Chapter 21: BACK TO THE WORLD
The two entered the saloon, where Olivia was easing tangles and snarls from Painter's hair, preparatory to wielding scissors. Jess stopped short at the sight of his niece in a dress—now undeniably a female. From the expression on her face it wasn't hard to deduce that the choice of clothing hadn't been hers. Both females arched their eyebrows and sucked in their breaths when Jess walked in.
"Look at you..." Olivia choked, visibly nonplussed. "I declare... it's like Carlton come back to life... just as I first met him at his and Minnie's wedding."
"Oh Ma!" the girl exclaimed derisively. But she couldn't take her eyes off her handsome uncle.
"OW!" Painter grimaced. "Dammit, Ollie! I asked you to trim it, not yank it out by the roots!"
"Sit still!"
An outsider walking in on the scene an hour later would've never guessed that the woman had just lost her husband, nor the youngster her father. He might have wondered at the great pile of gray and black and blonde hair swept into a corner. He might have marked the resemblance between one of the men and the girl—both with dark wavy hair and striking blue eyes. He probably wouldn't have studied overmuch on the other two men at the table—one a dignified older gent with a scarred face and an attractive younger one.
Jay Dee had been summoned earlier by Jess via Alcide. The message had included the request to make himself presentable. Also the advice that his sailoring career was about to come to a screeching halt—his presence would be required in 'family matters.' Jay Dee had complied as far as showering, shaving and putting on decent clothes. His hair, while neatly combed and tied at the back of the neck with a leather thong, reached between his shoulderblades. After introductions were made, as Ollie was finishing up with Painter, Jess suggested this might be a convenient time to lop off some of Jay Dee's plumage as well. The boy had agreed, somewhat reluctantly.
All through supper Jess kept darting worried glances at Olivia and Samantha, still troubled by the absence of any further outward displays of grief… or concern for whatever awaited them in the outside world. Granted, he was no expert on women's emotions—but he'd been around the recently-bereaved enough to know how they usually reacted… and these two weren't. Was it customary for fringe-dwellers to carry on as though nothing untoward had happened? Was a loved one's death of so little consequence?
At the conclusion of the meal, Olivia rested her fork and turned to him. "You look as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Jess. Go ahead… speak your mind. We're all family here."
Conscious of the seven pairs of eyes now trained on him, Jess scrambled to formulate an appropriate response. He couldn't risk giving offense by voicing the questions uppermost in his mind: How could she be so calm? How could she appear so ready to move on, to brush aside the last seven years? And the big one… had she ever really loved Tony?
"Yeah… I guess I'm wonderin' how I'm gonna take care a y'all," he finally muttered.
"I understand your concern… and it's admirable that you feel we're now your responsibility… but we're not."
Olivia then took the floor, metaphorically speaking as she was still seated.
"Jess, you must think me callous and unfeeling at Carlton's—Tony's—passing. I understand your shock at losing him so abruptly... and your frustration at not knowing what's going on. The truth is, I've had weeks, months to prepare for this event... knowing it could happen at any moment, in the blink of an eye. Tony wasn't afraid of death, but he had a horrendous fear of becoming fully incapacitated yet cognizant. He made me promise that I would not allow him to continue living in such a state. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I... I reckon so. He wanted you to help him..."
"Die. Yes."
Olivia extracted from her skirt pocket a small brown glass bottle with a cork stopper and placed it on the table.
"Potassium cyanide crystals. Tony and Matilda McCord shared strong convictions about an individual's right to make end of life decisions for himself when life becomes unbearable. Some months ago he insisted she provide this to me. As you can see, the bottle is full. I'm grateful I didn't have to use it, but I would have rather than force him to live in misery, unable to care for himself. Please don't judge me too harshly for loving him that much."
"Ollie... I never..."
"Wait... there's more. I can see in your eyes and hear in your voice that you feel that somehow you're to blame for his death... and in a way, you are... but not in the way you think. In the past few months it'd got to where he rarely left the house. He'd sleep most of the day. Headaches kept him up at night. He complained that the pain was becoming too much to bear, and that he knew the end was coming soon. I sat up with him most nights, we discussed what needed to be done. We made plans. I expected every day to be the last one, yet he hung on... it was as if he were waiting for something. I believe that something was you, Jess."
Jess felt the blood drain from his face, and a touch of lightheadedness. "He couldn'ta known... no one did."
Ollie shrugged. "Not consciously, perhaps. But the day your letter came and he was convinced you were real, his whole demeanor changed. And those hours you spent together fishing? That was the happiest, the most animated he'd been since I can't remember when. He always loved a good hoedown... the barbecue was a fitting sendoff. He was so pleased and he got to say goodbye to all his friends. For that last joyous day, Jess, I'll be forever indebted to you."
Around the table tears streamed. Alcide rushed in long enough to distribute napkins then discreetly withdrew. Olivia was the first to recover. "Now then... Painter, shall we relieve Jess of his anxieties as to our disposition once we reach Boggy?"
"Yes... well... this is what we're planning on so far... subject to alteration as necessary," Painter rumbled. "Bruce estimates we'll arrive at the dock by early or midmorning—in any case, after daylight. Olivia and the children will remain on board until the carriage comes for them."
"Whose carriage?" Jess interrupted.
"Miss Pettus'. There's a livery near the dock where Remy can rent a horse and ride on ahead to let her know we're here... although she'll probably have already heard."
"How's that possible?"
"Carrier pigeon for all I know. Will you shut up and let me talk?"
"Sorry."
"Now... it has to be an open carriage so Ollie and the kids can be seen... and they have to be dressed in normal street clothes."
"Why? Uh... sorry."
"An enclosed carriage or a family in mourning encourages too much speculation—who's inside or who died. The family will stay at Amelia's for the time being—she'll come up with a good cover story... poor relations or some such. In the meantime, Bruce's crew'll unload Ollie's household goods among the rest of the cargo going up to the warehouse. No one will notice."
"What about us... you an' me?"
"You and Jay Dee can go out in public. In fact, it'd be a good idea if the two of you and Bruce went down and registered back at the Lafayette. It's a small town, after all. You and your cousin's faces are known now... as well as your quest. People will be asking what you discovered, if anything."
"Whadda I tell 'em?"
"Nothing. There's nothing to tell. You poked up and down and all round those swamps... met some crazy people who lived there. Half of 'em claim Carp's just a legend, the other half say, oh no... he died quite a while back. That's your story and you gotta stick to it. Tomorrow afternoon or the next day, you and Booger—Bruce—will pay a social call on Miss Pettus. Jay Dee, too."
"What about you? When're you gonna see 'er?"
"Oh... I'll hide out onboard until after dark. Most likely no one would recognize me anyway but I'd druther not take that chance."
"Can we talk about my money now?" Sammie spoke up bluntly.
"Samantha Jane Harper!" her mother remonstrated. "Now's not the time."
"Why not? Uncle Jess wouldn'ta a come here in the first place 'cept for that 'heritance. An' we're gonna need it, ain't we? Daddy said we're gonna need a lawyer."
"Sammie has a point. Jess... have you given any thought as to how you're going to handle this, as next of kin and default head of household—such as it is?" Painter said.
"Ollie an' the kids're gonna need a man around to look after 'em," Jess agreed, "but I don't know much about lawyers."
"I'm sure Miss Pettus can recommend a good attorney. You should plan on hanging around awhile… until the ball gets rolling, anyway."
I'm way ahead a you on that one, Painter. I ain't goin' nowhere. Don't know how, yet… but I'll find a way to look after 'em…
A thoughtful silence descended on the group.
"I'll have to look for work," Olivia sighed. "It's been almost fifteen years since I taught school but there must be something I can do... cooking or housekeeping..."
"You could allus get married again, Ma," Sammie contributed in all seriousness.
Heads and eyebrows jerked up.
"You ain't that old an' there's fellers what like older women an' maybe wouldn't mind takin' on a ready-made family."
Ollie's mouth twitched at the corners. Painter was about to bust a gut.
"Oh... I don't know about that, child."
"Why, just last month Jamie Lee Ferrell married up with Lurleen Potter. He ain't but nineteen an' she's lots older'n you an' got six young 'un's," the girl proclaimed smugly.
"Jamie Lee's backwards, Sammie... you know that. And Lurleen's an idiot. They haven't got half a brain between them. We can only hope they won't breed."
"What about Uncle Jess, then? I heerd 'im tell Pa he ain't spoke for."
Jess had been in the process of drinking coffee. He started coughing and it spurted out his nose. Jay Dee thumped on his back.
Sammie plowed on enthusiastically. "You wouldn't mind layin' up with Uncle Jess, wouldja, Ma? He's right fine lookin' an' he reminds me a Pa 'afore he growed that beard..."
"Sammie! Please!" Olivia dissolved in helpless laughter. "I hardly think Uncle Jess would entertain any such notion."
"Well, why not? The babies ain't gonna know the difference when they get older an' maybe you won't, neither... after a while, that is."
Jay Dee was still pounding away on his gagging cousin, trying mightily not to laugh out loud. It was contagious. Soon Alcide stuck his head out from the passageway to see what had all these folks in such hysterics.
Painter was dabbing at his face with his already soggy napkin. "Olivia... that girl of yours has a prime future as a shadkhnte."
"What's that?" Sammie queried.
"A Jewish matchmaker."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'll choose my own future husbands, thank you very much."
Sammie wasn't to be deterred.
"Okay then... how about if I married up with 'im? I'll be fourteen pretty soon ifn he don't mind waitin' a spell."
Jess nearly fell out of his chair as Painter gently pointed out that that wasn't going to happen, either. "He's your uncle... you can't marry him... that's incest."
"Oh yeah... what about a cousin, then? Like him... he'd do. He's big an' strong an' not too bad-lookin'. He could take care a us an' I wouldn't mind layin' up with 'im." Eyes followed her finger pointing to an unsuspecting Jay Dee, unleashing a fresh round of smothered laughter. Jay Dee responded with good grace and remarkable gallantry.
"Sammie... I'd be proud to have a pretty little gal like you as my wife... but unlike Cousin Jess, I'm already engaged."
"For real?" Sammie sounded disappointed.
"Yes m'am. Suellen Gates an' I are gettin' hitched soon as I get home to California."
"Well, shit!"
"Samantha!"
"May I say something, Olivia?" Painter asked, looking serious as all get out. "If I didn't already have a wife I'd be first in line puttin' in my bid."
"Hear, hear!" Cap'n Booger seconded. "An' if I didn't already have me two wives plus a mistress back in Galveston I'd be challengin' 'im for yer favor, fair lady!"
Sammie scowled while Olivia blushed. "I thank both you gentlemen for the compliment... but I really do have other plans despite what my precocious daughter has in mind. We'll have no more talk of marriage, if you please."
Jess was thinking he was pretty sure he knew who that island mistress might be. Lucky bastard! As for the two wives... he recalled his friend Kim who'd started out with two wives and seven children before acquiring a new wife and three more kids... and look how well that'd worked out.