For the Roses (57 page)

She didn't know how to stop it. Adam was so stoic and dignified about it all. Even though he knew what was going to happen to him, the expression on his face showed only mild curiosity. Was he raging inside?

She reached over and brushed her hand over his. How could she help him? How could anyone?

The judge slammed his gavel down once again. He was ready to render his decision about taking Adam back down south.

"I've looked your papers over and they appear to be legal." The attorney Livonia's sons had brought with them hastily stood up. His name was Floyd Manning, and when he'd introduced himself to the judge, he'd added the fact that his family had lived in South Carolina for over a hundred years. He seemed to think that that somehow made him more qualified.

"Of course they're legal," Manning said."Shall we take Clayborne with us now? You have no recourse but to follow the law."

A howl of alarm went up. The coyotes wanted to be fed. "Don't let him take him, Judge," someone shouted from the back of the courtroom. "It ain't fair. I got my family waiting outside. I promised them…"

"Shut the hell up," the judge ordered the complainer. "What I was saying before you tried to fast-talk me into rushing, Floyd Manning, is that I got a little problem with this here legal paper. The law is the law, but telling me I don't have any recourse, well, now, that's mighty bold talk coming from an outsider. Let me set you straight. I'm the law here. What I say goes, and now I'm saying Adam Clayborne isn't going to be handed over to you. You want to see him hang, then you'll have to wait around to find out if he's rendered guilty or not."

"But, Judge, in South Carolina…" Manning began.

"We ain't in South Carolina," came the shout from the back. "Go on ahead and try him now, Judge. It's getting on to noon."

The judge looked as if he wanted to shoot someone. Since he was the only one with a gun inside this courtroom, he figured he might do just that if folks didn't settle down pretty soon. He glared at the crowd before turning back to the citified lawyer with hundred-year-old relatives. "We're in a territory, not a state, and like I told you before, what I say goes." Mary Rose bowed her head. She was desperately trying not to cry. Her anger made her shiver so much her arms had goosebumps everywhere. Would this nightmare ever end? Her brothers had hoped that Judge Burns would hand Adam over to the southerners. They planned to grab him outside of town and hide him up in the mountains until future plans could be made.

The crowd was in a frenzy waiting for the judge to tell them he would go ahead and try Adam then and there. Burns wasn't about to lose control of his court. He reached down into his lap and pulled out his six-shooter. He was going to put a couple of bullets in the ceiling to get everyone's attention. The tactic turned out to be unnecessary. Just as he was cocking his weapon, a hush came over the crowd. Burns looked up and spotted Harrison roughly shoving his way through the angry men. Mary Rose noticed the silence and gripped her hands together even tighter. What more had happened?

Were they bringing in Douglas and Cole? She was afraid to look.

Harrison walked right past her. He didn't spare her or her brothers a glance as he made his way to the table Judge Burns sat behind.

"I have business with this court."

Her head jerked up. She blinked. He didn't disappear. Harrison? Harrison was in Blue Belle? She couldn't seem to catch her breath, couldn't make herself understand.

"State your business," the judge commanded.

"My name is Harrison Stanford MacDonald…"

Burns didn't let him continue. "Why are you telling me your name? I know who you are."

"For the record, Your Honor."

"What record? We don't keep records here, leastways we don't very often. We're more casual in the Territory. State your business," he repeated.

"I represent Adam Clayborne."

A sparkle came into the judge's eyes. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his jaw. "You do, do you?'

"Yes, Your Honor, I do."

"Then you might as well get on over there and represent him. I'm about to try him for murder."

"Is a man entitled to a fair trial in the Territory?" he asked. The judge knew Harrison well enough to understand he wasn't trying to bait him or insult him.

"Yes, of course he's entitled."

"Then I request sufficient time to confer with my client."

"How much time?"

"One month."

A roar of discontent went up. The judge calmly shot his gun into the air. "Can't wait a whole month, Harrison."

"Your Honor, I must have sufficient time to build my case."

"Where we gonna keep him until you figure out what you want to say?"

"He should be released into my custody," Harrison said.

"He'll run, Judge. The darkie will run. Just you wait and see." Judge Burns leaned to the side so he could see past Harrison. "Is that you, Bickley, disrupting my courtroom? I swear to God I'm gonna put a bullet in your butt if you don't shut your trap. You got two weeks to prepare, Harrison. You willing to put up money in the event Adam runs?"

"Everything I own."

"A hundred dollars will do me now. You can pay up the rest in two weeks, unless of course he doesn't run."

"Yes, Your Honor."

The judge slammed the gavel down once again. "Adam's got to stay under house arrest until trial. Anyone doesn't like it can watch he doesn't leave from the edge of the Clayborne property line. All of you hear what I'm saying? Bickley, if you don't have anything better to do with your time than sit around and watch, you do it from the trees. You got that? I'm declaring here and now if any of you set foot on Clayborne land, it's legal for them to shoot you. We're going to have us a trial in two weeks. Court's adjourned."

The judge slapped the gavel down against the tabletop one last time. "You've got your work cut out for you, Harrison," he remarked in a low voice. "I have a folder full of evidence against Adam. You can have a gander at it until I leave to go fishing. I'll be at Belle's place until Sunday next. Bring your hundred dollars over there."

Floyd Manning walked over to Harrison. "Nigger lover," he hissed. The judge heard him. "You got no more business here, Manning. Go on back home. I do my own prosecuting here. It'll be trial by jury, and I'll be the one picking the twelve." Manning's bushy eyebrows came together in yet another scowl. "That boy don't deserve a fair trial. They all ought to be dragged out of here and strung up."

The attorney's face had turned a blotchy red. He was furious the hearing hadn't gone his way. Judge Burns looked at Harrison. "Who exactly does he think we ought to string up? The town or just the Claybornes?"

Manning was happy to answer him. "The Claybornes, of course, especially that white girl living under the same roof with the nigger. She's trash."

"You got something to say about that, Harrison?" the judge asked.

He counted to ten before he answered the judge. Stalling didn't help him change his mind. "How much for the charge of assault, Your Honor?"

Burns's eyes sparkled with merriment. "Five dollars, given the special circumstances." Harrison reached into his pocket, pulled out five dollars, and dropped the money on the table. What happened next so surprised the southern attorney, he didn't have time to protect himself. Harrison punched him hard in the face.

He coldcocked him. Manning collapsed on the floor in a dead faint. The judge leaned over the table to get a better look at the man, then turned back to Harrison.

He was trying hard not to smile. "Well now, that's premeditation. Cost you a dollar more." Harrison handed him the money and went to his wife and her brothers. He kept his attention on the crowd. The men were slow to leave, and Harrison had plenty of time to study their faces. He didn't recognize any of them.

Travis started to get up. Harrison ordered him to stay in his chair. "Mary Rose, get up and come over to me. Look damned happy to see me."

She didn't hesitate. She quickly got up and walked around the table. He pulled her into his arms, leaned down and kissed her brow, and then hugged her tight.

"Welcome back, Harrison," Adam whispered.

"When the hell did all this happen?" he asked.

"They woke me up yesterday," Adam answered. "And here I am. You got here in the nick of time. In another hour, it would have been too late. They would have waited until tomorrow to hang me, but once a sentence is handed down, no one can do anything."

The last of the strangers filed out of the storefront. Douglas and Cole came charging inside.

"Shut the door," Harrison called out.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Cole muttered. He tossed Travis his gun as he came storming down the aisle. "Adam, you okay?"

"Yes," his brother answered.

Harrison finally relaxed his grip on Mary Rose. She didn't move away from him, however, but continued to lean into him. She was shaking almost violently now. She'd had one hell of a day, and he knew it wasn't going to get much better.

He had so much to say to her, but now certainly wasn't the time or the place. Getting Adam back to the ranch alive was going to require everyone's full concentration.

"I say we run now," Cole said.

"We'll all get bullets in our backs if we try," Travis argued.

"He's right," Douglas agreed. "Now isn't the time to leave," Douglas said.

"I'm not going anywhere but home," Adam announced. He pushed his chair back and finally stood up.

"Harrison, I don't know if I should thank you or hit you. You've just given me two full weeks to think about that rope going around my neck."

"You don't have much faith in your attorney," Harrison remarked dryly.

"I've got plenty of faith in you. It's the rest of the world I have trouble with. You're an honorable man, Harrison, but that seems to be a rare quality these days. I told Mary Rose you'd come back. She didn't believe me. I guess she does now, doesn't she?"

Harrison was stunned. Had she thought he'd stay on in England and go right about his business? Didn't she realize she'd taken his heart with her?

"Harrison, are you going home with us or over to Belle's to look at the evidence?" Travis asked.

"Home," he answered. "I want to talk to Adam before I do anything else." It was a solemn procession that filed out of the storefront. The locals were there to greet Adam and offer him words of encouragement. It was good to see the people of Blue Belle hadn't turned against him. Harrison was given the duty of watching their backs on the way home. He stayed well behind the family, and when they started down the last hill, he stopped and waited until they were safely out of gunshot range. He made a quick detour then, found what he was looking for, and continued on. Mary Rose sat with her brothers at the dining room table. They were all whispering and worrying out loud about the two-week reprieve.

She was thinking about Harrison. Seeing him again had filled her with such incredible longing. Why had he come back? She couldn't be the woman her relatives in England wanted her to be. Didn't he understand that? Oh, God, what was she going to do? She'd been so miserable from the moment she'd left him… until today. She'd felt as though she were dying inside, and when he'd calmly walked into the courtroom and made reason in the midst of madness, she'd started living again. She heard Harrison come inside the house and go upstairs. Doors squeaked open and closed. He was looking for her room, she thought to herself, and did that mean he expected to stay with her?

He finally joined the family. "Adam, I want to talk to you alone in the library." He didn't even look at her.

"My brothers and my sister know everything," Adam replied.

"Alone," Harrison suggested once again.

They weren't disturbed by anyone and stayed closeted together for over two hours. Harrison had insisted Adam tell him everything he remembered about his daily routine while he lived on the plantation and everything he knew about the family who had owned him.

"Mistress Livonia was married to Walter Adderley. They had two sons. You saw both of them in court today. Reginald's the baby. He's a couple of years younger than I am. Lionel is the older one. He's the spitting image of his father. Walter was a drunk. He'd start in around noon every day, and by evening, he'd have to be carried up to bed. He got real mean when he drank, which meant he was mean most of the time. He would pick fights with his wife. Something must have happened between them, because when he was drunk, he couldn't abide the sight of her."

"Would he strike her?"

"Oh, yes, he'd use his fists. She wasn't any match for him. He was over six feet, and she was just a little tiny bit of a thing. He'd hit my mama too. She was Livonia's companion, and so she got her share of abuse as well.

"On a late Friday afternoon, just around suppertime, I was passing by the house on my way in from planting, and I heard Mistress Livonia screaming. Adderley was beating both of them. I put myself between Livonia and my owner because when I walked into the room, he was pounding on her. I remember thinking that if I could just get him to turn his rage against me, Mama and Livonia would be all right. Mama's nose was bloody and one eye was already swelling closed. Livonia was in worse shape. She was trying to stand up and had almost made it when he struck her again. She collapsed on the floor. She kept begging him to stop. He started kicking her then. She was pleading for mercy, and praying, Harrison. She begged me to help her… and so I did."

Adam paused to take a shaky breath before continuing. "I put my arms around his waist and pulled him back while Mama ran over to help Livonia to her feet.

"Adderley went crazy. He told Livonia he was going to kill her, shrugged me off of him, and went after her again. That's when I hit him. He stumbled back about ten feet and then started to charge me. He lost his footing and crashed into the edge of the mantel. I think he was dead before he landed on the floor."

"Where did you hit him?"

"In the chin."

"Not from behind? You said he had turned away from you…"

"Yes, but I was quicker than he was. I put myself in front of Mistress Livonia again to try to protect her and struck him when he tried to kick her."