Miss Katie's Rosewood (23 page)
Read Miss Katie's Rosewood Online
Authors: Michael Phillips
Tags: #FIC042030, #FIC042000, #FIC026000
“Who would have thought itâa couple drifters like us?”
“Fate does play its tricksâfor good and bad. What's that they say about God's will? I remember Mama quoting itâsomething about everything working for good.”
Ward nodded.
It was quiet a minute as the two brothers began walking side by side toward one of the adjacent fields.
“How serious do you think this thing is with Herb?” asked Ward at length.
Templeton sighed. “I don't know . . . I just don't know,” he said. “We've got bills, we've got taxes coming due, we've got a fine crop coming on . . . yet one of our few friends around here, besides Thurston, of course, is getting pressure to steer clear of us. Yeah, I can't say it doesn't concern me. It does. But what can we do but wait?”
“Nothing, I suppose. Just wait to see how it plays out.”
“A little like holding two jacks when the pot is getting a bit too big for comfort,” said Templeton with a grin. But the smile quickly faded again. “Sometimes waiting's the hardest thing of all to do.”
“Like waiting to hear from the girls.”
“Yep.”
They walked on and gradually circled back toward the house.
“I don't know, Ward,” said Templeton at length. “Maybe it is the girls being gone, and growing up, and going
to Nelda's to look at that school . . . I don't know, I've just been having a strange senseâI don't even know what to call itâlike I may not have many more opportunities to walk through these fields.”
“A premonition of death, younger brother? I don't know if I like the sound of that.”
“No, I don't think that's it. It's more a sense that a change is coming and that we need to enjoy what we've got while we've got it. I don't know, what if the girls decide to go to that school and then they get married and stay up there? Jeremiah's got a good job up there now. What if he and Mayme decide to stay in the North?”
“They wouldn't . . . would they?”
“I don't know. There's going to be more opportunities for a kid like Jeremiah there, and less antagonism toward them because of their color. If I was black, that's where I'd go. Why would they want to stay around here the way things are changing? And then there is Katie's young manâhe has a life and job up north.”
“You've got a point there. But this is their home.”
“Yeah, but home is where your people are. This hasn't always been home. There was that homestead Grandpa used to talk about. That was his home for a while. Then Rosalind came down here to marry Richard. Nelda got married and moved into the city. This has been Katie's home and a good home for the rest of us. I don't know . . . maybe everything's not meant to last forever. I just wonder what we'll do if they both wind up leaving someday. We're not spring chickens anymore.”
“Speak for yourself, brother!” laughed Ward.
“I'm serious, thoughâwhat would we do if they did? Would we want to stay here without them? They're growing up, Ward. We've got to face it. Changes may be coming that we can't stop.”
R
OSEWOOD'S
T
HREE
M
EN
38
W
HATCHU LOOKIN' AT?” ASKED
J
OSEPHA, WALKING
to where Henry stood with his back turned looking out the window above the kitchen counter he had so painstakingly made for her the year before.
“Jes' lookin' at our two men walkin' out dereâMister Templeton an' Mister Ward.”
Josepha came and stood beside him.
“Dey looks like dey's in da middle er some parful serious talk, all right.”
“You notice how Mister Templeton always walks 'bout da place on mornin's like dis?”
“I seen him, all right.”
“It puts me in da mind er dat Scripture 'bout faithful menâBe diligent ter know da state ob dy flocks, an' look well ter dy herds. Dey's come da long way roun', but dey's a couple er men dat's learned ter be diligent in what da good Lord's given 'em ter be about. I got a heart full er respeck fo dose two.”
“Dey's shure been good ter us, an' dat's a fact,” said Josepha.
Henry turned and slowly walked toward the door.
“Sumfin' tells me I oughter go out ter join dem,” he said,
“dat maybe dere's things dey's be needin' ter talk ter me about. You wants ter come?”
“I'm thinkin' dat whateber it is, it's for Rosewood's men ter be talkin' 'bout. So I's jes' stay here an' let dem do it.”
Henry nodded and left the house.
The brothers saw him coming and turned toward him.
“Morning, Henry!” Ward called.
“Mo'nin' ter you, Mister Ward . . . Mister Templeton. I hope I ain't intrudin'.”
“Not at all!” said Templeton. “We're just enjoying the morning air and talking about what changes life might yet have in store for us.”
“What kind er changes, Mister Templeton?” asked Henry.
“Oh, I don't know . . . getting older . . . what's going to become of the girls, that kind of thing.”
Henry nodded.
“How old are you, Henry?” Templeton asked.
“Fifty-one.”
“And Josepha?”
“She jes' turned fifty dis year.”
“Well, I'm fifty-four and my older brother here's fifty-seven. That makes us all over fifty. Ward and I've been talking about the future and what's to become of us. What do you think, Henryâdo you think Jeremiah and Mayme might stay in the North?”
“Don' know, Mister Templeton,” answered Henry. “Jeremiah neber said nuthin' like dat before he lef'. It was jes' ter make some money so he could feel like he could support a wife. But things ain't too safe fo him here.”
“I understand. But suppose they were to get married and settle in the North and have a child one day. That'd make you and me grandpas, and likely as not we'd want to be nearby.”
“Dat's da truf. Ain't nuthin' Josepha an' me'd like more'n dat!”
“You see what I'm driving at, Henry? We're all at an age where we've got to face facts. I can't hardly see the three of us and Josepha bringing in a harvest together five or ten years from now.”
Henry chuckled at the thought.
The three men walked in silence a minute or two.
“What got you an' Mister Ward thinkin' 'bout such things?” asked Henry at length.
“I don't know, Henry,” Templeton replied. “I woke up this morning pensive, I suppose. I think mostly it's having the girls gone, and the visit we had with Herb Watson.”
Again it was quiet.
“Dere is anudder solution ter dat problem,” said Henry after a moment.
“What's that?” asked Ward.
“Me an' Josepha cud leave an' go up Norf somewheres. Dat'd git folksâ”
“Don't even think about that, Henry,” interrupted Templeton. “Rosewood's a familyâall of us. Whatever happens, we stick together. It took us all a whileâat least Ward and meâto figure out how important family was. Josepha was alone most of her life. You lost your family when you were still a young man. Now we've got each other, you and Josepha have each other. We've got kids and nieces and maybe even grandchildren someday. Noâthis family's together no matter what.”
“Dat's kind er you ter say,” said Henry, then began chuckling again. “Dere is one udder thing along dem same lines,” he said.
“What's that?” asked Templeton.
“You an' me's got a son an' a daughter sayin' dey's gwine
be married one er dese days. Dat jes' 'bout makes us real kin.”
“That it does, Henry!” laughed Templeton. “So we'll have no more talk of anyone leaving here . . . unless we all leave together!”
R
EUNION
39
T
he shriek that sounded when Aunt Nelda's front door opened nearly broke my eardrums
.
“Mayme!” Katie cried
.
She rushed toward me and grabbed me in her arms and just about squeezed the innards out of me, and within seconds we were both crying. At almost the same instant that Katie saw Rob behind me, I saw who was walking toward us from behind her. Almost as quickly as we had embraced we released each other
.
“Jeremiah!” I exclaimed. “What are . . . I don't believe it!”
I ran through the door and into his arms next
.
“I tol' you I wuz gwine come as soon as I cud,” said Jeremiah as he stroked the back of my head with his big strong hand. “I decided not ter wait. So I jes' foun' my way here an' Katie tol' me you wuzn't here an' dat Rob had gone lookin' fer you.”
“Oh, I just can't believe I'm seeing you!” I said. “I've missed you so much!”
Rob and Katie were also catching up on the front porch, although they did not have quite so much catching up to do. Then finally Rob and Jeremiah shook hands
and got reacquainted from the one other time they'd met several years before
.
The next few days passed like a whirlwind. It was hard to get back into the same frame of mind as when we'd set off for the trip. It wasn't as if that much time had gone by. But somehow because of what happened it seemed that everything had changed. A crisis like that, I guess, brings people together. And even though it was Rob and me who went through the crisis, I suppose you'd say it brought Katie and Rob together more than anything. He didn't stay in a hotel this time. He stayed with Jeremiah in Aunt Nelda's carriage house two days, and he and Katie were together almost all the time and took long walks and talked and talked and talked
.
The day after I got back, Jeremiah left to return to his job. But it wasn't far and we wrote to each other every day back and forth. He wasn't planning to work much longer but to go back to Rosewood in July or August to help with the harvest
.
Then Rob left to go back to Hanover, and Katie and I were left alone with Aunt Nelda. Even though that's how we'd planned it, it seemed quiet, sad, and lonely for a few days. For the first time in our lives, Katie and I realized that we weren't completely enough for each other anymore. As much as we loved each other, we each needed our men too. It was an exciting thought, but in a way a little sad too, like I suppose growing up often is, to realize that the friendship we had cherished wasn't the only important thing in our lives any longer. But now we were young women, not girlsâyoung women whose hearts beat with new kinds of love
.
We visited around Philadelphia with Aunt Nelda and went to see the school, which had been our reason
for coming in the first place. It was fine, I suppose. It was mostly white girls, except for several black girls there as servants. I only saw one black girl in any of the classes. We didn't know what to think. We had so many other things on our mindsâthe coming harvest to get in, not to mention Jeremiah and Rob, who we were spending all our free time writing toâthat the idea of starting a completely new life to attend a girls' school seemed strange and foreign
.
Of course, the moment I finally got to Aunt Nelda's, she sent a telegram back home to Papa and Uncle Ward telling them that all was fine and that both of us were with her and apologizing for the delay in contacting them but that there had been a slight problem we would explain in a letter
.
That set their minds at ease for a while, but only until they got Katie's letter, and then mine a few days later. Once they knew the details, they wrote right back saying that they would personally come up to Philadelphia to get us. Aunt Nelda wrote back asking if we could extend our stay until Katie's birthday and why didn't they come up for that. They said fine and made plans to come get us in a few weeks
.
