Read Online Southern Gothic by Stuart Jaffe - Free Book Online

uncovered enough newspaper articles depicting the latest lynching to know that fear and hatred flowed like the blood of soldiers on the battlefield. In fact, right after the Civil War had ended, maintaining order became the primary job of most leaders. Some attempted to use local law enforcement as well as political maneuvers. Others called on federal troops to force their way in.
    Every night was fraught with violence. Every night ratcheted up the fear. Black people worried the Ku Klux Klan or some other white supremacy group would come after them. White people feared the black men would riot and tear apart the town.
    It reached a point so bad that Congress enacted three laws, the last in 1871 known as the Enforcement Act which gave the President the power to suspend habeas corpus when combating the KKK and other groups like it.
    Max shut one of the books with a hard thump. “How are we going to find one nearly nameless girl in the middle of this kind of chaos? People were bad enough at record-keeping to begin with, but with nightly raids and constant threats, too many of the black populace were on the move. Leaving for the North, running from the most dangerous towns, getting out as fast as they could. It’s not as if these people were giving the post office a forwarding address.”
    Leon scratched the back of his head. “None of my business, so I won’t be offended if you tell me to kiss off, but I got to ask — what’s wrong? I mean, I’ve never seen you this worked up over researching.”
    “I’m sure you haven’t.”
    “I got to be honest, seeing you all beat up and right after reading about Sebastian Freeman being murdered — should I be worried?”
    “Nobody’s coming after you. You’ve got nothing to tell them, anyway.”
    “But there is a them? ”
    “Yeah, there is. If you want to stop helping me, I understand. No reason for you to risk anything.”
    “You just said nobody would be coming for me. Now, I’m risking something? Which is it?”
    Max paused long enough to give an answer serious thought. Showing impressive patience, Leon waited, his expression never betraying any fear or concern. “I don’t think you’re in any real danger, but the people I’m dealing with are dangerous. They might approach you, might give you a hard time. They’ll want to know what I’ve been researching and how far I got. Stuff like that.”
    “Look here, I’m a librarian, not whatever you are. I like history and family and spiritual, respectful, intelligent debate. I’m not a fighter, and I don’t do illegal things.”
    “And I wouldn’t ask you to.”
    “Okay, then. Long as that’s clear, what do you want me to tell them?”
    “The truth, of course — that you helped me search for Sebastian’s family and we never could find anyone on his mother’s side. You only know I wanted this info for Sebastian, that he was my client, and you found it strange that I continued to look into it even after Sebastian’s death.”
    “But what if you find out more?”
    “I think as far as you remember, nothing else happened. You can decide whether that’s truth or lie by staying here or not. I won’t force you to stay.”
    Leon chuckled to himself, smiling and giving a little shake but making no sound. He opened the book Max had closed and tapped the pages. “So, we’re looking for Miss Lilla with no last name and we know she was alive during part of the Reconstruction because she marries the first Freeman that led to Sebastian.”
    “Right,” Max said, holding back the urge to hug Leon. “We also know she lived long enough to have at least one child. So, if we assume she was a normal girl and married between fourteen and twenty, at the latest, that means she would have had to be born no later than 1851.”
    “Yup. And that means, if she lived a normal life, she would be dying around 1900 at the earliest. That’d give her about a good fifty years.”
    “I think it’s a safe bet. If she had died young or