“Where are you going?” Wes asked.
“While the two of you sit there and talk, I’m going to do something. First of all, I’m going to borrow some clothes from Isaac. Running around in this rain in wet skirts is not my idea of getting something done. Then I’m going to get Clay.”
“Clay!” Nicole and Wes said in unison.
“The two of you may think he’s an invalid, but I know better. He can dig as well as anybody, and he’s still got a few men left who work for him. I just wish there was time to get Travis here.”
Nicole and Wes still sat staring at her.
“Are the two of you going to grow roots? Nicole, come with me to the mill. Wes, you go stake out where the trench’ll have to be cut.”
Wes grabbed Nicole’s arm and propelled her to the door. “Let’s go! There’s work to be done!”
Chapter 21
JANIE WAS SHOCKED WHEN SHE SAW ARUNDEL HALL. There was a big leak in the porch roof, and the floor was flooded. The door to the house stood half open, and the Oriental runner was soaked along one edge. She stepped inside the house and tried to push the door shut. The constant humidity of the rain had made the door swell until it was impossible to close. She rolled the wet carpet away from the door, then gasped at the warped and ruined floor before the door. The oak would have to be replaced.
Angry, she looked about the wide hallway. The oppressive wetness made the dirt and refuse inside the house stink. She closed her eyes for a moment and apologized to Clay’s mother. Then she stalked down the hall toward the library.
She pushed the door open without knocking. She saw at once that it was the only room that hadn’t been changed, but neither had it been cleaned. She stood in the doorway for several minutes while her eyes adjusted to the dimness.
“I must have died and gone to heaven,” came a low, slurred voice from a corner. “My beautiful Janie wearing men’s pants. Do you think you’ll set a fashion?”
Janie went to the desk and lit a lamp, then turned it up brightly. She gasped when she saw Clay. His eyes were red, his beard dirty and scraggly. She doubted if he’d washed in weeks.
“Janie, girl, would you hand me that jug from the desk? I’ve been meaning to get it myself, but I don’t seem to have the energy.”
Janie stared at him for a moment. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
“Eaten? There is no food. Didn’t you know that my darling wife eats all the food?” He tried to sit up, but it was an effort for him.
Janie went to help him. “You stink!”
“Thank you, my dear, that’s the kindest thing anyone’s said to me in a long time.”
She helped him stand up. He was very unsteady on his feet. “I want you to come with me.”
“Of course. I will follow you wherever you wish.”
“We’re going out into the rain first. Maybe it’ll help sober you, or at least wash you. Then we’re going to the kitchen.”
“Oh, yes,” Clay said. “The kitchen. My wife’s favorite room. Poor Maggie works harder now than when she cooked for the whole plantation. Did you know they’re all gone now?”
Janie supported Clay as they went to the side door. “I know I never saw a worse case of feeling sorry for yourself than yours.”
The cold rain hit both of them with a driving, slashing force. Janie ducked her head to keep from being pounded, but Clay didn’t seem to notice as it cut at him.
Inside the kitchen, Janie stirred the coals and stoked the fire. She quickly set a pot of coffee on the grate. The room was a shambles, so unlike the sparkling clean place it once was. It had the look of a place that was uncared for, unwanted.
Janie helped Clay to sit down, then went back into the rain to get Maggie. She knew she’d need help sobering Clay.
An hour later, Maggie and Janie had forced an extraordinary amount of black coffee into him, as well as half a dozen scrambled eggs. All the while, Maggie talked.
“It’s not a happy place anymore,” Maggie said. “That woman pokes her nose into everything. She wants us all to bow down and kiss her fat feet. We all laughed at her before Clay married her.” She paused and gave Clay a harsh look. “But after that, there was no pleasin’ her. Everybody who could leave did. After she started cutting food rations, even some of the slaves ran away. I think they knew Clay wouldn’t go after them. And they were right.”
Clay was beginning to sober up. “Janie doesn’t want to hear about our problems. People in heaven don’t want to know about hell.”
“You chose hell!” Maggie started what was obviously a much practiced speech.