The Cellar (7 page)

“Who, who’s there?” he croaked just before
Micheline Pendleton’s knee contacted his crotch with as much force as she could
muster.  The man’s high pitched squeal ended abruptly as the heavy end of Ike’s
crutch connected with his skull, shattering the back of it and shoving bits of
bone and fragments of wood into George’s brain.  He fell forward onto the woman
and the front of his head thumped hers and knocked her senseless.

Ike stood in the ray of moonlight panting.

“Boy Ikey, you’re a regular panther when
you get your blood up.  I figured you was rusty at fightin’ after bein’ down
here for so long.  You killed both of them fellers.”

“You sure?”

“If there’s anythin’ I know for sure these
days it’s who’s dead.  I saw em come out a lookin’ all confused an’ sorry
like.  I couldn’t help myself an’ I hollered “Boo!” and they both skedaddled to
I don’t know where, maybe I don’t want to know…… but they sure are dead.  If
they ever was a pair that needed killin’ I think they was.  Good thing you
don’t need that crutch anymore ‘cause you broke the head clean off of it. 

“Johnny……I didn’t mean to kill them, I
just wanted to keep them from hurting her any more….I just wanted to stop them
from burning……”

“Well you stopped em for good Ike, but you
didn’t have a lot of choice, they woulda killed her after they had their way
with her a time or two and if they had seen you they wouldn’t have let you live
either.  I’m afraid they might have done away with old Marcus.”

A sudden realization washed over Ike, for
the first time since he had been carried down to this cellar there was no door or
no large black man between him and freedom.  He looked up the steps through the
open door and at the moon that seemed to be staring down at him, asking him to
come out.  He loped to the top of the stairs and reveled in being free of the
cellar for the first time in months.  He was free!  Looking back down the
stairs he saw Mrs. Pendleton form lying defenseless on his bed, with a dead man
on top of her. 

“No, you know you can’t leave her here
like this Ikey, you gotta’ help her.  You don’t know who else might be hangin’
around out there.”

“Johnny, this is my chance, I need to get
out of here.  I saved her life, isn’t that enough?” Ike said out loud.  He
stood there a few moments staring up at the moon and looked back down the steps
at the woman.  George’s head was on her shoulder as if they had both went to
sleep in passionate embrace.  He would at least have to get the man’s body off
of her.

“I suppose you’re right Johnny.” Ike
replied with a sigh.

“Of course I’m right.  Now settle down a
little bit and let’s see if you can carry that poor ol’ gal back up stairs. 
Maybe you oughta’ wrap somethin’ around her for modesty’s sake.  Now don’t go
pokin’ or grabbin’ anything.  I gotta admit Teddy was right, she does look
pretty good yet.”

“Johnny, would you quit chattering like a
squirrel.”  Ike said out loud forgetting himself again. 

“Did you notice how the lantern went out
Ikey?  I did that, somehow I managed to make me a little wind and blew it out
so it wouldn’t set fire to everthin.”   Johnny crowed.

“You always were full of wind, I think
you’ve gotten worse since you died.”

He dragged George’s heavy body off the
unconscious woman and carefully wrapped her in his bed sheet and quilt.  He was
anxious to cover her as soon as possible, seeing her like this aroused him in
spite of himself.  He felt guilty for his reaction and embarrassed that she
would know he had seen her like this.  The moonlight was sufficient for him to
see as he carried her up the steps.  He blinked and looked around to get his
bearings.  She was light and Ike had recuperated his strength to the point that
she was easy to carry, but the feel of her body so close to his made him
uncomfortable and he was eager to unburden himself of her.  Light from the
kitchen window illuminated the back steps and he carried her into the house. 

There was a day bed in the kitchen and Ike
laid his burden on it.  One shapely breast fell out from the tangle of
bedclothes and Ike quickly rearranged her coverings with as much propriety as
he possibly could.

“You’re a good boy Ikey, back in the day I
probably would have had to give that a squeeze.”  Johnny chortled.

“Well, I’ve got my guardian angel here
with me so I have to behave now don’t I.”

“Wonder what happened to old Marcus?” 
Johnny mused.  “Maybe he’s not dead, I don’t see no big black ghost wanderin’
around anywhere.  He’d have to come round and see ‘bout “Missy”.”

Ike looked around the house and found a
stairway.  The thought occurred to him that if there were night clothes that
fit him there might be other clothes as well.  At the top of the stairs was a
bedroom with no bed.  Thinking this must be Todd’s room he rummaged through a
chest and found the items he needed.  Everything fit well and before long he
was clad in plain but well made clothing including underwear and boots that fit
him perfectly.  He found his old uniform in one of Todd’s drawers, it appeared
to have been cleaned and repaired.  It didn’t seem like a good idea to be
wearing a Union uniform this evening, so he left it where it was.  He wondered
why she had kept it.

“Maybe she thought she might have to bury
you in it.”  Johnny chortled as Ike headed back down the stairs.

“Looks like you got you some travelin’
clothes Ikey.”  Johnny chuckled.  “Good idea even if you stole ‘em.”

“I didn’t steal them Johnny, I traded my
uniform for them.”  Ike replied sending Johnny into a gale of laughter.  “They
definitely fit me better than Marcus’s clothes too.”  He thought briefly that
if he were caught in civilian clothes he could be taken for a spy and hanged,
but wearing a uniform still seemed to be the worse of his options.  Todd Pendleton’s
clothing was less scratchy than the wool of Ike’s uniform and might be less
conspicuous. 

Mrs. Pendleton was still unconscious but
breathing steadily.  She had a knot rising on her forehead where George’s head
had hit hers. 

Ike was pondering what to do next when he
heard a noise in the back yard that sounded like a cow bellowing.  Looking out
he saw a pitiful figure making its way to the house.

Marcus was crawling toward the back steps
on his hands and knees.  Blood dripped from a gash in his forehead but he was
moving toward his mistress as if drawn by a magnet.  “Missy…. Missy……. where is
she?” he sobbed.  The big man’s anguish was pitiful to see.  It was all Ike
could do to get the overwrought giant to his feet and walk him up the steps
into the kitchen.  Once he saw his mistress and determined that she was still
alive he relaxed and sat heavily in a chair to keep vigil over her.

Ike took charge of Marcus and cleaned the
gash in his forehead as the big man sat as if in a daze, ever watching Mrs. Pendleton
as if she might disappear at any moment.  “He looks like a stunned ox.” Johnny
said in wonder.  “Big as a young one, I ‘spect a normal man would be dead by
now.”   Ike found some salve that smelled like what Marcus had put on his own forehead
and returned the favor before bandaging the silent man’s head.  Ike edged
toward the back door and stood looking out at the moon, thinking that now might
be his chance to leave when Micheline Pendleton began to stir.

She blinked a few times and looked at the
two men who were staring at her.  The situation registered in her mind after a
few moments and she looked down in horror at her state of dress.  She sat up
primly, carefully keeping the bed clothes drawn around her. 

“Marcus, can you talk?” she said, looking
at her servant with concern.  She moved close to him and put her hand on his
arm.  The big man had been looking down as if in shame.  At her touch he looked
up and made eye contact.  Micheline Pendleton smiled warmly when their eyes
met, eliciting a look of relief and adoration from the wounded man.

“Hey Ikey, while them two’s a comfortin’
each other don’t you think you might be getting’ outta’ here?”  Johnny said in
his stage whisper.

Ike moved quietly toward the door, but turned
back to catch the exchange between Mrs. Pendleton and Marcus.

“I’m just restin’ a spell Missy.  Feel
better now that you’se alright.  Don’t quite know what happened, somebody hit
me in the head with a shovel I thinks.”

“There were two of them, I was afraid they
might have killed you, they tried to take advantage of me in the cellar, but
Mr. Lowery ……” she said trailing off and turning to Ike, who had been forgotten
for a few moments and who was standing at the back door looking out at the moon
and trying to decide which direction to run.  “Did you kill them?” 

“I’m afraid so, I may have gotten carried
away, but I don’t think there was a lot of choice.”  He hesitated, thinking
this was the time he should be bounding out the door.  Marcus and Mrs.
Pendleton were well enough to take care of each other and he didn’t think
Marcus would be up to pursuing him just yet.

Hoof beats in the yard interrupted their
conversation.  “Get under the bed, quick!”  Mrs. Pendleton ordered Ike, “Stay
here Marcus, I’ll handle this.”  She took one quick look to make sure Ike was
hidden before she readjusted the bedclothes she was wrapped in and headed for
the front of the house.

There was a frantic knock on the door as
the woman gathered herself and walked to the front door with as much dignity as
she could manage under the circumstances.  When she opened the door a man’s
voice could be heard.  “My God, Micheline what happened to you?”

“I’m so glad you came Colonel, I have been
attacked in my own home, it was awful.   There were two of them, Yankee
deserters I think.  My man Marcus managed to chase them off.”

“It must have been the same two that the
home guard spotted early this morning, we thought they might have come this
way.  I’m so sorry we didn’t get here sooner to spare you.  I hope they didn’t……?”

“They attempted to assault me, yes.  They
were looking for valuables and when they didn’t find anything else that suited
them they tried to have their way with me.  Brave Marcus caught them and beat
them badly and they ran away in the direction of the swamp.  I can only hope
they fall into it and drown.  One of them fetched Marcus a blow to the head,
but he will recover shortly I believe.”

“Can I see him?”

“He’s back in the kitchen, do come in.  I
bound his wound, which was minor for a man of his strength.”

Ike heard the tromping of a big man’s feet
coming down the hall.  He plastered himself to the wall under the day bed and
tried not to breathe.  He watched the muddy cavalry boots approach and stop
next to the chair where Marcus was slumped.   Micheline Pendleton’s feet
followed, she was still wearing the shoes that were about all her attacker had
left on her body.  Her feet seemed to move about nervously as the Colonel began
to speak.  Ike realized that she was as frightened as he was.  While she was
not likely to be shot, hanged, or imprisoned if her account of the evening were
to be discovered as the fiction that it was, she was still bent on keeping
Ike’s presence a secret. 

“Marcus you big rascal, sounds like you’ve
had a hard night.  Did you get a good look at them?”

“Jus’ like Missy said…. couple…. boys in
blue. She can ‘scribe ‘em better….kinda hurts to talk Colonel, one hit me in
‘da jaw.”  Marcus mumbled theatrically.  Ike heard the scratching as he rubbed
his massive jowl.

To his horror Ike noticed the muddy tracks
coming in the back door, one set led directly to where he lay trapped.  If the
Colonel saw the line of mud leading under the day bed that indicated Ike’s
presence there he didn’t acknowledge it.  He kept staring at the muddy tracks
as Mrs. Pendleton described George and Teddy.

“Those are likely the two that murdered
our boys earlier.  I think we’d better take off after them, maybe we can catch
them yet.  I’ll post a few of my men around your place this evening Micheline,
in case they come back.  These are cowardly but dangerous men, they killed a
couple of our home guard, just young boys on picket, cut their throats before
they could make a sound.  It was bad enough when the damned Yankees came down
here and invaded us, then they started stealing from the populace, and now that
we have pushed them out we have their dregs to deal with.”

One of the “dregs” was developing a cramp
in his leg from being crammed in under the day bed in the Pendleton’s kitchen. 
Ike gritted his teeth so hard that he thought the grinding noise would give him
away and earn him a painful death or imprisonment.

“Are you alright Micheline?”  the Colonel
asked.  “You don’t look well.”

“I will be fine Colonel, it has just been
a very stressful evening.”

“Frankly, I have been worried about you
staying out here by yourself since Jasper died.  I’m glad you have Marcus, but
I wish we had enough men to keep someone out here all the time.”

“I appreciate your concern Colonel, but we
will be fine, as you can see, Marcus can handle about any situation.”  The
woman said.  Ike was afraid he would pass out from the pain and moan out loud
when the Colonel finally left the kitchen.   He distracted himself by thinking
what might have happened had he escaped out the back door.   Chances are he
would have been caught by the Colonel and his men and he might well have been
killed or at least imprisoned.

After the Colonel took his leave Ike
crawled out from under the bed. He stood and stretched and massaged the muscles
in his leg.   Marcus was still sitting in the chair looking mournful.  “Gettin’
old, let them two get the best of me and they hurt Missy.  I thanks you for
what you did.”  He looked toward the stairs where his mistress had retreated to
dress herself properly.  “Don’t know what I do if anything happened to Missy.”

“He sure looks after that woman don’t he
Ikey.  Wonder what that’s all about?  Guess tonight ain’t so good for you gettin’
away from here.”