Reckless: Shades of a Vampire(27)

"I like making you behave," he says.

"You like spanking me Daddy. You like it."

"Don't get smart with me, child," he says, lashing her harder.

At ten Mississippi, Emma stops, turns, and starts walking out of the room.

He stops in the doorway.

“I am your father, Emma,” he says. “You will obey me as God commands. Now, get dressed and come to the breakfast table.”

He leaves the room, and Emma leans into her bed, clutching back tears, and dropping her gown to her ankles. Her buttocks and backs of her uppers thighs are searing, and swelling.

In a few minutes, she gathers her composure, wiping tears from her face, she feels her whelps, and rises to get dressed. Emma folds her gown neatly and places it into the drawer. She removes a lace bra, puts it on, and reaches into her closet for a dress.

She chooses a yellow one, slides it on, finds some shoes, slips them on, stops by the bathroom, uses it, comes her hair and pulls it back with barrettes over her ears, and walks to the breakfast table.

There’s a bowl of oatmeal waiting for her, along with a hot pot of coffee and a list of chores for the day.

“Good morning sunshine,” her mother says, as if nothing has happened. "It’s a blessed day.”

Emma doesn’t respond.

“You say, ‘Good morning’” her mother says.

Emma doesn’t respond. She wipes lingering tears from her eyes.

“You must greet the morning sun with the respect it deserves,” her mother says.

“Yes, mother,” Emma, says, hoping to end the conversation.

Emma pours some coffee from a pot on the table, and starts eating the oatmeal. Her father takes a seat at the table as he finishes refastening the buckle of his belt.

“Good morning,” he says. “Aren’t you forgetting something, Emma?”

“Oh?” she says.

“Yes. Let’s bow our heads,” her father says. “Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for our many blessings…”





10.



In the Shadows


The Mays family has just finished lunch on Wednesday, three days after Emma met Josh at the barn. They hear a car pulling up in the driveway, rustling the gravel. Emma’s mother peers from the kitchen window.

“It’s the sheriff,” she says.

“The sheriff? What does the sheriff want with us?” her father says.

Nobody responds.

There’s a knock at the door, and Jeremiah answers. Emma and her mother wait in the kitchen. Standing in the doorway is the county sheriff, Delmer Smith, and his deputy, Billy Cagle. Jeremiah has met the sheriff before at funeral services for church members. He’s never seen the deputy before.

“Afternoon, Preacher,” the sheriff says.

“Afternoon,” Emma’s father says.

“This is Billy. Billy Cagle. He’s a new deputy. We hired him last month from Fort Payne. Why he wanted to live town for the hills we’ll never know. Maybe he thinks he's gonna get my job one day. Anyway, we’re glad to have him.

“Hope we are not interrupting your lunch?”

“No, we just finished. Just waiting on a pumpkin pie to come out of the oven for dessert. Emma, my daughter, she was a bit late with it. But I’m sure it will be good.”

“Smells good,” Billy says.

“You can have a piece, if you like,” Jeremiah says.

“All right then,” says the sheriff, “do you mind if we come in for a few minutes? It won’t take long.”

“Sure. Come on in. Have a seat.”

The sheriff and the deputy take of their hats, walk into the den, and sit on the couch as Jeremiah suggested with a wave of his hand.

“Preacher, I don’t like to bring bad news, but I wanted to tell you that someone in your flock has gone missing.”

“Missing?”

“Missing.”

“I’m listening.”

“Josh. That’s who is missing. You know that boy that married Judith. Got a young girl. He works for TVA. Makes good money.”

“Go on.”

“Don’t know why she waited so long, but we got a call this morning from that wife of his that Josh hasn’t been home since Sunday. We’ve done some checking around and nobody has seen him since then.”

Emma and her mother are listening to the conversation from the kitchen. Her mother clutches Emma’s arm when the sheriff says Josh is missing.

“Oh, my,” she whispers.

“Usually in this type of situation, the boy has run off. And he’ll either come around the time he finds out there aren’t any better hens in the coop, or he’ll turn up with another one anyway,” the sheriff says. “But Judith seems certain that Josh wouldn’t run off.

“And everybody we talked to that had seen him in the last week said everything seemed all right. Some folks saw him at the picnic here on Labor Day. Some folks saw him at work last week. And Judith saw him at home over the weekend until Sunday evening.