The Devil in Canaan Parish Read Online Free Page B

could tell he was getting exasperated with me.
    “Sally can’t concentrate on having babies when she’s wearing herself out around the house.   Now it’s all settled.   I’m paying for you to have a live-in maid, and my wife is going to send one over for you,” with that, he turned on his heels and marched back to his office.  
    I was too shocked to answer.   That evening I went home and, sure enough, dinner was being prepared by the first of a long line of domestic help.   This one’s name was Ruby.   She was in her forties and had worked for both the Landrys and the Bordelons.   She was an excellent cook, housekeeper, and laundress, and for a while Sally was happy again. She began to walk around the house singing lullabies. I would come home to find her relaxing on the back porch in our little sitting area, reading a book or working a crossword puzzle.   We continued trying for a baby, and spent a joyful summer together. By the beginning of autumn, Sally was pregnant.
    We decided to announce the good news at the annual Landry Christmas party and once again, Sally ran from room to room laughing and kissing everyone.   Old man Landry proposed a toast to us over the dinner table, and the whole family applauded.   My father-in-law was pleasant to me, patting me on the back and inviting me to join the men in the parlor for some brandy, cigars and poker.   I obliged, eager and excited to finally be part of the inner circle.  
    The months went by, and Sally and I continued in marital bliss.   Mardi Gras, came and we spent the evening watching the parades, celebrating until late into the night, my arm around her shoulders and one resting on her growing belly. Family and friends threw beads from the floats directly at the two of us.   I would wrap each one around Sally’s neck and kiss her lips. I had never seen her so happy or so beautiful.
    On the morning of Ash Wednesday, Sally and I awoke, covered in blood.   The sheets were soaked through with the loss of her pregnancy.   When Sally realized what was happening, she collapsed in hysterics.   I pulled her up out of bed, carrying her in my arms to the tub where I stripped her down and began rinsing off the blood.   I yelled for Ruby, who came running in, frightened and panicked.   She stifled a scream when she saw our bed.   I told her to go and get the doctor and then to find the Bordelons.   By the time I had wrapped a robe around Sally and was carrying her back to our bed, Ruby had returned with Doctor Collins.
    The doctor went straight to our bedroom, calling for Ruby to help him.   When Sally’s parents arrived, her mother went to her bedside, and I paced back and forth outside the door where her father waited.   I was irritated to have been banned from the room.  
    “Palmer,” said my father-in-law, “you might want to clean yourself up.”
    I looked down and realized I was still in my pajamas, soaked in blood and water from washing Sally.   I went into the bathroom to change.   When I returned, Dr. Collins was murmuring something to my father-in-law.   He straightened up when he saw me and said that Sally would be fine, but that she’d lost a lot of blood and needed absolute rest. I agreed.  
    “Bram, there’s something else,” said the doctor, hesitating.
    I was confused.   He glanced at Sally’s father, who abruptly excused himself.   After Bordelon had gone into the bedroom and shut the door, the doctor turned back to me, closed his eyes, and then heaved a sigh.
    “There was a . . .baby, Bram.   I had to deliver it just now. Ruby has it.”
    “A . . .a baby?” I stuttered.   I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach.
    “Well, not viable, I mean, there won’t be any kind of birth or death certificate, Bram, but I am not sure how you want to. . .dispose of it.”
    I cringed at the words.  
    “Alright,” I mumbled, “thank you, Doctor Collins.”
    I found Ruby in the kitchen, clutching something to her chest