Conn and Jed spent the following day exploring some of the other cracks and tunnels that branched off the cavern she’d discovered near the slave cabin. Jed was flabbergasted when she led him up the rocks and into the opening in the rock face.
“This is where that other tunnel under our barn comes out,” she said, holding a candle aloft and finding her sock where she’d left it to mark that tunnel.
Jed let out a low whistle as he looked around. “Where do these others go?” he asked.
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Conn said, kneeling to light the oil lamp.
Most of the fissures were dead ends, or got too narrow to safely squeeze through. Those she marked with a big X on the cavern wall with her chalk. The seventh or eighth opening they explored unexpectedly opened up, becoming wide enough for them to walk side by side and high enough that Abraham could have walked in it without stooping. They followed it, Jed holding the oil lamp as Conn marked the walls every few yards to indicate the direction they’d come from. After they’d walked for what felt like fifteen or twenty minutes, they could hear a strange sound. The tunnel ended abruptly at a waterfall. They could see daylight on the other side of the cascading water. There was a narrow, slippery ledge of stone that allowed them to shuffle sideways behind the sheeting water.
They looked around as they emerged into sunlight, trying to get their bearings.
“This is where I first saw you fishin’,” Jed exclaimed. “You and Will were over there,” he said, pointing.
“You’re right,” Conn realized. She turned and looked at the rocks above them. “You were up there.
“If you knew about these tunnels,” she said, looking around, “you could get all around this area without anyone seeing you.” She began picking her way down the rocks. “We’ve done enough exploring for today. Let’s go back to my house. I’m starving.”
“Me, too,” Jed said, rubbing his belly.
They ambled back to the house, speculating as to the purpose of the tunnels. “Remember,” Conn said as they deposited the oil lamp in the barn and she retrieved her fishing rod, “my mom thinks we’ve been fishing.”
As they rounded the barn, they were surprised to see Abraham’s truck parked near the house. Hurrying into the kitchen, Conn stopped so abruptly that Jed ran into her.
“Will!” she said in surprise.
“Mom said I can come downstairs,” he said happily. He looked very pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“Hello, Connemara, Jedediah,” said Abraham from where he was seated next to Will at the table.
“Hi, Mr. Greene,” Conn said enthusiastically. Jed mumbled a hello, and followed Conn to the sink to wash.
“Did you two work up an appetite?” Elizabeth asked as she opened the refrigerator.
“We sure did,” Conn said, grinning at Jed.
As they sat down to lunch, Conn asked Abraham, “Are you here to fix something?”
“No,” Abraham smiled. “As a matter of fact, I was looking for Jedediah and thought I might find him here.”
Jed’s pale blue eyes narrowed warily. “What’d I do?”
Abraham chuckled. “You’re not in trouble,” he said, taking a bite of potato salad. “I’ve taken on a few jobs that are turning out to be bigger than I anticipated, and I wondered if you would be interested in becoming my helper?”
Jed stared at him, mouth hanging open. “Me, work for you?”
Conn’s eyes flitted back and forth between the two of them as she chewed her sandwich. She knew Jed was wondering what his father would say about this.
Abraham nodded. “I could teach you and you would be helping me. I’ll pay you a fair wage.” He looked at Jed, weighing his next words. “I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but if you accept, it might be best if you use your pay to bring home groceries or whatever you need, rather than bringing cash home.”
Jed swallowed, looking at him shrewdly. “You mean my pa.”
Abraham inclined his head a bit. “He’s a proud man, but… he’s got some problems.”
Jed thought for a moment. “And this ain’t charity?”
“Absolutely not,” Abraham said emphatically. “This is business. I can get more done if I have some help, and you can learn a trade you’ll be able to draw upon your whole life if you want to.” He held out his hand. “Deal?”
Conn doubted Jed had ever shaken hands with a black man in his life, so she was a little surprised when Jed accepted his hand and said, “Deal.”
“Very well,” said Abraham. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at Mr. Hardy’s east pasture at eight o’clock sharp.”
Jed grinned. “See you tomorrow, Ab – I mean, Mr. Greene.” He finished his sandwich and carried his dishes to the sink. “I better be goin’.”
“And I as well,” Abraham echoed as he also carried his dishes to the sink. “Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Mitchell. William, I hope you are up and around in no time.” He looked down at Conn and said, “Connemara, would you walk me to my truck, please?”
Puzzled, Conn accompanied him outside.
“So, you and Jedediah spent the morning fishing, your mother said.”
“Yes,” Conn said uncomfortably.
Abraham nodded. “Interesting that when I passed Jedediah this morning, he didn’t have a fishing rod with him and he wasn’t headed toward the creek.”
Conn’s face turned red, but she didn’t say anything.
“I trust,” said Abraham quietly, “that you would not do anything to cause your mother more worry or heartache than she is already dealing with.”
Conn looked up at him, wishing she could blurt out everything. “Not if I could help it,” she said cryptically.
Abraham frowned. “Are you all right? Are you in any kind of trouble?”
Conn opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before saying only, “I’m fine.”
Abraham looked intently into her eyes for several seconds. “Very well. But if you need help – anytime – you can come to me.”
Conn nodded and stepped back as he drove away.
***
Conn splashed in the tub, mounding up what remained of her bubbles. There was a knock on the door.
“Got your hair all washed?” Elizabeth said as she entered. “Ready to have your back scrubbed?”
“Yup,” Conn said.
Elizabeth knelt next to the bathtub. “So, you and Jed seem to be getting along well,” she said as she soaped up a washcloth.
“Yeah.”
“He seems like a nice boy.”
“He is, deep down,” Conn agreed. “I feel sorry for him. His dad sounds pretty mean.”
Elizabeth began rubbing the soapy cloth over Conn’s back. “Well, when people drink, they–”
Elizabeth dropped the soap and quickly sluiced the suds off her daughter’s back. “What happened to you?”
“What?” Conn asked, craning her head to try and see what her mother was referring to.
Elizabeth ran her hands over Conn’s back. “You have welts all over. I can feel them; they’re not red, they look old, but… where did you get these?”
“I don’t know,” Conn said, bewildered.
“It looks like someone whipped you,” Elizabeth said angrily. “Look at me.”
Conn looked up into her mother’s eyes.
“How did you get these?”
“I really don’t know,” Conn said truthfully.
Elizabeth stared intently into Conn’s eyes for several seconds.
“Maybe I got scratched by some sticker bushes in the woods,” Conn suggested.
“Any sticker bushes that could leave marks like this would have torn your shirt to shreds,” Elizabeth insisted.
Conn reached back, trying to run her own fingers over the welts she could now feel. They were vaguely tender, like a scar that’s still healing. Suddenly, an image came to her of a supple branch being lashed repeatedly across her back – except it hadn’t happened to her. It had happened to Caitríona.
Elizabeth’s voice was strained as she asked, “Conn, has Mr. Greene ever –”
“No!” Conn swirled around in the tub so quickly that water sloshed over the sides. “Mom, no.”
She couldn’t have her mother thinking anything so terrible. “I really don’t know what I got into, but you know me. You used to tell me I could get scabbed up just getting out of bed. I’ve been all through these woods. It could have been anything. But Mr. Greene has never laid a finger on me.”
Elizabeth’s brown eyes softened and she smiled a little sheepishly. “All right. But you would tell me if anyone was hurting you, right?”
“Yes,” Conn said, her fingers crossed under the suds.