Together is All We Need (16 page)

With a great flurry of whinnying and hooves and dust and the sounds of leather and a few shouts from the onlookers, the wild-looking rider reined in right in front of the porch where Mr. Sneed and Burchard Clairborne stood. The horse, agitated from so suddenly finding itself surrounded by people, continued to prance and stamp and snort. Every eye looked up to the strange rider who had thrown the proceedings into such a frenzy. He wore plain work clothes, a dirty brown hat that looked like it had been on his head at least twenty years, and a growth of beard that was probably a week old. Not a single person present, including Katie, had any idea who it might be.

‘‘What is the meaning of this?'' demanded Mr. Sneed in a loud voice. ‘‘We are in the middle of a formal legal proceeding.''

‘‘That's why I'm here,'' said the man, still sitting on his horse and trying to calm the animal down. ‘‘You be the fellow they call Sneed?''

‘‘That's right. I am Leroy Sneed, attorney at law.''

‘‘Yeah, they told me in town I'd find you here. The minute I mentioned Rosewood, your name came up and that's when I figured I oughtn't to waste any time getting out here. I just hope I ain't too late.''

‘‘Too late for what?''

‘‘For the deeding. Someone told me you'd drawn up a new deed to this place.''

‘‘That's right. I'm holding it here in my hand. It's all perfectly legal, I assure you. I certainly don't see what possible interest you could have in the matter such as to justify all this commotion you have caused.''

‘‘Just this, Mr. Sneed,'' said the man. ‘‘That deed of yours might not be as legal as you think.''

‘‘What are you talking about? Are you a lawyer too?''

‘‘No, I'm no lawyer.''

‘‘Then who are you, and what right do you have—''

‘‘I'm the owner of this house and this land and this whole plantation, that's who I am.''

‘‘What! That's preposterous. I demand to know what this is all about!''

‘‘I'll show you soon enough, if you'll just give me the chance,'' said the man, now dismounting and tying his horse to a rail. ‘‘What I've got in my saddlebag here,'' he went on as he began opening the leather satchel hanging to the side of his saddle, ‘‘is the
proper
deed to Rosewood.''

‘‘What—that's impossible!''

The man pulled out a folded paper that looked old and kind of ragged, then walked forward and handed it to Mr. Sneed.

‘‘I think you'll find that it's more legal than that one of yours,'' said the man.

Mr. Sneed unfolded the paper and quickly looked it over. The expression on his face gradually changed. The shock in his eyes made it clear that he no longer felt inclined to argue the point.

‘‘But . . . but I don't understand,'' he said. ‘‘Where did you get this . . . how does it come to be in your possession . . . and just who are you?''

‘‘My name's Ward Daniels,'' said the man. ‘‘And that deed was transferred to me by the owner of Rosewood, my sister Mrs. Rosalind Daniels Clairborne.''

S
TUNNING AND
U
NEXPECTED
D
EVELOPMENTS
28

K
ATIE HAD BEEN JUST AS BEWILDERED AS EVERYONE
else as she stood listening to the strange turn of events.

At the words
Ward Daniels,
however, her mouth dropped and her eyes opened wide. To no one else present, did the name carry the slightest significance. But to Katie, the two words were filled with worlds of meaning. And not because of what he had said about being the rightful owner of Rosewood. For the moment the importance of that fact was lost on her. It didn't enter her mind that this suddenly changed everything, only that in front of her stood the uncle she had thought was dead. She just stared at him in a daze, unaware of what it meant, unaware of the looks and gradual murmurs of the townspeople and others that began to be directed toward her to see what she was going to do.

Then slowly she found herself walking forward through the small crowd. The people stood aside as she passed, whispering amongst themselves. By the time she reached the porch, nearly every eye was on her. Even if Katie herself didn't, everyone else certainly realized the significance of this sudden change.

Mr. Sneed saw Katie approach. He glanced up, and as he did, the newcomer followed his gaze and turned to see a girl standing three feet away.

His face went pale. Visibly stunned at the sight of her, he stood speechless.

‘‘Hello, Uncle Ward,'' said Katie. ‘‘I'm Kathleen.''

Still he stood, as if the name didn't register. Then gradually he began to nod. ‘‘Kathleen . . .'' he said, ‘‘you . . . you look so much like your mama. I . . . I almost thought you were her for a second.''

‘‘My mama's . . . she's dead, Uncle Ward,'' said Katie.

‘‘Yes . . . I know, Kathleen. I heard. I'm sorry. That's why I came. I came as quickly as I could after I heard what happened.''

In the few seconds that had passed since he had heard the name Daniels, Burchard Clairborne's brain seemed to have gone numb. But he quickly recovered himself and now stepped forward.

‘‘Now, hold on here just a minute,'' he said. ‘‘Whoever you are, mister—and I ain't got no call to say you ain't who you claim—but you must've gotten hold of some bad information somewhere. This house and this property was my brother's, and now that he's dead, as we all know by now, it belongs to me. That's what this man here's doing. That's a new deed he's holding, and it's legal and it's in my name.''

‘‘And just what would that name be?'' asked Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Clairborne . . . Burchard Clairborne—brother of the deceased.''

‘‘Oh . . . so you're Kathleen's uncle too?''

‘‘That's right. So you see, that makes me the new owner of Rosewood now.''

‘‘Not so fast. The fact is, this place didn't belong to your brother at all.''

‘‘What are you talking about?''

‘‘As you can see from that deed there,'' said Mr. Daniels, nodding toward Mr. Sneed, ‘‘the ownership of this property was transferred to my sister.''

Both men looked at Mr. Sneed, who was still perusing the paper.

‘‘I am afraid he appears to be right, Mr. Clairborne,'' he said slowly. ‘‘I don't understand it, and this comes as a big shock to me, as I am sure it does you, but this deed was drawn up in the name of Rosalind Clairborne and was recorded according to all the proper legalities.''

‘‘But there's got to be some mistake,'' objected Burchard. ‘‘It's a forgery!''

‘‘I don't think there's much chance of that, Mr. Clairborne,'' said the lawyer. ‘‘In my considered opinion, this is a perfectly legal document, and obviously it precedes and supersedes, and I would have to say invalidates this new deed I have drawn up. I am afraid there is nothing I can do about it.''

‘‘Well, that deed may be in Rosalind Clairborne's name, but she's dead. Don't that mean the deed's no good?''

‘‘Without a will,'' began Mr. Sneed, ‘‘the next of kin would have to be determined.''

‘‘Which is me!'' said Burchard.

‘‘Not necessarily, I am afraid, Mr. Clairborne,'' said Mr. Sneed. ‘‘If this man is indeed her brother, and can prove his identity, and with her daughter also here, I am afraid that you, as merely the deceased woman's brother-in-law and not actually related by blood, would not be in a legal position to file a convincing—''

‘‘This is ridiculous!'' boomed Burchard, interrupting the lawyer in an angry voice. ‘‘This place ought to have been mine in the beginning and it's mine now. If you won't enforce the new deed, I will go to someone who will!''

‘‘There is one other fact,'' Mr. Daniels now said. ‘‘If you'll look on the reverse of that deed, you'll see that my sister signed it over to me ten years ago.''

Mr. Sneed turned the paper over, adjusted his spectacles again, and read over what had been written there in hand.

‘‘Rosalind told me that her husband was concerned about you, Mr. Clairborne,'' Mr. Daniels went on. ‘‘She said that Richard was worried that if anything ever happened to him, you would try to get your hands on Rosewood however you could, something about bad blood between you and him over a family inheritance or something. I don't know more than that, except that he put Rosewood in her name just to keep you from being able to get your hands on it like this. Then when I got back from California, she signed it over to me in exchange for some gold I gave her to keep for me. I never thought much about it and never considered Rosewood mine—it was just her way of giving me a promissory note for the gold.''

At the word
gold,
murmurs began again from the crowd. Of course, Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Taylor already knew a little about it, but now suddenly things that had been a mystery to them, especially with Katie showing up in town with gold coins and nuggets, were beginning to make sense.

The word also woke Katie out of the reverie she'd been in while listening to her two uncles dispute about the deed.

‘‘Oh . . . oh!'' she exclaimed. ‘‘Uncle Ward . . . the gold . . . I'm sorry, but . . . it's gone . . . I spent it.''

He glanced away from the other two men, at first not grasping what Katie was talking about.

‘‘Rosalind gave it . . . to you?'' he said.

‘‘No . . . we found it! Mayme and I found it. But Mama had two loans at the bank, and it was the only way to keep the bank from taking Rosewood.''

Mr. Taylor squirmed a little uncomfortably where he stood. Throughout the whole situation between him and Katie, he had intentionally kept the affair quiet. It unsettled the people of a small community to hear about foreclosures and he hadn't wanted word of it to get out.

‘‘Ah . . . right,'' said Mr. Daniels, nodding. ‘‘Don't worry about the gold, Kathleen,'' he added. ‘‘Wasn't that much anyway. I didn't come back for the gold. You can tell me all about it later.''

‘‘Wait a minute!'' Burchard now said. ‘‘Mr. Sneed, I want to know what you are going to do about my claim, and the new deed to Rosewood in my name.''

‘‘I am afraid there is nothing I can do, Mr. Clairborne,'' replied the lawyer. ‘‘This man is in possession of what to all appearances is a fully legal deed to the property. He is also the next of kin to the deceased legal owner of Rosewood, which appears to have been Mrs. Rosalind Daniels Clairborne, not Richard Clairborne at all. In light of these facts, it would seem that you have no claim to make, that the new deed is invalid, and that my business here today is concluded.''

He handed the original deed back to Mr. Daniels, took off his spectacles, then began putting the other papers and documents back into his briefcase.

‘‘You are, of course, free to pursue your claim through the courts,'' he added. ‘‘But at this point, I will bid you all a good morning.''

He walked off the porch and around the house to where his horse and buggy were tied, while the onlookers, still talking amongst themselves in astonishment, slowly began also to disperse and wander back to their horses and carriages. A flustered and angry Burchard Clairborne disappeared around the house.

U
NCLE AND
N
IECE
29

K
ATIE AND
M
R
. D
ANIELS WERE STILL STANDING AT
the foot of the porch as everyone around them slowly walked away, glancing toward them now and then and still murmuring and talking. Suddenly Katie began to get nervous. She realized she didn't know her uncle Ward any better than she did her uncle Burchard.

‘‘Uh . . . what do you want me to do, Uncle Ward?'' she asked.

‘‘What do you mean, Kathleen?'' he replied, placing the deed back in the bag of his saddle and untying his horse's reins from the rail.

‘‘I mean . . . do you want me to leave, or stay . . . or, I don't know. . . I was getting ready to leave.''

‘‘Leave . . . why would I want you to leave? Was that other fellow—your uncle on your pa's side—was he kicking you out of here?''

‘‘No, he said I could stay, but I didn't want to . . . I—''

‘‘Well, it's all right by me if you stay too. I ain't got no plans. Heck, it's your place more than it's mine. You got more of a right to be here than anyone.''

‘‘Uncle Burchard was going to take Rosewood over and made everyone else leave. So I didn't see how I could stay. He wasn't too nice to me.''

‘‘Yeah, well . . . from what I've seen, that doesn't exactly surprise me.''

‘‘Are you . . . are you going to take over Rosewood . . . like he was?''

Mr. Daniels laughed. ‘‘I ain't got no intention of being a plantation owner,'' he said. ‘‘I just figured I oughta come see what was going on, pay my respects and all. I had no idea what I was walking into till I got here, other than the little I read about in the newspaper. Soon as I saw that I knew I'd better get down here. But it's like I said, the way I figure it, you got more right to this place than me.''

He got serious, remembering again why all this was happening. ‘‘I'm sorry about your ma, Kathleen,'' he said. ‘‘I'm sorry I didn't come back and never saw her again.''

Katie nodded. ‘‘So . . . you really mean you don't mind if I stay?'' she asked.

‘‘Course not. I want you to stay, Kathleen. 'Course I want you to stay. What else would I want?''

‘‘I . . . I don't know. . . I just . . .''

Katie's eyes began to fill with tears.