Shifted By The Winds (60 page)

Carrie laughed. “I admire your honesty. You no longer feel that way?”

Louisa shook her head, pulling her shoulders back as she stood up taller. “I will never again give someone control of my life. Perry and I will rebuild the plantation
together
.”

Perry reached out and grasped her hand, both of them looking into the distance. “I say we have something to eat and then take Jasper home,” he announced.

Louisa nodded happily as she passed around the plate of scones. “Annie said the rest of breakfast would be ready soon.”

Moses lifted his hand to stop everyone from standing.  “I understand Morah wasn’t the only miracle that happened yesterday.”  Everyone turned their eyes toward him.  He grinned and nodded toward the pasture.  “I hear the drought on horse buying is over.”  Then he turned his eyes toward Robert.  “I believe this is also my cue to say
‘I told you so’
,” he said smugly.

“That it is,” Robert agreed willingly.

Thomas took a breath.  “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Mark and Susan since they arrived.  The Harvest Celebration kept me busy all day and night, and then with Morah…”

Robert grinned happily as he stepped forward and shook Thomas’ hand.  “I have you to thank for this miracle,” he stated.  “Thank you for the letter you wrote to Mark and Susan.”

“They are buying some of them?” Thomas asked gladly.

“All of them.”

Thomas stared at his son-in-law, quite certain he hadn’t heard correctly.  “Come again?”

Robert laughed loudly.  “They are buying
all
of them.”

Mark strode out onto the porch with a cup of coffee in his hand.  “Susan and I were out in the barn this morning before it was even light.  We had to at least touch every one of those fine colts and fillies to convince ourselves they are actually ours.”  He slapped Robert on the back.  “You will have a waiting list in the spring. I’m just glad we have the boasting rights of purchasing the
first
Cromwell horses.”

Thomas shook his head, his heart soaring with happiness.  “Now this is the way to start a Cromwell Plantation morning!”  He glanced around the porch filled with people who had come to mean so much to him.  “It truly does feel like a miracle…”

Carrie gazed around the table as Annie brought out platters of scrambled eggs and bacon. Her exhilaration had returned. Everyone would mourn Sunny, but Morah and Dwane were now free to live a new life, and…

“What are you thinking about, Carrie?” Abby asked with amusement. “You are positively glowing.”

Carrie exchanged a glance with Robert. He grinned at her and nodded. “It’s easy to glow when you’re as happy as I am,” she replied. “Now is as good a time as any to tell everyone.” She paused as she gazed at the faces of everyone she loved best.

“Tell us what?” her father demanded. “I’m too tired to be left hanging in suspense, my dear.”

Carrie laughed. “You haven’t learned by now that I like to extend the drama?”

Thomas shook his head. “Do all of you see what I was forced to endure while she was growing up?”

“Just while she was growing up?” Abby asked. “I don’t believe that’s changed since I’ve known her.”

Thomas grasped her hand. “I’m so glad I have someone who takes sympathy on my plight.”

Abby laughed and pulled her hand away. “Sympathy? I rather admire her technique.”

Carrie laughed when Thomas groaned and shook his head. “Thank you, Abby. Now, if I may be allowed to continue…” She paused as everyone laughed, and then she reached over to take Robert’s hand. “I’ve decided not to return to school this term.”

A complete silence filled the room.

Thomas was the first to break it. “Has something happened, Carrie? What is wrong?”

Carrie shook her head. “Nothing is wrong, Father.” She explained what she had been feeling, and why she had made the decision. “I want to be a homeopathic doctor more than ever,” she finished, “but I feel quite strongly that I’m to remain on the plantation right now. I don’t know why, but I am beyond thrilled to be here with Robert and the rest of you.” Her eyes shifted to her father. “Richmond is much closer than Philadelphia, so I know I’ll see you more often.” Then she looked at Abby, suddenly wondering if she was disappointed in her. “You haven’t said anything,” she murmured.

Abby smiled. “I wanted to give everyone else a chance before I told you how absolutely joyful I am to have my daughter so close. I learned a long time ago that it is impossible to understand the decisions we make sometimes, but I also know you well enough to know you would only make this decision if you were completely confident of it. I’ll let you deal with what it all means. I’ll just be happy to have you on the plantation, and I will look forward to regular visits.”

Carrie grinned as everyone else chorused their agreement. Thomas stood and pulled her into a strong embrace. “I know the time is coming when I may lose the ability to even have you close enough to visit as often as you do. I would be nothing but a fool if I didn’t rejoice in your decision. I prefer to believe I am not a fool,” he said. Then he threw his head back with a laugh. “Welcome back to Cromwell Plantation, my dear!”

Carrie sat down in the rocking chair after a late lunch, glad to have the porch to herself. So much had happened in such a short period that she was suddenly desperate to have time alone to process it all. She thought briefly about riding Granite to her special place on the river, but her tired body resisted. Pulling her coat closely around her, she rested her head on the back of the chair and gazed up at the brilliant yellow leaves of the oak tree that shaded the house. She thought of all the times she had climbed the tree as a girl. She had seen it grow from a large tree into a truly giant guardian that would forever hold the secret of how many times she had climbed down its sheltering limbs from her window to escape her mother’s attempts to turn her into a proper plantation mistress.

“I’m back home, Mama,” she whispered, and then chuckled as she imagined the look on her mother’s face if she could see her clothed in breeches, boots and her father’s heavy coat. Mama probably would have fainted away with horror. Just being late for meals seemed to have triggered anxiety attacks in her fragile parent. Yet, in the end, she had encouraged Carrie to follow her dream of being a doctor. She would always treasure the last conversation they had shared.

Carrie relished the cool, crisp air. All signs pointed to a snowy, cold winter, but she didn’t mind. They would most assuredly have less snow than Philadelphia, and it would not be covered with black soot before it turned into a foul, gray slush on the streets. It would simply drape the plantation with a luxuriant blanket of white. A surge of peace spread through her body so strongly it elicited a quiet laugh.

“You sound happy.”

Carrie bit back her disappointment at being interrupted. “Hello, Father.”

“Do you need some time alone?”

Carrie loved him for asking because it revealed how well he knew her, but she shook her head. “Never from you.”

Thomas smiled and settled down in the chair next to her. “I would say there were certainly some times when you were frustrated with your old father and would have relished time away from me.”

“Certainly no more than you were frustrated by me through the years,” Carrie said playfully. “I happen to know just how many times you protected me from Mother’s displeasure.”

“Oh, I’m sure you don’t know them
all
,” Thomas responded. He sobered then. “I’m glad we have reached the stage of our relationship where we are now friends.”

“Me too,” Carrie agreed as she reached out to take his hand. She felt the peace encompass her again as her father’s strong fingers enveloped hers.

They sat that way for several minutes before Thomas cleared his throat. “I’d like to talk to you about something.”

Carrie straightened in her chair as she heard the seriousness in her father’s voice. “Is anything wrong?”

“No…” her father said. “I’ve merely been trying to come to grips with something. I believe I’m ready to talk about it now.”

Carrie suddenly knew where the conversation was headed, but she waited for him to say what he needed to.

“Your revelation the night before we left to come here was rather disturbing.”

Carrie nodded. “I felt the same way,” she replied. Another long silence fell on the porch, but it was one Carrie was comfortable with. She was content to let her father discuss Lord Oliver Cromwell in the way that worked best for him.

“Did you feel as responsible as I do?” Thomas finally asked.

“I did.”

“You don’t anymore?”

Carrie considered the question. “Not in the way you might be thinking.”

“Could you illuminate me? I have spent hours in the past few days studying the history of England and Ireland during Lord Cromwell’s time. I find it sickening.” He paused, his eyes deeply troubled.

Carrie watched him closely. She knew she had seen little of her father since they arrived, and now she understood why. She was happy to answer his question, but she sensed he had more to say first.

“Since we were here, I decided to go through the records from the beginning of the plantation,” Thomas revealed.

“And…?” Carrie prompted after another long silence.

Thomas sighed. “The first Cromwells had many indentured servants.”

Carrie remained silent. She was not hearing anything she had not already learned and come to grips with.

“You’re not going to remind me they were actually slaves?” Thomas asked ruefully.

“Would you like me to?” Carrie was unsure how to proceed. She was relieved when her father laughed.

“You have turned into a diplomat as you have matured,” he murmured, his voice filled with both surprise and pride.

“I couldn’t stay a child forever,” Carrie reminded him.

“No, but you also didn’t have to become such a magnificent woman. I am very proud of you.”

Carrie glowed with delight as she squeezed his hand tightly. “Thank you, Father. That means the world to me.”

Thomas nodded absently, buried in his thoughts again. “I found the records about the indentured servants,” he continued after a long silence. He took a deep breath. “They were nothing more than slaves.”

“I know,” Carrie replied.

“I knew some of them when I was very young. My grandfather had at least ten white indentured servants, as well as black slaves.”

Carrie didn’t see the need to repeat that
all
of them were slaves. Her father had accepted the truth. How he communicated it was his business.

“As I said, I was quite young, so I don’t remember what happened to them. I do remember, though, that by the time I was eight or nine, there were only black slaves working Cromwell.” His voice was reminiscent.

Carrie nodded and continued to rock when another long silence filled the porch.

“You’re very much like Abby,” Thomas said suddenly, his voice laced with humor. “She lets me sit with my own thoughts for as long as I need to figure out how to communicate them.”

Carrie smiled. Nothing could make her happier than being compared to the woman who was equal parts mother and mentor to her.

“You’re really just going to let me squirm until I say something about Lord Oliver Cromwell?” her father asked, his voice almost petulant.