that’s an excuse,” she said between sobs.

“No, honey. I’m sure he loves you. He’s worried that someday you’ll be sorry you married him and he couldn’t bear that.”

“Papa, I wouldn’t have ever been sorry. I wanted to marry him more than anything in the world.”

“Maybe he’ll reconsider and come back.”

“No, he won’t. Once he’s made up his mind, it’s set. And I don’t want him if he doesn’t want me.”

“Honey, he thought long and hard before he made the decision.”

It had been years since the doctor had seen his elder daughter cry. It tore at his heart. He wanted to hold her in his arms
as he had done when she was a little girl and comfort her, but she was a grown woman and nothing he could say would ease her
pain.

He went silently from the room and closed the door.

Louella Lindstrom was very much on Ethan’s mind. That Saturday morning Dick Efthim, the postmaster, had come hurrying down
to the newspaper office with a letter in his hand.

“This came in on the morning train.”

Ethan took the letter. “Well hallelujah!” he exclaimed happily. “It’s from Jack Dinsmore, Buffalo, New York. I’m going to
steam it open, Dick. I’ll bring it back to the post office all resealed and Louella will never know it’s been opened.”

“Well, I’ve never been involved in anything like this. It’s tampering with the mails…”

“You’ve been a big help and I appreciate it.”

“You know about this, Ralph?” Dick said.

“I know. In my young and foolish years, I was in the Bureau. They won’t let me forget it. The boy here has a good head. He
knows what he’s doing.”

“I’ll go on back to the store then. I don’t want to leave Pat any longer than I have to. She’s nervous about being left alone.”

“When’s the baby due? Ralph asked.

“In about three weeks.”

“That’s enough to make any woman nervous.”

“I’ll be there shortly,” Ethan said, as Dick headed for the door.

Using the boiling teakettle, Ethan expertly steamed open the letter as if he had done it hundreds of times before. He took
out the single sheet of paper, read it and whistled with satisfaction.

My dear Louella,

I’m happy to know that you’ve got a good place and a chance at marrying a well fixed man. But dear lady, I’ll miss you and
the many enlightening chats we’ve had over the past few years, not to mention our dalliances between the sheets.

Since Leon’s execution things have been quiet. No one has been prowling ’round asking questions, so I’m told.

The coast is clear for you to come back to Buffalo if things do not work out for you there. The officials think that because
Leon confessed he had the brains to do the deed by himself.

There is nothing to worry about now. The reason that I’m writing is to tell you that I’ll be coming to Harpersville July first
for the day before I go on to Atlanta. I’ll be standing in front of the post office about half past noon. Walk by and tell
me where I can meet you later.

Jack

Ethan chortled happily after he read the letter and passed it to Ralph, who read it quickly and handed it back.

“Now tell me what this is about.”

Ethan sobered. “It’s a big case. A really big one. When President McKinley was shot and killed up in Buffalo last September
everyone thought that Leon Czolgosz had acted alone. He even said he did. But a few of us in the Bureau thought he must have
had some outside help. In other words, a conspiracy. We concentrated on the rooming house where Czolgosz lived. The day McKinley
was shot, one of our mon took a room there. The only boarders packing up to leave were Louella Lindstrom and this bird Dinsmore.
We figured that they were afraid that Czolgosz would talk. He was executed a month later, but even with all the grilling,
he still contended that he had acted alone.

“I trailed Mrs. Lindstrom to Knoxville, where she took a room in a rooming house and stayed about a month. She moved around
several times and mailed several letters to Dinsmore but received no answers. I was really surprised when she came here and
settled in.

“Another man in the Bureau trailed Dinsmore. He went to a place in New Jersey and then into the boroughs of New York City.
He was hard to keep track of there. After a while he went back to Buffalo, where he must have received Mrs. Lindstrom’s letter.
Dinsmore has done about everything criminal, including fleecing old ladies out of money. He worked in Sweden for a while,
and probably met Mrs. Lindstrom there. He also signed aboard ships making the Atlantic crossing. We figure that’s where he
got acquainted with Czolgosz. Dinsmore is a handsome guy, a snappy dresser and a charmer. I imagine he charmed the prissy
Mrs. Lindstrom right out of her drawers.”

“What would the motive be for killing the president?”

“Who knows. The president made a lot of enemies by supporting high tariffs to protect the U.S. industry from foreign competition.
He was not popular abroad.”

“I’m surprised Mrs. Lindstrom didn’t catch onto the fact she was followed.”

“You don’t have much faith in my ability, Ralph, or in my talent for disguising myself.” Ethan was in a good mood. This was
the break he had been waiting for.

“You’re the one with the gift of gab. I suspect if you put your mind to it, you could charm the skin off a snake.” Ralph shook
his head thoughtfully and went back to setting type.

Ethan was so lost in thought that he scarcely heard Ralph. He was busy copying the letter word for word and resealing the
envelope, making sure it didn’t look as if it had been tampered with.

“I’ll take this back to Dick,” he said over his shoulder as he went out the door. “Then I’m going down to the depot to send
a wire.”

W
ednesday morning came and, with it, the early morning train. Black smoke rolled from the smoke stacks on the engine and the
wheels sang a protest as they sent out sparks and screeched to a stop on the iron rails. Mail bags were tossed onto the platform,
and two men alighted from different cars on the train. One carried a large case of the kind that a drummer would use. The
other man wore well-worn clothes and appeared to be a down-and-outer looking for work. The two men walked away without looking
at each other and met again behind the newspaper office. A door opened and they slipped inside. Ethan greeted them with a
handshake and introduced them to Ralph.