Finding Eliza (17 page)

“We’ll make her understand if she finds out, Gramps. Don’t you worry. I promise we’ll be okay.”

Looking at Lizzie, Avery hoped that it was a promise that he could keep for his grandfather.

Chapter Sixteen

Armed with her light jacket, Lizzie walked back into the library. The short break outside in the fresh air did wonders for Lizzie’s determination.

“If Eldridge wasn’t mentioned by name in the newspaper, what about Eliza?” she asked Gertrude as she sat back down at the microfilm reader. “Someone had to mention a local teenager who had died because of a violent encounter like this.”

“Now you’re thinking. If you hit a brick wall, look for another way around it.” Gertrude smiled at her granddaughter. “Where would you start first?”

“You said to work backward in time, right? When did Aunt Eliza die?” Lizzie reached for her pencil and notepad.

“She died in October. My father wrote a short entry about it in his diary. I think it was the twelfth or thirteenth. Give one of those a try.” Gertrude tilted her head back to look through her reading glasses as she continued to scroll through her film.

Lizzie pulled the diary from her bag. She thumbed through the pages until she found the correct entry. “Here it is,” she said. “It was October twelfth.”

***

Diary of Alston James: 12 October 1934

The Lord called home my sister today. The marble angel in the cemetery wept over her that night, and now they can rejoice in the calling home of another sweet soul.

I pray that my sister can finally be at peace. It wasn’t something that she could get here on earth. I hope that she will find it in heaven.

My heart breaks for the loss of my best friend - my baby sister. How will I move through life without her?

I look into the eyes of my beloved Anne and wonder if I will be able to protect her any more than I could Eliza. The guilt I have is heavy. Oh, Lord, I failed her. I wasn’t able to save her when she needed me.

Goodbye, Eliza. Your Allie loves you. You will never be forgotten as long as I have breath.

Alston closed his diary and placed it in the top desk drawer. Anne knocked on the office door just as the drawer clicked into place.

“Sweetheart, the funeral home has sent someone to collect Eliza. Do you feel like talking with them? Your father can’t bring himself to do it. He needs you now, Alston, if you’re able.”

Alston walked his wife into the hallway. His father sat weeping in a chair in the front room, his hands covering his face. The sight caused Alston’s chin to quiver. He placed a hand on his father’s shoulder out of love and then coughed as he tried to stuff down his own emotions.

“This way,” he said as he motioned to the funeral home employees that they needed to go upstairs. The two employees, clean-shaven and dressed in dark gray suits, walked up the stairs in front of him. They hesitated at the top of the stairs until Alston pointed toward the room where Eliza lay in bed. “She almost looks like she’s just sleeping,” Alston whispered.

Eliza lay peacefully on the bed before them. Her head tilted toward the window as if she was daydreaming. Alston walked around the men to stand by his sister’s side. He brushed back the hair that had fallen across her eyes and then placed his hand on her face. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he prepared to say goodbye to Eliza.

“Please, take good care of her. She’s my little sister.”

“Mr. Alston, you might want to step out while we get her ready to go,” the younger man said.

Alston nodded and walked to his bedroom. As he closed the door, he heard the sound of the gurney wheels as they brought it up the stairs. Falling to his knees, Alston lowered his head into his hands and sobbed.

***

“This is just heartbreaking,” Lizzie whispered, careful not to disturb the other researchers. “Have you been able to find anything in the newspaper yet or should I keep going?”

“I did locate a small obituary. It’s not written like those you read today. When you are looking through the obits, don’t set your expectations too high. Sometimes they contain a lot of detail about the person, but most times the obituaries for the average person in our county were no more than a line or two.” Gertrude waved Lizzie over to her machine. “This is Eliza’s.” She pointed to the bottom of a column in the newspaper to a short column simple titled,
Death Announcements.

Eliza James, daughter of Frank and Amelia James, died at the home of her brother, Alston, last week. Services were held at the First Baptist Church. Rev. Thomas Ray officiated.

“Is there any way to find out what happened to her?” Lizzie kept reading the words over and over. “I’m just shocked that they summed up her life in a few little sentences.”

“I asked my father what happened to his sister just once. He always believed that she died of a broken heart,” said Gertrude. “That’s all he would say.”

“What do you think she died of that day?” Lizzie asked while writing on her notepad.

“I think he was right. There is a real syndrome nicknamed the ‘broken heart syndrome’. It’s a type of cardiomyopathy caused by deep emotional stress. Think of it as a form of a heart attack but lighter. I think it’s fitting. Daddy didn’t realize that decades later they would determine that a broken heart is a real medical condition.”

“That’s so sad, Gran. Poor Eliza.”

Lizzie’s heart grieved for the aunt that she would never know. “Out of curiosity, do you know what happened to Eldridge’s body? Did they bury him in the town cemetery?”

“During that time, the cemetery was segregated by race. Eldridge was buried on the other side of the fence from our family plot in what was designated as the ‘colored cemetery’.” Gertrude squeezed her lips together in a frown and shook her head slowly. “Different times, indeed.”

The other gals had already left, their research completed. Only Lizzie and Gertrude remained in the dark, cool room. Lizzie bent down and placed her arm around her grandmother’s shoulders. “Would you take me to visit her grave tomorrow? I’d like to pay my respects.”

“I think that would be a wonderful idea.” Gertrude smiled. “You’ll find this interesting. Eliza’s headstone faces a different direction compared to those around her. Wouldn’t it be something if Daddy did it so that she could face Eldridge? I can’t imagine the attention that would have caused. He also put an angel on her headstone. I had no idea why until I read the he found her beneath the weeping angel that night.”

“I want to look through a few more newspapers first, though. Are you sure that there aren’t any other mentions of the lynching?” Lizzie asked.

“What you found is most likely all you will find, but we can keep looking if you’d like. It’s always best to exhaust all your resources.”

The two women looked through several issues of the town newspaper without result before Gertrude suggested that they try the archives of the larger paper one town north of Everett Springs.

“Gran! This article lists information about a gathering for the KKK in the area the night after the Eldridge was murdered. Do you think those men could have been involved in what happened to the two of them?”

“Like I mentioned before, my father was worried about the KKK, though we will have no way of knowing if it was them. According to the diary, Eliza was never able to give him too many details about the men that were there that night. She did seem to refer to her main attacker as the man in white, so I would assume they could have been involved.” Gertrude removed her reading glasses and rubbed her straining eyes. “I don’t know what you’ll be able to find out. Their ranks are extremely secretive. They kept their faces hidden for a reason.”

“Because they were cowards,” Lizzie said under her breath.

“Lizzie, darling, are you sure you want to dig into this hornet’s nest? You might not like where it leads.”

“If I had a chance to expose those responsible and to shine a light on their evil, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m a big girl. I think I’ll take my chances.”

As Lizzie gathered her things, she thought about the ages of those involved. She knew that most of the people involved wouldn’t be alive, but she hoped she’d have the chance to confront them if they were.

***

Leaving Gertrude to finish her other research, Lizzie headed home. As she walked across the grassy yard in front of the library, Avery Abernathy walked out of the local diner.

“Hey, Avery!” Lizzie called as she jogged to meet him on the sidewalk. “Imagine running into you in the same parking lot twice in the same day. How’s your day with your grandfather going?”

“We’re having a good time catching up. Actually, I wanted to talk to you. My grandfather said that you were looking into a family diary of yours. Finding anything good?”

“I am indeed. It was my grandmother’s little trick to get me involved in her family history research. Unfortunately for me, it worked.” Lizzie said with a giggle. “The diary tells a tragic story in my family’s past, so it’s been an emotional week.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it wasn’t something crazy like a crime.” Avery hoped to lead her into a conversation about the details. Any information she shared would give him insight into her intentions. Avery shifted his weight and leaned against the newspaper box next to him. He crossed his arms loosely over his chest and tilted his head to the side. He wanted to appear relaxed and hide the nerves that he felt.

“Actually, there was. My aunt and her companion were murdered. I’m determined to find out as much information about what happened as I can.”

“You’re making it sound like you’re the modern day Nancy Drew,” he teased.

“She was a white girl dating a black boy in the south during the 1930s. It didn’t go over well as you can imagine. He was lynched, and I think she was raped. I can’t prove a lot, but the timing and notes make me believe the local KKK had a hand in it.” Lizzie fiddled with her keys. “I can’t prove anything yet, but I feel like I need to bring justice to my aunt’s name if I can. It’s hard to think we had such darkness and horror in our little slice of Georgia heaven, but we did. Those people were just evil. I need to know who was involved.”

“Do you think they would still be alive? What’s the chance in that?”

“I’m sure you’re right. I’d just like to find an answer for once. Tragedy seems to be a theme in my family tree. It just doesn’t end.” Lizzie dropped her head to avoid making eye contact with Avery, but he could still see the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

He wasn’t sure how to react. He couldn’t breathe easy until he knew that his grandfather’s good name was protected. Avery shifted his weight from one side to the other and looked at Lizzie’s eyes before speaking. “Sometimes we just want closure. That’s what I hear you say. Right? Maybe there are other ways you can get it that might be more realistic than to track down the people involved.” Avery said a silent prayer as he waited for her answer.

“I suppose that’s true. I know that it sounds crazy to chase something like this after all these years. I should be going. Besides, if I keep you too long your grandfather will kill me!”

Avery cringed at her choice of words. “
If you only knew what you just said…”

***

After a long day of researching, Lizzie was thankful to see Jack busy at the kitchen when she walked in.

“I thought it would be a great night for comfort food,” said Jack. Still holding the cast iron pan handle in one hand and his spatula in the other, he leaned over and kissed his wife hello. “Now don’t distract me while I’m creating perfection.” He turned his attention back to his task creating of his specialty. Lizzie loved his grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, mayonnaise, and a little Dijon mustard.

Lizzie’s mouth watered. “Don’t let me take your attention, sir. Food is love, and I could use a dose of it tonight.” She set her things down on the kitchen table and folded into the barstool behind the kitchen island. “It was a crazy day today. I never realized that researching could take it out of you, but it does.”

“Oh, yeah? Do tell. What exciting adventure did you take while I was hard at work today?”

“I learned to use a microfilm reader. Jealous?” teased Lizzie.

“Boring…” Jack yawned and patted his mouth with the kitchen mitt.

“Ok, try this one. I met Thomas Abernathy’s grandson.”

“Now, that’s interesting. What’s his story?”

“He’s down visiting from Atlanta. He wanted to check out Everett Springs. His mom and dad moved out of town after he was born, and he’s thinking about moving back. He seems nice. He’s our age. You should meet him.”

“Why don’t you invite him over for dinner while he’s here?”

“That’s a great idea. We could fire up the barbecue.”

Jack flipped another sandwich onto a plate and slid it in front of Lizzie before reaching into the oven for a pan of spicy sweet potato fries. “Did you find out anything about Eliza and Eldridge?”

Lizzie started twirling a chunk of hair around the index finger of her right hand. “Do you know what bothers me most about this story? It could be anyone. This is only a few generations from me, so the people who did this to Eldridge and Eliza could have descendants in town right alongside me.” Lizzie paused. “What if I know the people involved? Do you think that’s possible?” She ripped a corner off of the sandwich and took a bite loaded with cheese and bacon.