Liberty House Page 17

  “It was not easy to work after having servants doing everything.” Gloria looked to Tommy who was just standing there in a daze. “Which is more than I can say about my now rich friend.”

  When Gloria said my rich friend, it pulled Tommy out of it. “I’m not rich,” she snapped.

  “I’m sorry.” Gloria looked at her as if to say, ‘What did I do wrong now?’

  Tommy finished the biscuits she was making. “No. I’m sorry. I just don’t want to remember that part of it right now.”

  Gloria nodded.

  “I’ll be right back. I need to go to the cellar,” Tommy said as she left. She seemed to need some fresh air.

  When she was gone, Gloria said, “I don’t understand why she doesn’t want to be rich.”

  “It was one of the reasons she was kidnapped. In Texas, she knew she was rich but was made to work for everythin’.”

  Gloria said it. “And none of the children came back.”

  Cole didn’t need to answer. “Just be patient with her.”

  Gloria frowned. “But it’s hard.”

  “Gloria, look at me,” Cole said, seriously. “If those children I just told you about had one person with them, they would have made it, but most didn’t. No matter how hard, be there for Tommy, that is the best thing you could do for her. And I wish just one person would have stayed by my sister too. It would have helped more than words can say,” he said harshly.

  “All right,” Gloria promised.

  “Thank you.” He went to dump the glass in the trash outside.

  “No, thank you, Cole. For everything,” Gloria told him honestly, even though she seemed to work through her own emotions.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Izzy walked into the train station; she was taking the evening shift in the telegrapher. That is when Cole’s telegram came in.

  But her mind was on Cole a lot, too. She remembered the night of February 28; she woke up in the middle of the night at about four in the morning. She didn’t know why at first, then she thought Cole needed her prayers. She prayed until the sun rose, then went back to sleep. When she woke again, she had peace in her heart that she hadn’t had for awhile. She prayed for her dear brother, praying he would have comfort; it felt like he was dealing with family. And that was always hard.

  A message came in from Sam at station LI.

  Sam: To you, Cowgirl

  From: Dig out

  In: Baldwin, Alabama, stop

  I normally don’t ask you to write this down, Cowgirl but do it this time stop well, a lot has happened stop I’m going to tell you what every woman loves to hear, you were right, stop, On February 28th, Tommy pulled what you pull a lot and I caught you, sneaking out stop Tommy went to meet her brother stop Long story short, Tommy Starry is Julia T. Williams and Sawyer Starry is the Sawyer we knew but you knew that already.

  Izzy stopped writing. She was in shock. How was that possible? On February 28, which was the night she woke up to pray, he found out the truth. She noticed the telegraph had stopped as well.

  Cowgirl: ‘What more did he say?’

  Sam: ‘She took on the name Sawyer called her and didn’t even tell the other Starrys stop after being kidnapped she was taken by the Feds, we knew that but she was held for six months and consoled with them, she was too afraid to say anything until now stop Be careful who you tell, tell only ones you trust stop So they know that I own Liberty House, that I’m a Cooper, and that I’m Cowboy stop It’s not really that bad, I thought it would be worse than them knowing stop Hope this finds you well stop I am well all things considered stop With all my love, your brother.’

  She stopped writing and sighed. She telegraphed back that she got it all.

  Sam: ‘Are you all right?’

  Cowgirl: ‘Yes. Thank you. I’m going to get someone else to cover.’

  Sam: ‘Understood.’

  Izzy got up and went to get Billy, who sent messages for her, to get a replacement. She normally would never do this, but she needed to talk to Lucia and Sophia tonight. Within an hour, her replacement came. She exclaimed she needed to go to Liberty House and made haste on her horse.

  “You’re serious. He found Julia, and it is Tommy,” Lucia Walker said.

  “Yup, that’s it,” Izzy said as she and Lucia and Sophia worked on paperwork for the Home.

  “I bet he’s really happy to finally find her,” Sophia Smith said. She was vice of Liberty Home, she did most of the paperwork. She had known the Donovans since they were all children, though she was many years older than all of them.

  “Yeah, he seems happy.”

  “What can you tell us about this Tommy Starry?”

  “Well, she is sweet, kind. She helps her family out a lot. She loves all colors, but is not a Christian. Most of her family is, but she is not.”

  “She’s not a Christian anymore. She's the one that led me to the Lord,” Sophia said.

  “I remember that, but not now. Her faith here was all on works that all will break. It wasn’t in her heart.”

  Both women understood very well. They dealt with children and adults all the time that had the same issues.

  "Maybe in opening up this all for Cole will allow you to rebuild your relationship with him," Lucia was one person who knew about how difficult Cole and Izzy's relationship was due to hardships and regrets.

  "Yes, but it's too late to do it over. So much would need to be rebuilt," Izzy drank some strong coffee. "I don’t know if we can."

  "No, you can’t. Not without God. He is the only one that builds relationships back. No matter how broken they may be," Lucia told her gently. "It seems like our prayers have been answered and God is healing Cole’s heart. He may even run the home one day."

  Izzy shook her head. "You know when he is ready, running the home is not his dream. He loves it, but he wants something different. We have talked about that. He said he wouldn’t till he found Julia and now that he has, I am not sure what his next move will be. He needs to finish this job though. Why do you need him to help you?"

  Lucia shook her head. “No. I don’t want to bother Cole with this.”

  “With what? Lucia, you realize he’ll come and help any time you need it. And if you need help, you call on him, you hear me.” Izzy was concerned now.

  “Of course, I know that,” Lucia said awkwardly.

  “What’s wrong? There’s something wrong.”

  “It’s nothing really.” She tried to smile. “If there is a problem, I'll tell you. But I think I need to see this Tommy and talk to Cole in person.”

  Izzy knew she might tell Cole what was wrong, but she would normally tell Izzy as well. She didn’t feel good about this. She had learned to live by that feeling, “Are you in trouble?

  "No, I just need to talk with him in person. Sophia and I have talked about this before today before we knew and now that we do, I feel like we should."

  Sophia nodded. "I would like to see Julia again."

  "Her name is Tommy now; I wouldn’t call her Julia." Izzy knew what it was like starting over, if she had the chance, she would like to change her name and everything else. But she did have Cole, kin, and friends who cared.

  Sophia nodded, "I would still like to go to see her. How do you know so much? You have never met her as an adult?"

  "Some of it was from Cole, and I know how Cole reacted to the past. They both tried to block out the past. Though Cole did try to find her.” She took another drink. "I would go with you both, but I think one person from the past would be enough."

  They both agreed that would be best. Lucia said, “So I’ll leave next Monday to head to Alabama. Is that good with you, Sophia?”

  Sophia nodded. "Let's pray for everyone here and in Alabama."

  They all held hands and opened their hearts to God through Prayer. When it was Izzy’s turn to pray, she let the tears fall and her friends were there to hold her and pray for her as she cried. She cried for a childhood she never had, for a best friend had lost way too earl
y, for a brother she had lost that day so long ago. She cried out to God to continue to heal her heart.

  For the last week, the Starrys had a routine they made for each day if it had only been two days. Tommy would paint and help in the evenings. Cole and Andrew worked the ranch, they were both breaking in some of the new stock.

  Gloria, Susan, and Katrina would do chores during the day, they were starting the garden with the help of Ellen and her children.

  Matt, Jerry, and Maverick worked in the office until supper time, then Owen or Frank took over and they went to Tommy’s for the evening.

  They would eat supper, clean up, and sit in the parlor with coffee and dessert. Then talked about a lot

  of various topics but mostly about Tommy’s and Sawyer ’s past and even Cole shared more about his. They sometimes stayed very late.

  And if Tommy and Sawyer knew what a relief it was telling them, they would have done it sooner. Tommy became so open and she seemed to blossom. Even Tommy’s paintings got better; they just jumped out of the paintings or drawings. Everyone could see the change that came over her, it was wonderful to see.

  The only thing she wouldn’t talk about was the Feds. No one asked about it and nothing was said. That would come out in time or it may not come; they had to expect that too.

  Tommy was even different with Cole but in a completely different way. She was almost cold, and wouldn’t meet his gaze. Something had changed and he didn’t like it. He was going to figure it out. He went to her parlor to talk to her.

  She was drawing a picture of the beach and the water, the waves were so real, “Tommy, can we talk?”

  She looked toward him and nodded.

  He picked up a chair, turned it around, and sat down across from her, arms crossed. "Tommy, look at me." She did, but didn’t meet his gaze, “Tommy, look at me in the eyes.” She didn’t do it. “What have I done? Darlin’, tell me?”

  “Everythin' is fine,” she told him, her voice cracking.

  “Then why can’t you talk to me like before. Have I done something?”

  “No.” She sounded like she meant that.

  “Well, I don’t believe you.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “Tommy, I want to know.”

  She got up and walked over to the window, looking out; Cole let her and didn’t move. She faced him and he could see the hurt on her face. She spoke softly, saying, “I don't know what it is, but I feel you’re different from Cowboy and it’s hard. I feel bad for feeling this way. I want to feel the same way about you as Cowboy, but I can’t. I don’t know how to deal with it.” She faced the window again.

  Cole got up and walked up behind her, closing his eyes. He took her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Tommy-honey, the emotions; your feelings are just feelings, it’s normal. I have been feeling them too, but I knew I would feel them.”

  She looked up at him with those beautiful eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “You feel like I am not like the boy you knew. That’s because I’m not and it’s also because you see Cowboy as being perfect. You have forgotten I was a bad boy. You just have memories of me as I was good. Am I right?”

  She nodded, “I felt so bad for thinking those things, but it’s hard.”

  “See when a person dies or you don’t see for many years, they become perfect in your eyes. It’s natural to think that. You know how to deal with it.”

  “And Juan Jose helped you,” Tommy guessed.

  “Yes, but I have been thinking the same thing you have been. I just realized that’s what you’re thinking. Do you feel better now?”

  She nodded, “I do.”

  “Tommy-Rose, do you mind telling me something?”

  “If I can.”

  “What did you want to tell Cowboy?”

  She sat down in front of her drawing, thinking about that. Cole sat as well, watching her closely. She looked at him and whispered, “Maybe one day, Cowboy.”

  He nodded. “I’ll let you get back to drawing.” He touched her cheek before he left and looked at her, “I hope your dreams come true with this art, Tommy-Rose.”

  “So how did the fire happen?” Andrew asked.

  They were all standing on the porch, drinking sweet iced tea after the boys came in from working the cattle. Frank and Owen were at the office, and the children were standing around listening to the story. They had been told that Sawyer and Tommy grew up as siblings and had just become honest about their past.

  Tommy’s eyes danced. She pointed to Cole with a grin.

  “You don’t blame me. You tried to do that before,” Cole defended himself.

  “I did not. I took the blame for it, at least when Nanny came home.”

  He nodded his thanks.

  Sawyer started, “They were cooking and doing the thing they loved to do most: fighting. And they burnt down the whole kitchen.”

  “It was not the whole kitchen,” Tommy said.

  “About half,” Cole said.

  “No, only the one wall,” Tommy told the truth.

  “You’re probably right. That wall is still parched, even when we painted it.”

  “I’m not surprised.” She turned to the family and said, “See, it was just before Nanny left and we were in the kitchen of the big house. I lived in that house before Ma died, then moved to the cabin. But every summer we stayed there-and Cole wasn’t listening to my wise instruction.”

  “Wise instruction! I wouldn’t call it that,” Cole said.

  “I was right. He was building the fire too big and I told him that in a nice loving way,” she laughed.

  “Oh, yeah right! You were as nice as I was about it. She demanded I stop putting wood in it. And I just wanted to be able to taste some of the food without my mouth burning.”

  “You wanted sugar in it,” she added to the story.

  “Only so I could eat it and the only reason I put more firewood in it was to prove you wrong. I knew the fire was too big.”

  “Really?” Tommy shook her head in surprise. “So, when we finally stopped arguing long enough to realize that smoke was coming out of the oven. We stood there watching fire coming out and then Cole told me to put cooking oil on it.”

  “I did not. I thought it was water, but when it landed on the fire, it exploded. I remembered a bucket I put in there just in case of a fire.”

  “You mean you planned it?” Tommy asked, mock-shocked.

  “No, I would start fires at home while trying to cook, so I always keep a bucket of water just in case. We got the fire out, but the wall was all burnt. We ran outside and I remember thinking, ‘my pa’s gonna kill me for this,’ but thankfully Nanny took the blame.”

  Tommy chuckled. "I thought you just wanted to watch…" Suddenly the glass she was holding shattered. Hearing another gunshot, she screamed. Standing closest to little David, she grabbed him just as fast as someone jumped on top of her. Thinking fast, she stretched her body over David so that he was protected.

  A couple more bullets shot over their heads. She heard the brothers’ gunfire back. She whispered, "It's all right, David, it's all right." He wasn’t making a sound, just staying quiet like he was taught to in times like these. She hated that he had to be trained this way. She elbowed whoever was on top of her and whispered, "Move! I need to get David inside."

  "Be slow," Cole whispered and moved ever so slowly, finally making his way off her but staying with her until she was at the door. The screen door was the only one closed. Tommy could hear Andrew, Maverick, Matt, and maybe Jerry shooting back.

  Just as they got the screen door open, a bullet hit the door jamb. Tommy let it swing shut-it couldn’t be heard over the shooting that was happening. Again, none of the children screamed. They just lay on the porch floor. She heard Cole praying it would end. He held her tighter. His strong arm around her waist, closer to his body. It made her feel safe.

  Finally, the bullets stopped, and a voice yelled out, "That's what you get for telling Sawyer and Jul
ia Williams! That is what you get! Let the game continue."

  Then a couple more bullets shot through the trees and the boys shot back. Maverick and Andrew knew how to aim.

  They stopped shooting for about a minute and the brothers shot off a couple more. It looked like the shooters had left. The brothers stood up and got the children inside and took off to the woods, followed by Cole.

  Isaiah stayed back with the girls and children. Tommy still held David as his little arms were wrapped around her neck, shaking. She closed her eyes and whispered, “It's alright, my boy. Everything’s alright.” But she knew everything was far from being alright. Even the four-year-old boy she was holding knew that.

  Katrina shut all the wooden shutters, knowing they wouldn’t stop bullets but would help.

  Ellen held onto Johnathan as Melody held onto her. "Let’s pray for this craziness to end and for God to protect our men out there."

  Tommy bowed her head and even closed her eyes, but she didn’t think it would do any good; it never had in the past. She had prayed in the past for her best friend to live and she had been killed. It couldn’t happen again. Not after all she had been through.

  The men didn’t come back until late that night. None of them left Tommy’s cabin, putting the little boys in Cole’s room and the girls in Katrina’s room. Johnathan and the girls cried themselves to sleep while David just laid there, eyes wide open as his brother cried next to him.

  Ellen walked out after her boys finally fell asleep. She worried about David and how he took this whole scene. She knew what went wrong-she had seen it in most of her children.

  Ellen ran up to Owen as she saw him come in. His arms came around her and she knew everything would be all right. She looked up in his eyes and noticed something behind them, something she didn’t like but couldn’t put her finger on. She ignored it and said, "Is everyone alright?" They were men. But to her, they would always be her boys. Cole included.

  He nodded. "Andrew has a scratch, but they’re all fine."