Authors: Jill Marie Landis
Another vehicle was coming up the road. Simon accompanied it on horseback. The carriage was driven by a man in a brown suit and bowler hat, and two women were in back. As the carriage bounced in a deep pothole in the lane, one of the women grabbed her broad-brimmed hat.
“Who is that?” Marie wanted to know.
“I’m not sure,” Kate said.
Guests and visitors from nearby plantations had been coming and going since the harvest started. Though the work was back-breaking and the schedule demanding, there was a festive air during harvest season. Planters and their families called on one another to ask about progress and volunteer help if needed.
Hopefully, there was enough lemonade and an assortment of tea breads left for Kate to serve to these new guests. Eugenie was busy with the other women overseeing the field hands’ meals. All day long they dished up mouthwatering deep-pit barbequed pork and beef accompanied by pots of rice and skillets of corn bread cooked over open fires.
Kate headed toward the newcomers as the phaeton came to a stop. Simon dismounted and waited alongside to help the women down. The dark-haired gentleman driving the carriage doffed his bowler hat and smiled at Kate. She smiled back watching the women descend. They appeared to have no interest in what was
going on at the sugarhouse but were focused on her. She lifted her hand to wave and then gasped.
“What is it, Aunt Kate? Are you all right?”
Speechless, she grabbed Marie’s hand.
“Aunt Kate, what is it?”
Kate’s knees were trembling so hard she could barely stand.
The women wore expressions of yearning and uncertainty. One was smartly outfitted and wore a wide-brimmed hat with a bobbing ostrich feather. A full-figured blonde, her hair was thick and curly, her eyes sky blue. There were dimples in both her cheeks.
The other was a few inches taller and far slimmer. Her hair was dark brown and her skin was fair with a smattering of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were green, and she wore a navy ensemble that was understated but stylish with its white trim and bustle.
Kate stared at them through a wash of tears.
“Lovie? Megan? Don’t you know me?” She opened her arms.
The women rushed to her, hugging Kate between them. They laughed and cried and swayed together in a tight knot until the blonde’s hat tumbled to the ground. Kate’s glasses were shoved askew.
When they finally had their fill of hugs and exclamations, they released her. Kate wiped her eyes on her lace cuffs.
“Aunt Kate?” Marie whispered. “What’s happening? Who are they?”
“Marie, these are my sisters.” Her joy overflowed as she indicated the blonde. “This is Lovie.” Then Kate turned to the brunette. “And this is Megan.”
The man in the brown suit handed Lovie her hat. Without dusting it off, she anchored it in place.
“Why, hello, Marie,” Lovie said. “I’m very pleased to meet you. My name is Laura now. Mrs. Laura McCormick. I have a daughter at home who is almost your age.” She studied Marie a moment longer. “You are a very lovely child.”
“Marie was the daughter of my dearest friend,” Kate said. “She’s my daughter now.”
The younger of the two older sisters was once more composed, even thoughtful. Her expression was as serious as Marie’s.
“I go by Maddie now,” Megan told Kate. “Maddie Abbott.” She reached for the gentleman in the bowler hat and he took her hand. “This is my husband, Tom. He’s a Pinkerton agent.”
The gent smiled and bowed to Kate and Marie. “Pleased to meet you ladies.”
“What’s a Pinkerton?” Marie wanted to know.
“A detective.” Kate turned to Tom. “Was it you who found me?”
“I wish I could take all the credit, but it was Laura’s husband, Brand, who discovered the clue that finally led us to you.”
Laura nodded. “Brand took the children to the county fair in August. When he stopped to view an exhibit for the winning home designs shown by the
Prairie Home
periodical he saw the name Katherine Keene Delany on one of them.”
“But there are countless Katherines in the world,” Kate said. “How did you know it was me?”
Maddie responded, “Brand didn’t know at first, but the name and the shamrock gave him the idea.”
“The one in the window,” Laura said. “The circular stained glass window with the shamrock inside.”
“Mama’s necklace,” Kate whispered. The signature she placed in every set of her original designs.
“When Brand saw the shamrock in the round window it reminded him of our silver pattern. I had the same design reproduced on the handles of our silverware. When he saw that your name was Katherine, he was quite sure he was on to something. He purchased a copy of the periodical, and we sent the information to Tom and Maddie.”
“I finally had a name to go on,” Tom said. “We’ve been searching for you and for Sarah, but so many records were lost.”
“I tried to find you too,” Kate told them.
Abbott said, “I did some digging into the architect Katherine Keene Delany’s background and found she had been adopted by the Keenes shortly after you had been taken to the orphan asylum with Sarah.”
Maddie said, “I’ve known that you were working for an architect in New Orleans since September. It’s been torture waiting to find out if you were our Katie.”
“Why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
“That’s my fault,” Laura said. “When Tom was certain we had found you, I made them promise to wait until I could get here from Texas.”
Kate turned to Maddie again. “Do you live here in Louisiana?”
“We live right in New Orleans, and we have a small house on the bayou. I grew up in the city, but that’s a story for another time.”
“My parents had a townhouse in the city,” Kate said. “To think that we were so close …”
“I doubt we ever crossed paths.” Maddie sounded quite certain.
Kate turned to Laura again. “You’ve come all the way from Texas?”
“Mine is quite a story too.” Laura smiled. “And a long one, but we have lots of time to get to know each other again. Lots and lots of time.”
C
olin had seen the black phaeton drive in, but Jason had drawn him back into conversation about one of the mules turning the wheel of a cane crusher. He heard the squeals of excitement and hurried to join the group surrounding his wife.
“Visitors?” He nodded in greeting.
Seeing the tears in Kate’s eyes he asked, “Are you all right?”
“There’s no need to frown so, Colin. These are my sisters!” She introduced Laura and Maddie and Tom Abbott and explained how they’d found her. His concern for Kate was foremost as he greeted them all. They had lost a babe a few months back, and even though
Eugenie had predicted this one would be carried to term, Colin still worried.
“Let’s go up to the house and get out of the heat,” he suggested.
“It appears you’ve quite a production here,” Tom commented as they headed for the phaeton. “I’d be interested in a tour when you have time.”
“I’d love to show you around,” Colin agreed.
Marie said, “Should I get Damian?”
Kate pointed him out to her sisters. “That’s Marie’s brother, Damian.”
“Is he planting something?” Maddie wondered.
“What happened to him? Why is his head bandaged?” Laura squinted toward the tree where Damian was standing on the shovel.
“That’s not a bandage. It’s a pirate scarf. He’s digging for treasure. That’s about all he ever does.” Marie sighed.
“My sister told him that our mother buried valuables to keep them out of the hands of Yankees,” Colin explained. “He believes it wholeheartedly.”
“He’s dug holes all over the garden.” Marie sighed again.
Colin whistled and waved. Digging faster than before, Damian ignored him.
“Why don’t you all go up to the house and have some refreshments? Simon can drive you up in the carriage, and Tom can ride back with me. We’ll bring Damian.” Colin wanted Kate out of the heat.
“We didn’t mean to invade,” Laura began.
“Yes, we did,” Maddie laughed.
“Nonsense.” Colin shook his head. “You’re all welcome here for as long as you like. We have a guest room for Tom and Maddie, and Laura can stay in the
garçonnière
.”
“Yes,” Kate insisted. “You must stay. I can’t let you go so soon.”
As the women started toward the phaeton, Colin pulled Kate close and whispered in her ear, “You are beaming, wife. I’m not certain I can keep my hands off you.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to now that you’ve filled our home with guests.”
W
hile Eugenie was preparing tea and refreshments, Kate and Marie prepared to take the sisters on a tour of the house.
“Before we start, we have something to tell you,” Laura began.
“We may have found Sarah,” Maddie finished.
Kate clasped her hands.
“How wonderful! I saw the people who adopted her — an older couple — I even begged them to adopt me too. I never heard their names or had any idea where they lived.”
“Tom has traced them from Louisiana to Arkansas, and then they moved to Texas,” Maddie said.
“My stepson Jesse has gone to see if he can locate them,” Laura added. “We should be hearing from him soon.”
“I can hardly believe we might all be together again.” Kate was interrupted by a shout from the gallery.
“I found it, Aunt Kate! I
told
everybody I would find it!” Damian raced in filthy but triumphant and ran straight to Kate. “I was digging too close to the house before.
Grandmere
buried the chest out near the sugarhouse. But I found it! We’re rich! We’re rich!” He jumped up and down and ran back outside.
Tom led the way as Colin carried in a small wooden chest no more than two feet wide and a foot deep. It had a domed lid and was stained with dirt. The hinges and lock showed signs of rust. Damian ran around the two men.
“I can’t believe it,” Laura said with awe. “Buried treasure.”
“If I had any idea we’d be in for so much entertainment I would have broken our promise to Laura and come sooner,” Tom laughed.
Colin headed for the library table covered with Kate’s latest drawings. He was forced to step around a dollhouse surrounded by a brigade of metal soldiers on the floor. Kate moved the drawings aside and Colin set down the chest.
“Do you really think your mother buried this?” Kate asked him.
Everyone crowded around.
“This is exciting no matter what’s inside.” Maddie stood beside Tom.
Marie nudged her way into the circle gathered around the table. “If it’s not
Grandmere
’s, then it was probably buried here years and years ago by a handsome pirate. Jean Laffite used to visit
Belle Fleuve
, you know.”
“I had no idea there were
handsome
pirates.” Laura laughed.
“Oh, yes. Quite handsome,” Marie assured her.
“Marie’s writing a romance about a pirate and drawing all the illustrations.” Kate smiled with pride.
“Romance. Yuck.” Damian tugged a chair over to the table and scrambled up between the adults. “Open it, please, Uncle Colin.”
“I’ll have to be careful.” Colin glanced at Kate. “No telling what’s inside.” He picked up Kate’s letter opener. Aided by time and humidity, he barely touched the rusted lock before it crumbled.
Everyone held their breath. The lid creaked as Colin raised it.
“What is it?”
“Is it gold?”
“Silver?”
“Priceless jewels?”
Colin lifted out a large book covered in hand-tooled leather and embossed with a gold family crest.
“How lovely,” Laura said.
Colin ran his hand over the cover. “It’s the Baudier French Bible. It’s been in my family for well over a century.”
He handed the Bible to Kate, reached into the trunk, and pulled out a large card. He studied it a moment and then showed it all around; it was a photograph of his family taken on the same day as the one they’d found in the attic.
“Is that all?” Damian’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. “An old book nobody can read and a picture?”
Colin reached inside again and pulled out a small silk pouch.
He opened it and a gold ring set with a sapphire surrounded by diamonds tumbled into his palm.
“My great-grandmother’s wedding ring.” He stared in awe. “My mother wore it as well.”
“Gold and jewels!” Damian jumped down and headed for the door. “Maybe there’s more out there. I’ll be back!”
Colin turned to Kate. “A Bible, a photograph, and a ring. So many things to choose from, so many things of value, and my mother buried these,” he said.
Kate slipped her arm around his waist, leaned into him, and looked at her sisters. She heard Damian out in the garden. She turned to Marie, reminded of Amelie. Then she looked up and saw the love in Colin’s eyes. In that moment Kate understood Marie Baudier Delany’s choices perfectly; they were symbols of her marriage, her faith, and her family. Marie Delany had buried the treasures of her heart.
T
he house was quiet. Kate was tucked in bed in her nightgown and on her lap was the heavy French Bible with the Baudier and Delany family history recorded inside. Though she struggled with the French, she could read the names back to the sixteen hundreds. She traced them with her fingertip and tried to picture the men and women who had come before them, especially those who first settled this land.
She heard Colin’s slow footfall on the gallery and smiled as he walked through the door.
“You’re still dressed,” she said.
“I have to return to the sugarhouse to visit the men working the night shift.”
“I forgot it was your turn. You look tired, Colin. Handsome but tired.”
“I am tired, but also invigorated. It’s been quite a day.”
“I’m exhausted but I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep. I hate to miss a minute with my sisters.”
He sat down on the side of the bed next to her hip.
“You might be too tired to sleep, but the babe needs rest. You’ll see your sisters again in the morning.”
She reached up and traced his cheek with her thumb. “Thank you for welcoming them.”
“They are part of our family too.” He gave her a long, slow kiss and then reached into his vest pocket. “I finally have something I’ve wanted to give you for a year now.”