Back to the 80s: No Stepping Stone for Scumbag and Cousin

My cousin crawled into the cornfield with a drunk Godfrey Cobb.

To save her own skin, she knocked me out and dumped me there, then called the villagers over to gawk.

I tried to deny it, tried to explain what really happened, but no one believed me.

Instead my parents rushed over and beat me half to death.

My reputation was ruined, and I had no choice but to marry Godfrey Cobb.

Then I watched, helpless, as my cousin took my college acceptance and went off to school in my place.

But I never expected that Godfrey Cobb, that penniless nobody, would stumble into a powerful benefactor and become a millionaire.

My cousin, meanwhile, was expelled from college for the identity fraud, and her body fell apart with illness.

On her deathbed, she clutched Godfrey Cobb's hand and wept until her voice broke.

I was the one who crawled into the cornfield with you back then. She was jealous of me, so she tricked me away and stole my identity

I wanted to tell them the truth, but my parents turned around and backed my cousin's story.

Every good day you ever had, you stole it from your cousin. She's dying now, and you're still lying through your teeth?

Godfrey Cobb had already suspected I wasn't the one who'd been with him in the cornfield that night.

He hated me for deceiving him, and hated me even more for killing his true love.

With no way to defend myself, pregnant, I was thrown out of the house and froze to death

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment my parents sent me to find my cousin.

I grabbed a gong and drum and banged them until the whole village was awake.

My cousin is missing! Please, everyone, help me find her!

The moment that shout tore out of me, more than half the village woke up, and plenty of people called back, saying they'd throw on some clothes and come right out.

Of course my parents heard the racket too. They came scrambling out the door to stop me, but by then I'd already gotten the villagers stirred up.

My mother, Emily Johnson, shoved into the crowd, slapped me across the back, and hissed under her breath.

Are you trying to get yourself killed? I sent you to find Madge, what are you screaming about?

My father, Chester Morton, followed Emily's lead and reached out to pinch my ear.

You want everyone knowing Madge isn't home in the middle of the night? You trying to ruin Madge's reputation?

The old me would have admitted fault and backed down on the spot.

But now I only stepped back a few paces, banged the gong and drum louder, and raised my voice even more.

Mom, Dad, I'm doing this for Madge's own good.

A girl not home this late at night, and we're supposed to hide it and not go looking?

And how did this turn into a reputation thing? Madge went to see a movie. Maybe she twisted her ankle and fell in a ditch. How am I supposed to find her alone? Of course we need everyone pitching in to look.

The crowd was eager to help and eager for a show, so they chimed in one after another, lanterns and flashlights in hand, and started searching in an orderly line.

Chester Morton and Emily Johnson knew perfectly well that Madge Roy hadn't fallen into any ditch.

But two mouths couldn't hold back these few dozen eager villagers.

So they didn't dare make a fuss anymore. Teeth gritted, they charged to the very front of the search.

Because they both knew exactly what kind of person Madge Roy was, it wasn't long before they dragged me straight to the cornfield and found Madge Roy and Godfrey Cobb.

The color drained from both their faces.

They clapped their hands over my mouth at once, one on each side.

Keep quiet. Just tell everyone Madge has been found and get them to go home!

I nodded again and again.

Then the instant they let go, I struck the battered gong in my hands.

Help!

My Madge has been killed by Godfrey Cobb!

2:

Chester Morton and Emily Johnson were nearly beside themselves with fury.

They couldn't understand how I, always so obedient and easy to handle, had turned into a lunatic tonight. But by the time they thought to clap a hand over my mouth or drag the truth out of me, it was too late, because the villagers out searching had already heard me shouting and were closing in from every side.

The moment they got close, though, the alarm on their faces melted into the grin of people who've come to watch a show.

They'd all been through this before. They knew Madge Roy hadn't been killed by Godfrey Cobb at all. The two of them had met here for a date, gotten drunk, and simply fallen asleep.

Sure, Madge and Godfrey were fully dressed and looked like they hadn't done anything shameful. But in a situation like that, whether something had happened or not made no difference to anyone.

Seeing me still standing there like a fool, hunting for a rock to smash the murderer Godfrey's head in, the neighbor auntie hurried over and grabbed my hand.

"Evie, Madge is fine, honey."

"The two of them are courting. Your family's about to have a happy occasion."

At that moment Chester and Emily could have killed me, but I played it so innocent there was nothing for them to pin on me.

So one of them shook Madge awake, while the other set to kicking and pounding on Godfrey, who was still asleep on the ground, shouting that he was a filthy sex offender the whole time.

Godfrey got "woken up" by the beating.

For a second after his eyes opened, he looked dazed.

But he recovered fast, pulling the ashen-faced Madge behind him, his voice rising.

"Whatever you've got, take it out on me. You don't touch Madge!"

"I'll take responsibility. I'll marry her."

Hearing that only made Chester and Emily angrier. The two of them went wild, demanding that everyone call the police.

"Who wants a filthy pervert like you taking responsibility? Who'd marry a pervert like you?"

"We're calling the police, we're taking her to the hospital to be examined. That's the only way to clear our Madge's name!"

But right then, Madge spoke up.

"Mom, Dad, stop making a scene. I... I came here on my own."

3:

All Chester and Emily could do was say, faces black as thunder, that we should head home first.

The five of us walked home step by step through the crowd's laughter.

It wasn't until I was lying in bed that I came down from the joy of being reborn and started thinking through everything that had happened tonight.

In my last life, Godfrey had been drunk.

All he remembered was looking at the stars and the moon with some girl, but he could never recall exactly who. So when Madge knocked me out and left me there, and Chester and Emily, who knew full well what had really happened, refused to let me explain, just cursed me for being shameless while they beat me black and blue.

Godfrey could only assume the girl who'd watched the stars with him was me. Unwilling as he was, he married me anyway...

But just now he'd called out Madge's name the instant he woke.

He'd pulled her behind him, frantic to protect her, and Madge hadn't denied a word of it. Instead she'd said, dead serious, that she'd come of her own free will.

It wasn't until we walked through the front door that I was sure of it. The two of them had been reborn too...

I drifted off somewhere in the middle of remembering.

I don't know how much time passed before Emily's slap jolted me awake. When I opened my eyes, I found she and Chester had been standing by the bed for who knew how long.

Seeing me all bleary and half-asleep, Emily nearly burst a vein.

"Do you have any idea what people in the village are saying about Madge right now?"

"You've all but driven Madge to her death, and you can still sleep?"

I felt wronged.

I covered my face and let the tears pour down.

"Mom, Dad, how can you blame me?"

"Yesterday Madge went to see a movie. I said I wanted to go too, so we'd have each other to lean on, and you two wouldn't let me."

"Then when Madge didn't come home, I said we should all go look for her together, and you two wouldn't have that either. You insisted I go alone."

"But how was I supposed to know where Madge was? All I could do was beg everyone to help me search."

"You two were the ones who found her. You clapped a hand over me and said something I couldn't even make out. If you'd just spoken plainly, why would I ever have called everyone over?"

Four:

But Chester wouldn't hear a word of it. He let out a cold snort.

"Don't twist it around. If you hadn't gone banging pots and drums looking for Madge, her name wouldn't be ruined!"

"Here's what I've decided. Madge can't marry Godfrey just because of your mess. You're going to go out there and admit it. Admit that you and Godfrey are the ones seeing each other."

"Madge only went out there to look for you!"

"You were the one scared of getting caught, so you dumped Madge out there on purpose and then turned around and dragged half the town out to gawk at her!"

I froze for a second. That version of things. Why was it exactly the same as last life?

I looked up quickly.

"Everyone was there that night. And Madge and Godfrey both admitted it to each other's faces. If I go out and say otherwise now, how could anyone believe me?"

"And even if they did believe me, then what happens to me?"

"Madge's name matters. Doesn't mine count for anything?"

Emily rolled her eyes at me.

"As long as you say it, people will believe it."

"As for your name, don't you worry about that. Once you admit it, we'll have you marry Godfrey, and Madge will take your place and go off to college out of state."

"You don't lose anything either. Haven't you always been sweet on Godfrey anyway? College may not even come to anything. Being with the man you love, now that's worth something."

I laughed to myself, cold and quiet.

If college was worthless, then why, in that life and in this one, did they always have to send Madge?

But I had already been reborn, so nothing in front of me came as a surprise.

Chester and Emily had always treated Madge Roy, orphaned young, better than they treated me. If Madge hadn't insisted last night that she'd gone willingly, they'd have forced me to confess right then.

In their plan.

Whether anyone believed it didn't matter at all.

As long as I married Godfrey, Madge could take my place and go to college. Once she was far away, out from under anyone's eye, nothing that happened in this little village would touch her.

As for what became of me afterward.

That wasn't anywhere in their thoughts.

Five:

Just like last life.

They'd known perfectly well that Madge hadn't come home that night because she was out in the cornfield, and yet they never woke her. They turned around and went home instead, and lied to me to send me out looking for her.

They let me walk straight into Madge's trap.

Back then I explained myself until I had no breath left, and still they backed up Madge's false story.

"This girl's had a thing for Godfrey for the longest time. We just never dreamed she'd be this shameless."

"There's nothing for it now but to let the two of them marry. Otherwise, how are we supposed to live in this village afterward?"

And when Godfrey refused back then, they threatened him. If he wouldn't marry me, they'd call the police and have him hauled off.

They pushed all of it onto me, just because I liked Godfrey, so nothing I said made any difference. I had no choice but to marry him, and it all ended in ruin for me...

But I'd clawed my way back into this life. Why would I ever agree to be their stepping stone again?

I was about to refuse outright.

Then a flicker at the edge of my sight. I saw two figures standing in the doorway.

So I swallowed the refusal back down.

"But even if I really do admit it, will Madge and Godfrey go along with it?"

Chester and Emily frowned.

They weren't surprised I'd think that. After all, last night Madge and Godfrey had stood there with their fingers laced together, both swearing it was by choice.

Still, the two of them just waved it off.

"That's nothing for you to worry about."

"Madge has a kind heart. She knows you like Godfrey, and she's willing to give him up to you."

"As for Godfrey, he's got no way to fight it. If he refuses, we'll go to the police and say he forced himself on you. Death or a wife, he'll know which one to pick."

"It all comes down to you now. You wronged Madge. You can't just walk away from that."

Hearing this.

I put on a frightened, bashful look and nodded.

"Then... then... I'll do whatever you say, Mom and Dad."

6:

The moment I said I'd do as my parents wanted, that was it.

Madge and Godfrey burst in from the doorway, pointing right in my face and calling me shameless.

Why would I ever marry you? The one I love is Madge. I've turned you down over and over. Don't you get it?

Let me tell you something, Eve. Don't think I can't see it. You blew this up on purpose to back Godfrey into a corner, so he'd have no choice but to marry you.

At first Mom and Dad didn't believe it. They kept saying we were overthinking. Then one little test, and you showed your hand.

The two of them talked over each other for a good while.

Only then did I let it show, playing the girl who'd just realized she'd been set up, covering my face in shame and running out.

But I didn't go far.

I circled around instead, to the corner behind the house.

I'd barely crouched down.

Then I heard Madge's voice.

Mom, Dad, you believe us now, don't you?

Godfrey and I were both reborn. In our last life Eve took my place and married him, became a rich man's wife, and lived the good life.

I let out a breath.

So all of today was a test to see whether I'd been reborn too, a whole act staged to prove that Madge and Godfrey had. Good thing I hadn't slipped.

Chester believed Madge as well, though he still wasn't happy about it.

So what if the two of you were reborn?

Going to college is the real way up. What good does marrying this pauper do?

Godfrey jumped in fast.

I may be poor now, but before long a benefactor is going to come along, take me on, and make me a millionaire.

When that happens, I'll make sure you and Madge live well right alongside me.

If you still don't believe me, I can name a few more things to prove it. Then you can agree to let me marry Madge!

7:

Over the days that followed.

Madge and Godfrey predicted several things right, proving beyond doubt that they'd been reborn.

And Chester and Emily finally believed it, understanding that marrying Madge off to Godfrey was the best move, so they set about planning the wedding with real delight.

And

In my last life, my wedding to Godfrey had been a shabby thing.

Just a meal for the neighbors on the third day after it all came out. Their reasoning was that I'd disgraced myself, so I should marry as fast as possible, and that anything lavish would only make people laugh.

Back then my injuries hadn't even fully healed. I bowed through the ceremony limping, and Godfrey never once thought to steady me. He just let me fall and shame myself.

But this time the wedding was planned for a long while, and it was quite the affair.

Their reasoning was that Madge and Godfrey had made fools of themselves, so a grand wedding was needed to turn everyone's opinion around.

But that was only part of it.

The real reason, only I knew. Because the day of the wedding was the very day Godfrey met his benefactor.

So from the moment the wedding began, Madge and Godfrey kept their eyes fixed on the door.

And as the crowd murmured and sneered.

Chester and Emily still wore smug looks.

What do any of you know? Don't sneer at a young man for being poor. Godfrey is no ordinary person.

Just wait and see. Any minute now, someone with a real eye for talent is going to come recognize what Godfrey's worth.

Then you'll all understand what a fine husband my Madge has married.

The crowd, naturally, waited with their necks craned.

They waited until the wedding was nearly over, until everyone had lost patience, and then a motorcade finally pulled up at the door. Out stepped a refined, gentle-mannered middle-aged man, clearly a man of no small worth.

Excuse me, is this the Morton house?

8:

Godfrey recognized him at a glance. This was the benefactor who had changed his life last time, the renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist, the billionaire William Weiss.

Last life.

William had come to the city to talk a deal with a factory, and by chance had followed that factory's manager out to the village to enjoy the scenery, and that was how he'd seen Godfrey.

Back then he'd taken Godfrey by the hand.

He'd said that seeing him was like seeing his own younger self, and asked whether Godfrey had any interest in going into business with him. Godfrey didn't refuse, of course. Later he even took William as his godfather and rose all the way to the top.

And with this rebirth of his.

Everything he'd been waiting for came down to this day. So he straightened his clothes and rushed forward at once.

Yes, may I ask who you are?

The commune director trailing behind William immediately started introducing him, and that long string of titles left everyone present stunned.

Quite a few began whispering to one another.

Talking in the local dialect.

This benefactor Godfrey kept going on about, could it really be him?

That many cars, I've only ever seen it in the movies they screen at the edge of the village. If Godfrey's hitched himself to that man, then his life really is set.

No wonder the Mortons said he had potential. No wonder Madge was so set on marrying him!

Godfrey listened.

He was practically floating, and he stepped straight up, hand out.

Mr. Weiss, hello, I'm Godfrey Cobb!

Today is my wedding. Might I have the honor of your having a cup of the wedding toast?

William's brow drew in slightly.

He didn't shake Godfrey's hand. Instead he looked around, as if searching for something.

But before he could say a word, Madge rushed up too, dropping a pointed hint.

Mr. Weiss, you look so much like my husband, Godfrey.

As if she hoped William would hear it and say something warm about loving him.

But William ignored them both. He walked straight up to me, and with a smiling face said,

Eve, I've finally found you.