Page 53 of The Frozen River

I hesitate, but only for a moment. “Though I am old enough to be certain of little, I do know that Isaac is a bookish man, not a brutish one. And it was he who insisted that this case go through the courts. It makes no sense that he would take justice into his own hands before the process even got started.”

“Well, I hope you are right.” He returns the hat to his head. “I’d best be getting back.”

Ephraim watches him go, and I can see all the questions building in his eyes. Once Barnabas has pushed through the door, he turns to me. “What was all that about?”

“I think young Mr. Lambard is trying to remain on my good side.”

“And why exactly would he be concerned with that?”

“Probably because he’s smitten with your daughter.”

“I doubt Moses will be pleased to hear that.”

“I doubt Moses will care. Barnabas isn’t after Hannah.”

Ephraim does the math. Frowns. “No. She’s too young.”

“Explain that to Dolly.”

“I’d rather you explain what’s happened while I’ve been gone. And quickly.”

I open my mouth to do just that when we hear the sound of shouting in the streets. The judge is ready.

The spectators make room for Ephraim and me as we enter the Meeting House again. We find better seats toward the front this time. Wood waits until those involved are present.

“The case brought before the court today is difficult,” Obadiah Wood begins. “Mistress Foster gave compelling testimony, and Mistress Ballard gave proof that she was accosted in August as she says.”

Oh God, no, I think.

I can feel it coming, the “but” that will serve as justification for denying justice. I can feel it coming the way I sense a storm or an argument. Like lightning in the air. It rises in my blood, and I squeeze Ephraim’s hand so hard that he hisses in protest.

“The difficulty is,” Wood continues, “that the Court of General Sessions was established to settle petty matters, and there is nothing petty about the charges we heard today. I am thus referring this case to the Court of Common Pleas for additional advice.” The room erupts but Wood bangs his gavel seven times. “The court will reconvene in Hallowell with a full bench on January twenty-ninth.”

“What a coward! What a guttersnipe! What a foul, stinking codpiece!” I slam the door to my room at the tavern after Ephraim steps inside. I throw my satchel to the floor. Pace. “He just absolved himself of responsibility.”

Ephraim lowers himself to the bed with a tired groan and pulls off his boots. “He sits on the Court of Common Pleas for Kennebec County. That means he’ll be hearing the case again.”

“He could have brought charges today! He could have sent it straight to the Supreme Judicial Court!”

Ephraim’s voice is warm and soft. “The man was being shrewd, Martha. He knows that any serious charges brought by a lower court would likely be tossed out unless they go through the Court of Common Pleas first. But a majority verdict from the Sessions will be heard. What seems like cowardice might in fact be the only hope Rebecca has.”

I can feel the anger rolling toward me like a fog, and I begin to tremble. My eyes burn.

Ephraim Ballard has long made a study of me. He can feel my moods shift like the wind. He pulls me down to sit beside him so that I can lay my head on his shoulder.

“It isn’t fair!”

“No. It isn’t.”

And then I cry. Mostly for Rebecca and the tiny, unwanted beating heart deep within her womb. But also for myself. And our daughters. And for every other woman who lives, suffers, and dies by the mercurial whims of men. Three minutes later, when I have wrung myself dry, I lean over and pull the journal out of my satchel.

“What are you doing?”

“The only thing I can.”

I take up my pen and, with a trembling hand, mix my ink. My rage makes my handwriting almost illegible.

Wednesday, December 23—A cloudy day. I went to Vassalboro as evidence in the Cause between the Commonwealth and Joseph North, Esquire. The charge was that North, on the night of August tenth, broke into the house of Isaac Foster and ravished his wife. My testimony was that Mrs. Foster on the nineteenth of August, complained to me that she had received great abuses from North and was gravely injured. The judge determined the Cause is to be laid before the Sessions next January.