Together is All We Need (18 page)

Josepha's eyes went wide and she just stared back at him. It was the first time she'd ever been called
ma'am
by a white man.

‘‘And I ain't so sure a plantation's what I want either,'' Katie's uncle added. ‘‘I just kept the deed all this time out of respect to Rosalind and figured one day I'd sign it back to her whether she liked it or not. So maybe I ought to just sign it back to you, Kathleen. Then Rosewood will be yours and nobody can take it away from you.''

I glanced over at Katie and there were tears in her eyes. I knew she wanted to give the man in front of her a big hug. But she barely knew him and couldn't quite bring herself to it. But it didn't make what he'd said any less important.

‘‘What about Uncle Burchard?'' said Katie. ‘‘Aren't I too young? Couldn't he come back and make trouble again later?''

‘‘You might be right. How old are you, Kathleen?''

‘‘I just turned seventeen.''

‘‘All right, then, we'll wait till you're eighteen, and then I'll sign it over to you . . . or twenty-one if you like. We'll do it all legal-like so he can't do nothing to bother you.—But what are we all standing around here for? Didn't we come find these folks so you could take them back to the house with you?''

‘‘Yes, but—'' Katie began, then stopped and looked around at all of us. ‘‘But what are we going to do—we've only got two horses. We'll have to go back to get a wagon.''

‘‘You want me to go?'' said her uncle.

‘‘Can you find your way?''

‘‘I reckon so.''

‘‘Henry—he's the black man who was there that I was talking to—he should still be there. Tell him what we're doing and that I asked him to help you. He'll know which wagon is best, and can hitch it to one of our other horses so that yours can rest. Henry will know what to do. You can take my horse if you want.''

‘‘And you want to wait here with them?''

Katie nodded.

‘‘All right, then.'' He paused, glanced briefly at me, then back at Katie. ‘‘She didn't ask to see the deed,'' he said with kind of a twinkle in his eye, nodding in my direction.

‘‘What is he talking about?'' I asked.

Katie hesitated. An embarrassed expression came over her face. ‘‘I told him you wouldn't believe me about what had happened if we didn't have the deed to show you.''

‘‘I don't suppose I had any reason to doubt it,'' I said. ‘‘But I reckon I would like to see it.''

Her uncle opened his saddlebag and handed Katie the deed. She showed it around to the rest of us. ‘‘You see,'' she said, ‘‘it was in my mama's name, not my daddy's. So that means that Uncle Burchard's got nothing to do with it. And then when Uncle Ward gave mama the gold to keep, she signed it here—see, there's her signature signing the deed over to Ward Daniels.''

‘‘That's me!'' said her uncle.

‘‘So Uncle Ward's the legal owner of the plantation. And he says I can stay, and all the rest of you can too.''

‘‘We's mighty thankful, Mr. Daniels, sir,'' said Josepha. ‘‘I's Josepha Black, an' I'm right proud ter mak yer 'quaintance.'' She held up a big fleshy hand. Katie's uncle shook it and smiled. ‘‘I's try ter please you, sir,'' said Josepha, ‘‘an' I's work jes' as hard as I dun fer Miz Katie.''

‘‘And this is Emma,'' said Katie. ‘‘She and William have been staying with Mayme and me right from the beginning.''

‘‘And what about you, Mayme,'' he said, turning to me. ‘‘I read in the story in the paper that you lost your family too, just like Kathleen. You want to stay on at Rosewood too?''

I looked up at him, realizing for the first time that he was my uncle too.

‘‘Yes, sir, Mr. Daniels,'' I said. ‘‘Rosewood's my home. This is just about the only family I've got left.''

‘‘Well, I'm glad all that is settled,'' he said. ‘‘So I guess I'd better get going so I can return with that wagon and take you all back to the house.''

He took Katie's reins and handed his to her, then led his horse up onto the road, mounted, and a few seconds later was galloping away.

A
NOTHER
H
OMECOMING
31

W
E WERE TOO EXCITED ABOUT THE SUDDEN
change to be able to go back to sleep on the ground while we waited, even though we were still tired. Suddenly our fortunes and our futures had changed again! Though we weren't altogether sure yet what it would all mean.

We talked and talked excitedly and Katie told us all about what had happened and about how her uncle had ridden up right at the last minute and about how mad her uncle Burchard had been. We all laughed and asked so many questions that the time went by quickly. Before we knew it we heard the sound of the wagon coming along the road. And there was Jeremiah sitting beside Katie's uncle on the seat board! Now I was even happier than ever!

He turned the wagon around, and we all loaded up and began the ride back home. Jeremiah came and sat with me in the back and Katie sat up front with her uncle. Jeremiah didn't say anything, but he couldn't seem to stop looking at me and smiling.

‘‘Your uncle Templeton ever show up around here?'' I heard Katie's uncle ask as we jostled along.

Immediately I perked up my ears to listen!

‘‘Oh yes—he's been around a lot . . . I meant to tell you!'' answered Katie. ‘‘There's so much to tell. He's been living at Rosewood. He even helped us pick the cotton.''

‘‘My brother Templeton . . . picking cotton!'' exclaimed Katie's uncle.

‘‘He's really changed, Uncle Ward.''

‘‘Then where is he? Why ain't he around? How'd he let you get in this fix with that Burchard fellow?''

‘‘That's what I've got to tell you,'' said Katie. ‘‘He's in trouble.''

‘‘What kind of trouble?''

‘‘He's in jail.''

‘‘Jail!''

‘‘We got a letter from him more than a week ago. We'd been worried sick about him because we hadn't heard from him for a long time. He left before Uncle Burchard came claiming that Rosewood should belong to him. So Uncle Templeton doesn't know anything about it.''

‘‘Why'd he leave?''

‘‘He said he had some things to take care of, people he needed to make things right with. I'm not sure what he meant.''

Katie's uncle nodded. I couldn't see his face from behind him where I was sitting. But I had the feeling he understood even if Katie didn't.

‘‘You ever hear of a con artist?'' he asked.

‘‘No, sir.''

‘‘Well, that's probably just as well, and there ain't no need my trying to explain it to you. Let's just say your uncle made a few enemies along the way, just like I did myself.''

‘‘There were some men who came looking for you and your gold,'' said Katie.

‘‘What kind of men?''

‘‘One was called Hal, I think, and another named Jeb.''

Mr. Daniels didn't say anything for a minute but got real thoughtful. ‘‘That's them all right,'' he said. ‘‘I figured I hadn't heard the last of them. They cause any trouble?''

‘‘Yes, sir. They had guns and came twice. The first time Mayme and I scared them off by shooting some of my daddy's guns. The second time Uncle Templeton was here. He shot one of them and got shot himself. We thought he was going to die.''

‘‘Hmm . . . well, they were a bad lot, all right. Which one of them did Templeton shoot?''

‘‘I don't know.''

‘‘And what became of him?''

‘‘He's dead, Uncle Ward. Uncle Templeton killed him. He did it to save me. The man was about to shoot me.''

‘‘Whew. . . sounds like it was bad . . . real bad,'' he said, shaking his head. ‘‘Me and Templeton both got mixed up in a few things we shouldn't have. Where's he in jail at?''

‘‘I don't know, Uncle Ward. He didn't say. The letter didn't say either.''

‘‘Well, you can show it to me when we get back and I'll see what I can make of it.''

They kept talking, but gradually their voices got so quiet I couldn't hear them above the sound of the horses and the clattering of the wagon wheels. I wondered if Katie was telling him about me, and that even though I was colored, I was his niece.

When we got back to the house forty minutes or an hour later, Henry was waiting for us. There was no sign of Burchard Clairborne, though one of his wagons and a lot of the stuff he'd brought out earlier was still there.

Josepha climbed down and went straight into the kitchen and started fixing us all something to eat and drink. It was mighty strange coming back still another time after I'd thought I was leaving Rosewood for good. It seemed like I was always leaving and then coming back.

‘‘You'll stay awhile, won't you, Uncle Ward?'' said Katie as they walked inside. ‘‘You're not just going to leave again, are you?''

‘‘I've come too far not to stay and rest up a spell.''

‘‘Then what will you do?''

‘‘I don't know, Kathleen. I reckon everything is changed now. I gotta think on it some.''

‘‘Do you want to see Mama's grave?''

Mr. Daniels nodded. The two of them walked away from the house while Emma and I and William followed Josepha inside.

Half an hour later we were all sitting around the table in the kitchen eating lunch. This was sure not what we'd been expecting to be doing this afternoon after the day had begun with us all saying good-bye to each other!

‘‘You got that letter from Templeton, Kathleen?'' Mr. Daniels asked.

Katie had to think a minute, then remembered she'd put it in her suitcase, which was still sitting where she'd left it outside the door. She brought it in and opened it up, then handed the letter to her uncle. He read it thoughtfully, nodding a couple times.

‘‘Yeah, I reckon I got a pretty good idea where he is,'' he said after a bit.

‘‘Then let's go get him . . . let's get him out of jail!'' said Katie excitedly.

Mr. Daniels laughed. ‘‘It ain't quite that easy, Kathleen,'' he said.

‘‘Why not, Uncle Ward?''

‘‘We don't know what the charges against him are,'' he said, ‘‘—though I've got a pretty good idea.''

‘‘We've got to try to help him.''

‘‘Maybe you're right. I don't reckon we can just let him rot in jail.''

‘‘Yes, Uncle Ward! We've got to help him! Can we, Uncle Ward? Will you take me to find him?''

‘‘I'll think on that a spell too,'' he laughed. ‘‘I can see you must have grown mighty fond of your uncle Templeton.''

He paused and glanced at me, then back to Katie.

‘‘But tell me,'' he said, ‘‘what was Templeton talking about ‘your uncle and papa'? Who's this Mary Ann he's talking about?''

The whole room went silent. I felt the heat rising on the back of my neck. I glanced at Katie and could tell that she didn't want to say anything I didn't want her to say.

‘‘That's me, Mr. Daniels,'' I said after a few seconds. ‘‘Mayme's what folks always called me, but Mary Ann is my real name.''

‘‘But why was he writing to you like that, along with Kathleen?''

I hesitated and looked at Katie. ‘‘Because . . . I'm his daughter,'' I said finally.

He stared back at me with a blank expression for a few seconds.

‘‘Templeton is your
father
?'' he said.

‘‘Yes, sir.''

‘‘Is your mama Lemuela?''

I nodded. ‘‘You know about my mama?'' I said.

‘‘Sure. She was just like part of our family before Rosalind was married. Now that I think of it, you look just like her.''

He shook his head. ‘‘Well, if that don't beat all! So when you called this your family back there, you weren't kidding . . . this really is your
family
?''

‘‘Mayme and I felt like sisters even before we found out we were cousins,'' said Katie. ‘‘That's what made it so hard about Uncle Burchard saying none of them could stay, and why I was going to leave this morning too. I couldn't bear to be here without them. And that's why we've just got to get Uncle Templeton out of jail! He's part of the family, just like you are now too, Uncle Ward.''

He laughed again. It was hard not to get caught up in Katie's enthusiasm once she got determined about something!

‘‘Well, I'll read his letter again after lunch,'' said Mr. Daniels, ‘‘and I'll think on it a spell. Then maybe we'll talk about my going up there and finding out what's going on.''

‘‘Oh, thank you . . . thank you, Uncle Ward!'' exclaimed Katie. ‘‘But don't you mean you'll think about
us
going and finding out what's going on? I've got to go too!''

‘‘You?''

Katie nodded eagerly.

‘‘What if it's dangerous, Kathleen?''

‘‘I don't care. He's my uncle. I've got to go.''

‘‘Well, then, I reckon I'll have to think on it even harder.''

‘‘But we'll try, won't we, Uncle Ward? You'll help me try to find him?''

‘‘I reckon so, Kathleen . . . I reckon so.''

‘‘Oh, thank you . . . thank you, Uncle Ward! When can we leave to go find him?''

‘‘I don't know, in a day or two maybe. And you're still intent on going along?''

‘‘Yes, Uncle Ward,'' said Katie. ‘‘If Uncle Templeton's in jail, I've got to try to help him!''

I
N
S
EARCH OF
T
EMPLETON
D
ANIELS
32