Forbidden Secrets (5 page)

I
don't want to die! Savannah thought. Please, I don't want to die!

She fought for breath. Struggling to drag air into her aching lungs.

Savannah rolled over the ground, fighting to loosen the sheet.

The sheet snagged on something—and Savannah heard it rip. She yanked it off her.

Savannah scrambled to her feet, sucking in huge gulps of air. She looked up and saw Victoria. Her sister stood in the window, watching her.

Victoria! Why didn't she help me?

A horrible idea occurred to Savannah. Victoria did this to me, she thought. She used her dark arts to scare me—to convince me to stay away from Tyler.

The wind blew harder. The remaining sheets flapped wildly on the clothesline.

You see, Savannah scolded herself. There is a rational explanation for what happened. A storm is coming in. The wind is fierce. Victoria didn't do anything. The wind blew the sheet around me and I panicked.

Victoria loves me. She would never harm me, Savannah told herself.

Would she?

Blackrose Manor

T
he old woman contemplated the roses surrounding her. The black roses. As black as the ashes that remained after Tyler's letter burned.

“My story would be so much happier if Tyler's letter had never arrived,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “Everything changed after the letter came. Everything changed after it burned.”

She trailed her gnarled finger over a black flannel pouch. Long ago she had pinned it to her skirt.

Its contents are supposed to ward away evil, she thought. But only if you believe. Only if you truly believe.

A pretty little bird landed on the back of her chair.

The withered woman turned slightly and looked at its bright blue feathers. They were the only thing of color in the garden.

“Do you want to hear the rest of my story?” she asked in a raspy voice.

The bird chirped.

The old woman laughed softly. “Very well, then.”

The war continued. Autumn arrived. The leaves changed color. But the sisters barely noticed. They both thought often of Tyler.

Winter came. The chill winds circled the plantation. Circled the sisters. A coldness grew between Victoria and Savannah.

By spring the sisters were drifting apart.

Victoria no longer crawled into bed with Savannah when she was frightened.

Savannah often sat on the front porch steps, watching the road—waiting. Waiting for the war to end. Waiting for another letter.

“If only Tyler had not written at all.” The old woman's voice caught. She stared vacantly at the roses. Black. As black as Tyler's hair. As black as—

The bluebird twittered.

The old woman grabbed the bird and tore off its tiny head.

Chapter

11

Whispering Oaks
Spring 1865

T
he bright sun warmed Savannah as she hoed the small garden.

By summer we will have fresh corn to eat, she thought as she straightened her back. Corn, beans, and watermelon.

Yesterday she had found a few seeds in the cellar, hidden beneath dust and old crates. She wanted to plant them today.

Victoria and I will have a feast someday, Savannah thought. She asked Victoria to help with the garden, but Victoria claimed she was too busy.

“Too busy,” Savannah repeated softly. “Too busy doing what?”

Savannah sighed heavily. Ever since Tyler's letter, Victoria has changed, Savannah thought. Now she scurries through the house like a frightened rat. She
hides in her room. If I knock on her door, she tells me to go away.

Savannah pounded the hoe into the soil, turning the dirt over and over. A long shadow fell across the soil in front of her.

Startled, Savannah jerked her head up. She hadn't heard anyone approach.

A tall, bedraggled man stood before her. His short gray jacket and trousers were faded and hung loose on his skeletal frame. His boots were worn thin and covered in dust.

He must be a deserter, Savannah thought. She tightened her grip on the hoe and pointed away from the house. “The army is camped over there.”

“No army,” he said in a hoarse voice. “The war is over. I am going home.”

He walked on, dragging his feet over the furrows Savannah had made with the hoe. She reached out and grabbed his arm. “What? What did you say?”

He nodded. “It's over. They told us to go home. General Lee surrendered. I am going back to Texas.”

Savannah released the man, his words echoing around her.

The war is over.

“The war is truly over?” she called out to the young soldier, wanting more reassurance.

“Yes, ma'am,” he replied over his shoulder as he shuffled away.

She hurried after him. “Let me get you something to drink.”

“No, thank you, ma'am. I just want to go home.”

Savannah closed her eyes and listened. Listened
hard. No cannons roared in the distance. No gunfire filled the air.

She could hear birds singing in the trees! Savannah waltzed across the soil, using the hoe as her dance partner. “The war is over. The war is over!”

Victoria, she thought. I must tell Victoria. She dropped the hoe and ran into the house. “Victoria! The war is over!”

Savannah rushed up the wide winding staircase and burst into Victoria's room. Then she stumbled to a halt.

What she saw caused a cold chill to slither down her back.

Victoria sat in a rocking chair near the window. Rocking. Rocking back and forth. And talking.

Talking to Tyler.

Chapter

12

“Y
ou are evil, Tyler Fier. Do you feel the sun?” Victoria asked. She laughed. “It will get hotter and hotter.”

Victoria didn't hear me come into her room, Savannah realized. Her sister continued to rock and talk. Savannah inched closer.

Then she saw the wax doll on the windowsill. The wax doll that looked like Tyler.

“What are you doing, Victoria?” Savannah asked. She struggled to keep her voice calm.

“I am destroying Tyler for you,” Victoria said quietly, her brown eyes dull. “Then he won't be able to hurt you.”

I can't talk to her about this now, Savannah thought. She knelt in front of her sister. “Victoria, the war is over,” Savannah said gently. “The soldiers will start coming home now.”

Tears filled Victoria's eyes. “But who will come home to us? Zachariah is dead.”

“Friends, neighbors . . .” Savannah answered.

“And Tyler,” Victoria said, her voice cold, “I don't want him to come here. I don't want him in our house.”

Victoria picked up the wax doll and carried it to her bedside table. She lit a tallow candle and held the doll's head over the flame.

Savannah watched with dismay as the doll's wax face melted.

“He's evil!” Victoria cried. She spun around and threw the doll against the wall. It fell to the floor with a thud.

I cannot convince her that Tyler is
not
evil, Savannah thought. She will just have to see the truth for herself when he returns.

If
he returns. Savannah hated to think about the possibility that Tyler would not return. But she had never received another letter.

“I'm going to find us something to eat,” Savannah said. “We will celebrate tonight.”

She turned to leave. Victoria grabbed her arm. “Wait I have something for you.” She picked up a black flannel pouch and held it out to Savannah. “The pouch is supposed to be red, but I couldn't find any red flannel. I'm certain the black will work though.”

Savannah did not take the gift. She knew from Victoria that red pouches were used to ward off evil. “What did you put inside the pouch?” she asked, dreading the answer.

“Dirt from Mother's and Father's graves. It will
protect you from evil,” Victoria assured her, her eyes shining.

“I don't need protection,” Savannah declared.

♦ ♦ ♦

A few weeks later Savannah walked slowly through her garden. She searched for green sprouts, any sign that the seeds she planted would flourish.

So many soldiers had tramped through her garden, so many tired, weary soldiers trying to get home.

Maybe I should build a fence, she thought. How can my plants grow if soldiers continue to stomp across my seeds?

Tears stung Savannah's eyes. She knew they had nothing to do with the state of her garden.

I am so lonely, she thought. Victoria and I used to work together. Now I struggle alone.

A shadow fell across the soil in front of Savannah. Another soldier, she thought. Another soldier tromping across my garden. Wearily she lifted her eyes . . . and froze at the sight of the man standing before her.

Her heart thudded. I must be dreaming, she thought wildly. I am dreaming.

With trembling hands she reached out to touch the dream. But the dream was warm. The dream was firm. The dream was no dream at all.

“Tyler!” she cried. Savannah flung her arms around his neck. “Oh, Tyler! I thought you would never come back.”

“Didn't you get my letter?” Tyler asked.

She leaned back until she could gaze into his blue eyes. “Yes, I got your letter.”

The light left his eyes. “I'm sorry about Zachariah.”

“At least you are safe,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Yes,” he replied, his voice low. “I am safe. And I have returned for you. I love you, Savannah.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Will you marry me?”

Savannah forgot about the garden. She forgot about the empty cotton fields. She forgot about Victoria.

All she could think about was the deep blue of his eyes, begging her to say yes.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He grinned. “I can't wait to show you Blackrose Manor,” he told her, his voice full of excitement.

“Blackrose Manor?”

“My home in the North.”

Savannah felt a weight settle in her chest.

“I love you, Savannah,” he said.

I refused to follow him once, she thought. I regretted my decision for four long years. There is nothing to keep me here now. I want no more regrets in my life.

“Tyler, I want to go with you,” Savannah said. “I truly do. But I cannot leave Victoria here alone.”

“She will come with us. We can be happy together.” He bent his head and kissed her.

It felt so good to touch him again. But doubts and worries flashed through her mind. I have to tell him about Victoria, Savannah thought. I have to tell him how she has changed.

She drew away from the kiss and touched Tyler's handsome face. His brow furrowed.

“What's wrong, Savannah?” he asked.

“It's Victoria. She's changed—”

“We have all changed,” he said. He held out his
hand and showed her a long, jagged scar across his palm. “I did not have this when I left.”

She covered his hand with her own, hating the thought that he had been in pain. “You're right,” she said. “But I am worried that Victoria is losing her mind. She has some silly notion—”

Savannah stopped. I can't tell him Victoria thinks he is evil. It would hurt him to know my sister doesn't trust him.

She tried to explain. “Sometimes Victoria does strange things. But she doesn't mean any harm.”

“Perhaps a change will do her good. She'll like Blackrose Manor,” he assured her. “You both will.”

Savannah felt joy swell within her. “I can't wait to go.”

“Then we will leave tomorrow,” Tyler said.

“Tomorrow,” Savannah repeated. “I will tell Victoria.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Savannah found Victoria at the small family cemetery. The black pouch was pinned to Victoria's skirt.

“Tyler has returned,” Victoria said in a flat voice.

Savannah grabbed her hands. “Yes. How did you know?”

Victoria did not take her eyes off the headstones. “I saw him.”