Fairchild's 7 Daughters-The 12: Book One

15. Dead Men Tell no Tales

Mrs. Natalie St. Cloud put another tray of pastries in the crate and covered them. Everything was going fine according to her now that she had two extra helpers. Though her husband had allowed the young women to stay in their house they had insisted on earning their keep and volunteered to help Natalie, or Natty as she liked to be called, with her baking. Annie Mount-Helens from down the lane was over often having a clear infatuation with Jessop St. Cloud. The whole family idolized him except for his younger brother Ira who although never said a cruel thing didn't praise him either.

"Oh I just can't wait until my boy comes home this fall," Natty said. "I plan to bake a special pie just for him. Sweet potato with pecans on top and whipped crème. You girls will have to help me; he can never eat just one."

"I'll be ever so happy to help you, Ma'am!" Annie said. "Her green eyes were wide with excitement and she was as bouncy as her blonde curls. "Happy as a lark I'd be."

Taitiann was next to Selene at the counter making pie crust. She glanced at her sister and the two giggled at Annie's enthusiasm. Excuse me Mrs. St. Cloud," Taitiann said. "But you said your son wouldn't be here until the fall. I wasn't aware it would take him so long."

"Oh yes," Natty said. "Jessop is very busy."

"Sometimes too busy," Annie added. "When he is here he hardly gives me a look my way." She stuck out her pink bottom lip and looked everyway like a school girl deprived of candy. She was very round and had a permanent natural blush on her cheeks that turned brighter with excitement, like now.

"Well..." Taitiann stopped rolling dough. "Would it be too much if you were to write him, just to let him know a little about the case?"

"I don't think I could," Natty said. "Jessop doesn't like to be interrupted while he's working." She shifted sugar onto a row of cakes. "It's best to wait until he gets here...and after he's had a few drinks in him."

There was a knock at the door and Natty put down the shifter. "That will be Driver," she said. "Annie, let's you and I get what we have over to the sweet shop. You girls keep up the good work."

Annie helped her gather the readied sweets in the crates. "I want to invite both of you to a suffragette meeting this Friday at my Aunt Luo's house," she said as she stacked one crate over the other. "We don't do anything radical just have open discussions. You're both very welcome to come, just let me know by Thursday." She waved bye then followed Natty out of the kitchen with the crates.

Taitiann undid her apron, and sitting down in a chair tossed it on the table. "I'm really starting not to like this Jessop St. Cloud. We need to consider other options."

"Fall is not that far off," Selene said. "By the time we find another lawyer to take the case he'll be here already."

"But we still don't know if he'll even take the case. It all just doesn't seem fair."

Selene leaned against the counter and sighed. She stared out the kitchen window into the large gardens at a vacant swing. There weren't very many trees to be seen around Enid which was the excuse Mrs. Natalie St. Cloud gave for her lavish garden. She turned from the window and walked out the kitchen. Taitiann didn't follow her, sensing her sister needed to be alone.

Selene headed for the south end of the house which was quickest accessed through the ballroom. She wondered what parties were thrown there as she stood in the center of the room and looked up at the dome. It reminded her of something found in a cathedral. It stayed illuminated even when it was night thanks to lights installed around its base.