| Subject: The New World - Part #73 |
Author:
Wanda
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Date Posted: 21:22:31 07/16/03 Wed
PART #73
Catherine walked out on the porch, and stood at the rail looking around the plantation grounds. The cotton had been picked, and the raw cotton had been ginned of its seeds. Huge cotton presses had been used to form it into uniform bales for shipping. The men were presently loading the bales to take into Lake Charles to be shipped out to Europe. It was such a beautiful morning, and she took a deep breath of the air. The air was filled with the smell of the honeysuckle that was climbing the south end of the porch. Cook came out of the house with a tray, and placed it on the table, and Catherine sat down to eat. She noticed that a small plate of toast had been prepared as well. She sat there and reflected on the last few months. When she had left England, she would never have guessed she would experience all that had come her way. As she thought of Joshua, it seemed like a bad dream that had come and gone. It was still difficult to think of him without anger filling her heart. The anger was mostly directed at herself for behaving so foolishly. She had learned the hard way that rash decisions come with a price tag.
After Catherine finished her breakfast, she walked back into the house where she heard Marguerite and George chatting. They were talking about possible locations for George to start up his business. Marguerite was spooning some cereal into Jean Baptiste’s mouth. He was spitting out more than he was getting into his mouth; but she was patiently cleaning it off his chin, and spooning it back into his mouth.
George was laughing at the sight of Jean Baptiste; and that caused the baby to smile. More cereal came out of his mouth as he began cooing at George. Marguerite said, “I might as well give this up, for he’s not getting much of this into his stomach.” Catherine laughed at the sight of the three of them together. When Marguerite heard Catherine’s laugh, she said, “Catherine, would you like to watch Jean Baptiste while I go into Lake Charles with George?” Catherine said, “Sure, I will take care of the little man.”
Marguerite washed the baby’s face, and handed him to Catherine. She said to George, “I will get my parasol, and be back with you in a few moments.” Catherine saw George watching Marguerite as she walked away. “George, I see something in your eyes.” He kept watching Marguerite, as he said, “What did you say Catherine?” She said, “I see you are falling hard for Marguerite.” George’s face began to turn different shades of red, and it was obvious he was flustered. “Does it show that much?” he asked. Catherine laughed, “Yes, George it is as obvious as this baby in my arms.” “Do you think I have a chance with her?” he asked. “George, it really doesn’t matter what I think; it only matters what Marguerite thinks,” said Catherine.
Marguerite returned with the parasol, and she came over, kissed Jean Baptiste on the forehead, and told him to be good for Catherine. She and George walked out to the carriage that was waiting by the front steps. George helped Marguerite into the carriage; and the driver slapped the reins causing the horses to start off in a trot.
Catherine took the baby outside to the porch, and put him down on a blanket. She placed some of his toys around him, and then sat down with the ledger book that Bow had found yesterday at Peter Dunkirk’s home. As she leafed through the pages, her anger grew. She could not believe how much money Peter had stolen from Joshua. Bow had told her there was a deposit in Peter’s account each time there had been a withdrawal from Joshua’s account. She decided she would add up what he had taken, and found it was over one hundred thousand dollars.
The baby was getting restless and tired, so Catherine picked him up, and placed him in a crib that had been placed on the porch. At least some breeze would blow over him. It had turned into a hot and humid day once again. He plopped his thumb into his mouth, and was soon asleep. Catherine sat and watched him sleep for awhile thinking it wouldn’t be that long before her child would be resting in that crib. Soon she would be showing, and people would start asking her about the baby. She hoped the baby would not come early, for she wanted everyone to believe Bow was its father. She did not want the child to grow up with Joshua’s reputation hanging over his head. She hoped she and Bow had made the right decision about not telling the child Joshua was his father. She was grateful the child would never know anyone as his father but Bow.
Catherine returned to the ledger, and continued to look at the various deposits that had been made from the saw mill while it was running. She could see it had been making money for the plantation. She was glad Bow had gotten Marguerite’s father to agree to manage it for them. Bow felt really comfortable with the decision to hire Reuben; and that was good enough for her. She did hope Reuben’s sons would come to work as well. She had a feeling their expertise with guns would be needed. Somehow she felt there would be more trouble from the men who had worked for Joshua. If they could only get Peter run down; and recover the money, they would be able to pay the back salaries. Much of their immediate future depended on Peter being found.
To be continued...
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