DAWSON EVERLASTING
Chapter Four
The Dawson cabin sat quietly as
Jack and Miles returned with Rose, whose heart was beating in panic. Exactly
where was she? What were they going to do to her? Would they kill her?
"Ma! Pa!" Miles called.
"Come out here for a minute!"
Mae Dawson was the first out the
door. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw the tied and blindfolded Rose.
She glared at her eldest son, knowing that he was responsible for all this.
"Miles Dawson! Explain yourself right now! What are you doing with this
poor child? Unblindfold her right this minute! Do you hear me?"
"But, Ma!" Miles
protested.
"Do what your mother says,
Miles. Let the girl loose." Angus followed his wife.
"I’ll do it." Jack
pushed his sputtering brother out of the way and freed Rose from her
restraints. "There. That’s better."
"You poor dear." Mae
embraced Rose in a protective hug. "My boys must have given you a
fright."
Angus turned stormy eyes on his
sons, really glaring at Miles, who shifted from one foot to the other.
"Now, what is this all about?"
"She was snooping around the
spring. So I did what I had to do. Pa, remember what you said about
strangers?"
"She was lost." Jack
spoke up. "She wasn’t snooping around nothing."
"She was going to call her
folks, Jack."
"So you brought her
here." Angus shook his head in exasperation. He honestly didn’t know what
was going through either of his son’s heads.
"W-what are you going to do
to me?" Rose asked nervously. "A-are you going to let me go?"
"Not quite yet." Angus
turned to his wife. "Mae, take the girl inside and make her something to
eat. I’ll stay here and question the boys."
Mae nodded and ushered the
frightened Rose inside. "Don’t worry, dear. Everything will be all
right."
*****
"You poor dear!" Mae
led the way into the kitchen. "Now, sit here and tell me about yourself
while I fix you up some vittles."
"What do you want to
know?" Rose looked around the modest kitchen as she took a seat. She had
never seen anything so quaint and sweet as the Dawson kitchen before. Everything
in the mansion was so huge and cold, including the kitchen, which Rose had seen
only once in her lifetime. She was really no longer afraid, but instead rather
curious. Who were these people, and why did they live in the woods, away from
the town?
"Your name would be
nice." Mae smiled sweetly at Rose, hoping to calm the girl’s fear.
"Rose. Rose DeWitt
Bukater." Rose nodded. "I live in that mansion at the edge of the
woods…well…at least I used to, anyway."
"My, my, my." Mae shook
her head. "You sure are well-to-do. What were you doing out here?"
Rose lowered her head, feeling
rather childish at the moment. After all, it was a childish thing to do,
running away from home. "I ran away from home. My parents were trying to
push me into something that I’m just not ready for."
"And you got lost and ran
into Miles." The woman sighed.
"Well, no, actually. I ran
into the other one…Jack. He was very nice to me." Rose blushed,
remembering her first impression of Mae’s youngest son. "Miles came about
later. He wasn’t so nice. I don’t know what he would have done to me if Jack
hadn’t talked him into bringing me here."
"Now, don’t you fret none
about Miles. His bark is worse than his bite. I’m sure he would have released
you sooner or later."
"Mae!" Angus called into
the kitchen, sounding very irritated and worried. "We need to talk!"
He entered the kitchen with the two boys right behind him. "We need to
have a meeting about what to do about the girl here. We can’t let her go home.
Not just yet, anyway. We need to know exactly what she knows about us and the
spring."
Rose frowned upon hearing this.
She didn’t want to stay there. She wanted to leave this place and Treegap far
behind her.
"I’ll make a room for
her." Mae got up and left Rose alone with the three men.
"Pa!" Miles exclaimed,
obviously not pleased with this decision, either. "You’re making a big
mistake. I’m telling ya."
"I think it’s a good
idea." Jack glared at his older brother.
"She’s going to give us
away."
"No, she won’t." Jack
sustained his faith in the girl he had found himself enthralled with. There was
something about this Rose that drew his attention, made him want to get to know
her better.
Miles glared openly at his
brother, having had enough of his naïveté. Jack had way too much trust in
people, and it was that trust that would get them all put away someday.
"You are a fool." He disappeared up the stairs, disgusted with his
family’s inaction to keep their secret a secret.
"I do apologize for
Miles." Angus sighed, understanding Miles’ anger, but knowing that they
all must keep cool heads. It wouldn’t do for anything to happen to the girl.
Especially with her being a DeWitt Bukater and all. "Jack, take the girl
to your ma so she’ll know where she’ll be sleeping."
"Yes, sir." Jack
nodded, gently taking Rose’s hand. "Come, Rose. Follow me." He led
her into the sitting room, where Mae was making up a bed out of the couch.
*****
Night had fallen over the Dawson
cabin. Everyone except for Mae and Rose were sound asleep, exhausted from the
day’s unusual events. Mae, meanwhile, was helping Rose out of her corset. Mae
winced as she saw how tightly the contraption was laced up. She just couldn’t
understand women today. They went through all kinds of painful rituals to
maintain the vision of beauty.
Rose sighed, her mind preoccupied
with what was happening to her. Who were these people? What was their secret?
"I don’t think your son likes me too much. He seemed angry with me."
Rose sighed, letting her eyes drift to the top of the stairs where Jack and
Miles’ room sat.
"Oh, I think he likes you
just fine. I’ve never seen Jack wear cologne to dinner before." Mae
giggled. She knew that Jack was deeply infatuated with the DeWitt Bukater girl.
Of course, this worried her. Rose was going to have to return home eventually,
which would leave another son with a broken heart. She just hoped that he
didn’t become bitter like Miles had. It was Jack’s joy of life that kept them
all sane.
"Not Jack…the other one.
Miles. Have I done anything to offend him?"
"Oh, no, honey. Miles is just
overprotective of the family, that’s all. He’ll warm up to you
eventually."
Rose stared out the window as Mae
left her alone after she was finished with the corset. She sat and wondered
what the future now held for her, a poor, runaway rich girl. Hopefully it was
full of adventure, opportunity, and, of course, just maybe…love.