Phebe

Mr. Randolph's death shocked them all, but there was no warmth in the grieving, no shared tears, no talk of fond memories, no comforting. Mrs. Randolph only had eyes for her beloved Tudor, and Miss Nancy redoubled her efforts to teach Saint. The way Phebe saw it, those two sisters might've killed each other if it hadn't been for the boys. In countless ways, the children kept the pulse of life alive at Bizarre, and the women fell into rhythm with them, living in a fragile alliance that even had Sarah Ellis accepting that Phebe might be at Bizarre for good. Small changes eased her loneliness. An extra helping of cornbread. An offer to roll up her bed. A chuckle from Lottie, her plate cleared by Sally. Evenings spent sitting with Syphax, watching fireflies and listening to the old man talk. Forgetting the past. Minding her business. Accepting what was.

She knew Billy Ellis watched her — tall, strong Billy Ellis with his soft voice and the slightest gap between his two front teeth — but she gave no encouragement, none. Being with a man, having children of her own, those were things for other folks, not for her, with the things she'd seen. Phebe kept her eyes lowered when she saw him. Never spoke to him unless he spoke to her first. Until one day, the rain blew in from nowhere.

It hit the windows in great, fat, noisy splashes. It drummed the roof. Phebe ran outside and tried to bundle Miss Nancy's damp cotton sheets in her arms. Help arrived. Billy. Together, they kept the sheets clear of the ground and made for the porch. He shook the rain from his head like a half-drowned dog, and she found herself folding sheets with him, helpless with laughter. He left her with a neat pile of washing and a grin, but an hour or so later, the back door to the house banged open, and Sarah called her.

"Girl! You girl. I wants a word."

Phebe straightened her apron. Sarah led her to the kitchen garden, through the still damp grass, well out of earshot of the house. The sky was cloudless.

"I don't want you teasing my boy, you hear me?"

"I teased no one, and ain't done nothing! You leave me alone, Sarah Ellis."

"It's you needs to do the leaving folks alone. You's not the girl for him, even if he thinks you is."

The unfairness of it loosened her tongue. "After alls I've seen, I won't be tangling with any man, not your precious son, not no one. Never."

Sarah's brows flew up. "What you seen, girl, to make you speak like that?"

Phebe imagined telling her everything. Mae. Miss Nancy. But she saw Cilla's soft brown face as clear as if it had been yesterday, telling her to look after Miss Nancy real well. She held her tongue, and Sarah stomped back to the kitchen house. The possibility of belonging disappeared. When Billy Ellis looked her way, she turned her back.

During the long years after the master's death, Mr. Jack was more and more at Bizarre, shaking up the quiet, bringing cross words and misunderstandings. None of them Randolph brothers were any good for Miss Nancy. But Mr. Jack? He proved worst of all.