Miss Katie's Rosewood (31 page)
Read Miss Katie's Rosewood Online
Authors: Michael Phillips
Tags: #FIC042030, #FIC042000, #FIC026000
H
ERB
W
ATSON
49
T
HREE DAYS LATER
M
R
. W
ATSON APPEARED AT
Rosewood to talk to Ward and Templeton Daniels. He looked serious. They went into the house together and sat down.
It was silent for several minutes.
“What is it, Herb?” asked Ward at length. “How bad can it be?”
“It's bad, boys. I can hardly bring myself to say it.”
“Come on, out with it.”
“The pressure I've been telling you about. . . .” Watson finally began, “it's grown worse. When I came to see you before, I hoped things would settle down. But they haven't. It's more than just my selling supplies to you now. Spoiling their attempt to kill Henry last year, along with the livery fire, made them plenty mad. But now they plan to get rid of you for good. The threats are getting dangerous.”
“What kind of threats?”
“I just had a visit from Sam. He sounds like he's on a vendetta. If I don't go along, they will burn my warehouse down.”
“What!”
“That's what he said.”
“But that wouldn't just get even with you, it would hurt the whole community.”
“And put half the plantation owners of the county out of business,” added Watson. “I know that. They've got to have someplace to sell their crops too, but when people get filled with hate, they don't think straight.”
“You said if you don't go along,” said Templeton. “What exactly did they mean?”
“Sam laid it down in black and whiteâI can't buy your cotton crop at all, not at any price.”
“What! Herb, that will ruin us. We have to sell that cotton!”
“I know . . . I know. I've wracked my brain trying to think of something. But as things stand now, I don't know what to do.”
“We'll sell it somewhere else!” said Ward angrily.
“That's fine,” said Watson. “I hope you can do that. That's obviously the best solution all the way around. But . . .”
“But what, Herb?” asked Templeton.
“All I'm saying is that you might not get your cotton to Charlotte . . . or
anywhere
. There are forces at work here that are
determined
to see you fail . . . no matter what it takes.”
“Are you saying that they would be watching us that close, that if we tried to transport it, they would prevent us?”
“Yes, that's what I'm saying. Your crop could be stolen, your fields set on fireâwho knows. They are absolutely determined that you are
not
going to sell this crop.”
We all knew something terrible had happened as a result of Mr. Watson's visit. Papa and Uncle Ward were sober the rest of the day. But we kept picking
.
“What do you think it is?” I said to Katie when we
passed each other on one of the rows
.
“I don't know,” she said. “Maybe the price is going to be even lower than they expected.”
“Then we have to get every bit of cotton off these stalks,” I said
.
We went on picking
.
M
R
. W
ATSON'S
O
FFER
50
T
WO DAYS LATER
M
R
. W
ATSON CALLED AGAIN
. H
E
and Ward and Templeton went inside the house and sat down together in private.
“I've been thinking a lot about our conversation the other day,” he said, “and about your situation. I've come up with an idea that might solve it.”
“We're open to any suggestions, Herb. You know someplace else we might be able to sell our cotton and where we could safely transport it?”
“No, it's nothing like that,” replied Watson. “It's a completely different kind of solution.”
“We're listening,” said Ward.
Mr. Watson stared down at the table a few seconds. It grew quiet as they waited.
“Tell meâ” He paused again, then eyed the two brothers seriously. “âhave you ever thought of selling your place?”
“Selling . . . selling
Rosewood
!”
Watson nodded.
“No . . . never,” replied Templeton.
“For one thing, it's not ours to sell,” said Ward.
“That's not the way I hear it.”
“It's Kathleen's . . . it's all of ours.”
“Technically, perhaps, but you two make the decisions,” said Mr. Watson.
“Don't be too sure.” Ward smiled.
“It's out of the question, Herb,” said Templeton. “We could never sell Rosewood.”
“What if you can't pay your taxes? It'll be sold for auction and you'll get nothing.”
“We'll pay them.”
“But what if?”
“If it comes to that, then maybe we'd be forced to consider it . . . are you saying that you'd be interested?”
“I might be. I've thought of getting a small place outside town. This is considerably larger than I'd envisioned, but . . . well, I'd just hate to see you lose everything. Consider my offer. It might be your only option.”
“What would you do, Herb?”
“I'd move out and manage the place. I've got men who can run the mill. So I'd hire some hands and grow crops and raise some cattle and horses along with them . . . just like you're doing.”
“In other words, expanding your holdings at our expense?”
“Come on, boys, that's not what I mean and you know it. I'll give you a fair market price, plenty to set yourselves up somewhere else. This house, your animals, outbuildings, all the landâthis place is worth a lot of money. You know, one of the things that might be driving this thing is exactly that.”
“What?”
“That this is such a prime piece of property, right on the river, some of the best growing land in the county. Someone else may be trying to get their hands on it.”
“You heard something?”
“No, I've heard nothing and I'm suggesting no one. All I'm saying is that if you sold to me, you'd get what it's worth and it'd set you and your people up right handsomely. The
house is probably worth five thousand, the land another ten, this year's crop a thousand or two thousand. Then there's the stock, the other buildings, that new place Henry fixed up. You've got a small fortune here. I just don't want you to lose it all and get nothing.”
Ward and Templeton sat silent, still stunned.
Several seconds later they rose and walked their visitor outside.
“I know we've sounded a little irritable, Herb,” said Templeton. “You've got to understand how hard this is for all of us.”
“I do. It's a tough situation.”
“But we appreciate your trying to help.”
They shook hands. Watson mounted his horse and rode off. They watched him go.
When they were alone, Ward voiced a question that had been nagging at him.
“You think there's any chance that he's in on it with them,” he said, “that it's a ploy to get Rosewood himself?”
“I would stake my life against it,” said Templeton. “Herb's a fair and honorable man. It sounds like he's willing to make us an offer that's more than reasonable under the circumstances. If what you say was true, he could wait till we're foreclosed on and buy the place for taxes like anyone else. No, I think his offer's legitimate.”
“We should talk to the girls,” said Ward, looking toward the fields.
“You know what they'll say.”
“We still have to talk to them.”
“There's one other thing,” added Templeton. “What's that?”
“Maybe it's time we're supposed to do what young Paxton was talking aboutâask God what
He
wants us to do.”
R
OSEWOOD'S
O
WNERS
T
ALK
I
T
O
VER
51
W
e saw Mr. Watson riding away in the distance from where we were working.
We still suspected nothing of what his visits were about. We assumed it was about the price of cotton or something like that
.
Ten minutes later Papa and Uncle Ward wandered slowly back out toward us, talking between themselves. Again they were somber. Their hearts didn't seem to be in the picking like before. We could tell something was wrong and it dampened everyone's spirits. Papa and Uncle Ward kept to themselves all afternoon, talking quietly away from everyone else
.
That evening we finally found out what Mr. Watson's two visits had been about
.
About four-thirty they called us together. They had already sent Josepha and Aunt Nelda in a couple hours before
.
“We're going to knock off early today,” said Papa. “Go back and clean up, take a bath, put on some clean clothes. Josepha and Nelda are fixing us a nice supper.
Then we have to have a serious talk.”
Katie and I looked at each other with expressions of question. I could tell Katie was worried. So was I
.
After a quiet supper, the men got up and asked us all to join them in the parlor
.
“You too, Nelda,” said Uncle Ward
.
“But I'm not . . . you know, involved with Rosewood in the way the rest of you are.”
“Look, Nelda,” said Uncle Ward. “I was the black sheep of the family, remember. I was the one who left. But these folks all welcomed me back and made me feel like part of the family again. If I can be, so can you. You're in this family now too, right along with the rest of us.”
Poor Aunt Nelda! Her chin and lower lip started to quiver and her eyes filled with tears. Then she rushed over and gave Uncle Ward the biggest hug of his life!
“You're a good brother, Ward,” she said. “You were never really a black sheep in my eyes. Thank you!”
“You too, Robâwhatever concerns Katie concerns you now. And you too, Jeremiahâyou and Mayme have to make your decisions together.”
When we were all seated, Papa began
.
“We wanted to talk to you two girlsâand you, Nelda . . . Rob, and the rest of you,” he said. “We are Rosewood's family now. We have some major decisions to face, and we have to make them together.”
“What kind of decisions, Uncle Templeton?” asked Katie, her voice trembling
.
He drew in a long breath
.
“About the future of Rosewood,” he said
.
He glanced at Uncle Ward
.
“Go on, brother Templeton,” said Uncle Ward. “You've been here longer than me. You've got a right to speak for us both.”
Papa sighed and scratched the back of his head. “The late taxes are no secret,” he said. “We've got some financial problems, but they're not as serious as the two of you facedâ”
He glanced first at Katie, then at me
.
“âback when you were alone. Of course, Ward's gold helped you out some then. But I think if we keep working hard, we can get out of this fix we're in. Nelda's offered to help too, which we appreciate, Neldaâ”
He looked over at his sister and smiled
.
“âbut I'm afraid the problems are bigger than just money. If it were only money, we could figure something out. But it's not just financial. It's . . . it's the problems we've got in the whole community. It's everything . . . Sam Jenkins, Dwight Steeves, the Klan. People are against us, and they're going to keep being against us.”
“But the cottonâ” began Katie
.
“The cotton won't be enough, Kathleen,” said Papa
.
“Why not?”
“Because, like I said, the problems we've got are bigger than just money . . .”
Again the two men looked at each other
.
“âbecause Mr. Watson can't buy our crop,” Papa added
.
“What . . . why not?” said Katie. The full force of what Papa had said hadn't sunk in all the way yet
.
“He's received threats. He can't do any more business with us at all. If he does, he could be ruined. Don't forget what happened to the livery. We can't put him in that kind of danger. He's been too good a friend to Rosewood.”
“Can't we sell the cotton to somebody else?” I said.
“There is no one else,” said Papa, looking toward me. “What I'm trying to get you both to see, Mary Ann, is that it's not just about selling the cotton. Even if we
try to take it elsewhere, they will destroy our crop, or steal it, or burn our fields.”
At last we began to realize how serious a thing it was
.
“Then . . . what are we going to do, Uncle Templeton?” said Katie. “We have to sell the cotton!”
“But I'm telling you, Kathleen . . . we may not be able to.”
There was a long silence. Again Papa drew in a deep breath
.
“Mr. Watson came yesterday with a potential solution,” he said after a few seconds. “I don't like it. Ward doesn't like it. You're not going to like it. But it might be the only way out of this mess we are in. The long and the short of it is . . . Mr. Watson has offered to buy Rosewood.”
The words fell like a silent bomb in the room. Katie and I sat there with our mouths hanging open. We couldn't believe what we'd heard
.
“You mean . . . sell Rosewood?” said Katie in disbelief. Tears were filling her eyes
.
“I'm afraid that's what we mean,” replied Papa. “But all four of our names are on the deed. Ward and I have decided that we won't do it unless all four of us agree. Even if all three of the rest of us say yes, and you say no, Kathleenâwe won't sell. We're in this together.”
“But, Uncle Templeton, we can find a way out of this!” insisted Katie, tears flowing down her cheeks. “We always have. We have always found a way before, even when it was just Mayme and me.”
“Times have changed, Kathleen. We may not be able to work our way out of this. What good will it do if we have a great harvest and they burn us out?”
“I don't know, Uncle Templeton,” she said, wiping
at her eyes, “but there has to be a way. There just has to be!”
Rob put his hand on Katie's shoulder, but even he was quiet
.
We all stared at the floor. No one said anything. My insides felt like I'd swallowed a stone and it was sitting in the pit of my stomach. It was the worst blow I'd ever felt in my life since losing my family
.
What made it so unbearable was that from Papa's voice I think both Katie and I somehow knew that this was a more serious crisis than anything we had yet faced. Papa was such an optimistâhis cheerful expressions, his winks and grins. He could always see the good in anything
.
But now he sounded defeated. We sensed not just the desperation in his voice . . . but also the fear
.
And if he was afraid, what else could we possibly be than afraid? If he was worried, then it really must be serious
.
Maybe this was the end after all. As I sat there, I realized I was crying too
.
“I'll never leave Rosewood!” said Katie after a minute. “This is our home forever. I don't want to think of such a thing as selling. We'll never leave . . . andâ”
Katie burst into tears. Rob tried to comfort her by reaching for her hand. But she jumped up and ran upstairs
.
Rob and I glanced at each other. We were both thinking of Katie. Always before I would have been the one to go and talk to Katie and comfort her, as she would have done for me. But now things had changed. I wondered if it was now Rob's place to go talk to her
.
Rob must have known what I was thinking. As he looked at me, he nodded toward the stairs. I knew he was telling me to go to Katie
.
I rose, left the room, and followed Katie upstairs
.
When I walked into her room, she looked at me with that same look on her face as the first time I saw her. She looked scared and hopeless
.
I walked to the bed and opened my arms and we both cried as we held each other
.
