"You're killing me, Mary Rose."
She almost did too. Harrison fell asleep an hour later believing he had died a happy man.
January 2, 1876
Dear Mama,
Today is my sixteenth birthday and I am finally allowed to wear my beautiful locket for the very first time. I've been waiting for such a long time. Thank you, Mama, for giving me the treasure. I will value it forever. I'm so lucky to have you. Adam says that God has been watching out for all of us from the day they found me in the alley. He's right, Mama. He gave me four brothers to love and protect me, and He gave me you.
I've saved half the money I need to make the trip to Carolina. If all goes well, I'll be able to come and stay with you next year. It's my dream, Mama. Please let me. I so need to hug you.
Your daughter Mary Rose
Chapter 22
Mary Rose awakened Harrison around one in the morning when she tried to ease out of the bed.
"Where are you going?" he asked in a sleepy whisper.
"Downstairs. I'm starving. I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."
Harrison decided he was hungry too. He put on his pants, stubbed his toe in the process, and hopped around the room muttering expletives.
"Hush," she whispered in a laugh. "I don't want to disturb my brothers."
It was already too late. Harrison had made so much racket complaining about his foot, he got everyone up.
Cole was the first to join them at the kitchen table. Mary Rose was cutting slices of cheese while sitting on Harrison 's lap.
She scooted onto her own chair as soon as her brother walked in.
"I couldn't sleep," he explained. He straddled the chair across from Harrison and gave him a hard look. "You going to be able to fix this?"
"If you want a guarantee, I can't give it to you, Cole."
"Then you've got to help me convince Adam to run."
"I can't do that. The decision has to be his, and his alone. Back him up on this, Cole. He'd do the same for you."
The brother shook his head. "He wouldn't stand by and watch me die. I'm telling you here and now. If he's condemned, I'm getting him out."
Mary Rose was quickly losing her appetite. Fear tightened her stomach into a knot. "I think we need to have faith in Harrison, Cole. Trust him to do everything he can to save Adam."
Harrison reached over and clasped her hand in his. "I'm not a miracle worker, but thank you for having faith."
"The hell with faith," Cole muttered.
Douglas joined them in time to hear his brother's remark. He'd put on pants and a long-sleeved flannel shirt. He had it buttoned up all wrong. Mary Rose smiled when she noticed.
"Have you figured out a plan yet?" he asked Harrison.
"I'm going to send a telegram tomorrow to the attorney I used in St. Louis. He's with a large firm. He might know the name of an attorney in South Carolina. I'll find one, even if I have to go there myself."
"For what purpose?"
"To get a sworn statement from Livonia and Rose. Time is critical now. It will work out though. I'll make it work."
"What good will their statements do?" Douglas asked.
"They'll confirm what Adam told me. Right now it's two men against one. I'm evening the odds. I hope to God Livonia cooperates. She may be too frightened."
The brothers nodded. "Adam will balk at this. He knows what will happen to the woman when the sons get back home. I don't think he'll let you go after her for a sworn statement."
Harrison didn't argue with the men. He would do what he had to do to make certain Adam was given a fair trial.
"Let's talk about something else. Mary Rose is becoming upset."
"No, I'm not."
"You aren't eating."
She shrugged. "What would you like to talk about?"
Travis came in and answered for Harrison. "What happened after she left London? Did all hell break loose? Did that aunt call her ungrateful? Mary Rose thought she might."
Mary Rose stared at her plate. "I hurt my father, didn't I?"
Harrison didn't soften the truth. "Yes."
"I wish he could understand," she whispered.
"Sweetheart, he had plenty of time to try. He never gave you a chance. I think I might have made a sound argument. He seemed to understand when I was finished. I'm still not sure. I didn't want to wait around to find out."
"Why didn't they like her?" Cole asked.
"They wanted Victoria back. None of them could accept the fact that Mary Rose hadn't been a victim all those years. In their minds, they believed she'd been deprived because she hadn't been surrounded by riches. None of them took the time to get to know her. They were too busy trying to create someone else. It was crazy, all of it. They had this image of how she would have turned out, and they were all trying to mold her into what they wanted her to be."
"Their masterpiece," Mary Rose said.
"Why didn't you punch your aunt when she told you to think of yourself as a blank canvas?" Harrison asked.
Doing such an outrageous thing was absurd to her. She burst into laughter just thinking about it.
"My Aunt Barbara gave me that suggestion. I could never have hurt her. She had my best interests at heart."
"Are you going to take her back to England and try again, Harrison?" Douglas asked.
"No."
The brothers smiled. They didn't need to know specific plans tonight.
They stayed at the table another half hour or so talking. The discussion eventually circled back to Adam, but Mary Rose had finished eating by then.
"What can we do to help?"
"Quite a lot," Harrison answered. "I'll give you all the particulars as we go along. When we're inside the courtroom, I don't want Mary Rose sitting by Adam. Cole, you sit on Adam's right side and I'll sit on his left side. Travis and Douglas will put Mary Rose between them in the first row behind the table. If there's a recess called, when you sit down again, sit in the same places."
"Why can't I sit next to Adam?" she asked.
"I want you to separate yourself from him as much as possible," he answered.
His blunrness took all of them by surprise. None of the brothers looked angry though. They looked curious to find out his reason.
"If you put your hand on his or hug him or pat him, all everyone is going to see is a white woman touching a black man. People know all about your family, and they somewhat accept Adam now. Don't push them, Mary Rose. I don't want anyone to forget he's your brother. We aren't just fighting a murder charge now. Hell, that would be easy. We're fighting prejudice too. I don't want to hear any argument about this," he added when she looked like she wanted to disagree with him. "You'll all show your support for Adam as a family, but not as individuals."
"Why did you choose Cole to sit next to Adam instead of Travis or me?" Douglas asked.
"For intimidation purposes. He makes people nervous."
Cole smiled. "I do, don't I?"
"Yes, you do. The jury will hear all the evidence, and Cole's going to stare at every one of those twelve faces and act like he's memorizing each reaction."
"Couldn't that backfire?" Douglas asked.
"In a more sophisticated courtroom, it probably would backfire, but not out here. Mary Rose once told me people are more concerned about surviving than worrying about what other people do. I want the jury to think about surviving Cole's wrath if they let their prejudice guide their decision."
"You fight dirty," Cole said. "I like that."
"I might remind all of you that what I'm now saying is privileged information. Got that?"
Mary Rose yawned. Harrison immediately took her back up to their bedroom.