Rebel Enchantress (49 page)

Delilah had managed to keep up her courage until now, but in the face of Nathan’s statement, she burst into tears.

Nathan couldn’t think of a thing to say that would do any good. This wasn’t a time when words could help much, only love would. His love would help her survive the waiting and the healing.

So he held her close as she cried, told her how much he loved her, and let his own strength support her now that her own had given out.

But he hated this feeling of helplessness. It weighed on him worse than when his father had lost the business. He had done everything he could to help him. He’d worked until he was so tired he could hardly think, he’d talked to everyone he’d ever known who could possibly help; but it had been to no avail.

Now it looked as though his efforts were for naught once again. Oddly enough he wasn’t thinking about money this time. He would probably come out of this far better off than Uncle Ezra would have been, but that wouldn’t count for much if Delilah lost her brother. He had always been jealous of the loyalty and love she gave Reuben. More than once he had wished Reuben would disappear and never be heard from again. He privately considered the man a hotheaded fool. But no matter what else Reuben might be, he was the only family Delilah had. That was something no amount of money could replace.

Nathan vowed that somehow he’d see Reuben didn’t hang.

“Nathan’s going to get Colonel Clarke and some of the other River Gods to write letters,” Delilah told Jane later. She had dried her tears and washed her face after Nathan had left. He might not mind seeing her crying, but it wouldn’t do Jane any good.

“They won’t do it. I know they won’t.”

“Nathan said they would, so they will.”

“You think a lot of him, don’t you?”

“I love him.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. You think he can do anything he sets his mind to. If he says it’ll be done, as far as you’re concerned, it will be.”

“I never thought about it like that, but I suppose I do. Nathan is a very determined man.”

“I know,” Jane said, remembering her encounters with him during Delilah’s illness. “Do you think he’ll be able to save Reuben?”

“I don’t know,” Delilah admitted. “Nathan might be able to bend everyone in Springfield to his will, but he doesn’t have any influence in Boston. You found that out for yourself.”

“Then we have to help Reuben break out of jail”

“How?” Delilah didn’t hesitate. She didn’t stop to think that it was illegal, that they might get caught and all end up in jail. She only asked how.

“I don’t know, but we’ve tried everything else. We’ve got to think of something.”

“Who’s the guard?” Delilah asked after the two had sat for several minutes in silence.

“There’re several.”

“Name them.”

“Let’s see, there’s Rufus Silliman, Ephraim Trumbull, and Caleb Parsons.”

“When does Caleb come on duty?”

“He’s been coming on at night, sometime after supper.”

“Then that’s when we’ll do it,” Delilah declared, buoyant with excitement.

“Do what?”

“Break him out of jail.”

“How?”

“Caleb’s fond of rum. We’re both going to visa Reuben. We need to pick a night when there’s no moon and it’s as cold as can be. You go inside, and I’ll see Caleb drinks so much he passes out. He used to do it nearly every time he cane to my uncle’s tavern.”

“What’s Reuben to do?” Jane asked.

“Run as soon as I call out.”

But suppose somebody recognizes him?”

“Think of some way to disguise him. Maybe he could wear one of your dresses”

“He can’t wear anything of mine.”

“Then make a dress for him,” Delilah said, exasperated by her sister-in-law’s lack of imagination.

“He’ll never pass for a female, not as tall as he is.”

“Maybe not, but by the time they figure out who he is, he’ll be gone.”

They had to work out a few more details, but that was the plan they settled on.

“Are you going to tell Nathan?” Jane asked.

“No”

“Why?”

“I don’t want him involved in this.”

“You think he’d help us?”

“Maybe, if he had to, but he disapproves of breaking the law. He’d be bound to do what he could to stop us.”

So for the next three nights Delilah and Jane visited Reuben together. Caleb remembered Delilah from the tavern and was perfectly content to sit talking with her while Jane visited inside.

The fourth night turned bitterly cold. Caleb didn’t question Jane when she cane bundled in a lot of clothes.

“I brought something to keep you warm,” Delilah whispered after she and Caleb settled themselves on the rough bench in front of the jail.

“Why are you whispering?”

“I don’t want Jane to hear,” Delilah said. “I remembered how fond you were of rum. I brought you some”

“I can’t drink on duty.’

“Nobody will see you,” she whispered encouragingly. “Besides, they wouldn’t care if they did. It’s bitter cold.”

“I can’t.”

“Suit yourself,” Delilah said, “but I wouldn’t have brought the stuff if I hadn’t thought you’d want it” She pouted. “I had a terrible time sneaking it past Jane. She doesn’t like spirits. She gives Reuben the devil every time he has a drop.”

“Sure keeps a man warm though,” Caleb said, looking longingly at the bottle.

“I’d better see how Jane’s doing. She might not want to stay so long tonight. It’s terribly cold.”

“Why aren’t you wearing that dress?” Delilah demanded when she saw Reuben still in his own clothes.

“He won’t put it on,” Jane told her.

“I can’t be seen wearing a dress,” Reuben protested. “I’d be a laughingstock. I’d never be able to hold my head up again.”

Delilah itched to slap Reuben hard enough to knock some sense into his head. “You won’t have to hold it up at all if they hang you,” she told him, furious. “The rope will keep it plenty high.”

“You don’t understand—” Reuben began.

Delilah thought of all she had done because of Reuben, the months of hard work at Maple Hill, that terrible trip to Pelham, the weeks of worry, the times she had turned Nathan away because of him, and she got so mad she wanted to hit him. How could anyone be so foolish at a time like this? Didn’t he know what they had gone through?

She realized for the very first time that Reuben had no real understanding of anyone except himself. He wasn’t deliberately heedless of others. He simply couldn’t see beyond his own point of view. He would never understand the consequences of what he had done, how much he had caused her to suffer. He simply wouldn’t see it. Delilah glared at her brother as no woman had since he’d been a little boy.

“I understand, Reuben Stowbridge. I’ve been your sister for nineteen years, but for the first time I understand you perfectly. It’s all right for you to start wars, shoot people, spend weeks tramping through blizzards, and get yourself sentenced to be hanged. It’s okay for Jane to travel all the way to Boston to try to see the governor, for Nathan to make everyone he knows write letters for you, for me to get Caleb Parsons drunk on duty; but your stupid pride is more important than your life and your family’s future.” She ground her teeth in frustration. “I can’t help being born your sister, but it’s a shame Jane had to marry such a fool.”

“Delilah!” Jane exclaimed, shocked at her sister-in-law’s conduct.

Quite suddenly Delilah knew she had had enough. “Get him in that dress if you have to knock him out,” she said as she turned to leave. “Caleb passes out quickly and recovers even more quickly.”

“But suppose he won’t do it?” Jane asked.

Delilah glared at Reuben. “Then I’ll shoot him in the leg. Maybe we can drag him out.” She spun on her heel, leaving her brother and sister-in-law too astonished to speak.

Delilah was relieved to see the level of liquid in the bottle had dropped while she was inside. She sat down next to Caleb, thankful he had drunk too much to notice she was still in a temper. He offered the half-empty bottle to her.

“Keep it. If Jane finds me with it, she’ll skin me alive.”

Caleb took a swallow while Delilah talked about things he didn’t remember or care to be reminded of. He took another, then another, and finally a long drink. Moments later he staggered to his feet.

“I feel sick,” he announced, and wandered off behind the jail.

Delilah ran inside. Reuben was in the dress. “He’s gone. Quick.”

But just as they stepped outside the jail, Delilah heard a groan behind her and turned to find Caleb staring at them.

“Oh my God,” he moaned again, holding his head. “Help!” he cried. “Help! Jail break.”

Delilah tried to distract him, but Caleb was only conscious of the horrifying fact that the prisoner was about to escape because he had gotten drunk.

“Help!” he cried again.

Townspeople began to arrive
as
Reuben and Jane vanished into the dark.

“Where did he go?” someone asked, and immediately ran off in the direction in which Caleb pointed.

Delilah was taken by the arm and pulled away from the light. “Was this your doing?”

It was Nathan.

“Yes” He walked her, as rapidly as possible, away from the hubbub.

“Was that Jane or Polly?”

“Jane.”

“He’ll be caught, you realize. And you’ll both be brought before the sheriff.”

“We had to try something,” Delilah hissed. “I couldn’t just let him hang.”

“I told you I was working on some letters.”

“You also told me Governor Bowdoin was determined to hang him. I didn’t figure a few letters were going to change his mind.”

“They’ve postponed the execution.”

“That only means we’ll have to wait longer for the same results. ”

They did catch Reuben. The dress proved to be a virtual beacon in the night. Everybody noticed him. The sheriff returned him to his cell and chained him to the wall. Caleb, also in jail for his part in the jailbreak, loudly placed the blame for the whole incident on Delilah. Only Nathan’s interference kept her from being arrested.

The sheriff looked upon her crime as so severe he took her and Jane before the Court of Common Pleas and General Session. With Jane conspicuously nursing her baby during the proceedings, the judge probably wouldn’t have done any more than warn them, but after Nathan’s impassioned defense, he actually praised them for their ingenuity and their courage. He did, however, caution them to find a better way to exercise it.

Even though Delilah and Jane were given a reprieve, Nathan found himself just as thoroughly out in the cold as ever. Clearly, as long as Delilah’s family continued to be in crisis, they would first call on her. She would probably slight her own children for them.

Nathan decided he couldn’t accept that. If they were ever to have a normal life, Reuben would have to be safe. Forever. He didn’t know how he was going to accomplish that, but he got an idea of where to start when he heard the election results.

“Governor Bowdoin and two thirds of the legislature have lost their seats,” he told Delilah. “It may take a little while, but I’m sure you’ll see some changes in the laws.”

“But that won’t help Reuben.”

“I’m still doing everything I can to free him.”

“I know, and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I can’t be cheerful or thankful when Reuben is about to die. I’m tempted to find Noah Hubbard and Lucius Clarke and shoot them both.”

“You’ sound like Reuben.”

“I
feel
like Reuben.” She looked, furious enough to commit murder. Then, in an abrupt change, she threw herself into Nathan’s arms. “What am I going to do?” she sobbed. “Jane will never survive if Reuben dies. She won’t be able to run the farm and take care of the children.”

Nathan could see Delilah’s family standing between them for the rest of their lives. In one last desperate attempt to salvage his future, he said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but Reuben will not die. “I’ll have to be away for a few days.”

Delilah grasped his coat as if she would never let go. “Where are you going?”

“To Boston.”

“You can’t leave now. They’re going to hang Reuben in six days,” she said, incredulous.

“I’ll be back, I promise. You stay with Jane and keep your courage up. It’s not over yet. We have a new governor. There’s a chance he will see Reuben’s case differently.”

But he left so quickly, visibly anxious to get away, his thoughts obviously on something more than his leave-taking. Delilah felt stunned. It had never occurred to her he would leave in this, the greatest hour of her need, but neither had she thought his goodbye would make her feel as if he were already gone.

As the days rolled by and she heard nothing from him, she began to wonder if his love for her had diminished. He’d been in love with her for months. He’d asked her to marry him several times, but even though she had finally agreed, she’d never allowed him to post the banns. She had put him in second place every time there’d been a crisis. She had always come back, but she’d never stayed.

Jane was too preoccupied with Reuben to notice whether Nathan was present or absent, but Delilah could tell from Polly’s looks she thought he had gone away.

“A woman won’t give up,” Polly said one afternoon when her question about Nathan’s whereabouts caused Delilah to break into tears. “She’ll keep on waiting and hoping. But a man’s different. His pride can’t stand being put off so many times. ”

Had she turned her back on him too many times? Had she finally damaged his pride? By the morning of Reuben’s hanging she thought so.

Jane refused to stay at home. Everyone tried to talk her into changing her mind, but she was adamant.

“If Reuben has the courage to fight and die for a cause,” she told her father when he threatened to lock her in the house, “then I have the courage to be there to support him. How would you feel, Papa, if you were about to die and none of your family was with you?”

“We’ll all be there, hon.”

“You’re not his family. The children and I are, and we’ll be there to watch him die.”

It looked like all of Springfield and half of Hampden County were there.

“It’s ghoulish,” Polly said to Delilah, whispering so Jane and the boys couldn’t hear. “They’ve come to watch Reuben like he’s some freak at the county fair.”