Miss Katie's Rosewood (26 page)

W
e arrived back at Rosewood
.

It was so good to be home. Everything looked great. The crops in the field looked real healthy. I'd almost forgotten how much I loved the place. I could tell Katie felt the same way. It was great to see Henry and Josepha again too and give them each a hug for Jeremiah and to be able to tell them that he would be home before much longer
.

One of the first things Katie and I did was sit down at our writing desks and start letters to Jeremiah and Rob. We were so anxious to tell them everything that by that night we both had ink stains on our fingers
.

July came and the summer advanced and the cotton and wheat put out their heads and the sun warmed the earth
.

Jeremiah returned to Rosewood around the first of August, to everyone's rejoicing, especially mine! For the first time in a long time he spoke openly to me about marriage. But we didn't talk about it with anyone else. I didn't even talk to Katie about it. It wasn't exactly a secret, it was just something Jeremiah and I had to
decide for ourselves. We had waited for so long—it seemed that way anyway!—that we didn't want to make a big to-do about it until we knew for sure. So it remained between us
.

We began thinking that after the harvest might be the best time to get married—after all the uncertainty about Rosewood's future was finally over and the bills were paid and everyone was content and relaxed again. Jeremiah said he had made enough money that we could pay to live in the cabin he and Henry had lived in before and fix it up some and buy whatever we needed for at least a year, maybe more. Then if he needed to he'd go work in Delaware again for a few months
.

The end of August came and Papa and Uncle Ward and Henry were out in the cotton fields every day inspecting the ripening crop to see when we should start picking. Henry was still the most experienced and they were waiting for him to say, “It's time.” They had the wagons and packing boxes and space in the barn for storage in case it rained. Everything was ready. We just had to wait for the cotton itself to be ready
.

There were visits to the bank too, and we could all tell that Papa and Uncle Ward were feeling stress and pressure about the money. But they kept promising Mr. Taylor that the harvest would take care of it. On top of that, tax time kept getting closer and closer too
.

Then came a surprise to all of us. Suddenly Aunt Nelda arrived for a visit! She had taken the train to Charlotte and rented a horse and buggy to come the rest of the way to Greens Crossing and Rosewood. She looked different somehow. I don't know how to explain it, like she was determined about something. And we found out soon enough what it was when she sat down
and talked to her two brothers
.

“I know you've been having some financial struggles,” she said. “You don't need to worry about me knowing because I know, that's all. I could tell from things you've said and the girls said, and there's nothing wrong with that. You are all the family I've got. So whatever happens, I'm part of it too. So I'm here to help with the harvest like everyone else. I don't know what to do. I've never picked cotton in my life. So you'll have to show me how. But an extra set of hands is bound to be some good, even if it's just fixing meals. I don't mind having a few blisters on my hands if it saves Rosewood from financial difficulties. You're my family, after all.”

The three of them were alone in the parlor talking. But when they came out a while later, it was the closest I'd ever seen Uncle Ward come to crying. He was brushing at his eyes and they were red. What Aunt Nelda had done meant that much to him. From then on the three of them—the two brothers and their sister—were as close as the best of friends. There was nothing any of them wouldn't have done for each other. After all their years apart . . . it was so beautiful to see!

“And one more thing,” Aunt Nelda said when they were talking, though I didn't find out about this until later. “I'm not wealthy by any means. When Horace died, there were some debts and I barely managed to keep the house and one small investment. Along with that, and taking in sewing work, I have managed to pay off the debts and the mortgage and to live comfortably. But before I left I took what I had in my bank account. I think you need it now more than I do.”

She opened her purse and pulled out some bills and set them on the table
.

“It's only a hundred and fifteen dollars,” she said. “But it's yours.”

The two brothers sat and looked at her stunned
.

“After as lousy as we've been,” said Uncle Ward, “—leaving and everything, never helping with the folks, not keeping in touch . . . you'd do that for us?”

“There are no perfect families, Ward,” she said. “But families forgive and stick together. Yes, I want you to have it.”

Aunt Nelda took her two bags up to what had been Josepha's room, and for the rest of the time it was her room
.

Katie wrote Rob a long letter that same night telling him as much as she knew and why Aunt Nelda had come to help with the harvest. I don't know exactly what she said to him, but she must have told him that the situation was bad—like it had been before when she and I had almost lost everything because of the bank loans—and that we were all going to have to work hard to get the cotton crop in
.

September came
.

It was hot. Papa and Uncle Ward went to visit Mr. Thurston and he was planning to start picking with his men that same week. When they returned they said that Mrs. Hammond was there visiting, which was interesting. Papa had that sly grin on his face that said he suspected something
.

Then finally the day came. Henry announced at supper that the cotton was ready. We would start the next day
.

When I woke up and looked out the window, though the sun wasn't yet up, there was Papa walking in the fields one last time. Uncle Ward and Henry were hitching a team to the first wagon to take it out into the field
to be ready as soon as we all finished breakfast
.

And then the harvest, which Papa had said would be Rosewood's most important, began
.

I suppose we should have grown accustomed to surprises by this time
.

But when the horse and rider approached Rosewood during our third day of picking, all of us were stunned. Papa was the first to see him, though Katie wasn't far behind
.

She shrieked with joy as she ran outside and nearly knocked him out of his saddle
.

“Rob . . . Rob!” she cried
.

“I would say she is glad to see you, young Paxton!” laughed my papa, walking up behind her
.

Rob dismounted and grabbed Katie in his arms
.

“What are you doing here?” asked Katie excitedly
.

“I have an item of business . . . actually two, to take up with various members of Rosewood's family. I thought they would be best handled in person.”

“Oh . . . I can't believe it!” Katie kept saying
.

“One of them was that I thought you might be able to use another set of hands with your cotton. From the looks of it,” he added, glancing around, “I would say that I'm already too late.”

“Not by much,” said my papa
.

“We only started three days ago, Rob,” said Katie
.

“Well, it's a right kind offer of you, son,” said Papa
.
“I hardly know what to say. My sister came down too—you met Nelda.”

“Yes, right . . . she is here?”

“Came down to help with the harvest too. Jeremiah's home. With you—let's see . . . that will make . . . nine in all—that is if we get Josepha out in the fields! But nine pickers—goodness, this harvest will fly by! We've never had so many!”

“Well, great. I'm glad I can be of help.”

“What do you think, Kathleen,” said Papa, “—shall we put him up with Jeremiah?”

“Oh yes!” cried Katie. “Oh, Rob . . . oh, this is too wonderful.”

“Well, come on inside. We are just getting ready to have some lunch before we get back out for the afternoon. You can join us, then Jeremiah can show you around and where you'll be staying. You ever pick cotton before?”

“Never in my life.”

“Neither had most of us until a few years ago. Now we're all experts, eh, Kathleen?”

“I don't know about that, Uncle Templeton. Henry still picks more than any three of the rest of us . . . well, except for Mayme. She's fast too.”

Katie was beside herself all afternoon to be picking Rosewood's cotton with Rob at her side. Now she was the old experienced field hand showing him what to do, just like I had taught her
.

Jeremiah and I worked together, Katie and Rob worked together, Henry and Josepha worked together, and Papa and Uncle Ward and Aunt Nelda worked together, every little group talking amongst themselves, Papa and Uncle Ward delighting in showing Aunt Nelda what to do, like Katie was with Rob, as if they
had been picking cotton all their lives
.

It always took a little while to get our momentum going. We didn't seem to make much progress in the first few days. But pretty soon the cotton began to pile up faster and faster in the backs of the wagons
.