Bound by Blood and Brimstone (34 page)

notices your leg.” I raised my voice further and slapped the ground beside me to get a rise out of

her, but she still kept her eyes from me.

“It's downright disgusting sometimes, when I think about how much time the Lord spent

on your looks. Must've not been more than a few seconds left over for the rest of us mere

mortals.”

My last remark, heavily laced with sarcasm, was intended to rile her enough to break her

silence, but something in her eyes when she finally lifted her head made me suddenly wish I'd let

sleeping dogs lie.

“Is that what you think? That the good Lord just poured out all his blessings on me by

making me look the way I do?” So softly uttered, I had to strain to hear, her words veiled a thinly

disguised rage that pricked my arms with goose flesh. I wanted to run, to hide from what she was

about to say, and I had no idea why. I only knew that this girlish conversation train had somehow

derailed when I wasn't looking.

A quick, comic retreat was the only defense I could muster. In one jarring motion, I slung

my blanket aside and grabbed my discarded clothes. “Well, if you're going to get all huffy about

it,” I said with a sniff, “I'll just take my perky breasts and blow this joint.”

I was dressed in less than a minute, just enough time to realize she hadn't moved, hadn't

even offered to follow suit. Knowing full well I wouldn't leave without her, she waited for me to

close the last button before she stood and forced me to look at her again.

“I didn't mean to make you feel bad,” she offered, her face earnest as she knotted her

blanket above her chest. “I know what you were trying to say, about my leg, I mean. It's just that

sometimes...”

I was just about to find out what could possibly be so troubling about having astonishing

beauty when she yelped and clawed my arm, nearly toppling me over the lip of Big Rock.

Together, we staggered, righted ourselves, and whirled to find Caleb Jacobs standing just a few

yards away.

It was the first time in my life I came close to cursing, and I sputtered with the effort to

prevent it.

“What the--tarnation! What the Sam Hill are you doing here, Caleb? You just about gave

us heart failure!” I was charged up, ready to kill or be killed, but one glimpse of his scarlet face

and I knew without being told, he was no threat to us.

Lorrie Beth, however, had no such confidence. She was quaking beside me like a wind-

gusted leaf, her color high. “
You
! How long have you been standing there?”

Caleb's hands were up as if to ward off an attack, and his head wagged back and forth to

refute her accusation. “No, sir, it’s not what you think. Please, don't be mad. I just got here.

Heard you two talking last night about coming out here, and I figured it'd be the only chance I'd

get to catch you by yourselves.” He shuffled his big feet and tried for a weak smile to disarm her,

showing his new dentures.

My sister wasn't buying a word of it. She snorted, practically baring her teeth at him.

“Really? Do tell, and just why do you need to catch us by ourselves?”

To answer her challenge, he simply dropped his head a moment, shoving his hands in his

pockets. When he raised his head, he met her flaming eyes squarely. “Too many things I done for

too many years that weren’t right. I need you to know I'm sorry. For all of it.”

A lifetime of examination couldn’t have prepared me for what happened next. Somehow

she was no longer by my side, but a mere two feet in front of Caleb. In less than a heartbeat,

she'd untied her blanket's knot and ripped it open, exposing every inch of her nude glory like the

bright glare of a comet's path in the night sky. For once, I could neither move nor speak, could

no more halt her fury than the scurrying ants under our feet.

“Sorry, are you? I'll bet you're sorry. I know what you came up here for! To catch a good

look at this, wasn't it? Isn't this what it's all about, Caleb? Isn't this what it's always about for

boys? You're all alike. You walk and talk and act like other things matter, but this is what you've

always had on your mind, isn't it? Did your sister teach you all about it, Caleb?”

By the time my voice could work again, it was nothing more than a rasp. “Lorrie Beth,

no
!” I didn’t remember how or when, but there I was, wrenching her away from Caleb's stunned

eyes, clawing the blanket folds together with trembling hands. She fought me, scratching,

kicking. I slapped her.

I felt tears on my face and heard myself murmuring, soothing, as she buried her dark

head against me. I wasn’t sure how long we stood there, under Crystal Creek’s green canopy

before I realized we were alone again.

We never talked about what happened that day. Truth is, it just scared me too much.

Despite everything we'd been through, I'd convinced myself that fate was finally balanced, and

nothing worse could happen to us. All shocks were behind us. I truly believed that. Then, two

things happened to throw my shock-free theory into a tailspin. A week after the incident at

Crystal Creek, Caleb Jacobs got baptized, and Noah Lunsford waltzed into our lives.

The first time I laid eyes on him I knew he was trouble. Except for Lorrie Beth, I’d never

been inclined to trust anybody with such extraordinary looks, and I saw no reason to start on that

particular day.

I was on my way back from Wonnie’s, in a hurry to get home before Momma had lunch

ready for the work hands. As our place was crawling with hired help that summer, I usually

made a studied effort to ignore them, but Noah Lunsford wasn’t the type of person I could avoid

noticing.

He was splitting fence rails, his bare, broad back to me when I stepped out of the woods

by the front field. I glimpsed smooth, brown skin oiled in sweat, the play of muscle against

muscle in the massive shoulders, black, shaggy hair, and a finely chiseled torso. I couldn’t help

myself. I just stood there staring, my brain gone to mush.

He must’ve sensed he was no longer alone, could probably feel my eyes boring into his

back. At the end of the next stroke, he dropped the sledgehammer and turned to face me, shoving

sweat from his brow with a tanned forearm. Clear, hazel eyes met mine above a square jaw and

well-formed lips. A wide grin full of even teeth animated the face, crinkling the eyes.

“I’m not used to having an audience. It’s not lady-like to stare, you know.” The voice,

bass-toned and husky, seemed to resonate in the marrow of my bones. My mouth went dry, and I

hated that. Even more, I hated the heat radiating from my core to flare up in my face.

“You must be Ember Mae,” he continued, the grin wider still. “I’m Noah Lunsford. Just

started today, thanks to Mr. Watkins.” That’s when my inner “window” seemed to shut out the

sun, leaving a black void so complete, I nearly lost my balance. Scared and breathless, I waited

for it to pass, confused as to what it might mean.

“Nice to meet you,” I mumbled, and fled to the house on shaky legs.

In the kitchen I found Momma and Lorrie Beth packing lunch pails for the workers,

flustered and ready to worship at the feet of Noah Lunsford. Watching Momma gushing and

fluttering around like some smitten schoolgirl made me sick to my stomach.

“He’s so handsome, isn’t he? And such a nice young man, too. So polite and well bred.

I’ll tell you one thing; boys around here could take a few pointers from Noah.” She glanced up

from her cutting board where she’d stacked slabs of ham for sandwiches. “Don’t you agree,

Ember Mae? You did meet him on the way in from Wonnie’s, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, swiping a cold biscuit and sliver of ham. “I guess he’s okay. He didn’t

seem all that special to me.”

She cast me an odd look before wrapping the last of the fried apple pies in wax paper. Is

that so? Well, I think he’s adorable. And we’re lucky to have his help. Reese says he’s strong as

an ox; looks like he can do the work of two or three men.”

One glance at Lorrie Beth, and I knew without comment what her thoughts on the matter

were. Her scarlet cheeks said it all, though she tried to avoid my eyes as she sliced sourdough

bread to layer with the meat.

I was still pretty unnerved from my first encounter, and it rankled me seeing them ready

to swoon over someone they’d just met.

“Do you think it’s safe, Momma, taking in a stranger like this? I mean, I know Reese

needs the help, but for all we know, this boy could be some kind of crazed maniac.”

She laughed and shook her head before pulling out a couple of cucumbers from a bucket

under the sink. “Honey, you’ve been watching too many gangster movies again. Noah Lunsford

isn’t a stranger. He’s practically one of us. Molly Thornton is his aunt. He’s come to stay with

her this summer while he’s on break from college.”

I had to park my behind on a chair with this revelation. “You mean
he
is
Molly

Thornton’s nephew
?” It was beyond me. The vision of male perfection I’d just witnessed

couldn’t possibly be related to that spindly necked, bug-eyed old maid.

Molly Thornton wasn’t anybody’s favorite person in Silver Rock Creek. She listened to

classical music, drank wine out of fancy stemmed glasses, and affected a city accent. She always

told outsiders she’d been raised in Charleston.

Shooting me a disapproving look, Momma put down the cucumber she’d been paring and

wagged a finger at me. “Now, look here, young lady, none of that tone, mind you. Molly

Thornton deserves your respect, same as any other adult. She needs your prayers now, not your

ridicule. Poor woman never had any children of her own; now she’s got a nearly grown man to

take care of.”

“Why’s he staying with her?” I asked as sweetly as I could.

“His father died this spring. Tuberculosis. Lost his mother the day he was born, so there’s

no one left except his Aunt Molly. She has every right to walk a little proud, if you ask me. That

boy was a star quarterback in high school, a straight-A student. Now he’s about to start his

second year at the University of North Carolina.”

I caught Lorrie Beth’s glance and winked at her while Momma finished slicing

cucumbers. “Well, shucks, Maw,” I drawled, “how you reckon all us redneck hicks gonna be

able to talk to somebody so smart ‘n purdy?” I timed it perfectly, waiting for the very second her

head jerked up, eyes blazing. When she did, I’d jammed my finger up my nose and crossed my

eyes. “Reckon we all might go sommers else ‘n git us some o’ that purdy like whut he got?”

Lorrie Beth howled, and Momma bit her lower lip hard. She tossed sandwich packets in

the pail on the table and shoved it at me. “Never mind, Miss Sass. Take this food on out to the

field before I take a willow switch to the backs of your legs. Go on now, both of you.”

At the dinner table that evening, Caleb left us reeling when he asked Reese if he’d do the

honors of baptizing him. His request surprised all of us, but Reese was so caught off guard, he

stopped in the middle of a bite of meat loaf to put his fork down. His expression was intent as

Caleb revealed the latest desire of his heart.

“I don’t want to go to hell,” he said earnestly. “I know I’ve sinned plenty, and I’m lost. If

I died tonight, I’d burn, sure as the world.” Slurping his milk, he dragged his shirtsleeve across

his mouth and gripped his fork tighter in his fist. Despite his recent transformations, his table

manners still belonged in the barnyard. “So, will you do it, Preacher?” Please?”

Reese argued that salvation wasn’t as simple as getting dunked. Such a serious decision

had to be given heavy thought. Getting saved at the Black Diamond Church of God was an

arduous and dramatic process.

The candidate was required to spend hours on his knees in penitent prayer, begging the

Holy Ghost to fill him. Oceans of tears and the laying on of hands were required, along with loud

supplications from the congregation. Sometimes it might take weeks of frenzied emotion to get a

person saved.

“It’s not as easy as you think, Son. I’ve seen many a dry sinner go down in the water and

come out a wet sinner.”

Caleb cleared his throat and let his sweeping gaze rest briefly on Sam before he looked at

Reese calmly.

“Not to be disrespecting you none, Preacher, but it seems pretty easy to me.”

Reese’s brow furrowed, and for a moment I feared he would explode in anger. It wasn’t

every day that someone contradicted him in his area of expertise.

“Easy? How, Caleb? How do you figure getting saved is easy?” Rather than anger, honest

confusion was on his face, and he reached for a piece of cornbread to hide it.

Caleb paused to wet his lips, tears clouding his gray eyes, and when he answered, his

voice wobbled slightly.

“Peter told those folks on the day of Pentecost what to do to be saved. He told them to

repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins.”

Reese narrowed his eyes to slits and shook his head. He was sure Caleb was off track.