"Jake, get Jed's truck and run and get Doc Brown. Maybe he has enough training to talk some sense in that girl. She is threatening to kill herself and I don't think she is kidding. She has never talked that way before."...

...Aunt Maudie could hear Lizzie Jane tearing some cloth. What was she doing? Aunt Maudie tried to knock the door in, but was not strong enough......

Chapter 17

Lizzie Jane scurried around trying to get supper ready for Jake. The vegetables were from the canned goods that Aunt Maudie and she had put up from the preceding summer. The ham had to be washed thoroughly and everything had to be seasoned just right.

Just as she was finishing, there came a knock on the door. Lizzie Jane heard Aunt Maudie say, "Come in Jake. Lizzie Jane is in the kitchen."

Lizzie Jane was setting the table just as Jake walked in. Looking up, she smiled a sweet smile and said, "Hello, Jake."

"So, you do know me?" inquired Jake.

"Yep," replied Lizzie Jane proudly. "I got a lot of my memory back."

"A lot? Then you don't remember everything?"

"No, I thought I remembered everything after the time that Big John rescued me and, after talking to Aunt Maudie today, I realized I didn't."

"How about our engagement?"

"Oh, I remember you asking me to marry you and, out of confusion, I remember saying 'yes'."

"Out of confusion? Then you did not mean it?"

"Jake, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I believe that your proposal is what caused me to faint and lose my memory. Since then, I have seen the outside world and --- well, girls just don't get married at 14 any more -- well, at least, very few."

Jake stood there shocked to some extent. "But, you know I love you," he said in a pleading tone.

"Jake, I love you, too -- but, for marriage --- well, I just don't know. You are a good friend..."

"A good friend is all I am?" asked Jake, his tone turning cooler.

"Please, Jake, understand -- Here, I have fixed supper for you."

"Supper? You expect me to eat supper when the girl I love has just told me that I am just a friend?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that," cried Lizzie Jane, tears beginning to flow from her eyes. "Oh, I don't know what to say! I had it all planned out that we could have supper together and talk this thing over, but..."

"So you planned to let me down easy. Is that it!?"

Lizzie Jane dropped a dish, breaking as it hit the floor, and ran upstairs. She ran into her room, slammed the door, and fell across the bed, sobbing. Why couldn't Jake understand? Why didn't things work out like she had planned? She felt at the moment that she had never been so heartbroken in her life.

Yes, she loved Jake? Why could she not tell him that straight? Now, he is angry. Jake had never said a cross word to her in his life. Now -- oh, everything was going wrong.

Aunt Maudie came into the kitchen and saw Jake sitting by himself and asked, "Where is Lizzie Jane?"

"I am afraid I upset her. I made a big deal about her referring to us as friends. Mrs. Morton, I love that girl with all my heart. To me, she is more than a friend. She is the love of my life," stated Jake in a mournful tone of voice.

"Jake, she is young and just find out about life. She has been sheltered all her life with a mother who tried to raise Lizzie Jane right after a good-for-nothing man left her mother with a baby to raise. Lizzie Jane does not remember that, but somewhere in her subconscious, it must be there. There are a lot of things stored up in the back of that girl's mind that we would not imagine."

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Morton. I guess I spoke too harsh and she went upstairs crying."

"I will go and look in on her," offered Aunt Maudie.

Aunt Maudie knocked lightly on the door of Lizzie Jane's bedroom. "Can I come in?" she asked.

"Go away. I can't do anything but hurt the ones I love," came the voice from inside. Aunt Maudie could hear in Lizzie Jane's voice that she was crying.

"Come on, open the door. I want to talk to you. Please."

"No!" screamed Lizzie Jane. "I am no good to anybody. I am just going to kill myself!"

"Don't talk that way, child. You know you don't want to do that."

"Yes, I do. You won't see me alive in the morning."

"Please don't say that! Please!" pleaded Aunt Maudie.

Maudie ran downstairs. "Jake, get Jed's truck and run and get Doc Brown. Maybe he has enough training to talk some sense in that girl. She is threatening to kill herself and I don't think she is kidding. She has never talked that way before."

Maudie got the truck keys out of a desk. Jake grabbed them and ran outside. Aunt Maudie could hear the truck start and tires spinning as Jake left the yard.
Meanwhile, she went back upstairs to try to talk some sense into Lizzie Jane's head.

"Come on. Open the door, Lizzie Jane. Right now!" begged Aunt Maudie.

"No, I am getting ready to leave this world," replied Lizzie Jane.

Aunt Maudie begged, "Please open this door. I love you. We all love you. Please, don't do anything to hurt us."

"I have already hurt all of you. I lost my memory and ran away. I hurt Jake tonight. How many more of you am I going to hurt? The best thing is for me to leave this world. You all will get over me in a short time."

Aunt Maudie could hear Lizzie Jane tearing some cloth. What was she doing? Aunt Maudie tried to knock the door in, but was not strong enough. She ran outside to try to find something to burst the door lock.

Doc Brown drove up with Jake right behind him.

"I found him on the road," explained Jake. "When I told him about Lizzie Jane, he came right on ahead of me. Boy, can that man drive -- and I thought I was fast."

"Quick, let's hurry," pleaded Aunt Maudie.

Doc Brown ran up the stairs, which was quite a feat for an old man, with Jake and Aunt Lizzie right behind him. Doc Brown knocked very loudly on the door.

"Lizzie Jane, let us in or we will knock the door down," exclaimed Doc Brown.

There wasn't any sound. Doc Brown called again. Still no sound.

"Come on, Jake, Let's get in there."

Doc Brown and Jake hit the door with their shoulders together and it came open and saw the shock of their life. There was Lizzie Jane with a string of cloth tied around her neck dangling from a light fixture which appeared like it was going to fall.

"Quick, let's get her down," screamed Doc Brown.

Since Lizzie Jane's feet where just off the floor. so it wasn't any problem for Jake to cut the cloth rope above Lizzie Jane's head. Doc Brown carefully placed her on the bed, felt her pulse, and took out his stethoscope to listen to her heart.

"Is she ---?" began Aunt Maudie.

"Yes, Maudie -- I hate to say this -- but Lizzie Jane is dead."

 
 
What? Is this to be continued?
Well, yes -- Final Chapter next time-
-
-
Copyright 2008 by Starla Anne Lowry
Under the name of Billie Sue Pilgrim