Discernment, p.16
Discernment, page 16
“You’re a murderer, Catherine, and everyone here knows it,” I said around Alvin’s shoulder.
Catherine looked from Sean to Alvin, then to Sadie’s wide eyes, feeling the weight of their judgmental stares as her guilty eyes darted between the witnesses. With a cry of frustration, she dashed for the back stairs.
Slowly, the green smoke faded.
Sadie looked flushed. Sean brought her to the sofa, Alvin and I silently following.
“I don’t think I’m up for this spiritualism thing after all,” Sadie whispered and then fainted, slumping against the back of the sofa.
Sean sighed, then chuckled. “Not all girls are as tough as Deborah.”
“Deb could endure everything when I wanted to hide from the truth,” Alvin said.
I put my arms around him. “We’re one in purpose now.”
“Yes,” he agreed with a smile. “United with my miraculous wife in our own home. Uncle Jerald’s inheritance is a blessing, but I’m sorry he passed the way he did.”
When Sadie woke from her stupor, Sean pulled a flask out of his jacket pocket. They both took a few nips while Alvin was poised near the hall, listening for movement from Catherine upstairs.
“How long until the police come, Sean?” I asked.
“What? Oh, I was bluffing to see if she would admit anything. Obviously she’s guilty. Jerald Snodgrass says she killed him, and if I were you, I’d toss everything out of the icebox, just to be safe.”
“I will, but you should really telephone them now.”
“I will, darling.” He stood and kissed my cheek. “You were marvelous.”
Sean went to the back hall where the telephone box was near the kitchen.
A moment later, scuffling came from upstairs. The clap-click of heeled shoes down the wood hall. Catherine’s satin shoes were the first thing visible between the carved banister slats. Then her long skirt and suitcase. And a gleam of something more.
I’m not sure which happened first—the suitcase dropping or the entanglement of her quickening feet—but she went down. Head over heels, she flipped the final six steps. She tumbled across the little landing and straight through the stained glass window.
Sadie shrieked, but Alvin lunged for the stairs, staring out the shattered window at the scene below.
“What the hell was that?” Sean ran in.
We joined Alvin on the landing, looking down at Catherine’s twisted body impaled on the picket fence between the neighbor’s house and ours.
“I hate to say it,” Sean said, “but that’s the best justice. The courts couldn’t have seen it through as efficiently.”
“Come on, Deb. You don’t need to see that.” Alvin tucked me to his side and led me back to the parlor.
As my role with Uncle Jerald was officially complete, I allowed the men to deal with the police when they arrived. My new concern was comforting the frantic Sadie.
Epilogue
On the morning of November first, I had just slid a loaf of sourdough bread into the oven when the back screen door snapped shut, setting the yellow curtains fluttering.
Sean strode in—his habit several times a week of late since he knew I could be found in the kitchen any given morning.
“You look awful.” I wiped my hands on my apron. “I’m glad Alvin and I didn’t go to the Halloween Flirts dance if a hangover was part of the deal. Sadie didn’t warn me of that.”
Sean grinned and rubbed a hand over his unshaved jaw. “I didn’t stay long and drank three times as much at home as I did at the dance. I was the oldest guest, which Sadie teased me about. You and Alvin would have been the only married couple, but that wouldn’t have stopped the girls from flocking to him. They’re downright vicious when in costume.”
I laughed. “It couldn’t be that bad.”
“Just wait until you see a Mardi Gras masquerade. Besides, I did nothing but think of Eliza there.”
“Why is that? You’ve been doing good lately.”
“They used many of the old props she’d painted for the group five years ago. The Halloween Flirts dance was the night we first—”
I snapped a towel at him. “Never mind. I remember.”
“But I’m done with her, Deborah, and she’s gone for good.” He hopped onto the counter by the sink and crossed his arms. “Don’t you want to know how and why?”
“Let me fix some coffee, and we’ll sit at the table like civilized people.”
I set out a plate with the remainder of yesterday’s cornbread along with a dish of honey butter. Sean smiled his thanks as he slathered a chunk.
After a few sips of coffee, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I looked straight at her painting and said ‘I promised I’d never forget you when we were parted. I’ve kept my end of the bargain nearly five years. Is it enough?’ In response, she shook her head and stepped out of the painting.”
My cup clattered to the table. “You saw her?”
“In all her natural glory!” He bit his lip. “She chased me around the house, taunting me. And then she confessed.”
“Confessed?”
“That she was unfaithful to me.”
Tears welled in the corner of his eyes, and I remembered my words when I banished Eliza into the painting.
“I’m sorry, Sean.”
“But you knew.” His keen mind never missed anything. “You bound her there until she unburdened herself.”
I patted his hand and straightened in my chair. “Yes. And she felt guilty for her actions. That’s why she was being faithful to you by following you around.”
“A tigress hunting me.” His dimples flashed with a smile. “But hearing that cleared the last of my feelings for her. I burned her sketches in the fireplace.”
“You did not!”
“I did. And I nearly tossed the painting too, but she talked me out of it. It’s gone, though. I tucked it in the closet like Dorian Gray trying to hide his indiscretions. The folly of my youth.”
“You were twenty-five—the same as Alvin. Did he make a mistake marrying me?”
“Don’t fish for compliments, darling.” He took another bite before continuing. “Eliza told me to wait a few more years, then find a woman better than her and Winifred combined.”
“And that was it?”
Sean nodded. “She stepped back into the painting and everything has been quiet. Do you want to come over and see for yourself?”
“I will after supper, then you and Alvin can have a game of chess. Finish your coffee and I’ll see you this evening.”
Sabine arrived while Sean was still at the table. She blushed and avoided eye-contact with him.
“Thanks for the coffee and food, Deborah. I feel human now. Warn Alvin I’ll be sober by the time we have our chess match tonight.” Sean stood, kissed the back of my hand, and winked at Sabine on his way out.
Tessa didn’t return after Catherine died, but I hoped she was able to go back to her old job. Sabine was happy to be reduced to two partial days a week, allowing her the opportunity to work at other houses and earn more money. She came for several hours Tuesday and Friday mornings, helping me with deep cleaning because Alvin refused to think of me scrubbing floors. Sabine also helped me arrange the new furnishings Alvin and I had purchased. We’d kept the front rooms upstairs, but the large back room was empty—for now.
After my midday meal, I went across town for an appointment and stopped at Barton Academy on my way home. The final bell had just rung. I waited outside the gate for the bulk of the students to file out before making my way to the third floor. A habited nurse floated by in the stairwell, and a few moans were heard through the walls, but I wasn’t oppressed by the sensations.
I stopped in Alvin’s open classroom door, watching him at the chalkboard with two students as he solved an equation and explained his reasoning.
“Thank you, Mr. Farley,” one said.
The other student nodded. “It makes sense now.”
“I expect all your answers to be correct tomorrow.” Alvin wiped his chalky hands on a handkerchief. “Have a good afternoon, boys.”
The students bid me good day as they hurried out.
Alvin looked over and grinned. “Deb, what a surprise.”
“I finished my errands and thought we could walk home together.”
“You never told me what appointment you had.”
“It was with Dr. Hughes.” I took his hand. “Alvin, we’re going to be parents.”
His brown eyes widened before the smile found his lips. “You’re sure? Truly sure? Has it been long enough?”
“Yes on all accounts. June is the estimated timing.”
He hugged me to his chest. “Then I’ll have plenty of time with you and the baby over next summer. Deb, it’s perfect. Thank you for telling me now rather than waiting until I got home.”
After a glance at the door to be sure we weren’t seen, Alvin’s hot lips pressed to mine in a way that sent me spiraling into paradise. My hands trailed his shoulders and around his neck, clinging to his strength and unbridled passion.
When the kiss ended, Alvin didn’t let me go. “I look forward to watching you grow into motherhood.”
Hugging him back, I smiled in return. “There's no one I'd rather be on that journey with than you.”
THE END
Author’s Note
Since the cover is often the first thing noticed about a book, I’ll start things off with a huge THANK YOU to Amanda Herman. This is the fourth book she’s done an original watercolor for. Once again, she captured my vision while staying true to her own tone. I love the subtle Gothic whimsy she captured for the Farleys.
Melissa Miller welcomed me into her home and gave me a tour so I could better visualize the main setting of this book. I’m sure Alvin and Deborah Farley would have been as comfortable in the house with their family as you’ve been with yours.
Alisha Vincent was a huge help in recommending a documentary to me about mediumship. And Jeff D. Johnston pointed me in the right direction for all things historic football, allowing me to set the stage for that game at Monroe Park, complete with proper scoring numbers.
A thunderous “War Eagle” to Janet Gignillait and Amber Guy for guiding me in the right direction during my search for information about Alabama Polytechnic Institute football in the early 1900s. Their input brought me to John C. Varner with Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives and Clint Richardson with Auburn Uniform Database, who answered my email questions. Thank you, gentlemen. Sometimes no documentation is insightful in itself.
A giant thank you to beta reader Jennifer Lamont and critique partner Candice Marley Conner for all their input. And my appreciation to Carmel Allen and Stephanie Graham, members of Dalby’s Darklings, for choosing names for the girls’ math teacher and the nurse at Barton Academy.
Special appreciation goes to Sean Connell for once again nudging me—okay, sometimes more than nudging me (there were all caps involved this time)—back onto the right track after I’ve been led astray by mischievous characters. The finished product is much stronger than anything I can do alone. I’ll continue to hold the banana bread.
In closing, my gratitude forever goes to my family for their continued support. I know I’m not the easiest person to live with when characters are trying to take over all my thinking, but it does keep me sane in the long run. Thank you all, especially John for proof reading, though any mistakes fall solely on me.
About the Author
While experiencing the typical adventures of growing up, Carrie Dalby called several places in California home, but she’s lived on the Alabama Gulf Coast since 1996. Serving two terms as president of Mobile Writers’ Guild, five years as the Mobile area Local Liaison for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and helping coordinate the Mobile Literary Festival are some of the writing-related volunteer positions she’s held. When Carrie isn’t reading, writing, browsing bookstores/libraries, or homeschooling her children, she can often be found knitting or attending concerts.
Carrie writes for both teens and adults. Fortitude is listed as a Best Historical Book for Kids by Grateful American Foundation. The Possession Chronicles and The Malevolent Trilogy are her Southern Gothic family saga series for adults. She has also published several short stories that can be found in different anthologies.
For more information, social media links, and news, visit Carrie’s website:
carriedalby.com
Carrie Dalby, Discernment
