Glimmers of Change (54 page)

Robert enjoyed the look on Clint’s face as much as he savored the knowledge of their first foal from Eclipse. He had never lost his feeling that every birth was a miracle. He knew from the wonder shining in Clint’s eyes that he felt the same way.

“Should we do anything?” Clint asked nervously.

Robert smiled, confident Clint knew the answer. “What do you think?”

Clint hesitated and then shook his head. “No. Candy did just fine.” Moments later the foal began to move around, gasping its first breath as the membranes and the umbilical cord broke. “It’s a colt!” he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible.

Robert nodded, deep satisfaction filling him. He motioned for Clint to join him. “Let’s leave them alone. Candy needs to rest for a few minutes. It will take the foal about thirty minutes to be able to stand and eat. She will be ready for him by then.”

Clint stood slowly and reached out to touch the colt gently. He rubbed his hand down Candy’s neck and then moved to the stall door with a look of wonder still on his face. “What are you going to name him?”

Robert smiled. “I’d say that is up to you.”

“Why me?” Clint asked, looking back over his shoulder at the colt before he slipped into the barn aisle and securely latched the stall door.

Robert shrugged. “I figure a man likes to name his own horse.” Silence hung in the barn for several moments. He watched with amusement as his words sank into Clint’s mind.

Clint turned to stare at him, his wonder turning to disbelief and then edging into a shocked look of confusion. “His own horse?” he echoed slowly.

Robert nodded. “Every good horseman needs a horse of his own that he trains since birth. I want you to have Eclipse’s first son.” He knew what a huge gift it was. He also knew Clint deserved it.

Clint continued to stare at him until a broad grin slowly spread across his face. He whirled around to stare over the gate at the colt that had just risen to his sternum in the hay. He teetered there with a comical look on his face. “Look at him,” Clint whispered. “He’s a bay just like his mama, but look at that white star and the four white stockings. He’s going to be a beauty.” His voice was filled with awe and pride. He spun around and reached out to grip Robert’s hand. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said gruffly.

Robert shook his hand. “You’re my partner in this venture,” he said firmly. “You’re a natural horseman — I knew that the first moment I saw you ride Granite — but you have taken it much further by your thirst to learn all you can. I’m proud of you, Clint.”

Clint swallowed and looked away for a long moment before his eyes swung back. “I have to think about his name,” he murmured. “He’s going to be the best horse ever,” he stated firmly.

“With Candy as his dame and Eclipse as his sire, I think you might just be right,” Robert agreed, joy filling his heart that he could put that look on Clint’s face. “Now,” he said briskly, “I suggest we check on our other mothers-to-be and let these two have some time to get to know each other.”

Clint cast one more awestruck look over the stall door and then turned to join him.

Rose stood outside the door to Felicia’s room and listened quietly, finally satisfied the little girl was sound asleep. She and Moses had spent the long afternoon showing Felicia around the plantation, thrilled to see her genuine smiles as John hugged her over and over. Without any prompting, her little boy had fallen in love with this stranger who had dropped into his world. He couldn’t wrap his mouth around the name Felicia. After several failed attempts he had started calling her Fe-Fe.

Five month old Hope had smiled and gurgled nonstop. Rose had watched with delight as Felicia held Hope close to her chest, singing softly and laughing when Hope reached up to pat her face.

The little girl had been completely mesmerized by the horses, especially falling in love with Granite after he extended his neck over the stall door so he could blow her hair and nibble her shoulder. “He likes me!” she had exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

She had been rendered speechless by the sight of the three tiny little foals standing in their stall suckling their mothers. If possible, she had been even more speechless when Clint gravely told her that Robert had given him one of the foals, which he decided to name Pegasus after the mythical Greek flying horse he had read about in Thomas’s extensive library.

Felicia had finally fallen asleep on the porch, curled up in her rocking chair after a special dinner Annie prepared. Moses had carried her up to her bedroom and tucked her in bed gently. Rose sat beside her for a while, wanting to be there if she woke up frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings.

“She’s asleep?” Moses whispered.

Rose nodded. “Felicia is exhausted. All three of the kids are asleep,” she whispered back, not wanting to do anything to change that. She moved toward her husband, choking back her laugh when Moses swung her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. The laughter died as she saw the intense yearning and need in his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re home, Mr. Samuels,” she said softly, pulling his head down for a long kiss. They needed to talk, but that could wait.

Hours later, they sat up against their pillows, watching the candlelight flicker as the breeze blew in through the curtains. Rose nestled contentedly against Moses’s chest, her fingers playing across his tight muscles.

“It’s time,” Moses said somberly.

Rose leaned back and gazed into his eyes, too relaxed from their lovemaking to be concerned about anything he might say. “Time for what?” she asked lazily.

“Time for us to leave the plantation.”

Rose stiffened and pushed back further so she could study his face. “What did you say?”

Moses nodded, pulling her back against him. “Going through the riot made me realize I truly do want to be a leader for our people.”

Rose pushed clear again, crossing her legs into a sitting position so she could see him clearly. “Tell me,” she invited, stunned by his sudden proclamation. She knew so little about the riot. Moses had brought home a pile of newspapers with the articles Matthew wrote, but she hadn’t read them yet. She listened as Moses painted a picture of the horror he endured, her own horror growing with each word he spoke. Tears filled her eyes when he described Felicia’s parents being killed, and she shuddered when he revealed how close he had come to taking on the police himself.

When he finished recounting the riot, Moses took a deep breath. The remaining anguish had fled as he told Rose everything that happened. The play of emotion on her face helped him release his own. “For the first time, I had a clear understanding of what every black person in this country is up against now that we are free. None of us are truly free as long as we are controlled by the hatred and contempt of people determined to keep us in the same conditions we endured as slaves.”

Rose nodded but didn’t respond. She was content to listen for now, watching the strong sense of purpose filling Moses’s face.

“I realized during the riot that it was a lack of leadership that allowed the riot to happen in the first place. It’s certainly what kept it going for as long as it did. No one wanted to step forward and claim leadership because it meant more risk.” His voice held both contempt and anger.

Rose continued to sit quietly, letting him work through what he was feeling.

“You told me after the school fire that our people needed me. I didn’t want to be needed,” he admitted. “Now I realize I could never live with myself if I merely stand idle while other people fight for my rights. I want to be able to look my children in the eye someday and know they understand that I fought for them to have a better life.” He reached over to take Rose’s hand. “That
we
fought for them to have a better life.”

“What do you have in mind?” Rose asked.

“We have to leave the plantation,” Moses said firmly. “It’s time for you to go to college. We made enough this year from the plantation to pay for the next year.” He hesitated and then forged forward. “For both of us.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “
Both
of us?”

Moses nodded. “I’m going to become an attorney. Things won’t really change until the laws change and until our people have representation from one of their own.”

Rose’s thoughts spun as she looked into his eyes. Suddenly she smiled. “You will be a fabulous attorney,” she said softly, reaching up to touch his cheek. Pride swelled in her until she was afraid it would overwhelm her. “Moses Samuels, attorney-at-law. It has a nice ring to it.”

“You don’t think I’m crazy?” Moses asked. His voice was casual, but his eyes said he needed reassurance.

“Absolutely not.”

“You really think I can go to college?”

Rose chuckled. “You will breeze through college. You learned to read so quickly, and I know how fast you have been devouring the books in Thomas’s library. You have already absorbed more information than most people I know.”

Moses hesitated. “Becoming an attorney might put us in more danger. The whites will see me as more of a threat.”

“Yes,” Rose agreed, surprised she could be so calm about it but knowing her feelings were still being carried by her mysterious conversation that morning with her mother. “I suppose they will, but it’s true that neither one of us can live with ourselves if we don’t do all we can to make sure our children and all the rest of our people have a better life. I thought we agreed we weren’t going to let fear stop us from doing what we believe is right.”

A smile played on Moses’s lips. “Then we leave?”

“Yes,” Rose said again, “but not yet,” she added firmly. She could hardly believe the words were coming out of her mouth, but she knew they were right.

Moses blinked. “What?”

“It’s too soon,” Rose said calmly. “Hope is not old enough yet, and Felicia doesn’t need more turmoil in her life. You saw her face when she was with the horses today. She needs time to heal in a place that is safe. She needs a sense of stability before we move her into another adventure. It’s simply too much to ask of her now.” As she spoke, her confidence in her decision grew. “It’s not time to leave the school, and there are people right here who need you to lead them.”

Moses stared at her. “I thought you were eager to leave.”

Rose smiled. “I am.” She told Moses what had happened down by the river earlier that morning. “We’re going to leave here,” she said softly, “but we still have some blooming to do right here.”

Moses frowned but his eyes said he agreed. “How long do we stay?”

“A year,” Rose announced, a little stunned by her certainty. “One year.” She smiled suddenly and launched herself into Moses’s arms. “I’m so very proud of you,” she whispered. She kissed him deeply and then looked toward the window, stunned when she realized the glow in the distance was the sun coming up.

Moses’s eyes followed hers. He laughed when he saw the glow lightening the horizon. “I have a perfect way to welcome a new day,” he said quietly into her ear, stroking her hair back as he gazed into her eyes.

“You haven’t had enough?” Rose teased.

“Of you? Never.”

Carrie breathed a sigh of relief when she left school, the late afternoon sun painting the surrounding buildings with a golden glow. She loved every minute of her medical studies, but she was tired to the core. All she wanted was to go home and relax over dinner before she dug into her books for the night. “Thank goodness there is no one out here to harass us tonight!” she exclaimed. “I’m much too tired to ignore them right now. I’m sure I would say something I totally mean and wouldn’t regret at all.”