Chapter 22
Chapter
Noreen enjoyed a bit of celebrity status at church the following morning.
Several people she knew only in passing made a point to speak to her either before or after services to comment on the parade.
Positive comments! A couple of ladies even asked about how to join the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
It felt a bit like walking through a dream.
One from which Noreen was in no hurry to wake.
Besides the one tense moment with Mr. Templeton, the day had been a rousing success.
Not even Taggert and his beer-drinking cronies had upset her for long.
Brother Cowan’s booming voice had echoed off the side wall of the saloon as he sermonized briefly on the merits of sober living before leading them in a beautiful time of prayer on behalf of those who struggle to resist liquor’s lure, for their families, and for the health of the community as a whole.
By the time he’d finished, even a couple of the men who’d been holding signs at Taggert’s had snuck into the back of the crowd, hats in hand.
Seeds had been planted. She prayed God would bring them to fruition, that there might be a harvest of righteousness in Albany, Texas.
Not only had her parade gone better than she’d dared imagine, but afterward she’d enjoyed a wonderful night with Luella.
Sharing cookies and cocoa had made her feel ten years younger, as had the bedtime whispering that had lasted until nearly midnight.
The most treasured time, however, had been when they’d clasped hands and prayed for Luella’s father and both of their families.
Noreen had even managed to squeeze out a couple of grudging prayers on behalf of Milton Taggert.
She couldn’t claim any great level of altruism in the act, but she liked to think that James, and maybe even the Lord, would have been pleased with the effort.
Swinging a basket filled with fresh biscuits and two jars of preserves, Noreen walked up Walnut on her way to the jailhouse.
James had volunteered to supply a half-dozen eggs and a slab of bacon for their simple, breakfast-themed supper that evening.
She’d had a lovely luncheon with Jane and her parents after services but had been looking forward to her time with James all afternoon.
Partly because she wanted to seek his opinion on how to go about getting a local-option law on the ballot to outlaw the sale of liquor in Albany, but mostly because she just enjoyed spending time in his company.
His ready smile and easy laughter acted like a happy contagion.
The more she exposed herself to him, the easier her own smiles came.
Not only did time in his company temporarily relieve her of her burdens, but when she picked them back up, they never failed to feel lighter.
As if he’d taken some of the weight away when she hadn’t been looking.
Or maybe his theory about joy making a person stronger had some merit.
The jailhouse came into view and, with it, the handsome deputy with his smile on display as he stood in the doorway, lazily leaning a hip against the jamb.
Her pulse picked up its pace at the sight, as did her feet.
With her gaze focused ahead of her, she didn’t see the young boy running in her direction until he darted in front of her, nearly tripping her in the process.
A gasp whooshed out of her as she drew up short before plowing him in the head with her basket.
“You Miss Noreen?” The boy’s chest heaved as if he’d run a fair distance. He couldn’t be more than nine or ten, and the frightened look in his eyes immediately dissolved the scold forming on her tongue.
“I am.” Her heartbeat took on a painful edge.
“Teacher said to show you this and tell you to get to the schoolhouse right away.” He thrust a crumpled piece of fabric toward her.
The edges of the scrap opened as she took it from him. Was that blood? A red stain in the center of the white handkerchief clenched her belly with dread. Then she spotted the flowers. Dear Lord, Martha! But, no, the initials by the forget-me-nots started with an L not an M. Luella!
“James!” Noreen started to run toward the jailhouse, then remembered the boy. She stopped and turned back to him. “Run and fetch the doctor.”
“My brother’s already doin’ that. Miss Evans was helping Matty and me with our reading lessons when Lu showed up all busted.” The boy’s eyes shone with unshed tears.
Noreen bent down and cupped the little man’s shoulder. “You did well. Thank you for finding me.”
The boy shrugged and scrubbed at his eyes as if to erase the evidence of how the crisis had shaken him. “Weren’t hard. Everyone knows you eat supper with the deputy on Sundays.”
“Noreen?”
Speaking of the deputy . . . Noreen straightened and met James’s concerned gaze. Craving steadiness in a world quickly spinning out of her control, she reached out to him, her arms trembling. He immediately clasped her elbows, offering support as she pressed one hand against his chest.
“It’s Luella. She’s been hurt. She’s at the schoolhouse.”
His face hardened, not in anger, but in readiness for whatever trouble awaited. “Then let’s go.”
She nodded, his stability infusing her with much-needed calm.
James acknowledged the boy, patting the youngster’s back. “Thanks for fetching us, Toby. Get on home now.”
Toby nodded but didn’t move. “I’m pretty sure her pa’s the one that done it. This ain’t the first time Lu’s showed up at school with a bruise, and I heard tell Mr. Templeton was good and riled after the parade yesterday.”
Lord, have mercy. Noreen clutched James’s forearm. Was she responsible for this?
“Thanks, Toby.” James hugged her hand against his side. “I’ll be sure to have a talk with him.”
Talk. She knew all about those talks. The local law had talked with her father a few times, too.
Never did any good. Even if there was evidence of abuse, the law wouldn’t do anything about it unless someone pressed charges.
That someone being the abuser’s wife. A wife who’d vowed loyalty to her husband before God and who likely feared retaliation should she speak out against him.
Society considered men to be the rulers of their households, and whatever happened behind closed doors a private matter.
As a minor, Luella wouldn’t be allowed to press charges herself, even if she wanted to, which she likely didn’t, knowing Lu’s tender heart.
The helplessness Noreen had vowed never to surrender to again crashed into her chest like a runaway locomotive.
“Noreen? You all right?” James’s gentle voice pulled her out of her spiraling thoughts.
“Fine.” Not really, but she’d pretend to be for Luella’s sake. “Let’s go.”
Still carrying the basket of biscuits, she hiked up her skirt with her other hand and ran to the schoolhouse. James loped along at her side, his sheltering presence both a comfort and a fuel that kept her moving forward.
By the time she reached the school and pounded up the stairs, her lungs ached from her heaving breaths.
“In here,” Martha called from her classroom.
Noreen followed the call into the schoolroom, her heart sinking as she spotted Martha sitting on the floor in the aisle holding Luella’s head in her lap.
Desks had been shoved aside to widen the passage, making it easier for them to approach, but the sight of tears streaming down Martha’s face had Noreen stumbling.
Martha was a rock. Always steady. Always in control. But not today. Not with dear, sweet Luella battered so badly Noreen almost didn’t recognize her.
“She stumbled in here about twenty minutes ago,” Martha said.
“Barely able to walk. I think her right arm might be broken. Probably some ribs, too. I sent Matthew Dockins to fetch Dr. Perry. The only open wound I found is on her forehead, but everywhere I touch causes her so much pain.” She stroked Luella’s hair off her forehead, a sob catching in Martha’s throat.
“It’s all right Miss Evans.” Luella’s head shifted just a bit, her voice weak and broken, just like the rest of her. “It doesn’t hurt so bad now.”
Abandoning her basket, Noreen fell to the floor beside them, carefully covering Luella’s left hand with light fingers.
She watched the girl’s face for any indication that she was causing her pain, but both of her eyes had swollen nearly shut, and her mouth bore a puffy split lip, making it difficult to judge reactions.
The sight of her face alone broke Noreen’s heart.
“Lu, I’m so sorry. I never should have let you march in that parade.”
“Not your fault. I wanted to.” Luella’s head turned slightly toward Noreen, the slit of one eye finding her friend’s gaze. “No regrets. He needed me to march. Needed to see the truth. Now he has. It’ll change him. You’ll see.”
What Noreen saw was that being confronted with his sin had changed him into a monster who had nearly killed his youngest daughter. No repentance. No mercy. Just lashing anger.
“Is . . . is the deputy with you?”
James stepped forward and crouched next to Noreen. “I’m here, Luella.”
She tried to lift her head, but the motion caused her to whimper and fall back onto Martha’s lap. “Would you . . . check on my ma? She stayed behind after sending me away. I need to know . . . she’s all right.”
“I’ll go right now.”
“Thank you.” The slit of Luella’s eye closed, and her body went limp.
“Luella?” Panic gripped Noreen. She grabbed the girl’s shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. “Lu?”
James laid a hand on Noreen’s shoulder. “She’s still breathing. Watch her chest. See?”
Sure enough, the girl’s bodice rose and fell in shallow increments.
Thank you, Jesus.
“She likely just passed out from the pain. A mercy, really.”
Sweet Luella could use all the mercy she could get. Noreen reached for James’s hand on her shoulder and squeezed it as she bowed her head in silent prayer.
Pounding footsteps outside brought her head back up almost instantly.
“Miss Evans?”
“In here, Doctor!”
Noreen rose and moved out of Dr. Perry’s way as the man bustled in with his medical bag in hand.
“Will you be all right?” James murmured in a low voice, his hand coming to rest in the curve of her back.
She nodded. “I’ll stay with Luella. Make sure she has everything she needs. Go see to her mother. Bring Trudy here, if she can make the trip. Luella will want to have her close.”
She always had. After one of her father’s beatings, Mama would come to Noreen’s room and curl up beside her on the narrow bed, wrap her arms around her, and sing soft lullabies in her ear until Noreen fell asleep.
Those moments of love and security offered just enough candlelight to get her through the dark times.
“I will.” James’s fingers tightened at her waist, and that old candle flame roared to life, brightening the darkness closing in on Noreen, and helping her banish her own ghosts in order to focus on helping Luella.
What Luella needed was protection, a guarantee that her father would never hurt her again.
James dropped his hand from Noreen’s back and moved toward the door, but Noreen lunged out and caught his arm. “Wait.”
He turned, his eyes full of questions.
“What will you do when you find him?”
James’s jaw clenched. “If I catch him in the act of assaulting his wife, I’ll arrest him on the spot and throw his sorry hide in jail.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then I’ll do my best to convince Mrs. Templeton to press charges and testify against her husband in court.”
“And if she won’t?” Noreen knew what his answer would be, what it had to be legally, but she couldn’t stop herself from pushing. Turning a blind eye toward family violence had to stop. Laws had to change. People had to change.
He let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging beneath the weight of his regret. “I’ll do what I can, Noreen. Maybe when I rip into him about his disgraceful behavior, I’ll rile him enough that he’ll take a swing at me. It would give me an excuse to arrest him.”
“Well, don’t purposely place yourself in danger.” The last thing she wanted was for another person she cared about to be harmed today. “I expect you to come home to me in one piece.”
He smiled and tugged on the brim of his hat. “Yes, ma’am.”
Then he left, and the light in her world dimmed just a bit, causing her to shiver as she hovered over Luella and waited for the doctor’s report.
Her gaze darted toward the door several times as she tried to reignite her sputtering optimism.
Dark thoughts circled her mind like wolves prowling just outside the reach of the campfire.
She could feel them encroaching. Old, familiar enemies released from their cages and ready to pounce the moment her light flickered out.
She tried to feed her fire with hopeful thoughts and love for her friend, but as the doctor said things like “three cracked ribs,” “radial fracture of the arm,” and “possible brain contusion,” the icy water of her anger began dousing the flames one by one.