Bent Road - Lori Roy [99]
“Eve died because of you and my father,” Arthur says, jarring Ruth back to the present. “She died for fear of you and that church. For fear of her own father.”
Celia is looking between Ruth and Arthur. As certain as Ruth is that Arthur knows, she is equally certain that Celia does not.
Father Flannery takes a step toward Arthur. “The gate is wide,” he says, and after tipping his head at Reesa, he walks away.
Father Flannery walks down the narrow path, through the small gate and out onto the street in front of the church. When he has disappeared into his car, Celia turns to Arthur. He stands with his head down, shaking it back and forth, back and forth.
“I don’t understand,” Celia says. “Arthur. Ruth. I don’t understand.”
Ruth steps up to Arthur and takes his hand in both of hers. “You’ve always known?”
Arthur nods.
“Did she tell you who it was?”
This time, Arthur shakes his head no.
“I hoped she wouldn’t do it,” Ruth says. “I begged her not to. She was so young. So young and afraid.”
“Ruth, what are you saying?” Celia says, trying to see Arthur’s face because then maybe she’ll understand.
Still holding Arthur’s hand and ignoring Celia’s question, Ruth says, “I’m so sorry, Arthur. It was my books. She must have read them. I think she used wedge root. I begged her. Really I did. I told her to tell Mother and Father. To tell them the truth. I told her we would all love her baby, no matter what.”
Celia reaches for Arthur but he pulls away.
“She was pregnant,” Celia whispers.
Beyond Julianne’s grave, Elaine and Jonathon walk toward the car parked in front of St. Anthony’s, Evie wrapped in Jonathon’s arms. Daniel stands alone near the gate.
“And she tried not to be,” Celia says. “But she was so young. Who? Was it Ray’s?”
Ruth shakes her head. “No. She swore it wasn’t. Ray loved her. Loved her so much. He wanted to marry her.” She crosses her hands and lowers her head like she has done so many times before. “We never knew who. She’d never tell. Never really admitted to being pregnant. But I knew she was. I just knew it. Someone hurt her very badly. She was different after it happened. Never the same.” Ruth is quiet for a moment and, as if she realizes something, she lifts her eyes. “Did Father know the truth?” she asks Reesa.
Reesa does not answer. Instead, she raises her chin ever so slightly, just enough that the wind catches the wisps of silver hair sticking out from under her hat.
Ruth leans forward. “Did he know?” she shouts.
Arthur, still facing Eve’s grave, says loud enough for everyone to hear, “He’s the one who told her to do it.”
Ruth’s shoulders collapse.
“And you, too,” Arthur says, turning to face Reesa. “You told her, too, didn’t you?”
Reesa stands motionless, her chin in the air, gray wisps of hair blowing across her forehead.
“She was too afraid to do it alone,” Arthur says. “So I helped her. I gathered up the wedge root. I boiled it in one of Mother’s pans. I did it.”
Daniel stumbles backward when Aunt Ruth screams at Grandma Reesa. Up until that moment, he had been planning what to tell Dad, how to tell him about Ian’s nose and how Daniel almost broke it. But now, something else seems more important, and Aunt Ruth is shouting about Aunt Eve and how it wasn’t Dad’s fault that she died. She wasn’t murdered and bloodied up by Jack Mayer. Something else killed her. Something that Daniel thinks a man should know, but he isn’t a man yet. He takes a few steps backward until he feels snow underfoot, turns to follow Elaine and Jonathon, and there, in the shadow of a large pine tree growing near the fence line, stands Uncle Ray.
He must have been there all along, standing behind everyone who came to say good-bye to Julianne Robinson, because his collar is up and his hands are buried in his pockets making him look like he’s been cold for a very long time. He probably