The O'Neal Girls Chapter 25

The family splits over Albert's invitation to move to Mapletown. Read on to see what effects this has on the family...

Chapter 25

            The family didn’t gather together again until that evening at supper time. Albert and Paul took care of the barn chores while the girls finished homework and made supper.

            The tension in the room was quite obvious. It was the elephant in the room that no one wanted to address. Danielle stabbed at her food and kept stealing glances at Belle. Belle ate her meal in silence, not making eye-contact with anyone.

            Albert set his fork down. “Well, Mr. and Mrs. O’Neal, I think I ought to ask your blessing on taking my sisters to Mapletown with me. Since you adopted them, it is only right that I receive your blessing when I take them.”

            “Our blessing?!” Lillian sputtered, looking at Albert in surprise. Paul grabbed Lillian’s hand, praying that her temper didn’t explode.

            “Yes.” Albert replied, seemingly unaware of Lillian’s glare. “The girls are my family, not yours. I think I have the right to take them with me.”

            “Family isn’t just blood!” Danielle’s chair scraped backwards as she flew to her feet. “Family is someone who loves you no matter how much trouble you get yourself in. Family is someone who takes care of you and wants you to be happy.”

            “The O’Neals are our family as well now,” Cassandra agreed. “You can’t expect us to just leave them without a fuss.”

            Lillian and Paul couldn’t help but smile proudly at Danielle and Cassandra’s bold statements.

            “But we should be together; we’re siblings,” Albert persisted.

            “Then you move here, ‘cause we ain’t budging,” Danielle announced.

            “But Mapletown has a lot to offer us,” Elsie said timidly, glancing at her older sisters.

            “There are bigger schools, libraries, and there’s even talk of a college being built there,” Faith added.

            “So you want to leave and go with Albert?” Danielle inquired, surprised at the twins opinion.

            “We’re just saying that we have to weigh out our options,” Elsie answered wisely.

            Danielle sat back in her chair and frowned. “So who wants to leave with Albert?”

            Elsie, Faith, and Belle tentatively slip up their hands.

            “And those who want to stay?”

            Danielle, Cassandra, and the three little girls lifted their hands.

            “We win,” Danielle announced.

            “That isn’t how it works,” Faith retorted.

            “Five of us want to stay, only three of you want to leave,” Lynn piped up.

            “Belle and Albert are the oldest; they get to decide what we do,” Elsie said.

            “I am a grown woman, I don’t have to listen to Belle or Albert anymore,” Cassandra replied.

            “But we have to stay together!” Nadia exclaimed with worry.

            “You’re ripping this family apart!” Danielle shouted, pointing her finger at Albert.

            “You’re the one who doesn’t want to live with your family anymore,” Albert tossed back.

            “You shot Davy!” Danielle screamed. She lurched out of her chair so fast that she knocked into the table, causing her plate and silverware to fall.

            Lillian leaned over in time and steadied the plate while the silverware clattered to the floor.

            “I hate you, Albert!” Danielle snapped. “I missed you for so long but now that you’re back, I hate you and I wish you had never come back!”

            “Danielle!” Belle, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “How can you say that?!”

            “We were finally settling into life here again and now you want us to move again! You already tried to make us leave the O’Neals once. Why are you making us do it again?”

            Belle looked down at her lap. Finally, she said, “I just want what’s best for us. That’s all.”

            Danielle didn’t have a reply for her sister so she instead marched out of the room. Cassandra left the room a moment later, muttering about not being hungry. The twins rushed out to the barn together as soon as Cassandra left. Albert kept his eyes glued on his plate while Belle sifted through her potatoes.

            Lillian sighed and began to collect the plates and silverware. No one had eaten much at all. They would have lots of leftovers for tomorrow.

            “Ma?” a tiny voice whispered.

            Lillian turned and saw Nadia bringing her plate to the sink.

            “Yes, dear?”

            “You’ll always be my Ma…whatever happens?” Nadia’s big blue eyes looked fearfully into Lillian’s.

            “Oh, sweetheart!” Lillian dropped to her knees and drew the little girl in for a hug. “Of course I’ll always be your ma! Nothing can change that. Your pa and I will love you forever and ever.”

            Nadia pulled back so she could look at Lillian again. “Forever and ever is a really long time, isn’t it?”

            Lillian smiled at Nadia, “Yes, it is.”

            “I’ll love you forever and ever too.” Nadia kissed Lillian’s cheek and ran off to her bedroom.

            A chair scraped backwards and Lillian saw a flash of calico as Belle dashed out of the kitchen and outside. Albert stood as well as if he meant to follow her. Paul shook his head and motioned for Albert to sit down.

            “We need to talk, son.”

            Albert gazed at Paul and slowly sat down. “About what, sir?”

            “We aren’t going to try and force the girls to stay here,” Paul stated. “We love them and honestly, we want them to stay, but they’re your sisters and we understand you wanting to keep them together. But listen, you still shot an innocent man and you can’t claim self-defense as Caleb can. I won’t turn you in to the sheriff because I don’t want to upset your sisters. However, I expect you to make some sort of restitution to the Carter family. I think you owe them a money sum.”

            Albert nodded. “I appreciate that, Mr. O’Neal, and I agree that I do owe the Carters.”

            “I think you should write out a check and give it to me or Belle so we can get it to Caleb and his parents. And I hope that you’ll take care of it sooner than later.”

            “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

            “Good. You can bunk in the sod house tonight. I’ll take you out there now.” Paul grabbed his hat and he and Albert disappeared into the night.

~~~

           

            The morning dawned and the girls woke to a dreary, foggy day. Belle hardly slept at all the night before and was downstairs just as the sun was rising. Paul was the only other one awake, sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee cup in hand.

            “Mornin’,” he said, his voice a mere rumble.

            Belle nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Is Albert in the sod house?”

            “Yeah, I was going to go check on him and see if he’d help with morning chores.”

            “May I go speak to him first?”

            Paul glanced at Belle over his coffee cup. “Sure. Send him to the barn when you’re done.”

            Belle poured another cup of coffee to take to her brother and headed outside. The air was crisp and made the hair on her arms stand on end. She hurried past the paddock and the barn and down the little path to the old sod house where Paul had lived before the cabin was built.

            She rapped her knuckles against the wooden door and waited for a response.

            The door swung open and Albert stood in the doorway, fully dressed and with his hat on. “I’ve been waiting.”

            Belle pushed a coffee cup into his hands. “I think I slept only an hour last night if I slept at all.”

            “Me too,” Albert took a long sip of the coffee and gave a satisfied sigh as the coffee warmed his body. “That hits the spot.”

            Belle sat down on the edge of the bed. “Enough small talk, let’s face this.”

            Albert side-stepped towards the door. “I don’t think we should talk about it yet…”

            “Albert! This is a huge decision we need to make!”

            “Exactly why I want to make sure we are both ready to discuss this and not argue about this.” Albert drained his coffee and set the cup down on the nightstand. “I should go see what I can do to help Mr. O’Neal.”

            “Albert,” Belle moaned. “We need to make a decision.”

            “Later.”

            Belle watched her brother flee from the scene. Something was different about Albert; he had changed a lot since she had last seen him. Belle took the coffee cups back inside and prepared breakfast for the family. Although the twins came to help shortly after, none of the sisters were in the mood for talking so they worked in silence.

            As Lillian dressed and braided her hair, she noted that she could hear girls working in the kitchen but they were working in silence. Normally, Lillian woke to hearing gales of laughter pealing through the house. Sometimes she woke to bickering, but that would’ve been music to Lillian’s ears this morning compared to the dead silence she heard.

            Wanting to smooth things over for the girls, Lillian decided to act like everything was fine. She entered the kitchen like she did every morning, calling out a cheerful good morning.

            “Morning, Belle! Good morning, Elsie, dear. How are you, Faith?” Lillian whisked around the kitchen, quickly hugging each girl and smiling at them.

            “Morning,” came the half-hearted replies.

            Oh dear. This is going to be harder than I thought, Lillian sighed. “Let’s do something fun this afternoon! We could go for a picnic!”

            “It’s not good picnic weather,” Elsie protested.

            “Let’s do something else then.”

            “Like…?” Faith inquired.

            “We could try out a new recipe,” Lillian suggested.

            Elsie shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe.”

            “Alright!” Lillian smiled. “I’ll look through my recipes while you finish breakfast.” She took her recipe box and retreated to the table. It’s going to be a long day.

~~~

            Breakfast had barely been finished when Lynn announced that someone was riding up the road. Not expecting company so early in the day, Paul stepped outside to investigate. He returned a moment later and hung his hat back on the rack.

            “It’s Caleb.”

            Belle pulled over her apron and tossed in the kitchen. She raced outside and found Caleb tying his horse outside the barn.

            “Caleb…”

            “Belle,” Caleb pulled Belle into a tight embrace.

            “Are your parents okay?” Belle whispered.

            “They’re taking it hard…that’s why I came out here, to give them some time alone to grieve.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “You don’t have to apologize, Belle.”

            “Yes I do! I’m so sorry about everything! This has just been a terrible week. Albert didn’t mean to shoot Davy. Albert really is a good person, I swear. He’s made some bad choices…I know that but…” Belle rambled on, “He did those things because he was trying to do what was best for all of us. That’s why he wants us to go to Mapletown. He just wants the best for his family. He made a promise to Mama just as I did and he isn’t perfect but he tries.”

            Caleb stared at Belle. “Mapletown?”

            Belle realized that she had told Caleb about Mapletown. She didn’t want to mention Mapletown but she had started rambling and it slipped out. “Oh…Albert is living in Mapletown.”

            “And he wants you to move there with him?”

            “Caleb, why don’t you come in for coffee?”

            Caleb squared his shoulders. “Don’t change the subject. You want to move to Mapletown with him, don’t you?”

            Belle shrunk back at Caleb’s intimidating stance. “I never said that. Albert just mentioned it; don’t worry about it.”

            “No, I do worry about it! You’re choosing your murdering brother over me!”

            “Caleb!” Belle exclaimed. “How dare you call my brother a murderer!”

            “How dare you brother shoot my innocent brother! My brother is dead, Belle! Dead! Shot for no reason by your brother!”

            Belle couldn’t respond to that. “I’d never choose Albert over you.”

            “Yes, you would. You would in a heartbeat. You’re so absorbed with your family that I’m always last. You treat your sisters like they’re your children and you obey Albert’s every command as if he were your husband. You need to let go of that part of your life, Belle! If we are to be wed, then you need to give me your all.”

            “You don’t think I’m giving you my all?” Belle choked out. “How can you say those things about me?”
            “Because I’ve given you my all! I sacrificed work at my own farm to help you and your sisters. I ride for hours to come over here and take you out to dinner or to spend time with you.” Caleb ripped off his hat and balled in between his fists. “I’ve been working and saving money to buy us a place, to get us crops, to provide a start for us. And what have you done? Defended your murderer of a brother and you practically decided to move to Mapletown with him.”

            “I have not decided yet!” Belle shouted. “I’ve just entertained the idea because Mapletown does have a lot of opportunities.”

            “You told me you wanted to live on a farm.”

            “Well…I don’t know!”

            “You don’t know? What do you know? Do you even love me?”

            “Caleb!” Belle reached towards him but he stepped away.

            “I can’t do this, Belle.”

            Belle gasped and searched his eyes. “What…wait…what are you saying?”

            “I think you know what I’m saying…” Caleb turned to his horse and grabbed the saddle horn.

            “Caleb…no…don’t!”

            “Belle, we can’t do it. We weren’t meant to be. May I please have my ring back?”

            Belle looked down at her finger were the gold ring rested. She slowly pulled it off and held it in her hand for a long moment.

            “Belle…” Caleb’s voice sounded strangely hoarse.

            With a sob, Belle flung the ring into the dirt and ran into the barn.