Chapter 4

4: 4

"Catch a thief with the goods! You keep saying I did something to Stella, but none of you cornered me inside Stella's house. That's true, isn't it?"

I looked straight at Aunt Marlene, the one leading them.

Her face was sour, but she nodded anyway.

The man who had traded glances with Stella cut in, anxious. "So what if we didn't corner you? Someone saw you running out of Stella's house!"

"You did it! You forced yourself on her!"

"Where's the proof?"

Last time, Stella tore her own clothes, messed up her hair, gave herself a few cuts, and ran out crying that I'd tried to force myself on her.

Everyone had me cornered inside her house, so they believed at once that she'd escaped my clutches.

I never got a chance to defend myself.

This time I never left my house. They came and called me out of my own home.

Stella says I did something to her. Well, if I did, there'd be marks left behind, wouldn't there.

Done and not done are two different things.

Bring in enough people to examine her and they'll see that every mark on Stella she put there herself.

I never touched her at all!

They heard me out, then turned uncertainly to Aunt Marlene, who'd been the first to speak up.

She shot me a scornful look and reached for Stella. "Fine, we'll examine her. Get a few more of us women, we'll all look together, so that Floyd guy can't keep crying he's been wronged."

"But listen, Floyd. If we all confirm you did something filthy to Stella, you'll pay for it! No more talking your way out of it!"

"I agree. But you have to promise you'll be fair. Otherwise I'm still calling the police and taking Stella to the hospital for a medical exam."

"Tsk. We women don't stoop to bullying young folks. What's there is there, what's not is not!"

"And if we've wronged you, you call the police. Let them arrest us right along with you!"

"I will."

My words choked her off. She glared at me with venom, shoved a hand hard against my shoulder, and marched off cock-sure, dragging Stella toward the house.

While we waited for the result.

The villagers guarding me couldn't help talking it over. "This whole thing, could there be some misunderstanding?"

"Sure, this is his first time back in the village, but his grandpa, his great-grandpa, they were all decent, honest men. Maybe he really didn't do it. Maybe Stella saw it wrong?"

"Stella was never one to stay put, not even while her man was still alive. This time, Floyd's probably the innocent one."

"If you believe him, why didn't you say so before? What's the point of saying it now, after the fact?"

"I just... I just felt bad seeing Stella cry so hard. But Floyd's been calm from start to finish. Not one bit rattled. Doesn't look like a man who did something wrong."

"So, do we keep him tied up or not?"

The men guarding me traded looks for a moment. Nobody spoke.

I spoke up myself. "Keep me tied. The exam won't take long. Let me loose once my innocence is settled."

"All right. Floyd here's a reasonable man."

"We'll untie him once it's cleared up, so those women can't go running their mouths."

That was what they said, but they'd warmed to me a few degrees. Some asked what I did for work in the city, how many hundred thousand I pulled in a year, some asked why I'd come back to live in the village, others fished around about whether I was seeing anyone and how much I had saved...

I answered every one.

And watched them at the same time.

For now, they held no real malice toward me.

The tragedy last time, all of it, came from Stella stirring the pot.

Just wait. This time I will not let her off.

We'd chatted a while when Aunt Marlene, the one who'd examined Stella's body, came out of the house.

Her face was dark, and the look she gave me was strange.

She just stared at me and said nothing, so I asked her straight out. "The exam's done. Stella wasn't touched by anyone, was she?"

"Wrong! Stella was violated by an animal!"