Clandestine: A Story of Three Sisters

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine- The Storm

It took Charlotte about fifteen minutes to walk back home. In those fifteen minutes, she reasoned with herself to trust what Will had said, the clouds in the sky darkened, Pimberly visited with Will in his cell for a moment, Jed locked himself in his room to finally cry a little, and Mr. Clandestine received a telephone call.

As Charlotte entered the Clandestine house, Mr. Clandestine had just finished his phone call and was having a hard time balancing the talking and listening pieces back on their hooks. It was frustrating him, and Charlotte heard him curse and mutter, "These new inventions will be the end of us. Who needs a telephone anyhow?"

"Pop?" Charlotte said quietly as she entered the room he was sitting in. He turned and tried to smile for her, but failed. Charlotte went up to him, took the telephone pieces and hung them back on their hooks easily. Pop chuckled for a bit, then sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Pop," Charlotte said again, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. He sighed again and patted her shoulder slowly.

"At least it's over," he whispered. Charlotte lifted her head to look at him questioningly. Pop sighed for the third time and looked at her, sadder than she'd ever seen him. "It was Sheriff Pimberly on the telephone. I don't know if you knew, Charlotte, but he had arrested one of our employees with suspicions that he was the one who-- well, you know."

Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat and simply nodded. "Well," Pop continued. "The sheriff called to say that all evidence pointed to this young man and so they have found him guilty. He only called to ask me if I wanted to see him one last time, but I told him just to get it over with. I just want to be done with this."

"One last time?" Charlotte felt her heart stop beating in her chest.

"Yes, he called to ask me if he could go ahead with the punishment."

"Punishment?"

"Yes. He's going to hang the devil who took my baby from me," Pop almost growled, and his eyes glazed over with a hatred so strong he became unaware of his surroundings anymore.

But Charlotte felt hyperaware. She stood up and backed away, not knowing what to do. "When is he hanging him?"

"Right now, I presume." Pop told her. "I hope he suffers the way he made my baby suffer." But Charlotte barely heard as she dashed back out the door again.

She raced to the jailhouse, faster than before. Damn what Will said, damn the town and its gossipers. She would tell them everything, she would clear his name once and for all. She just kept praying she wasn't too late.

As she ran, her feet thundering against the dirt roads, the skies above thundered as well, the clouds gathering and growing blacker with every step.

Charlotte could see a crowd gathered where the execution pit was. She pushed her legs on, willing them to go faster and faster. The crowd still seemed so far away, but she kept trying to get closer, faster.

Charlotte finally reached the crowd, but everyone was already turning and walking away. Some people who passed patted her shoulder, or even said things like, "I pray your sister can rest in peace now." She knew they were people from town, people she had grown up knowing. But none of the faces were recognizable to her now. As the crowds cleared, she saw it was too late. It was already done.

Charlotte couldn't blink as she now watched Will's body swing slightly in the wind. Little raindrops slowly dropped from the sky, one by one, but she didn't even notice them. In the span of twenty four hours, she'd seen the bodies of two people she loved hanging before her, but Charlotte couldn't move or cry or anything. She just stood there, about twenty feet away from the hanging body, motionless.

She heard footsteps, but didn't register them until Pimberly spoke. "I'm sorry for your loss, again, Miss Charlotte. At least now your sister's been avenged."

Charlotte didn't speak for a whole minute, still watching Will. Pimberly almost turned to leave, but she finally said, "How do you know?"

She still kept her eyes straight forward, though Pimberly looked at her as he answered. "All evidence led to him, he was there at the scene, he had motive--"

"Words," Charlotte interrupted. "Just words. You took people's words for all these things. Someone else told you they saw him at the scene, someone else told you his motive. Where was the hard evidence?"

"Miss Charlotte, I understand you're grieving right now, but I can assure you we found the right man and it is all in the past now."

"One day in the past." Charlotte spoke just as stoically as before, still only looking ahead, too sick to look at Pimberly. Some officers were taking Will down now, removing the noose from his neck and carrying his body away. But she kept looking at the empty rope still hanging there. "It's only been a day, and you think you solved my sister's murder. In a day."

"We had everything we needed--"

"Not the hard evidence." She interrupted again. "You know what this is? It's just the way Hush is. Everyone in Hush is always so quick to cover up any gossip, to hide any truths so that our town can continue to seem so clean and perfect on the outside. We haven't had a murder in Hush in years, maybe ever. So one finally happens, and everyone tries to find the quickest solution to it, to get rid of it. Murders look terrible, it would ruin our perfect little town's reputation. Just cover it up as quickly as you can, blame the first man that seems guilty and get it all over with. It's all in the past now, right?"

"Miss Charlotte--"

"Hush may try all it can to seem perfect and clean and safe on the outside. But everyone inside it knows this is the dirtiest town that ever did exist. And one day, all our secrets are going to burn us down to hell."

Charlotte turned and walked away as the rain picked up, steadily pouring down now. Pimberly watched as she did, uncertain of what to do. He just stood and let the rain drench him like Charlotte's words flooded his mind.

***

Charlotte made it back home again, her face still stoic and unmoved. She entered the house, dripping wet from the heavy rains.

"Charlotte, where'd you go now?" Pop asked, walking up to her at the front door. Charlotte ignored his question, slowly walking to the parlor. She sank into a chair, her dress soggy against her skin, her bonnet floppy from the wet, her boots leaving muddy tracks on the hardwood floors. "Charlotte?" Pop asked again, sitting down next to her.

Charlotte's shoulders shuddered. Her body slowly began to shiver all over, and finally the tears she'd been holding in since the day before slowly slid out of her eyes. She curled up against Pop so he could hold her as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"Shhh, darling, shhh." Pop whispered, patting her back to comfort her. "It's all in the past now."