Chapter 32
A shocked silence drew the oxygen out of the room, and Roseanna hardly dared to breathe.
The sound of the exterior door opening and closing prompted Mr. Colbert to speak again. “I have one more bit of Christmas cheer to share. But I think I will let Agent Lindsay explain.”
Due to space constraints, Eugene Colbert stepped back, allowing Kenneth Lindsay to move into Sheriff Chauncy’s quarters. However, the Pinkerton lurched forward when he was pushed from behind.
“Let me see! Let me see my sister,” a hysterical voice shrieked as the blonde whirlwind shoved her way through the human barricade.
Mind going blank, Roseanna went absolutely still until the little firebrand tackled her, and the child wrapped fragile arms around her waist. “Polly?” she choked in disbelief. “Oh, dear God in heaven. Polly!!” Roseanna cried. “You’re here, oh, you’re here,” she repeated several times before the reality of it all sank in.
Equally stunned, Robin knelt next to the overwhelmed girl and gathered her youngest sister into her arms. “How?” she asked, lifting her eyes to the Pinkerton agent.
Instead of answering, Kenneth Lindsay stepped aside, allowing Robert Sherman into the room.
The eleven-year-old held himself stiffly, watching the reunion with wary eyes.
“Bobby?” Roseanna softly called, holding out a hand to the boy. “Please don’t hate me. I tried,” she whispered. “I tried.”
“You left us with Ma. You left us, Rosie!”
“I had no choice,” the broken hearted woman said, reaching for the aloof child. “I came back for you, but you were gone.”
“She SOLD US!” Robert Sherman yelled. “You knew she would, and you left us. I hate you!!” he snarled.
Shattered by the accusation and venom in her little brother’s voice, Roseanna backed away from her sisters, shaking with self-loathing and shame.
“Easy, son,” Kenneth Lindsay soothed, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder and leading him from the room.
Equally shaken by the child’s revelation, Eugene Colbert cast a blank glance at the festively decorated spruce tree in the corner. “I had hoped to reunite your family, Mrs. Chauncy. After all my son-in-law has done? Well, Astrid and I felt we owed you at least that much.”
Struggling to her feet, Robin drew Polly into her side and faced their unexpected benefactor. “I do not know how to thank you for this miracle, Mr. Colbert.”
The gentleman nodded and held out a hand to his daughter. After helping Astrid into her cloak, he faced the overwhelmed family. “May God pour out his blessings on you all and replace the bitterness of these trying years with abundant joy for all the years to come.”
Astrid paused in the doorway leading to the office and smiled at Caleb and Arthur. Although the children were upset by the chaos, she stared at the tiny faces for a long moment. “We will be in Roses Briar until shortly after the New Year. If you need anything, anything at all, please let me know.”
Robin nodded. “Perhaps you might wait a moment while we get our things, and we will accompany you back to the hotel.”
“Of course,” Mr. Colbert agreed. “Mr. Samaras should be back with the sleigh shortly. We’ll wait in the office for you.”
With a shaky smile on her face, Robin thanked the man before pulling on her coat and retrieving her sleeping son. Then she held out her hand to Polly. “Will you stay with me at the hotel tonight?”
The seven-year-old nodded meekly and took her big sister’s hand. “Don’t let go.”
“I won’t,” Robin promised, her eyes misting over yet again.
The twists and turns of the day, stacked onto a sleepless night of rescue work at the bank, left Ben in a zombie-like state. But when Roseanna plaintively called him to her side, he sat on the edge of the bed and held his wife’s hand.
“Do you hate me?” she asked in a childlike voice.
Dumbfounded by the question, Ben tried to rally a single response. But the best he could come up with was, “Huh?”
“My brother hates me,” she softly stated.
“Naw. That’s not true,” Ben consoled, curling his fingers through Roseanna’s.
She shivered as the wind rattled the windowpanes. “Please, will you lay by me? I am so scared.”
“Scared?” Ben asked in confusion. “It’s over. Matthews is going back to Philadelphia on the next train, Rassbach is locked in the ice house, and our boys aren’t going anywhere.”
“Please, Ben. I . . . “
“What?”
“I want to be a little girl again,” she admitted. “I want to crawl up into my Pa’s lap and just hold on tight until I know the storm is over.”
A sliver of understanding pierced his mind, and Ben nudged her hip. “Scoot over then.”
She quietly obliged, but once her husband was settled, Roseanna burrowed her face into his chest and cried until she fell asleep.
I don’t understand, Lord. Why is Rosie so fearful? his exhausted mind questioned. But the answer was lost as his eyes drifted closed, and Ben’s body relaxed into the sweet curves of his bride’s body.