Love's Last Gift (on hold)

Chapter 8

"Here is the instrument of cleansing my brethren. And nothing quite cleanses like fire." - from The Omega Man

Voices.  It was the sound of voices.  That was what had startled her from her sleep.  Faint, hushed voices they were and they came from the back of the house near the stables.    Evangeline lifted her head from its resting spot against the cool marble column of the balcony's railing and she rose from her spot on the marble floor.   It was still dark.

She had tried to fall asleep after coming back to her room,  but she could not.  She had thought of waking Martha and telling her all that she had learned from Clay,  but she had decided against it.  What could Martha do about it after all?   Sit and worry with her?   Misery did love company, but she didn't want to worry Martha unnecessarily.  So she had went onto the balcony where she felt somehow safer being under the stars, knowing that her beloved Hannibal was also out under the stars only a few minutes ride from her.   The night air was warm and muggy, but the marble floor and its columned railing had felt so cool to her touch, she had sat on the floor and leaned against the rails where she had eventually fallen asleep.

She listened now to the sounds outside the house.   It was definitely the sound of a team of horses being unharnessed and stabled,  along with the voices of the stable boys as they worked.  Her heart began to race in her chest.  That could only mean one thing - Clayton Ramsey had arrived back at the mansion.  There would be no other person arriving in the wee hours of the morning.  This was the one thing that was uncertain in their plan - knowing when he would arrive.  Hannibal had hoped it would not be under the cover of darkness when he could not see.   He wanted to know the exact moment the governor was back.   And now the horses and carriage would all be put away when day broke and he would never know the governor was here.   But she had complete and total faith in the man she loved.   Even if he didn't know the governor was here,  he would get the message when he saw her and Martha leaving tomorrow.   One thing he had taught her - sometimes you have to improvise.

They were to leave under the pretense of meeting Livvy in town for lunch.   Once in town they would leave through the back of Fannie's cafe where James would be waiting with Livvy's private coach.   They would be halfway to Colorado before the thugs that would undoubtedly follow them would even know they were missing.   They never followed her into the shops and restaurants.  But they were always waiting when she came out.  Only this time she wasn't coming out.

She went inside and checked the time.  Almost five am.  Soon the sun would rise.  And it would rise on the last day she would ever have to be inside the walls of this dark and gloomy  house.  Being outside on the balcony with the scents from the gardens below was the only place she could find peace or solace.  How ironic that a man as cruel and evil as the governor could be responsible for creating such a beautiful Eden-like place as the gardens that grew below her.  The gardens was the only thing about this place that did not seem to be covered by a perpetual cloud of misery.   She could almost feel her lungs being deprived of oxygen the moment she stepped back inside from the balcony.   He was definitely here.  His presence seemed to bring with it a stifling, dark cloud of doom that robbed everyone around of their very breath,  like a thick smog of depravity and evil.

She lit a candle and sat on the edge of the bed.  She picked up the old family Bible that she kept on her bedside table.   It was the same Bible she had read from the first day she had ever met a dimple faced cowboy named Joshua Smith.  The man who had saved her life and had tried to save her mother, father and little brother.   The man she would fall in love with.  The man she would now die for.  The man she couldn't live without.  The man who turned out to be the notorious outlaw, Hannibal Heyes.   She smiled as she thought of him.  He was camped out in the forest behind the mansion,  keeping watch over her.   She took a deep breath and exhaled it on a heavy sigh.   They would make it through this.  They had made it through worse.  That is, if the current situation didn't get any worse.  Oh, why did she have to think that?  At least she hasn't said it out loud.  Mama had always said, "Never let the devil know what you're thinking."     And if there was ever an instrument of the devil it was Clayton Ramsey, Jr.     Goose bumps covered her flesh as her mind spoke his name and she shivered, thinking about poor Clarissa Ramsey, falling to her death after being pushed by the one person who should have protected her above all others.  The dead woman's eyes in the portrait downstairs seemed to haunt her.