House on Diablo Road: Resurrection Day (The McCann Family Saga Book 3) by Jeanie Freeman- Harper Page A
Authors: Jeanie Freeman- Harper
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shop every day for a shave and every other Saturday for a haircut.”
“ I don’t suppose he’s still alive.”
“ Oh no. He’s buried out there in that private cemetery behind the main house, next to Lucinda and members of the McCann family. Of course, it was a McCann’s cemetery to begin with. All the more strange for him to lie there, since he hated Cyrus with a passion. Cyrus was a Unionist and a deserter, if only in his eyes. Then too, there was always rivalry over Lucinda between them.”
“ Something seems amiss, but I don’t know what it is,” said Jesse.
Clancy placed his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “You can’t right an imaginary wrong perpetrated by a hot head like Buck Hennessy. I don’t believe it was Jonathan and the Night Riders who hanged Cyrus. Like most folks, I believe it was Louis Monet and his friends. They were either after something, or they were part of a slave uprising. All sorts of stories circulated at the time.”
Jesse shook his head. “Buck says all of Cyrus’ field hands were free men. Apparently, my uncle didn’t condone slavery, so that story doesn't hold water. In fact, he treated them all as equals.”
Jesse paused, glanced around the bookstore and leaned in to speak in a low and urgent tone: “Everything connected to that house and the Bonney family is affecting my children, the youngest and the oldest. First off, I intend to set things straight with Crow for threatening my son. Beyond that, I need to know what kind of family Nathan comes from, before my daughter marries him. You know very well the Night Riders stay in the group generation after generation, and they keep their secrets. I don’t want that kind of people around my family.“
Upon overhearing that remark, a matronly woman peered over the top of a newly released F. Scott Fitzgerald and stared at curiously at both men.
Clancy's eyes widened, and a tiny twitch played about his jawline: “That’s where we draw the line. We don’t talk about the Night Riders .”
“ Why not?”
“ It’s a secret cult. They never shared their secrets, and if a man knew something, he kept his mouth shut.”
“ I heard the Night Riders reactivated to keep down people that don’t fit their mold, and I’ve no respect for that kind of self-righteous mob mentality. Isn’t it likely they were responsible for my uncle’s death? There are Civil War records reporting their rampage during that very month, hanging men they claimed were deserters. Sometimes they killed not out of retribution but just because someone had a grudge. Don’t say you don’t know anything. The perfect place for them to meet is upstairs behind the locked doors of that speakeasy.”
“ Why do you want to relive something that happened nearly six decades ago? “
“ Maybe I’d rather not, but it’s no secret that Buck believes Jonathan Bonney was the ring leader-for his own self-serving reasons.”
“ Let it go, Jesse. You never even got a chance to meet your uncle. He was killed before you were even born.”
“ Then do you believe it was Monet and the field hands who killed Cyrus?”
Clancy wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, and tucked it back in his pocket before answering. “There were several theories about it. Talk back then was about a fortune in gold coins missing from the house. Cyrus knew Louis Monet was the only worker who had access to his home. So he went over to the Monet cabin to question him. One of the field hands claimed he saw Cyrus go there. They think an argument ensued, and Louis settled it then and there. He may have had help in doing it, but he dragged Cyrus out to the dogwood tree and strung him up to make it look like the work of the riders.”
“ What a wild presumption. Don't you think that's a far reach?”
“ Come on now, Jesse. Innocent men don’t run away and hide for the rest of their lives.”
“ They might, if they feel the deck’s stacked against them. Are you telling me no one has seen the
“ I don’t suppose he’s still alive.”
“ Oh no. He’s buried out there in that private cemetery behind the main house, next to Lucinda and members of the McCann family. Of course, it was a McCann’s cemetery to begin with. All the more strange for him to lie there, since he hated Cyrus with a passion. Cyrus was a Unionist and a deserter, if only in his eyes. Then too, there was always rivalry over Lucinda between them.”
“ Something seems amiss, but I don’t know what it is,” said Jesse.
Clancy placed his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “You can’t right an imaginary wrong perpetrated by a hot head like Buck Hennessy. I don’t believe it was Jonathan and the Night Riders who hanged Cyrus. Like most folks, I believe it was Louis Monet and his friends. They were either after something, or they were part of a slave uprising. All sorts of stories circulated at the time.”
Jesse shook his head. “Buck says all of Cyrus’ field hands were free men. Apparently, my uncle didn’t condone slavery, so that story doesn't hold water. In fact, he treated them all as equals.”
Jesse paused, glanced around the bookstore and leaned in to speak in a low and urgent tone: “Everything connected to that house and the Bonney family is affecting my children, the youngest and the oldest. First off, I intend to set things straight with Crow for threatening my son. Beyond that, I need to know what kind of family Nathan comes from, before my daughter marries him. You know very well the Night Riders stay in the group generation after generation, and they keep their secrets. I don’t want that kind of people around my family.“
Upon overhearing that remark, a matronly woman peered over the top of a newly released F. Scott Fitzgerald and stared at curiously at both men.
Clancy's eyes widened, and a tiny twitch played about his jawline: “That’s where we draw the line. We don’t talk about the Night Riders .”
“ Why not?”
“ It’s a secret cult. They never shared their secrets, and if a man knew something, he kept his mouth shut.”
“ I heard the Night Riders reactivated to keep down people that don’t fit their mold, and I’ve no respect for that kind of self-righteous mob mentality. Isn’t it likely they were responsible for my uncle’s death? There are Civil War records reporting their rampage during that very month, hanging men they claimed were deserters. Sometimes they killed not out of retribution but just because someone had a grudge. Don’t say you don’t know anything. The perfect place for them to meet is upstairs behind the locked doors of that speakeasy.”
“ Why do you want to relive something that happened nearly six decades ago? “
“ Maybe I’d rather not, but it’s no secret that Buck believes Jonathan Bonney was the ring leader-for his own self-serving reasons.”
“ Let it go, Jesse. You never even got a chance to meet your uncle. He was killed before you were even born.”
“ Then do you believe it was Monet and the field hands who killed Cyrus?”
Clancy wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, and tucked it back in his pocket before answering. “There were several theories about it. Talk back then was about a fortune in gold coins missing from the house. Cyrus knew Louis Monet was the only worker who had access to his home. So he went over to the Monet cabin to question him. One of the field hands claimed he saw Cyrus go there. They think an argument ensued, and Louis settled it then and there. He may have had help in doing it, but he dragged Cyrus out to the dogwood tree and strung him up to make it look like the work of the riders.”
“ What a wild presumption. Don't you think that's a far reach?”
“ Come on now, Jesse. Innocent men don’t run away and hide for the rest of their lives.”
“ They might, if they feel the deck’s stacked against them. Are you telling me no one has seen the
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