Fire Along the Sky
Page 91
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I'm here to speak for my daughter Becca LeBlanc, who's in childbed still and can't come herself to say what she knows of Jemima Southern. Mima made plenty trouble up by the millhouse, back in the days when they were in service there together, she and my Becca. You may call it hearsay if you like, Baldy O'Brien, but young Ethan there will put it down just the same on paper and that's all I care about. So listen. Jemima be mean as a kicked dog, just like her pa before her. Bitter to the bone, that's what I'm saying. Now that be a shame, but as far as I understand it, the legislature down in Albany ain't made a sin of meanness, yet, by God, and wouldn't it put them all out of business if they did? And the other thing I got to say is this: Jemima couldn't have struck Cookie on the head and dumped her in the lake, and I'll tell you why. For all her years Cookie was quick of eye and limb, and Jemima moves like sap in January.
Statement of Mrs. Margaret Parker, Widow &
Unemployed Housekeeper
While you high-and-mighty men are trying to figure out about Dolly Wilde and Cookie and whether it was Nicholas Wilde or Jemima who worked such evil deeds, let me remind you that the first Widow Kuick died not too long ago, and that needs looking into. You had best call Hannah Bonner here to speak for she might know something about that, and while you're at it, ask her to tell what she knows of how Isaiah Kuick died too, for that sorry business weren't never settled. Jemima stood in this very meetinghouse and swore Hannah had killed Isaiah Kuick but she shut up right smart when Becca Kaes—for this all happened before she went and married that no-good Charlie LeBlanc—when Becca told about that letter that went missing. I for one think Hannah Bonner must have it, and you need to see it to make sure justice is done. She's a blight upon the name of good women everywhere—it's Jemima I'm talking about here, Curiosity Freeman, not your precious Hannah, so there's no need for you to make such eyes at me. Jemima Southern Kuick Wilde is a blight upon the nation, and who will stop her, if not you, Judge O'Brien?
Statement of Mr. Horace Greber, Farmer & Veteran
I come here to say, I never had nothing to do with Jemima no matter what Missy Parker might be whispering behind her hand. Writing it down don't make it true. I could say that black's white and white's black and Ethan there would write it down, but it would still be a lie. Just as the things been said about me and Jemima are all lies. Lies up and down and sideways, pure and simple. I can't deny that my wife left me and took our girls with her to Johnstown, but the why and how of it, that's between her and me and nobody else, not even Missy Know-It-All Parker. And if I talked to Jemima now and then about getting her cow serviced, why then that's no more than the normal intercourse between neighbors, and was done out of Christian concern for a widow woman. It shows her good sense that she seeks out the opinion of men who by nature know the business best, don't it?
Statement of Mr. Nathaniel Bonner, Hunter & Trapper
I came across Dolly Wilde on Hidden Wolf when I was hunting. She was near froze and burning up with fever, so I took her home to Lake in the Clouds where my wife and sister-in-law did their best to nurse her. She died soon after. She never spoke in all that time, and that's all I know of the sad business. You can badger me all you like, O'Brien, but you'll get no more from me except this: my daughter Hannah sent along this letter Missy Parker was talking about and you asked for. It's been sitting up at Lake in the Clouds ever since Isaiah Kuick died, in a bundle of papers our Hannah left behind when she married and went west. So you've got the letter, along with the statements she gave Ethan there about the two dead women. If that ain't enough, you'll just have to call Mrs. Freeman to the stand and question her, like you should have done to start with.
Letter Submitted into Evidence
Dated 24 April 1802
Sealed and Witnessed
I, Isaiah Simple Kuick, being in good health and in full possession of my faculties, write this Statement in my own hand with Miss Rebecca Kaes nearby to Witness the seal and signature. My purpose is, first, to clarify the circumstances around the death of Reuben, a young slave boy who has been part of the Kaes household since his birth and who was laid to eternal rest today. I make this confession in order to stop this business here, to forestall retribution where it is unearned, and in fear of further bloodshed. In case of my death, I will leave this document in the care of a person who can be trusted to deliver it to the appropriate authorities when and if that becomes necessary.
Item the first. Reuben died as the result of burns that were inflicted—not accidentally, but certainly without premeditation—by our overseer, Ambrose Dye. I was present when this happened, and I consider myself guilty of not acting quickly enough to stay Mr. Dye's hand. He acted in anger and intemperance, and should by rights be tried for this crime. And yet I have not informed the authorities of this, and in fact, I have concealed it in order to protect Mr. Dye, to whom I am bound by ties too complex to name. I have made it impossible for justice to work its normal course and so I put this confession down here. Further, I do this in the full knowledge that unless he is dead or has left this area, Ambrose Dye must now be tried for murder. I cannot protect him at the cost of more lives, or something as insubstantial as my own comfort and reputation.
Item the second. In the spirit of full confession, I make known here that while my marriage to Jemima Southern was legal, it was entered into under duress. My wife threatened to reveal the nature of my attachment to Mr. Dye to my mother and to the entire village. To protect him and myself I entered into this marriage of convenience. I write this knowing full well that it will cause my mother severe pain and the utmost mortification. While I take full responsibility for my actions, I make no apologies to her or to anyone else. What sins I have committed and what punishment may be mine is a matter between myself and God alone.
Statement of Mrs. Margaret Parker, Widow &
Unemployed Housekeeper
While you high-and-mighty men are trying to figure out about Dolly Wilde and Cookie and whether it was Nicholas Wilde or Jemima who worked such evil deeds, let me remind you that the first Widow Kuick died not too long ago, and that needs looking into. You had best call Hannah Bonner here to speak for she might know something about that, and while you're at it, ask her to tell what she knows of how Isaiah Kuick died too, for that sorry business weren't never settled. Jemima stood in this very meetinghouse and swore Hannah had killed Isaiah Kuick but she shut up right smart when Becca Kaes—for this all happened before she went and married that no-good Charlie LeBlanc—when Becca told about that letter that went missing. I for one think Hannah Bonner must have it, and you need to see it to make sure justice is done. She's a blight upon the name of good women everywhere—it's Jemima I'm talking about here, Curiosity Freeman, not your precious Hannah, so there's no need for you to make such eyes at me. Jemima Southern Kuick Wilde is a blight upon the nation, and who will stop her, if not you, Judge O'Brien?
Statement of Mr. Horace Greber, Farmer & Veteran
I come here to say, I never had nothing to do with Jemima no matter what Missy Parker might be whispering behind her hand. Writing it down don't make it true. I could say that black's white and white's black and Ethan there would write it down, but it would still be a lie. Just as the things been said about me and Jemima are all lies. Lies up and down and sideways, pure and simple. I can't deny that my wife left me and took our girls with her to Johnstown, but the why and how of it, that's between her and me and nobody else, not even Missy Know-It-All Parker. And if I talked to Jemima now and then about getting her cow serviced, why then that's no more than the normal intercourse between neighbors, and was done out of Christian concern for a widow woman. It shows her good sense that she seeks out the opinion of men who by nature know the business best, don't it?
Statement of Mr. Nathaniel Bonner, Hunter & Trapper
I came across Dolly Wilde on Hidden Wolf when I was hunting. She was near froze and burning up with fever, so I took her home to Lake in the Clouds where my wife and sister-in-law did their best to nurse her. She died soon after. She never spoke in all that time, and that's all I know of the sad business. You can badger me all you like, O'Brien, but you'll get no more from me except this: my daughter Hannah sent along this letter Missy Parker was talking about and you asked for. It's been sitting up at Lake in the Clouds ever since Isaiah Kuick died, in a bundle of papers our Hannah left behind when she married and went west. So you've got the letter, along with the statements she gave Ethan there about the two dead women. If that ain't enough, you'll just have to call Mrs. Freeman to the stand and question her, like you should have done to start with.
Letter Submitted into Evidence
Dated 24 April 1802
Sealed and Witnessed
I, Isaiah Simple Kuick, being in good health and in full possession of my faculties, write this Statement in my own hand with Miss Rebecca Kaes nearby to Witness the seal and signature. My purpose is, first, to clarify the circumstances around the death of Reuben, a young slave boy who has been part of the Kaes household since his birth and who was laid to eternal rest today. I make this confession in order to stop this business here, to forestall retribution where it is unearned, and in fear of further bloodshed. In case of my death, I will leave this document in the care of a person who can be trusted to deliver it to the appropriate authorities when and if that becomes necessary.
Item the first. Reuben died as the result of burns that were inflicted—not accidentally, but certainly without premeditation—by our overseer, Ambrose Dye. I was present when this happened, and I consider myself guilty of not acting quickly enough to stay Mr. Dye's hand. He acted in anger and intemperance, and should by rights be tried for this crime. And yet I have not informed the authorities of this, and in fact, I have concealed it in order to protect Mr. Dye, to whom I am bound by ties too complex to name. I have made it impossible for justice to work its normal course and so I put this confession down here. Further, I do this in the full knowledge that unless he is dead or has left this area, Ambrose Dye must now be tried for murder. I cannot protect him at the cost of more lives, or something as insubstantial as my own comfort and reputation.
Item the second. In the spirit of full confession, I make known here that while my marriage to Jemima Southern was legal, it was entered into under duress. My wife threatened to reveal the nature of my attachment to Mr. Dye to my mother and to the entire village. To protect him and myself I entered into this marriage of convenience. I write this knowing full well that it will cause my mother severe pain and the utmost mortification. While I take full responsibility for my actions, I make no apologies to her or to anyone else. What sins I have committed and what punishment may be mine is a matter between myself and God alone.
