Together is All We Need (20 page)

‘‘How'd the kid end up at Rosewood?'' asked Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Accident of fate, I guess you'd call it. Her family was massacred by the same bunch that killed Richard and Rosalind and the boys. Mary Ann just wandered about and wound up at Rosewood. She and Kathleen didn't know they were cousins till I figured it out later. They were just a white girl and a colored girl doing their best to survive.—But I still haven't got an answer to the question of what
you're
doing here? How did you and Kathleen hook up?''

‘‘I read about the two of them in the Richmond newspaper,'' answered Ward Daniels.

‘‘What!''

‘‘That's right. Somebody's written a story about this white girl and a black girl whose families had both been killed and who had been secretly running a plantation for two years without anyone knowing there were only kids there. As soon as I saw the name Clairborne, I knew who it was. I had no idea you knew anything about it. I just figured I oughta get down to Rosewood and see what was happening. But when I showed up, it seemed like all heck was breaking loose. That was only four or five days ago . . . and here I am.''

Again it was quiet for a while.

‘‘Terrible shame about Rosalind,'' said Mr. Daniels. ‘‘She was a good woman, a good sister.''

‘‘That she was.'' My father nodded. ‘‘A better sister than either of us was brothers . . . at least speaking for myself.''

‘‘No, you're right. We could have done better by her, that's for sure. I was nothing but a drifter looking for an easy way to get rich. She had to run the place alone for several years after Richard and the boys went off to the war.''

‘‘I was a drifter too. You looked for it in gold, I looked for it in cards and schemes. But look where it landed me.''

‘‘Yeah, well, I ain't done much better. But maybe we still got the chance to make it right with Rosalind, if you know what I mean.''

My papa nodded. ‘‘Yep . . . taking care of Kathleen, I suppose that falls to us now.''

‘‘It's the least we can do, especially not being any better brothers than we were, like you say,'' said Mr. Daniels. ‘‘But first we got to get you out of here.''

‘‘Did you . . . you really mean what you said . . . that you'd put up your last hundred, and even Rosalind's deed, to spring me?''

‘‘ 'Course I meant it.''

‘‘Why would you do that . . . for me?''

‘‘You're my brother.''

‘‘The two of us haven't exactly been on brotherly terms since we left home.''

‘‘I reckon maybe you're right. I suppose we may have had our differences. We've both been rovers in our own way. But maybe it's time that changed. I figure we got people that need us now.'' He paused briefly, then added, ‘‘And maybe we need each other too.''

Again my papa said nothing.

In the sheriff 's office, the deputy shifted about in his chair, obviously uncomfortable just sitting there, unintentionally listening to the personal talk drifting in from down the hall. He looked over at Katie. ‘‘So where are you from?'' he asked.

‘‘North Carolina,'' answered Katie. ‘‘From Shenandoah County.''

‘‘I thought so. You sound Southern.''

‘‘Is it so noticeable?'' asked Katie, glancing away from embarrassment.

‘‘Yes, but it's nice. I like the sound of it.''

‘‘I've never been to the North before,'' said Katie. ‘‘People do talk different here. I never realized it before. Have you ever been to the South?''

‘‘No. I was in the Union army for a while,'' said the deputy. ‘‘But I'd only just joined when the war ended and so I never got into the South. I was only seventeen then.''

‘‘You're lucky,'' said Katie. ‘‘One of my brothers was killed in the war, and my daddy and other two brothers hated it. They said it was terrible.''

‘‘But the others made it back?''

‘‘Yes, but they were killed by marauders just after the war.''

‘‘Oh . . . I'm sorry, miss.''

‘‘That's why my two uncles—the men in there—are helping me with the plantation. They're the only family I've got left . . . except for my cousin, who's my age. So you see why it's so important for me to get my uncle out of here and back home?''

The deputy nodded but looked down at his hands. Katie knew there was little he could do.

Back in the cell, it had been quiet a minute.

‘‘I suppose you're right,'' my papa finally said. ‘‘It's about time for us to settle down. Maybe Kathleen's right, and we got a family now. That's what I was thinking back at Rosewood a few months back. I actually learned how to pick cotton! I was trying to make things right—that's why I came back up here, trying to fix some things. But I lost hope after getting thrown in here.''

‘‘Well, we're going to get you out, one way or another,'' said Mr. Daniels. ‘‘In case you hadn't noticed, that niece of ours is a mighty determined girl. She's not going to take no for an answer.''

A D
ETERMINED
K
ATIE
T
AKES
C
HARGE
34

K
ATIE AND HER UNCLE
W
ARD LEFT THE SHERIFF'S
office a few minutes later and walked across the street to the saloon.

‘‘You wait here,'' said Mr. Daniels. ‘‘I'll go inside and talk to the sheriff.''

When the two men came out a couple minutes later they were in the midst of conversation.

‘‘So, Sheriff,'' Mr. Daniels was saying, ‘‘how much of this beef against my brother is just the money? How much would we have to put in your hand to clear him?''

The sheriff thought a minute. ‘‘I ain't sure exactly, or even if that'd be enough to spring him. Might help, though Roscoe's still mighty angry about getting swindled.''

‘‘All of us together at home have almost two hundred dollars, Sheriff,'' said Katie excitedly as they walked up the steps. ‘‘Please, I'll give you everything I've got in the world if you'll let my uncle go! Please, Sheriff!—Uncle Ward,'' she said, turning to Mr. Daniels, ‘‘can we go back to Rosewood to get it? Let's leave right now. We can have the money back here in two or three days!''

They paused at the door. Mr. Daniels thought a minute.

‘‘I reckon we could at that,'' he said, ‘‘but I figured I oughta talk to this Roscoe fellow to see what we could work out.''

‘‘The judge is due any day too,'' added the sheriff as they walked inside where the young deputy was waiting. ‘‘You might want to be here for that, to speak on behalf of your brother.''

‘‘Then I'll go back to Rosewood myself,'' said Katie. ‘‘I'll bring the money back while you're doing all that. The judge is sure to let him go if we have the money!''

‘‘You figure you could go back . . . alone?'' said Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Yes, Uncle Ward, what's wrong with that?''

‘‘It's a long way, that's all.''

‘‘Not that long. You said on the way here that it was only three hundred seventy-five miles.''

‘‘That's far enough by train—took us two days.''

‘‘Two short days, Uncle Ward.''

‘‘Yeah, well . . . I reckon I ought to talk to Templeton about it,'' said Mr. Daniels.

They stepped into the corridor where the cells were located.

‘‘I heard,'' said my papa as they approached. ‘‘No, Kathleen, you can't go back all that way on the train alone. Wouldn't be safe.''

‘‘I ran the plantation alone,'' said Katie. ‘‘At least Mayme and I did. And I'm older now. I'm seventeen, Uncle Templeton.''

‘‘That's what I'm worried about,'' he said. ‘‘A pretty girl like you traveling all that way on the train . . . alone. No, I don't like the thought of it. Ward, you go with her.''

‘‘He's got to see that man you sold the property to, Uncle Templeton, and talk to the judge,'' said Katie. ‘‘The sheriff said the judge might come any day, and Uncle Ward has to be here. So I'm going by myself so I can get back here with the money to give them. I don't care if you don't like it—I'm going back to Rosewood.''

Her two uncles looked at each other and shrugged. Neither of them had raised any children, though Templeton Daniels was my father. And neither of them had had too much experience at being uncles either. If this was what it was like, having Katie tell them what she was going to do whether they liked it or not, they weren't quite sure what to make of it.

‘‘And what you figure to do then, Kathleen?'' asked Mr. Daniels.

‘‘What do you mean?''

‘‘About the money?''

‘‘I'll bring it back with me,'' said Katie, ‘‘so the man you took it from can have it and so the sheriff will let you out of jail.''

By now the sheriff had been around the three of them enough to realize that there was nothing sinister about the two Daniels brothers. In fact, it seemed as if he was starting to like Katie and wasn't quite so inclined to be angry at my papa as before. The hint of a smile broke out on his lips as he watched her trying to persuade her two uncles, and watching how helpless they were to keep her from doing what she wanted.

‘‘That's a spunky young lady you've got on your hands,'' he said, grinning at Katie.

My papa just shook his head and rubbed his chin. ‘‘You carrying that much money around doesn't sound any better than you going all that way alone,'' he said after a bit.

‘‘It's dangerous out there, Kathleen,'' added her uncle Ward. ‘‘There's still bad men about. Don't forget what happened to your family.''

The reminder of that quieted things down in a hurry. The next voice to speak up was not one any of them had expected to hear.

‘‘If you don't mind my barging in, Sheriff,'' said the deputy who had been standing behind the sheriff listening to the whole conversation, ‘‘that is, if you think you'd be able to handle things without me, I can't see there'd be any harm in my taking the train south and accompanying Miss Clairborne to make sure she's safe and to get the money back here like she wants.''

Katie didn't know what to say. Her two uncles glanced at each other, not quite knowing what to make of the deputy's suggestion.

‘‘Hmm . . . I imagine there's no problem with you being away a couple days,'' said the sheriff. ‘‘Yeah, I reckon that might work.''

‘‘Now just wait a minute, Sheriff . . .'' said my papa, his protective side coming to the surface again. He paused and glanced at Katie, then further into the corridor at the deputy, then back at the sheriff.

‘‘—Kathleen . . . Deputy,'' he said, ‘‘you mind if we have a few words in private with the sheriff?''

A look of confusion came over Katie's face. But before she could say anything, the deputy began leading her back out into the office.

‘‘Look, Sheriff,'' said my papa, ‘‘Kathleen's all we got left of our sister's family, and we're all she's got too. I don't know if you ever heard of Bilsby's Marauders right after the war, but they killed her whole family—that's our sister and her husband and Kathleen's brothers—and she's only alive because her ma hid her in the cellar.''

‘‘Yeah, I heard of Bilsby's bunch,'' said the sheriff. ‘‘Hey, is she the girl I read about in the paper?''

‘‘Yeah. So you see why we're a little overprotective of the girl, you might say. So what I want to ask is what kind of young man is that deputy of yours? Can he be trusted?''

‘‘I see what you're concerned about,'' replied the sheriff. ‘‘She's a fine-looking young lady all right. And she loves the two of you, that much is plain to anyone. You two are a couple of lucky men. As far as Rob goes, I'm surprised you have to ask. You spent enough time in these parts, Daniels— you ought to know the name Reverend Paxton.''

‘‘Sorry, Sheriff,'' said my papa, shaking his head. ‘‘I don't know the man. I don't suppose I've spent as much time in church as maybe I should have. But now that you mention it, I think the name has a familiar ring to it.''

‘‘It ought to. He's one of the most respected ministers in Baltimore. He preaches here in Ellicott City once a month.''

‘‘But what's he got to do with it?'' asked Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Just this,'' said the sheriff. ‘‘Rob's his son.''

‘‘A preacher's kid toting a gun and a badge! That's a new one.''

‘‘Well, I don't suppose every son turns out to be the spitting image of his father. One thing's for sure, though—Rob's about as fine and upstanding a young man as you'd care to find anywhere. He wouldn't touch your niece, unless it was to protect her. I personally guarantee that she'd be as safe with him as with either of you. He can handle that gun he's wearing.''

My papa and Katie's uncle Ward were quiet a minute, thinking it through.

‘‘Don't reckon there'd be any harm in it, Templeton,'' said Mr. Daniels. ‘‘If she'd be safe and all.''

‘‘How long it take you two to get up here?''

‘‘Couple days. We rode into Charlotte and stayed in a hotel there, and also spent a night in Baltimore.''

‘‘Could they make it in one day?''

‘‘I ain't sure.''

‘‘I don't like the idea of the two of them in a hotel together, even in separate rooms. Doesn't seem right. But if they could make it all the way back in one day . . .''

‘‘I reckon they might be able to,'' said Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Depending on the train schedule,'' put in the sheriff. ‘‘They'd have to get an early start.''