Together is All We Need (Shenandoah Sisters Book #4) , livre ebook

T OGETHER I S A LL W E N EED
Books by Michael Phillips
Is Jesus Coming Back As Soon As We Think? Destiny Junction Kings Crossroads Make Me Like Jesus God, A Good Father Jesus, An Obedient Son Rift in Time Hidden in Time The Stonewycke Trilogy (with Judith Pella) Your Life in Christ (George MacDonald)
A MERICAN D REAMS Dream of Freedom Dream of Life Dream of Love
T HE S ECRET OF THE R OSE The Eleventh Hour A Rose Remembered Escape to Freedom Dawn of Liberty
S HENANDOAH S ISTERS Angels Watching Over Me A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton The Color of Your Skin Ain t the Color of Your Heart Together Is All We Need
C AROLINA C OUSINS A Perilous Proposal The Soldier s Lady Never Too Late Miss Katie s Rosewood
T OGETHER I S A LL W E N EED

M ICHAEL P HILLIPS
Together Is All We Need Copyright 2004 Michael Phillips
Cover photo of girls by David Bailey Cover design by The DesignWorks Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-7642-2703-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Phillips, Michael R., 1946- Together is all we need / by Michael Phillips. p. cm. - (Shenandoah sisters) ISBN 0-7642-2708-4 (hardback : alk. paper) - ISBN 0-7642-2703-3 (pbk.) 1. Female friendship-Fiction. 2. Plantation life-Fiction. 3. Race relations-Fiction. 4. North Carolina-Fiction. 5. Reconstruction-Fiction. 6. Teenage girls-Fiction. 7. Orphans-Fiction. I. Title II. Series: Phillips, Michael R., 1946- . Shenandoah sisters. PS3566.H492T64 2004 813 .54-dc22
2004001023
MICHAEL PHILLIPS is one of the premier fiction authors publishing in the CBA marketplace. He has authored more than fifty books, with total sales exceeding six million copies. He is also well known as the editor of the popular George MacDonald Classics series. Michael and his wife, Judy, have three grown sons and make their home in Eureka, California.
Contents
1. A NOTHER U NCLE C OMES TO C ALL
2. F ATHERS AND U NCLES
3. A D ETERMINED V ISITOR
4. A T ALK W ITH H ENRY
5. L EROY S NEED , A TTORNEY AT L AW
6. T HE T RUTH F INALLY G ETS O UT
7. R UMORS S PREAD
8. N EW B OARDER AT R OSEWOOD
9. S EARCH FOR THE D EED
10. T HE L UMP IN A LETA S H EART
11. A C HANGE C OMES TO R OSEWOOD S F AMILY
12. B ROKEN BUT H EALED F AMILY
13. D EVASTATING N EWS
14. K ATIE C RACKS THE S AFE
15. F ROM O UT OF THE P AST
16. F INAL N OTICE
17. A D IFFICULT F AMILY T ALK
18. K ATIE IN T OWN
19. T HE A RTICLE
20. L AST N IGHT AT R OSEWOOD
21. T OO M ANY G OOD-BYES , T OO M ANY T EARS
22. I N T OWN
23. A WAY
24. I NTERROGATION
25. A C UP OF C OFFEE W ITH F RIENDS
26. L EGAL T ALK
27. A N U NCLE S EALS O UR F ATE
28. S TUNNING AND U NEXPECTED D EVELOPMENTS
29. U NCLE AND N IECE
30. C OMING A FTER U S
31. A NOTHER H OMECOMING
32. I N S EARCH OF T EMPLETON D ANIELS
33. B ROTHERS
34. A D ETERMINED K ATIE T AKES C HARGE
35. S URPRISE AT R OSEWOOD
36. H APPY B EDTIME
37. W ARD P LEADS T EMPLETON S C ASE
38. M AKING A MENDS
39. I N F RONT OF THE J UDGE
40. R ETURN TO R OSEWOOD
41. T HE T WO U NCLES
42. M E AND M Y P APA
43. A N EW B LACK G ENERATION
44. A NOTHER H ARVEST
45. A L ETTER
46. A D AY IN THE L IFE OF R OSEWOOD
47. T HE L OOSE C OW
48. C ELEBRATION
49. M AKING P LANS
50. A F AMILY . . . T OGETHER
A NOTHER U NCLE C OMES TO C ALL 1
E VEN IF K ATIE HAD KNOWN ABOUT THE VISITOR TO Greens Crossing ahead of time, it probably wouldn t have changed anything. What could she have done about it anyway?
As it was, our friend Henry was the first to know. But he was busy in the livery, and his son Jeremiah, who was working for Mr. Watson at the mill, was off making a delivery out of town. There was no way for Henry to get word to us.
The man rode into the livery and dismounted.
Hey, boy! he called to Henry, who was probably five or ten years older than he was. Get over here and give my horses some water and feed.
Yes uh, said Henry, ambling over and taking the reins from him.
The name s Clairborne, said the man, -Burchard Clairborne. I ve got some business at the bank, then I ll be heading out to my brother s place.
Thinking about Katie and me and wishing he could do something, Henry watched the man walk down the street toward the bank, then tended to his horse. Every now and then he glanced toward Watson s Mill in hopes that Jeremiah might get back soon enough to ride out to Rosewood and be there when Katie s uncle arrived.
Meanwhile, at the bank, Burchard Clairborne and Mr. Taylor were continuing a conversation that had begun a couple months earlier at a social gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina.
I got to thinking mighty hard about what you said in Charlotte, Clairborne said after he was seated and they had exchanged greetings. So I did me some nosing around. I looked into the army records and what do you suppose I found?
I couldn t say, Mr. Clairborne, said Mr. Taylor.
That my brother and his two sons-the one was killed, but the other two made it through the war-that they were discharged the week after Appomattox.
The banker took in the information with obvious interest.
That is peculiar, he said. As I told you, no one has seen him in what must be three years. Though since we spoke in Charlotte, certain other facts have come to light.
Facts . . . what kind of facts?
Well, for one thing, the girl, who is the only one I ve seen for a year, now says her father did return home and is presently up north somewhere working to help support the plantation.
Hmm . . . I see. And the sons?
She made no mention of them, replied Taylor.
And you still have seen nothing of his wife?
Nothing . . . only the daughter-Kathleen. As I told you, Mrs. Clairborne sends the girl into town to conduct all their business. And that is another interesting thing, the banker went on. As I told you, there has been considerable indebtedness to the bank, which has accounted for my own involvement in the affair. We have nearly had to foreclose . . . twice. But then two months ago suddenly the girl appeared again- without mother or father or anyone. She walked in with an even more smug expression than usual and plopped down three hundred and fifty dollars on my desk . . . in cash.
Cash! Where could they have come up with that kind of money?
I haven t an idea . . . although there had been some gold involved earlier.
Gold-this thing gets more and more interesting all the time, said Clairborne, clearly intrigued by this new information.
There have admittedly been certain peculiarities to the case. In any event, the three hundred and fifty dollars paid off the loan in full. In fact, the Clairborne account, though obviously I cannot divulge specifics, is in a very healthy condition at present. I will simply tell you it is over two hundred dollars.
Not much to run a plantation with.
But considering that a year ago they were five hundred dollars in debt with foreclosure inevitable, there has certainly been a remarkable turnaround.
And what do you think can account for it?
I have no idea. They do hire a few of the local coloreds and managed to get in a decent cotton crop last year, as I understand it. At least it was enough to put their account in the black, as I say, and finance a new planting this spring. But they maintain the most peculiar attitude, shall we say, toward all the changes since the war, taking them a little too far if you ask me.
What do you mean?
There is talk that they allow coloreds into the house . . .
Clairborne raised one eyebrow.
-and the daughter, young Kathleen, wanted me to open a bank account for one of her darkie girls.
Whatever for? They know nothing about money.
I can t imagine her motive.
What did you do?
I opened it, of course. What else could I do? But I only mention it as an example of the kind of thing I am talking about.
Well, something about it don t smell altogether right to me, said Clairborne. I got my suspicions, and one of them s that maybe my brother never made it home after the war, whatever the girl says now.
What are you saying?
I ain t rightly sure. But something either waylaid him or happened to him. He might have found another woman, got involved with some kind of criminal activity-you can never tell.
That wouldn t account for the sons.
Exactly my thought, which makes me think it s more serious, that he s either laid up bad . . . or something worse. Lots a men come back crippled and in bad shape. Maybe they re trying to hide his condition to keep creditors at bay.
What about the girl s claim that he is working in the North?
I don t know. Don t that sound a mite convenient to you? Anyway, that s what I come to find out. After all, I ve got to look after my interests. I can t have that sister-in-law of mine thinking that whatever may have belonged to my parents and my brother automatically belongs to her if something did happen.
What do you plan to do, Mr. Clairborne?
First off, I m going to find out if my brother s there once and for all and what kind of condition he s in if he is. If he ain t dead, then I m figuring they know where he is. If he s up north, then I intend to go find him and lay my own eyes on him for myself. And if he is dead . . . well, then, you and I both know what that means . . . by rights that plantation belongs to me. That s why I come to see you-I figure I better know where I stand legally.
I m no lawyer, Mr. Clairborne.
You re likely the closest thing this town has to one