Together is All We Need by Michael Phillips

Author:Michael Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2004-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

STUNNING AND UNEXPECTED

DEVELOPMENTS

28

KATIE HAD BEEN JUST AS BEWILDERED AS EVERYONE else as she stood listening to the strange turn of events.

At the words Ward Daniels, however, her mouth dropped and her eyes opened wide. To no one else present, did the name carry the slightest significance. But to Katie, the two words were filled with worlds of meaning. And not because of what he had said about being the rightful owner of Rosewood. For the moment the importance of that fact was lost on her. It didn’t enter her mind that this suddenly changed everything, only that in front of her stood the uncle she had thought was dead. She just stared at him in a daze, unaware of what it meant, unaware of the looks and gradual murmurs of the townspeople and others that began to be directed toward her to see what she was going to do.

Then slowly she found herself walking forward through the small crowd. The people stood aside as she passed, whispering amongst themselves. By the time she reached the porch, nearly every eye was on her. Even if Katie herself didn’t, everyone else certainly realized the significance of this sudden change.

Mr. Sneed saw Katie approach. He glanced up, and as he did, the newcomer followed his gaze and turned to see a girl standing three feet away.

His face went pale. Visibly stunned at the sight of her, he stood speechless.

‘‘Hello, Uncle Ward,’’ said Katie. ‘‘I’m Kathleen.’’

Still he stood, as if the name didn’t register. Then gradually he began to nod. ‘‘Kathleen . . .’’ he said, ‘‘you . . . you look so much like your mama. I . . . I almost thought you were her for a second.’’

‘‘My mama’s . . . she’s dead, Uncle Ward,’’ said Katie.

‘‘Yes . . . I know, Kathleen. I heard. I’m sorry. That’s why I came. I came as quickly as I could after I heard what happened.’’

In the few seconds that had passed since he had heard the name Daniels, Burchard Clairborne’s brain seemed to have gone numb. But he quickly recovered himself and now stepped forward.

‘‘Now, hold on here just a minute,’’ he said. ‘‘Whoever you are, mister—and I ain’t got no call to say you ain’t who you claim—but you must’ve gotten hold of some bad information somewhere. This house and this property was my brother’s, and now that he’s dead, as we all know by now, it belongs to me. That’s what this man here’s doing. That’s a new deed he’s holding, and it’s legal and it’s in my name.’’

‘‘And just what would that name be?’’ asked Mr. Daniels.

‘‘Clairborne . . . Burchard Clairborne—brother of the deceased.’’

‘‘Oh . . . so you’re Kathleen’s uncle too?’’

‘‘That’s right. So you see, that makes me the new owner of Rosewood now.’’

‘‘Not so fast. The fact is, this place didn’t belong to your brother at all.’’

‘‘What are you talking about?’’

‘‘As you can see from that deed there,’’ said Mr. Daniels, nodding toward Mr. Sneed, ‘‘the ownership of this property was transferred to my sister.

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