Chapter 15
David Kingman gazed down over the edge of the trestle bridge spanning the Barren River. It seemed an appropriate name: a bleak, black canyon carved by countless floods through the centuries. The C&N locomotive hung precariously from the bridge like a child�s toy.
�It seems that they were runnin� ahead of time, an� mekking a race of it.� John Locke, the sheriff of Barren County, a beefy man, with his sheriff�s star pinned to his coat, stared down at his side. �Kin yo� haul thet out?�
�We can.� Kingman watched two locomotives coupled together edge their way towards the back of the stricken engine. He could see the small distant figure of Turner Evered standing by the side of the track, supervising the rescue. The rest of the freight had already been decoupled and hauled away to safety. �Those two�ll bring it back up.� He turned away. �Where are my men?�
Sheriff Locke led him towards a bright patch of light under an acetylene lamp rigged up on a pole. A tarpaulin had been laid over a body, and a group of men stood gathered around it. The railroad manager twitched back a corner, and his mouth tightened. The skin on Uriah�s face lay in folds and pouches as though it had been flayed or blistered from him, and he was rigid in his death.
Kingman doffed his hat in a gesture of respect, and stood for a moment in silence, with his eyes closed. Then he looked around the group of gathered men, focusing on one dressed in an engineer�s striped overalls.
�I jumped clear, sir.� The man looked worn, for the sight of death makes a man conscious of the time he is allowed. �We was coming up to a bend, doin� mebbe sixty miles an hour. �Riah wanted to go faster �n faster. He sed he hed a wife waitin� on him, and he hadn�t seen her awhile. I tol� him he was pushin� it, shovellin� on too much coal. But he hed this fool spirit in him, an� he wouldn� brook no contradictin�.���
He paused, as though conjuring up a memory might conjure a man back to life.
�How did you go over?� Kingman�s voice was gentle.
�The gauge blew, sir.� The engineer drew in his breath. �One moment we was going, next moment we seemed to be hopping up and down on the track. Everythin� came together, and then we were sliding, an� we scrunched up with an almighty bang, and the front wheels went over.�
He paused again, closing his eyes at the memory, before speaking afresh. �I thought we was goin� over, an� I jumped. I got clear, an� I looked back, and see�d the engine hangin� half down.�
�Where was Uriah?�
�Still in the engine, sir. We inched our way out to it, to get him back, but he was dead.�
�We?�
�Brakeman Shavers and me, sir.�
Kingman glimpsed a second man in the shadow of the engineer�s shoulder.
�I tried to lock the brakes down on the cars, sir.� The brakeman mopped his forehead, for all that it was a chilly night. �But we was goin� too fast � they was sparkin� like fire crackers.�
Kingman thought of the body under the tarpaulin. �He looks to have been scalded to death�.
The engineer nodded glumly. �I guess the steam hit him, sir. Thet boiler blow back, would have killed him fer sure.�
�Alright.� Kingman turned, to look back at the locomotives coupled together for a rescue bid. They had begun inching their way back off the trestle bridge, hauling the stricken loco in their train. �Take a couple of days furlough, both of you, then come and see me in Coates, and you can swear out a statement.� He frowned, as though checking a list in his mind. �The railroad will bury him. Do you want to come to his funeral?�
The engineer twisted his cap in his hands. �He was my crew, sir.�
The brakeman nodded. �We rode together, sir.�
Kingman rejoined the sheriff.
�Scalded to death by the steam?�
The railroad manager nodded. �People get carried away.� He spoke absentmindedly, for a face was fighting to superimpose itself on his mind, and it was not Uriah�s face. He began walking along the track towards the coupled locomotives, trying to push his vision away, but it was obstinate, and would not be dismissed. It was Iris� face, and it seemed suffused with a sense of hope. He took a deep breath. He had worked a long day, and ridden hard up from Coates, and Franny was fast approaching death�s door. It was not a time for him to be thinking about another woman. But his vision persisted, and would not be shaken away, and in the end he let it be.
The rescue operation ended in the early hours of the morning, and he rode back to Coates with Evered at his side.
Evered did not speak until they reached the depot. �Bad business.�
Kingman nodded without replying. He had been up most of the night, and would be lucky to get a couple of hours sleep.
�Does she know?�
He nodded wearily. Iris knew, and soon all Coates would know.
Evelyn woke early the following morning with a sense of foreboding. She stretched, pushing her covering sheet and comforter to one side, and swung her legs over the side of her bed. It was a little way past dawn, and she could hear Eulalia busying herself in the kitchen. She stood up, stretching herself, and glanced at the big oval mirror in her wardrobe, and for a moment her despondency brightened a little. Her hair was a fright, that was for sure. But her eyes were bright and alert, and her skin was still smooth, albeit she had a few crows� feet under her eyes. Laughter lines, some called them.
Then her foreboding returned as she thought back to the previous evening, and she lost any desire to laugh. She washed quickly, pouring cold water from a big china jug into the matching basin set in her wash stand, and dressed, drawing in her corset strings tight and buttoning herself into a ruched high-necked white cotton blouse before choosing one of her comfortable woolen house dresses. She had equipped herself with several, before leaving Baltimore, because she doubted that rural Tennessee would offer much by way of fashion. They were becoming dresses, a bit in the Quaker style with their muted blacks and blues and grays, with one in a sunny shade of primrose. But she doubted that this would be a primrose day, and chose one in black. She sat herself at the dressing table in the room to brush her hair, and realized with a start how severe she looked. It was as though she were preparing for a funeral. Perhaps it was an omen. She combed her hair up, pinning it into place with a pair of silver hairpins Teddy had given her, not long before his death, and wondered what the day would bring. Franny was dying, and now her passing would only be a matter of time. She prayed that the Lord would take her kindly.
She went downstairs quietly, and found Eulalia humming a hymn tune to herself as she stoked the kitchen stove. Somehow she looked faded, as though some of her blackness had drained out of her.
Evelyn felt she should smile, but she had little cheerfulness in her. But sorrow was not an emotion to drive good manners away, and she spoke softly. �Good morning. Were you up late?�
Eulalia took a deep breath, wiping her hands on her apron. �I stayed up with Miz Franny �til the massa come home. It must been �bout four in the mornin�.�
Evelyn glanced at the kitchen clock. �You only slept for a couple of hours or so?�
�Thass right, miz.� Eulalia waved at the big rocking chair in the corner. �I sat masel� down, an� took forty winks. Mebbe I�ll ketch some more later.�
�Go and catch them now.� Evelyn was already taking a spare apron from a peg behind the kitchen door. �I see you�ve got a good fire going. I�ll make breakfast.�
Eulalia hesitated. She did not think it quite right for her mistress� mother to turn her hand to domestic work. But she felt dog tired, and Doris had left the house several days previously to return to Baltimore. Not that Doris had been much use for anything resembling housework or kitchen work.
She glanced up at the clock indecisively. It still lacked an hour before old Auntie Ada, a cleaning woman who came in for a few hours every day, would put in an appearance.
�Go on. I�ve made enough breakfasts in my time.� Evelyn�s voice was insistent.
Eulalia yawned. Suddenly she felt totally drained. �I will, miz, an� you allow it. I mixed a bowl for biscuits already, and I got eggs fer Miz Franny, she likes them boiled very soft.�
Suddenly her eyes widened in alarm, the whites flashing against her dark skin. �Do yo� think the Lord�s gonna tek her today? She looked mighty poorly when massa came home last night, and she was breathin� real ragged-lak.�
�Go and sleep for a couple of hours.� Evelyn made a pushing motion with her hands. Discussing Franny was the last thing she wanted. She busied herself as Eulalia retreated. She had work to do: fresh coffee to grind and brew, and hungry mouths to feed � and work would take her mind off what she most feared to think.
She was just setting her first tray of biscuits in the oven when she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Iris was standing next to the table, fully dressed, watching her.
�Yo� want me me to do thet, m�m?�
�No, no.� Evelyn waved her away. �I�m perfectly capable.�
�Where�s �Lalia?�
�She was up with Franny until David returned home.� Evelyn realised that she had dropped the �Miz� and �Mr.� that she was accustomed to using with Iris, but somehow the change seemed fitting. �I�ve sent her to get some sleep.� She glanced into the oven, and then turned back. �You go and rouse the children; I�ll have breakfast on the table by the time they are ready.�
Time passed heavily during the whole of that morning. Doctor Carter came, and looked very grave, speaking to David Kingman in a low voice as he left the house, and Evelyn had no need to ask what he had said. David walked down to the depot, but was only gone about half an hour, and returned to sit at Franny�s bedside, and then Doctor Carter returned, bringing Pastor Macdonald with him, whilst Alice and Turner Evered joined them a few moments later. Franny smiled at them all weakly, but shook her head when Doctor Carter asked her whether she cared to take a draught of laudanum.
�I must settle the future for my girls first.� Her voice was little more than a whisper.
Pastor Macdonald settled into a chair, watching her, but she shook her head. �I shall pray with you in a moment, good pastor.� She began to cough painfully into a cloth, and there was no hiding the stains of her blood. David made as though to send their three daughters out of the room, but Franny held up a pale weak hand to gainsay him. �Let them stay with me as I go, husband. It will be the last I see of them.� She paused. �And bring �Lalia to me. I think I need to bid her farewell.�
Evelyn looked at the children. Tears were running silently down their cheeks, and they made no attempt to brush them away. Iris was also crying silently. She signed to Harriet, pointing at the bedroom door, and Harriet nodded solemnly, getting to her feet, and leaving the room silently.
She returned a moment later, leading Eulalia by the hand, and both of them were weeping. Franny held up her hand, taking a ring from her finger and held it out towards Eulalia. It was a small gold ring, set with some coloured stones. Nothing of very great value, but enough for a memento. Eulalia knelt by the bed to take it, pressing her cheek against Franny�s pale fingers, with her shoulders heaving as she attempted to stifle her sobs.
Then Franny held up her hand again, turning on her pillows to look at Iris. �Come here and sit by me.�
Iris limped a little heavily to the bed.
�Are you better now?�
Iris nodded, too full for words. �I�m fine, m�m.�
�You�re a fine young woman.� Franny smiled weakly, and gave way to another bout of coughing. Evelyn took her bloodstained towel, replacing it with a fresh one. The coughing subsided, and Franny held out her long pale fingers. �Give me your hand.�
Iris was now weeping openly, her shoulders shaking with her grief, and Alice Evered held her handkerchief pressed to her mouth to stifle her sobs. David Kingman, standing by the side of Franny�s bed, and Turner Evered both wiped the backs of their hands across their eyes, whilst Doctor Carter coughed gruffly, and Pastor Macdonald joined his hands in prayer.
Franny smiled up at her husband. �Now give me your hand.�
David stared at her, but her outstretched fingers were insistent. She took his hand, placing it on top of� Iris�. �I want you both to be a mother and a father for my little darlings.� Her voice was very weak.
She looked at her three daughters. �Will you have Iris as a new mother?�
The three little girls could only nod in their tears.
�David, will you take Iris to yourself when I am gone?�
David Kingman glanced quickly at Iris. She had pressed her lips tightly together, to hold in her sobs, but she managed to nod.
He took a deep breath. �I will, if she will have me.�
Franny looked at Iris. �Will you cleave to him?�
Suddenly Iris broke from her touch, and went onto her knees at the side of the bed, burying her face in Franny�s outstretched palm, sobbing as though her heart would burst. �I wish the Lord would tek me in yo�re place, m�m, and make you fit an� whole agin.�
�I am going to a better place, Iris, and the angels are coming to fetch me.� Franny looked up at Evelyn, attempting to lift her hand again. But it was plain that her strength was now ebbing fast, and her hand fell back. �Take a lock of my hair, Mama, before I go, and a lock of hair from Iris, if she allows it, and place them together in a locket, for David to have as a pledge and a keepsake. For we have found him a fine young woman, Mama, and heaven will smile on them.�
Evelyn hesitated for a moment, and then wiped her eyes, for Franny was again giving her back the very words she had used of David after their first meeting. She bent to snip at Franny�s golden hair, and then took a lock of hair from Iris, still kneeling at the side of her bed. David had unfastened the fob from his waistcoat. He had a small golden case on the fob chain with a miniature pen and ink sketch of Franny, done when she had been his sweetheart, before their marriage, and he held it out silently. Evelyn arranged both locks of hair so that they made a kind of wreath joined at the base around the portrait, and it seemed strangely fitting.
She showed it to Franny, and Franny nodded weakly, looking at Doctor Carter and Pastor Macdonald and the Evereds. �I want you all to bear witness to what I said.�
They nodded, and she smiled weakly. �Now I think we should pray.�
Pastor Macdonald began the words of the Lord�s Prayer, and Franny�s lips moved for a moment. But then she coughed a little, but not as much as before, and closed her eyes, and was still.
It was a few moments before those in the room with her realized what had come to pass. Evelyn handed the small golden case to David Kingman, and he bent forward to kiss his dead wife on the forehead. Then each of her three little girls kissed her in turn, before turning to leave the room. Evelyn and Eulalia followed them, with Doctor Carter and Pastor Macdonald and the Evereds on their heels, leaving David and Iris alone with Franny�s corpse.
David was silent for a long moment, looking down at his wife�s body. Then he looked up at Iris, still on her knees at the side of the bed, and held out his hand. �Let me help you up.� He helped her to stand. But he did not release her hand when she was on her feet again, holding it in his own. �Did you mean what you said?�
Iris stared full into his eyes, unflinching. �I hev given you ma word.�
�And I have given you mine.� He realized that he was still holding her by the hand, and let it fall. Somehow it did not seem a fitting place, nor a fitting moment. �But you must not marry me just because Franny asked it of you.�
Iris took his hand again, clasping it in both of hers, and her voice was both grave, and very determined. �I will marry you, David Kingman, when the time is right, and I will be the happiest woman in the world to be your wife.� Now she was crying again, tears streaming down her cheeks. �I could not wish for more.� She paused for a moment, looking down at Franny�s form, so peaceful now in death. �But we must wait, and mourn Miz Franny� together first. She brought me to you, and she wished me to be for you, and we cannot be joined until the time is right.�
David Kingman nodded. A wheel had begun to turn, and he knew that it would turn full circle, and also knew in his heart that all would be well when it completed its turning.