Mary Connealy (72 page)

“Master Parrish?” Sally turned wide eyes on Parrish.

He looked at the youngest McClellen. “I’ve told you many times to go quietly to your seat, Miss McClellen.”

“But I brought you a piece of cake, Master Parrish.”

Parrish knew the ways of children. He saw something in the unpleasant child’s eyes that didn’t sit right with him. Catching her chin, he took a moment to consider it.

No fear. That was what was missing. The McClellens had always been a strangely stiff-necked brood, harder to cow than some. But why wouldn’t she be afraid after she’d defiantly broken the rules?

The brat held out a neatly-wrapped napkin. She unfolded the edges, and he saw that a slice of white cake lay on her hand. Could she really think a piece of cake would save her?

“To the front of the room, Miss McClellen.”

The girl’s confident eyes wavered.

The power to make her afraid rushed to Parrish’s head like strong liquor. He could live on it instead of food.

Sally walked slowly to the front and stood beside his desk. Her shoulders trembled.

Parrish followed along, enjoying every slow step that brought him closer to her.

“Master Parrish?” Mandy McClellen rose from her desk, another child speaking when she was supposed to sit quietly.

Parrish would have found an excuse to punish someone, most likely Sally, but he was thrilled that the children made it so easy. “Join your sister at the front.”

“Master Parrish, I want to take Sally’s punishment for her.” Mandy strode forward and planted herself in front of her sister.

“You’ll get your own punishment. My ruler is strong enough to last through many lashes.” Parrish approached the older girl. The girl stood fast between him and Sally.

“Sally’s hand hasn’t healed up from Friday, Master Parrish. Don’t hit her again. I’ll take double the lashes.” Mandy held out her hand.

“You can have that indeed, but your sister will still take hers, as well.” Parrish noticed Mandy’s hand was steady. He wanted it to tremble. He wanted fear. He kept coming. His ruler rested on the desk behind the girls.

Beth McClellen stood from her seat. “If you won’t let Mandy do it, let me. I’ll take Sally’s punishment.” Beth joined her sisters in the front of the schoolroom. “Sally’s hand is too sore. You could really hurt her, Master Parrish. You can’t hit her again so soon. You punished her every day last week. That’s wrong of you.”

Parrish froze. The three girls faced him defiantly. Not even little Sally was shaking now. Her sisters, blocking him from her, seemed to give her courage. They were brave little girls but foolhardy. Parrish smiled. He came forward.

The littlest boy in school came forward. Clovis Moore. He was nowhere near as steady as the girls, but he stood beside Mandy, in front of Sally.

“No, Clovis, sit down,” Mandy hissed at him.

“I’ll take Sally’s punishment, sir. I’m the reason she got such a whipping Friday. You made her bleed, Master Parrish, just because she stuck up for me. I tripped and fell. I made all that noise ’n’ misrupted class. If you have to punish someone, punish me.”

Clovis extended his quivering hand, palm up, ready to take Sally’s lashes.

Sally’s first-grade classmate Linda O’Malley stepped forward. Her cheeks were flushed as red as her hair.

“Sit down, Linda,” Mandy ordered.

Linda shook her head as she bravely extended her hand. “I’m in Sally’s class. If her hand is too tender and you want to punish a really little girl, then I’ll take her lashes, Master Parrish. It’s wrong to hurt her again when she’s still sore. Sally’s a good girl, sir. She don’t deserve all the whacks you’ve been givin’ her.”

“Do you think I won’t punish you all?” Parrish asked.

Three more children, the oldest boys in school, stepped to the front. They lengthened the line that blocked his path to Sally. Another child stood, and another. The classroom desks emptied as the children all rose and filed quietly to the front. Each one extended his or her hand and offered to be the one to take the punishment.

“It seems everyone in here is anxious to be punished today,” Parrish said. He had a lot of anger. He could accommodate them all.

Parrish roughly shoved past Mandy and Beth. He loomed over Sally. “Your defenders are going to wish they hadn’t stepped in. Tomorrow they’ll let you take your punishment on your own.” He lifted the ruler from the desk.

“Are you going to hit me because I offered you cake, sir?” Sally asked. Her blue eyes met his, her fear palpable, her courage, too.

Parrish wanted to beat that courage out of her. It was the same courage he’d always seen in Grace, and it infuriated him that he’d never broken her. Sally wouldn’t be so lucky. And as soon as spring came, Grace would find herself broken, too.

“You talked. You are to remain quiet when you’re in the classroom. But it doesn’t matter what my reasons. You’re nothing. You are an urchin who is little better than an animal. If I beat you,”—Parrish glanced at the children surrounding him, all with one outstretched hand, all holding his gaze—“I will hit you because I say you deserve it, and no one will tell me different. I’m your teacher. When you are in this classroom, you will submit yourself to me in any way I say.”

“My parents never hit me, Master Parrish,” Sally said. “I don’t think they’d like you giving me so many lashes.”

“Your parents will thank me for beating some manners into you. They will take my word over yours that you are a bad, bad girl. They will probably take you and beat you more when they get you home.” Parrish lifted the ruler high, planning to make this one—all of them—sorry.

“Her parents don’t beat her, Parrish.” The deep voice from the window turned the whole classroom around. “And they sure as shootin’ aren’t about to start on your say-so.”

Parrish froze, the ruler suspended cruelly in the air as he looked into the eyes of the black man who had accompanied these children to church.

Daniel came running into the room as she lay there, dazed. Grace looked up at him. He seemed to be standing upright with no problem.

“What happened?” He knelt beside her and eased her onto her back.

She shook her head, and the room swooped. She held her head carefully still. “I don’t know. I—I guess I swooned.”

Daniel’s eyebrows knitted together. “Why’d you do that?”

“I was wondering the same thing.”

John’s head poked up beside Daniel’s shoulder. “Why’s Ma on the floor, Pa?”

“Should she be down there, Pa?” Luke asked. “Now that we’ve got a bed ’n’ all, it don’t seem right that you still make her sleep on the floor.”

Mark stumbled into his brothers, who stumbled into their pa.

Daniel almost fell over on top of Grace.

With a sudden fit of panic, Grace pictured all four of them collapsing on her. She reached her hand up and grabbed at the deerskin mattress.

Daniel crouched lower, eased his arm behind her shoulders, and slowly raised her to her feet.

She stood beside him and grabbed her stomach. “I don’t feel so good.” She breathed in and out, trying to steady her rebelling stomach.

Daniel said, with a voice so faint it drew her attention, “You think you’re gonna be sick?”

The boys all took a quick step back.

Grace wasn’t about to admit such a personal thing. Not when she hoped to avoid doing it. “No, I’m okay.”

Daniel helped her sit on the edge of the bed then knelt in front of her.

“Did’ja say she was gonna toss her cookies, Pa?” Ike asked.

“I can get a bucket in here for her, if’n you want me to,” Abe offered. But he stayed in place, and none of the others offered to get the bucket. They were all here.

She wanted to be alone. If she got sick to her stomach, she didn’t want them all watching. She’d throw them out if she thought for a second they’d obey her.

Six blond-haired, worried men had their blue eyes riveted on her. She could have sworn all of them, except Daniel, thrilled at the prospect of her disgracing herself completely.

“If I could just lie back down for a few minutes.” Grace began sinking onto her side.

Daniel jumped up and helped settle her onto the bed. “You want to throw up and you’re dizzy. What else is different, Grace? Are you having any other symptoms?” Daniel hadn’t blinked since she’d grabbed her stomach. He looked terrified.

“Symptoms? What are you talking about? Symptoms of some sickness?”

“No, Grace.” Daniel sounded wound up as tight as a pocket watch. She could almost hear him ticking with tension. “Symptoms of carrying a baby.”

“A…a b-baby?” Grace was stunned. “Does fainting come with that?”

“And a sour belly first thing in the morning.” Daniel dropped to his knees beside the bed.

“What’re we gonna do with a new batch of babies?” Mark groused.

“I remember what it was like when you guys were born. You cried all the time.” Abe shoved Luke sideways; then Luke slammed into John. “They’re not sleeping in me ’n’ Ike’s room.”

“And the diapers for three babies made the house stink like an outhouse, all day, every day for years.” Ike shuddered and pushed his way past Daniel to stare at Grace. “Do we have to have three again, Pa? Can’t we just have two like normal?”

Daniel didn’t answer. He stared at her, still not blinking.

Grace hoped his eyeballs didn’t dry out.

He had braced his elbows on the bed and clutched his hands together close to his chin.

Grace thought he looked for all the world like he was praying. Well, prayer wasn’t a half-bad idea. Three? Two?

“Babies don’t have to come in batches, d-do they, Daniel?” Grace started praying, too.

“Yep,” Mark said with solemn certainty. “In this family they have to.”

“So far,” Luke said. “I want three again. Three’s been fun, hasn’t it, guys?”

John wormed his way past Ike and Daniel and plunked himself down beside Grace. “You can have one if’n you want to, Ma, but bunches are more fun. Us guys’ll help you with all three of ’em. We don’t mind helping out with little brothers, and they can all sleep in with me ’n’ Mark ’n’ Luke if’n you want. We were sleeping six to a room when we lived in the cave.” John looked at Mark. “Weren’t we?”

Mark asked Ike, “They really stink?”

“Well,
you
sure did.” Ike gave Mark a hard slug in the arm.

Mark fell onto the bed on Grace’s feet.

She pulled her feet up out of his way and almost kneed Daniel in the nose.

Daniel didn’t seem to notice that the bed was fast filling with wrestling boys.

“Daniel, say something,” Grace demanded.

His face seemed to be frozen. His knuckles were white where he clutched them together like one huge fist. Daniel’s voice scraped against her skin, low and hoarse and full of despair. “I was weak.” He breathed in and out as if he were consciously making his chest work. He stopped staring straight forward and looked at Grace. The detached shock was gone, replaced by fury.

“You tempted me, and I was weak.” Daniel lurched to his feet. Two more of the boys, who were practically hanging on their pa’s back, stumbled and fell on top of Grace.

Daniel backed away from her and the bed full of boys. “I was weak, and now you’re gonna die.” Daniel whirled and ran out of the room.

His announcement stunned the boys into complete silence.

The door to the outside slammed.