Read Online Cutler 05 - Darkest Hour by authors_sort - Free Book Online

shut. Around her neck, instead of Eugenia's pink hair ribbon, a piece of rope was tied and on the end of that was tied a rock heavy enough to keep our precious pet beneath the water so she would drown.
    My heart nearly burst; I couldn't help myself. I started to shriek and shriek and pound my own thighs with my fists.
    "No, no, no!" I screamed. Henry started toward me, his eyes full of pain and sorrow, but I didn't wait. I turned and ran back toward the house, the rain drops splattering over my forehead and cheeks, the wind whipping through my hair. I was gasping so hard, I thought I would die when I charged through the front door. I paused in the entryway and let my tears come faster and harder, like the rain. Mamma heard me and came running out of her reading room, her glasses still on the bridge of her nose. My shrieks were so loud, the chambermaids and Louella came running, too.
    "What is it?" Mamma cried. "What's wrong?"
    "It's Cotton," I moaned. "Oh Mamma, someone drowned her in the pond."
    "Drowned her?" Mamma sucked in her breath and brought her hands to her throat. She shook her head to deny my words.
    "Yes. Someone tied a rope and a rock to her neck and threw her into the water," I screamed.
    "Lord have mercy," Louella said, and crossed herself quickly. One of the chambermaids did the same.
    "Who would do such a thing?" Mamma asked, and then smiled and shook her head. "No one would do such a terrible thing, honey. The poor cat must have just fallen into the water herself."
    "I saw her, Mamma. I saw her under the water. Go ask Henry. He saw her too. She's got a rope around her neck," I insisted.
    "Oh dear me. My heart is pounding so. Look at you, Lillian. You're soaked through and through. Go on upstairs and get out of those clothes and take a warm bath. Go on, honey, before you get as sick as you were the first day of school."
    "But Mamma, Cotton's drowned," I said.
    "There's nothing you or I can do then, Lillian. Please, go on upstairs."
    "I've got to tell Eugenia," I said. "She's waiting to hear."
    "You'll tell her later, Lillian. First get dry and warm. Go on," Mamma insisted.
    I lowered my head and walked up the stairs slowly.
    When I turned down the landing, I heard a door squeak open and saw Emily peer out of her room. "Cotton's dead," I told her. "She's been drowned." Slowly, Emily's face folded into a cold smile. My heart began to pound.
    "Did you do it?" I demanded.
    "You did it," she accused.
    "Me? I would never . . ."
    "I told you, you're a Jonah. Everything you touch will die or suffer. Keep your hands off our beautiful flowers, don't touch our animals, and stay out of the tobacco fields so Papa doesn't go bust like some other plantation owners have. Lock yourself in your room," she advised.
    "Shut up," I snapped back, too full of pain and sorrow to be afraid of her furious eyes anymore. "You killed Cotton. You horrid, horrid person."
    She smiled again and slowly retreated into her room, closing the door quickly.
    I felt sick to my stomach. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw poor Cotton bobbing under the surface of the pond, her mouth open, her eyes clamped shut by Death. When I got into my bathroom, I started to throw up. My stomach ached so much I had to bend over and wait for the pain to pass. I saw how scratched up my legs were from my running through the brush between the house and the pond, and only then did I feel any pain. Slowly, I took of my wet things and ran my bath.
    Afterward, when I was dry and dressed again, I went back downstairs to tell Eugenia the horrid news, my feet leaden as I walked toward her doorway; but the moment I opened the door, I realized she knew.
    "I saw Henry," she moaned through her tears, "carrying Cotton."
    I went to her and we clung to each other, desperate for the comfort we hoped we could bring to each other. I didn't want to tell her that I believed Emily had done it, but she seemed to know that there wasn't another soul living or working on this plantation that