Within a few minutes they were at the side entrance of Molly's garden. Perry allowed the tiredness she felt to show in her posture only a moment as she climbed down from her horse.
Abram held the mounts as she moved into Molly's back gate. "I'll wait here for ten minutes to make sure everything is fine. If your friend is home, there is no need to come tell me. If not, I'll help you find somewhere to sleep."
Perry whispered back, "I see her light, Abram. Thanks for all you've done. I know you're exhausted. Go on, I'll be fine from here." She touched Abram lightly on the arm, wishing there was some way she could repay him.
Walking silently up the blackened path, she prayed with each step that Molly would welcome her, for there was nowhere else for her to turn.
She rapped lightly on the kitchen door. A frightened voice yelled, "Go away, I say, or you'll be dead!"
Perry realized her unexpected night visit must have frightened Molly. She shouted, "Molly, Molly, it's me, Perry!"
Only moments passed before Perry heard the bolt being pulled back. The door swung wide as light poured out onto the path. Molly stood before Perry with her arms wide and tears flooding her face. "Come in, my little lady!" she shouted.
Hearing the familiar welcome in Molly's words, Perry stepped through the doorway and into the warm kitchen. Both women were within inches of each other when they stopped, frozen. A blast from a rifle sounded in the silent night. Molly's arms encircled Perry as both women fell to the floor.
Chapter 19
Wade Williams paced the long porch in front of Perry's grandfather's house. Three days had passed since his ruined wedding. Three days and no answers. Wade had slept and eaten little, as had all the others around him. Deep lines carved his features, and a permanent frown spread across his thin lips.
When Wade first arrived at Three Oaks, he'd thought Perry's disappearance was only a plot to stall him. Confidently he'd begun to search the house, assuring himself her ploy would only cause a few minutes delay. But his confidence faded as he widened his search to include the barn and fields beyond. His anger grew with each passing minute. He plowed through each room with Perry's bewildered grandfather, a whimp-ering Noma following in his wake. Perry was spoiling his plans, not only for a wedding but also for owning Three Oaks. The longer he searched, the more he thought about how he'd make her pay. Just after noon, Sarah, the black cook, came running from the creek, waving Perry's muddy slippers above her head. Tears ran down her face as she heaved for air and climbed the last few feet to the porch.
Noma spotted her first and burst into tears, exclaiming everyone's fears. "My baby! My baby's drowned!" She ran toward Sarah and both women wailed their pain as they hugged.
Wade had men search the creek for miles downstream. They found Perry's tattered nightgown, but Wade continued to push them relentlessly to find her body. He wanted to see her, no matter how mangled and bloated her body.
Now, after three days, Wade had little hope. He tapped his leg restlessly with his riding whip. It was really too bad, he thought, that the silly girl couldn't have done this a few months after they'd married. She'd destroyed his carefully made plans. Now he would have to reorganize. His goal to run this part of the state would be delayed by weeks, maybe even months.
Noma interrupted his thoughts as she stepped from the house. She was sick with grief, her face swollen from crying and her voice husky from yelling Perry's name. Wade was finding her of less and less value to him, therefore his manner grew sharper at each meeting.
"Did you search the room again?" he barked.
"Yes, Mr. Wade. But as I told you twice before, there weren't nothin' missin'. I know all Miz Perry's clothes, and only her nightgown and slippers is gone." As Noma turned to point to the slippers and gown piled on a porch table, she burst into tears. "I don't under-stand why my baby would go off like she did. It just weren't in her to do a thing like kill herself. She always was a-fightin' death, never headin' toward it."
Wade could stand no more of her whining. He shoved her back into the house and resumed his pacing. Noma was right about one thing. It just did not make sense. The question kept pounding in his brain-why would a girl with Perry's spirit kill herself? Though everything pointed to suicide, Wade kept searching his mind for another answer. He would believe that she was dead only when he saw her body.
Reluctantly he decided to call off the search. He knew he had pushed all the people at Three Oaks to their limits. They were a pathetic lot to begin with. He was sick of ordering them around. The old man had vanished into his study and into a bottle. Wade doubted if Perry's grandfather would ever see the light of sanity or sobriety again.
Climbing onto his horse, Wade cursed the house and its inhabitants for spoiling his plans. He rode toward the Williams farm, plotting his next step. Luckily, few people knew of his engagement. After a reasonable time he could marry another-though no other woman bore Perry's qualities. He whipped his horse in frustration.
Within a few hours Wade stood before John and Mary Williams. They'd been waiting for word of Perry. Wade was amazed at the depth of their grief when he told them Perry had drowned. John's gray eyes were filled with sorrow as he held his crying wife in his arms.
"I've done everything I can to find the body. I guess it must have washed farther downriver by now," Wade stated matter-of-factly. He paraded back and forth across the width of their porch. His boot heels tapped a rhythm to his bland voice. "With the rain, the stream was swift. She could be all the way to Cape Fear River by now."
Mary stopped crying and looked up at her husband. "Oh, John, we were watching Hunter leave that morning. To think poor little Perry was drowning." Mary was speaking to John and was unaware of Wade's reaction to her mention of Hunter.
"Did Hunter see Perry while he was here?" Wade asked the obvious question, his lips drawn tight across a facade of calmness. Only small white marks around his mouth hinted at his frustration at the mention of Hunter's name.
John watched Wade closely. He didn't know the cause of the hatred Wade bore for Hunter, but he could see it burning in Wade's eyes. John had to answer Wade's question carefully, for he was not a man to lie or give away secrets. "Perry met Hunter in Philadelphia, I think. She never said much about it, and I forgot to ask Hunter. He, or rather Abram, helped Perry book passage here just after the war."
"Why was Perry in Philadelphia when the war ended?" Wade's question was demanding. He had to know how much John knew about Perry.
"I have no idea," John stated. He turned his face toward Mary, discouraging any further questioning by Wade.
Wade knew his uncle well enough to know that even if John Williams did know the answer, he couldn't be pushed or bullied into telling. Wade's mind moved logically. If Hunter had helped her once, was it possible he'd helped her again? He'd been close enough to help three nights ago, but how could Perry have had time to let him know she was in trouble? Maybe they were secret lovers. If so, Hunter could have come to her. That would explain her reluctance to marry him. By God, if she is alive, I'll kill her for the humiliation she's caused me. Wade's face reddened as his thoughts raced on. He knew it was a wild hunch. He had no clue to point Perry to Hunter.
Calmly he asked, "Who went up in that balloon with Hunter?"
John didn't seem to understand the point of Wade's question. But as always, his words were carefully chosen around his nephew. "Hunter had only Abram with him." John didn't seem to want to go into detail about Hunter's visit. Wade thought it almost looked as if his uncle were hiding something-not about Perry, surely, or the grief wouldn't have been in his eyes, but perhaps about Hunter's reason for visiting.
"No one else was in the balloon? You're sure?" Wade pressed.