Cutler 05 - Darkest Hour

wanderin' off like male cats do. She ain't been in her place in the barn for a while and I ain't seen her nowhere on the plantation all day." He scratched his head.
    "We've got to find her, Henry."
    "I know, Miss Lillian. I've been lookin' every free moment I get, but I ain't seen hide nor hair."
    "I'll find her," I said determinedly, and charged out into the yard. I looked around the pig pen and the chicken coops. I went behind the barn and followed the path to the east field where the cows grazed. I looked in the smokehouse and the toolshed. I spotted all our other cats, but I didn't find Cotton. Frustrated, I went down to the tobacco fields and asked some of the workers if they had seen her, but no one had.
    After that, I hurried back to the house, hoping Cotton had returned from whatever journey she had made, but Henry simply shook his head when he saw me.
    "Where could she be, Henry?" I asked, on the verge of tears myself.
    "Well, Miss Lillian, the last thing I can think of is sometimes these cats go over to the pond to paw at the little fish that swim near the shore. Maybe . . ." he said, nodding.
    "Let's look before it starts to rain," I cried. I had already felt the first heavy drop splatter on my forehead. I started away. Henry looked up at the sky.
    "We're gonna get caught in it, Miss Lillian," he warned, but I didn't stop. I ran down the pathway toward the pond, ignoring some brush that scratched at my shins. Nothing else mattered but finding Cotton for Eugenia. When I got to the pond, I was disap-pointed. There was no sign of her patrolling the shore in hopes of catching a small fish. Henry came up beside me. The rain started to fall faster, harder.
    "We better go back, Miss Lillian," he said. I nodded, my tears now mingling with the drops that struck my cheeks. But suddenly, Henry seized my shoulder with a grip that surprised me.
    "Don't you go no furtha', Miss Lillian," he ordered, and stepped down to the edge of the water near the small dock. There he looked down and shook his head.
    "What is it, Henry?" I cried.
    "Go on home now, Miss Lillian. Go on," he said in a commanding tone of voice that frightened me. It wasn't like Henry to speak to me that way. I didn't move.
    "What is it, Henry?" I repeated, demanding.
    "It ain't nice, Miss Lillian," he said. "It ain't nice." Slowly, oblivious to the increasing rain, I approached the edge of the pond and looked into the water.
    There she was, a white ball of cotton, her mouth wide open, but her eyes shut. Around her neck, instead of Eugenia's pink hair ribbon, a piece of rope was tied and on the end of that was tied a rock heavy enough to keep our precious pet beneath the water so she would drown.
    My heart nearly burst; I couldn't help myself. I started to shriek and shriek and pound my own thighs with my fists.
    "No, no, no!" I screamed. Henry started toward me, his eyes full of pain and sorrow, but I didn't wait. I turned and ran back toward the house, the rain drops splattering over my forehead and cheeks, the wind whipping through my hair. I was gasping so hard, I thought I would die when I charged through the front door. I paused in the entryway and let my tears come faster and harder, like the rain. Mamma heard me and came running out of her reading room, her glasses still on the bridge of her nose. My shrieks were so loud, the chambermaids and Louella came running, too.
    "What is it?" Mamma cried. "What's wrong?"
    "It's Cotton," I moaned. "Oh Mamma, someone drowned her in the pond."
    "Drowned her?" Mamma sucked in her breath and brought her hands to her throat. She shook her head to deny my words.
    "Yes. Someone tied a rope and a rock to her neck and threw her into the water," I screamed.
    "Lord have mercy," Louella said, and crossed herself quickly. One of the chambermaids did the same.
    "Who would do such a thing?" Mamma asked, and then smiled and shook her head. "No one would do such a terrible thing, honey. The poor cat must have just fallen into the water herself."
    "I saw her, Mamma. I saw her under the water. Go ask Henry. He saw her too. She's got a rope around her neck," I insisted.
    "Oh dear me. My heart is pounding so. Look at you, Lillian. You're soaked through and through. Go on upstairs and get out of those clothes and take a warm bath. Go on, honey, before you get as sick as you were the first day of school."
    "But Mamma, Cotton's drowned," I said.
    "There's nothing you or I can do then, Lillian. Please, go on upstairs."
    "I've got to