Part 8 (1/2)

”You don't have to forgive me for leaving when Ma died, either.”

Hen didn't turn around, but Madison could see his back stiffen.

”Maybe you're right. Maybe I was a coward to leave. Either way, it doesn't matter now. Keeping you alive does.”

Still Hen didn't turn around or speak.

”Okay, have it your own way. You always were so d.a.m.ned sure you were right and everybody else had to be wrong. Well, you listen to me, William Henry Harrison Randolph. Doing what you despise, trying to be what you aren't, isn't always right, especially when it turns you inside out and bleaches the life out of you. There's a lot that's good about you, but you're too hard and unforgiving, You hate far better than you love. You hold grudges easier than you forget. You stick to your principles more readily than you understand how those principles might destroy another person's life.

”You can think I did the wrong thing. Sometimes I agree with you. But I'm not dead inside,” Madison said, thumping his chest. ”I can still feel. And one thing I feel real strongly is that you didn't kill Troy Sproull. I intend to prove it, because I'll be d.a.m.ned if I'll let you hang.

”And you know why I'm going to make sure you stay alive? Not just because I can't stand by and see my brother die for something he didn't do. And not just because of the pain it would cause the rest of the family, especially George.

”It's because I want you to walk out of that courtroom knowing you owe your life to me. I want you to know that the despised brother who deserted you when you were only fourteen is the only reason you're alive. I want you to be forced to thank me. And you will. You'll hate it, but you're so d.a.m.ned stubborn you'll make yourself do it, even if you choke on the words.

”And you know what I'm going to do when you finally say those words? I'm going to tell you to go to h.e.l.l.”

Silence. Hen didn't say a word. He didn't move. He just sat facing the wall. Madison left the jail.

When he reached the street, he was so angry he was shaking. He hadn't expected his brothers to welcome him with open arms, but he hadn't expected this unending reproach. Rose was the only one who seemed to be glad he had come.

It would serve them right if he got back on the train and never left Boston again.

But he knew he wouldn't leave. The same feelings that had made him leave Boston, which had forced him to risk seeing his brothers again, would force him to stay in Kansas until they had reached some kind of settlement. He understood now that that was why he had come. Hen's trial was merely the impetus. If it hadn't been that, it would have been something else.

It surprised him how much his brothers' rejection hurt. He had never felt alone before. Not really alone. He had had Freddy's family, but he'd always felt that his own family would be there if he needed them.

Now he wasn't certain.

He shrugged. He'd think of something, he always did, but not tonight. Right now he'd better see how that rebel in leather and sheepskin was getting along.

He told himself he wouldn't be going if he didn't feel guilty. He told himself he wouldn't feel so concerned if it hadn't been his fault. He told himself a few other things, all of which were true, but none of them changed the fact he was going because he wanted to see her. Try as he might, he couldn't forget the feel of her body pressed against his, of his lips on hers, of the softness of her breast as she leaned against him.

He told himself not to worry that she fascinated him so. It wouldn't come to anything. This feeling of kins.h.i.+p, of a common bond, was just an illusion. He would go back to Boston in a few weeks and forget all about her.

''She was very lucky,” Rose told Madison. ”She could have been killed.”

Madison had found George and Rose sitting together on the front porch when he reached the Abbott house. William Henry played close by.

I tried to stop her,” Madison said, pulling up a chair.

”From the little bit I've seen of you two,” Rose said, ”I imagine there was as much provoking as placating.”

”I seem to have that problem with everyone lately.”

”I gather you had no success with Hen,” George said.

”He won't even speak to me.”

”I'll go see him,” Rose said.

”It's no use,” Madison said. ”He's still angry about my leaving.”

”I don't care what he's angry about,” Rose said, getting slowly to her feet, ”it's no reason to refuse to talk to you when you're trying to defend him. Keep an eye on William Henry, George. He can sneak off almost as fast as Zac.”

George started to say something, but Rose didn't pause.

”This is the most stubborn, hard-headed family I've ever met. I can tolerate it most of the time, but not when it could cost Hen his life.”

”Wear a shawl,” George said. ”It gets cool at night.”

She entered the house.

”Aren't you going to stop her?” Madison asked.

”Do you think you can?”

”No, but”

”Neither can I.”

”I don't understand,” Madison said. George had always been able to control everybody, even his father on occasion.

George smiled, rather complacently, Madison thought.

”You wouldn't,” George said. ”Not after living with Ma and Pa. I wasn't sure I could understand either. I wouldn't have tried if Rose hadn't forced me. Now sit down. If anybody can make Hen talk, it's Rose.”

Rose came out of the house. ”Is there anything you particularly want to know?” she asked Madison.

Madison didn't understand how this pet.i.te woman could make a stubborn man like Hen cooperate when his own threats had failed.

Probably the same way Fern has captivated you.

But Madison wasn't willing to admit to that just yet.

”I need to know where he rode that night, who may have seen him, and exactly where he was at the time Troy Sproull was killed. If I could prove where he was, nothing else would matter. Failing that, I've got to figure out who did murder Troy. I'll need to know everything Hen knows about the man, even the smallest detail.”

”I'll do my best.”

”How is she doing?” Madison asked, nodding his head toward the house. ”Go see for yourself,” Rose answered, her expression lightening. ”You'd better stand in readiness, George. If the last twenty-four hours are any example, it shouldn't take more than three minutes for the fireworks to start.”

Madison had started to get up, but he sat back down. ”I'm not going in there if she's going to start yelling at me.”

”I don't know what she's going to do, or what she did, but you owe her an apology.”

”Me? I didn't push her into that stream.” Madison had admitted his guilt to himself, but he didn't like hearing it from somebody else.