The Willows (32 page)

“
Don’t you dare accuse me of
missed treating those children, Michael,” Gwen went on. “You must
have done something pretty terrible yourself, for your wife to
conceal the fact that you had a daughter.”

“
I never had a wife,” he
blurted, stung into defending himself. “And for that matter, Jude
isn’t my child.”

Hands on hips, she looked at him with
disgust. “But wonderful. For she neglect those poor children, and
now you deny them!”

“
I am not denying anything.
They are my sister’s children. I did not even know they existed,
until I came home last year. By then it, Jeanette had already
died.”

“
Oh. I thought-“

“
It’s painfully clear what
you thought.” He did not like how much her assessment bothered him.
“I might be some levels of evil, but let me assure you, I draw the
line at abusing children.”

“
If you ever let me finish a
sentence, I could apologize for jumping to conclusions. Still, in
my own defense, they do look a lot like you. No one bothered to
tell me you were not there father.”

“
Did you ask? Do you talk to
the children at all?”

“
And when am I supposed to
do this? They’re gone each morning when I wake, and they stay gone
in till I fall asleep at night. They don’t care if I have food to
eat, or am safe from the creatures slithering through your
shack.”

“
It is not a shack. It is a
cabin.”

She tossed her head, unconcerned with
the distinction. “But what can I expect with the example of their
own goals sets? Why should they confined in me, or be the least bit
and considerate, when they see how you ignore me, how you always
stop off without explanation?”

Everything she said a grain of truth,
which made him doubly angry. “Must the world revolve around you?”
He asked. “I had the devil’s own time getting here, only to learn
the children are missing, one of whom is a girl you sent off
crying, and you expect me to worry whether or not you’re being
entertained.”

She stuck out her chin. “I’ve never
asked to be entertained, Michael, where I came from, we treat our
guest cordially, whether or not we particularly like them. So when
you find the children – and I have no doubt they will materialize
for you – kindly inform them that I expect an apology.”

“
Do you now?”

“
It would not hurt you to
apologize, either you can’t expect the children to learn their
manners, if you don’t set the proper example.”

Despite her bedraggled condition, she
flounced off in a self-righteous huff, every inch the haughty,
spoiled, and thoroughly exasperating female. Part of him wanted to
throttle her, but another part felt grudging admiration. Perhaps
she had more grit then he had given her credit for. He almost
grinned it as he thought of her wrestling Jude into the
tub.

Jude, his niece. Feeling torn, Michael
thought of the men waiting for him in New Orleans. They weren’t the
patient sort, he knew. Yet no matter what it ended up costing him,
his family came first. Picturing poor Jude, alone and hurting
somewhere in the bayou, Michael knew he could not leave until he
found her.

Alligators, he thought with a shudder.
All things considered, it he could not find her soon
enough

Gwen sat on the porch swing, watching
the trail into the marshland, willing for Jude to appear before it
got darker. With the sun setting, the twilight grew thicker. Surely
it wasn’t a good idea for the girl to be wandering about alone in
the night?

Her brothers had returned an hour ago,
muttering only that they’d been sent home by Michael. It was by his
orders, she assumed, that they were now in the kitchen, washing the
dishes she’d carried back from the bayou. They’d sneered at her
offer of help, making clear they did not want her help. It was only
grudgingly, and after she how did them with questions, that they
admitted they hadn’t seen her nor hear of their sister. Not even,
Christopher had let slip of the secret fortresses’
location.

Pushing him to silence, Patrick added
proudly that if Jude wanted to vanish, she’d stay that way until
she was ready to be found.

Glenn did not want to feel guilt, but
that darker it got, the more she regretted the way she’d handled
things. She might have made matters worse by revealing the girls
secret. Michael had seem awfully angry.

She hoped he did not take it out on
Jude, for the poor girl must be facing some pretty unpleasant
truths right now. Jude had been able to strike out with panache and
bravado when everyone thought her a male, but life’s rules deferred
vastly for a female. After roaming free and a man’s world, Jude
would find it hard to adapt to the feminine one, especially with no
mother to guide her.

Glenn should know. Hadn’t she been in
that situation yourself?

It was none of her concern, she
insisted silently. Better to leave the girls situation in her
uncle’s hands. Jude’s problems had begun before she came here, and
would continue long after her departure.

Still, Gwen’s gaze kept staring to the
path, while her hands continued to rain in her lap.

“
It is all her fault,” she
heard one of the boys and mutter inside the cabin. “If she had not,
near, Jude would never have ran away.”

“
And with Jude missing,” one
of them muttered. “How will we get rid of her now?”

Earlier, Gwen might have gone inside to
argue, but after the snake, and that emotional scenes with Jude and
her uncle, she felt too weary to move. Let them hate her; from the
look on Michael’s face as he went into the swamp, she wanted be
staying much longer anyways.

“
She’s all right,” she heard
little Christopher pipe up. “She fed me today, when I was hungry
and you all left me.”

“
You would say that. You and
your greedy little stomach.”

“
You don’t know anything,
Peter. She smiles really nice, you know. And she took the oath of
silence and kept it.”

It did strange things to Gwen, hearing
the little boy defend her.

“
You are such a baby,
Christopher. All you want is a new mother.”

“
Leave him alone.” That from
Patrick, the oldest. “You cannot blame him for wanting a new
mother, Peter. We all do.”

Though quietly uttered, the words hit
Gwen squarely in the heart. There just children, Michael has said.
Lonely children, who recently lost their mother.

But before she could get maudlin, there
was a rousing chorus of “not her!” There were tossing out
objectives, running the gamut from cruel to stupid and useless,
when Gwen noticed a tall, dark form on the path.

Michael.

Despite the fact that he was alone,
Gwen felt suddenly, giddily happy. She rose to greet him, a smile
on her lips. As he neared, he seemed so big and solid and sure of
himself, she wanted no more than to stand beside him.

Barely acknowledging her, he brushed
past with a preoccupied frown and marched into the
house.

She could hear himm talk to the boys,
asking them to gather oil for the lantern, since he meant to go out
again as soon as he had eaten. In the meantime, they were to think
– think hard – about any place their sister could have gone. This
was no time for secrets; Jude’s life was on the line.

Gwen tried to tell herself that this
was natural for him to rush to the boys, that at times of crisis a
family should band together, but she cannot help but feel left out.
The might not like her much, but contrary to popular opinion, she
was not entirely useless. Following Michael into the house to
volunteer her services, she tried to think of something she could
do.

The boys ran about, while Michael stood
eating leftover gruel. She was about to suggest the ham in the
pantry when he asked, “Would anyone explain why no one told me Jude
was a girl?”

One of the twins looked at Gwen, then
straight to Christopher. “Both of silence, heart? She took all of
two minutes to spill the secret.”

“
No one warned me that I
wasn’t supposed to tell about Jude,” Gwen protested. “I’d have
thought it would wasn’t something you would want to keep secret
from your uncle, anyway.”

“
Valid point.” Michael
looked at his oldest nephew. “What is this about, Patrick? Why is
Jude so dead set against my knowing she is a girl?”

“
It’s not you.” Patrick
looked at his feet, then went on haltingly. “You know how it was
with father.”

“
I know,” Michael prodded
gently. “Go on.”

The boy continued to look at the floor.
“When Jude was born, mother was scared to tell him she wasn’t a
boy. She was sick and didn’t want father beating her for giving him
a puny daughter. Then later, mother still couldn’t tell him,
because she was scared what he would do to Jude.”

Gwen held her hand over her heart,
horrified of the picture his quiet words painted. What sort of
monster would blame and innocent baby for not being the son he
wanted?

From his scowl, she could tell Michael
was equally outraged, but his tone remained calm and gentle. “I
understand how it was with your father, Patrick, but I still don’t
see why you cannot tell me the truth.”

The boy shook his head, at the moment
far more mature than his years. “Jude made us swear. She did not
want things to change, for people to start treating her different.
She wanted to be our brother forever. When mother died, before you
came to take us away, she made has promised never to tell
anyone.”

“
Jude said you wouldn’t want
her any more than father did,” Christopher volunteered. “Nobody
wants a girl.”

Michael put down his bowl, his appetite
clearly lost. “Where is she?” He asked softly. “Please no more
secrets. Can you see I have to find her.”

“
I swear, we don’t know.”
Patrick tried to smile. “But don’t worry. If anyone can get by in
the swamp, it is Jude.”

“
Ordinarily, I would be the
first to agree with you, but not with the mess in the bayou. If the
gators calm, there’s no telling what can happen.”

The boys looked at each other; when
began to squirm inside. She didn’t need any accusations; she knew
who’d put the dishes out there.

The boys began to talk at once, masking
the sound of the door opening behind them, but as if her sheer
presence through their gaze, all four turn to the doorway. Jude
stood motionless, Sullen and hostile, only her red rimmed eyes
betraying the fact that she’d been crying.

“
Jude,” Christopher cried,
running to throw his arms around her.

Michael showed his relief in typically
male fashion. “Where the hell have you been, young
lady?”

Jude turn to Gwen, instantly on the
attack. “You told him!”

“
I had to. He is your uncle.
He needed to know.”

“
I hate you. If you are what
it means to be a woman, I don’t ever want to grow up to be
one!”

“
Enough!” Michael looked to
her with a scowl. “As long as Gwen is a guest in our home, you will
show a little respect. You all her an apology, Jude. I think you
all do.”

Gwen cringed inwardly. Couldn’t he see
this wasn’t the time to demand an apology? “That is
not-“

Michael silence her with a frown,
forcing her to listen as Jude bit out a rough and unconvincing
“sorry.” With a glare for Wednesday benefit, the girl announced
tiredly that she was tired and wanted to go to bed, before stomping
off in the direction of her bedroom.

Clearly bewildered, Michael R ago. As
his shoulders slumped, Gwen relies for the first time how hard it
must be for him, a bachelor inheriting five unpredictable children.
It made her want to intercede, to offer to go talk to the girl –
but in truth, what could she say? There had never been any love
lost between them; Jude was likely to chase Gwen from the
room.

Yet though she opened her mouth to
volunteer anyway, she never got the chance. Setting his lips in a
grim line, Michael March determine lead toward the back
room.

Exchanging worried glances, the boys
followed their uncle, leaving Gwen once again a loan and forgotten.
Her first reaction was to say fine, let them ignore her, but hurt
feelings soon gave way to curiosity. She had to know what Michael
was saying to the children.

She moved quietly to the ward the
bedroom. Aware that her presence was not particularly welcome, she
stopped outside the door to listen. She sought Michael hunkered
down toward Jude, as if sensing she’d feel less intimidated without
his tall frame towering over her. The boys hovered close, clearly
preparing in case there sister should need them.

“
Your mother was a girl,”
Michael was saying gently, “and she happened to be my favorite
person in this world.”

Jude I him with curiosity. “Yeah, but
she was your sister. You had to like her. You don’t hardly know me
at all, and it ain’t like you stick around much to get to know me
better.”

“
I know.” His side betrayed
his wariness, but his smile denied that he felt the girl was a
burden. “Try to understand. It’s not by choice that I leave, Jude.
I’d like nothing better than to be here with you every day, but the
sad truth is there are things I must do before we can live like a
regular family. It might not be easy, or even fair, but I am asking
you to trust me. I am doing all in my power to keep us
together.”