People gotta know. Miss Shaw needs to go.
I try to sleep on it but get such a fitful night my body feels punched. When the sun comes up, I know what to do. More eyes need to see Miss Shaw’s sin. I wrap the letter in a rag and put it in my pocket. I’ll wash this dress when the deed gets done and the letter’s gone. I head to Fleeta Wright’s house today for pie and talk. Alice Dickens and Laura June will be there, too. Help from those three women will move this along, as this burden already grows heavy.
When I get there, the pie’s been cut. A second pie sits on the side table. Fleeta cooks a lot and most of it goes in her mouth and straight to her hips. Today, it’s apple pie. Never eat one without thinking bout Thomas. He ruined my life for a spell. He don’t ruin apple pie.
“Prue, glad you could make it. Sit down. I’ll cut you a big piece.”
“Make mine a small one,” I say cause I know she’ll give me a big one, which she does.
“You too skinny, girl.”
Next to Fleeta, everybody’s skinny in Baines Creek cept Mooney.
I let Alice, Fleeta, and Laura June rattle on about recipes and babies and canning while I wait for the right time to bring up the letter.
When I’m about to open my mouth, Laura June says in a tight whisper, “Won’t it terrible bout that girl what disappeared? Her folks must be worried sick, not finding a trace of her. We need to have Preacher pray for her. I already keep her in my bedtime prayers.”
I know who she talks about. “Pray for her?” I blurt out. “She won’t nothing but white trash who don’t know the Book of Job from the Book of John. You ask me, praying’s a waste of the Lord’s time. He’s got better things to do than save her sorry soul.”
Laura June looks hurt and confused. “Isn’t that what praying is for, Prue? To help a sinner return to the fold and know the Lord’s forgiveness?”
I guide talk back in my direction when I say, “Y’all can pray all you want, but we got more to worry about than a tacky lost girl none of us know.”
Fleeta puts her fork down. “What worry?” The big woman slides to the front of her chair so she can listen better. The chair creaks unhappy.
I put a bite of pie in my mouth and chew slow and take my time swallowing.
“I come up on something that’s powerful bad,” I start. “Found it and picked it up as innocent as you please. I never guessed what was inside.” I take the letter from my pocket real slow, unwrap the rag around it, and let the letter sit on the table next to the pie.
“What did you find?” each asks in turn, shifting from one worry to mine.
“I don’t know… The last thing I wanna do is sully somebody’s good name…”
Fleeta reaches over, breaks off a chunk of pastry, and pops it in her mouth. The three lean forward, pulled with the magnet of Miss Kate Shaw’s name written on the envelope.
“That’s it? That’s the bad news? In that little bitty envelope?” Fleeta asks as she chews the crust and smacks her lips.
I nod.
“It was open like that?” she asks.
I nod again and figure if I don’t say the lie out loud—if it comes out of Fleeta’s mouth and not mine—then it’s not a real sin.
“Prudence, would it help you if we read it? See if we think it’s bad news, too?” Fleeta asks like I hoped.
I nod.
She wipes her fingers on her apron and slides out the piece of paper, and the three put their heads close. They read, moving their lips, sounding out the words. I watch their faces.
Their eyes float back to the top of the paper, and they read it a second time. Fleeta’s eyebrows shoot up and she puffs out her cheeks.
“Oh, merciful Lord in heaven!” she whispers, stunned, and fans her flushed face with a dishrag. Alice and Laura June don’t understand yet cause they look puzzled instead of knowing. I think they live more protected days than Fleeta and me. Then Fleeta says, “You explain it, Prue.”
Shoot! I don’t wanna be the one to poison their minds. However, now’s not the time to pull back from the deed.
“I tell you what I think we’re looking at. This is a love letter to Miss Shaw.” I whisper, “From a woman.”
Three thuds of my heart, and hands fly to cheeks, eyes flash wide, and lips look like they sucked a lemon. The ladies sit back and stare at the paper like it’s a cow patty.
“What you gonna do, Prue? You can’t do nothing,” Alice says.
“What would you do?” I ask, needing partners in crime.
“She teaches our children!” Alice wails, ignoring the fact that none of us has children.
“Tell your preacher brother. He helped get her here. He can get rid of her.” Laura June always looks for the easy way out. I don’t tell em he’s a fool for the woman.
“I don’t know…”
Like I hoped, Fleeta says, “We don’t need men to fix this. Leave that nasty letter with me and I’ll pass it round. We get more women knowing her vile nature, Miss Shaw will break under the weight of the righteous and be gone.”
“What you mean?” I ask, acting innocent.
“Give me a day to cast more eyes on these damning words. Then we’ll go do the deed. We’ll be a Christian army of warrior women is what we’ll be.”
“Tomorrow? Saturday?” I want this done bad.
“Prudence Perkins, you carried this here burden all by yourself. Now we can help you, sister. Right, girls?” She turns to Alice and Laura June, who don’t say a word. Thank goodness Fleeta’s got a strong way about her. “Let’s meet at church at nine in the morning. I’ll gather up some other Christian women who live on the right side of the Bible. We don’t need the menfolks this time.” She puts another slice of pie on her plate and licks her thumb.
? ? ?
Fleeta keeps the letter. I’m glad I don’t have to touch it again or put it back in Nana’s Bible drawer. Fleeta will put together an army of the righteous, and I’ll be one of many.
I’m up early Saturday, get my chores done, and head to church. I don’t know how many women Fleeta talked to, but she’s not shy, so I think we’ll have a virtuous army storming the mountain to Miss Shaw’s cabin.
I get to church at nine o’clock and don’t see anybody outside, so my heart drops. Then I hear chatter inside and find half a dozen women in the pews along with Alice and Laura June. I nod to em, glad to see Fleeta stands at the front in charge.
“Come right on in, Prue, and join the Crusaders for Moral Fortitude,” she says in the loud voice the revival preacher uses. “We good Christian women aim to put a stop today to the evil witch Miss Kate Shaw and get her gone.”
I nod in strong agreement and stand in the back outta the way. Two more souls come, and Fleeta says we’re ready to face the she-devil. I hoped for more than nine of us, but at least I’m not alone.
I walk at the back of the group and hurry to keep up. I didn’t know a stout woman like Fleeta could move up a mountain without stopping, spouting Bible verses against adultery and lust and detestable acts to our stream of amens.
We march past the trashy place of Birdie Rocas, who stands at the door, smoking on a pipe.