"Holy Mother of God," Adam whispered.
"Lots of people were born on January second," Travis argued.
"Be reasonable," Harrison requested.
"Explain how you came to your conclusion that our Mary Rose was the woman you were searching for."
"Travis, I've already explained."
"I don't give a damn, Harrison. Explain it again."
"Fine," he agreed. "The woman who saw Mary Rose at the boarding school reported the incident to Elliott's people. I happened to be in Chicago at the time on business. The woman lived a short train ride away, and so I went to her home to talk to her."
"How did you hear about the woman? Does Elliott have people working for him in America?" Travis asked.
"Yes, but that isn't how I found out. I received a wire from London. I had requested to be kept informed. Elliott had given up."
"But you hadn't," Travis remarked. He sounded angry about Harrison 's tenacity.
"No, I hadn't given up, and neither had his staff. They notified me. I hired an attorney in St. Louis to interview Mary Rose."
"Lawyers stick together like fleas and leeches, don't they?" Cole said.
Harrison didn't respond to the insult. "What the attorney found out made me more curious."
"She didn't tell him anything," Cole argued. "She wouldn't have."
"You're right. She didn't tell him anything. It's what the attorney couldn't find out that intrigued me. The headmistress said Mary Rose's mother lived in the south. I wondered why, of course, but I didn't find it unusual enough to pursue. Sisters boast about their brothers, or complain about them. At least I thought they did, but Mary Rose wouldn't say a word about the four of you. The attorney reported she'd been on her guard and seemed afraid and somewhat agitated."
"She distrusts lawyers as much as we do," Travis told him.
"Yes, I understand," Harrison said. "Your reaction when you found out what I did for a living was another clue that one of you might be in trouble."
"We told Mary Rose not to talk about us. We didn't want folks looking into matters that didn't concern them."
"As I said before, I understand now. I didn't understand at the time."
"What didn't you understand?" Cole asked.
"That all of you have broken the law in the past. Anyway, your sister's reticence made me more curious."
"And then?" Travis asked.
Harrison held on to his patience. He knew why they were making him go over his explanation again. They were hunting for flaws. He couldn't blame them. In their place, he would have done the same thing.
"There had been hundreds of reports over the years about women who resembled Victoria 's mother, or aunt, or cousin, or some other distant relative. Although the woman who had seen Mary Rose was emphatic about the resemblance, I still wouldn't have come all the way to Montana just because of a similarity in appearance. No, I came here because of the report I'd read about the interview with your sister."
Harrison reached for his glass and took a drink. He really didn't want the brandy, but his throat was dry.
"There's a portrait hanging in Elliott's library," he began.
"What? You didn't mention a portrait before," Travis said.
He guessed he hadn't. "Right after Elliott married Agatha, he commissioned a well-known artist to paint his wife's likeness. When Mary Rose came strolling down the aisle in Morrison's store, for a moment I thought Agatha had stepped out of the oil portrait and was coming to greet me. Your sister's resemblance to Agatha is astonishing. You know the rest of it. None of you made my task easy."
"I'm glad to know we did something right," Cole interjected.
"All of you gave me odd, nonsensical answers to my questions. Your resistance fed my curiosity. Only people with a secret would behave in such a manner. You told me again and again that it was dangerous for anyone to ask questions out here, yet you plied me with hundreds of them. There was also your distrust of anyone associated with the law. Believe it or not, lawyers serve a purpose, a damned good one at that. We aren't your enemy, but you behaved as though you believed we were. It was more than apparent to me that you had something to hide. My mistake was thinking you were trying to keep me from finding out the truth about the kidnapping. I didn't believe you planned the theft, but I did think you were protecting the man or woman who had taken her. Now that I've gotten to know all of you, I realize you got here on your own. You only had each other to depend on."
Harrison paused to gather his thoughts. The brothers patiently waited for him to continue.
"You decided to pull together and become a family. Then you took the baby and headed west. Mary Rose is Lady Victoria, isn't she?"
Adam closed his eyes. He looked stricken. "Dear God, she must be."
Travis reached for the bottle. Harrison noticed his hand shook. His glass was already full, but the brother didn't seem to notice.
Cole was staring at Harrison. He looked desolate.
Harrison turned his gaze to Adam. "On your brothers' behalf, your sister's behalf, and on your behalf, give me a dollar."
The request didn't make any sense to any of them. Adam didn't move. Harrison gave his demand again, in a harder tone of voice.
The brother reached into his vest pocket, pulled out a silver coin, and tossed it to Harrison. He caught it in midair.
"What was that for?" Travis asked.
"It was a retainer. I don't give a damn if you like lawyers or not, I now represent you. Does everyone understand and agree?"
He made all of them give their verbal consent before he continued. Then he shifted positions, scanned his audience, and said, "Who's going to start explaining?"
"Do you think we stole her?" Cole asked.
"We didn't," Travis said. "Someone else did. Whoever it was must have gotten cold feet."
"We found her," Cole said.
"Where?" Harrison asked.
"In the trash," Cole answered.
"Where?" He hadn't meant to raise his voice, but surprise made him overreact.
"You heard me. We found her in the trash heap in our alley. The four of us had formed our own gang. God, we were young and stupid back then."
"You were children," Harrison replied. "There is safety in numbers."
"Yes," Cole agreed wearily. He turned to Adam. "You tell him what happened."
Adam nodded. "We had formed a gang of sorts. We all lived on the street. I had made it to New York City with the help of the Underground, but I wasn't going to stay there. I'd promised my mother I'd head west. She thought I would be safer there, until things changed."
"What things?" Harrison asked.
"Mother kept up with all the news. Lincoln was talking about ending slavery. The movement in the North was growing and she knew a fight was coming. If it went in our favor, we'd be freed. It was a hope, and I clung to it.
"My brothers and I lived in the alley. We slept close together so we could keep warm. It was going on May, but the nights were still cold that year, and we didn't have many blankets."
"In 1860?"
"Yes, 1860," Adam said. "There were other gangs of displaced children roaming the streets looking for food and trouble. The alley was our home, and we were determined to defend it. We each took turns standing watch at the entrance. It was Douglas 's turn that night. Travis and Cole and I were sound asleep. He whistled to us and pointed to the trash heap. Then he took off. He was curious about something and wanted to investigate.
"I heard a noise," Adam continued. " Douglas told me later he thought it was a cat inside. Travis, I remember, was worried it might be a snake."
"Inside what?" Harrison asked.
"A basket," Adam answered. "Anyway, I thought there was an animal inside too. I went over to get a better look. I saw the rats then."
"Dear God…"
"They were all over the thing. I had to light my torch to chase them away. One had worked his way up to the top and was chewing through the lid. If I had waited another minute, the rat would have gotten to her."