Secrets of the Heart

by Al Lacy

  “I don’t know. Do you think it would be wise? The battle could get ugly before it’s won.”

  She pondered it a moment. “You’re right. I don’t think Caleb should have to go through it.”

  “Tell you what. We can ask Donna to keep him while we’re gone, since she isn’t working outside the home anymore.”

  “All right. She loves Caleb. I’m sure she’ll do it.”

  “I’ll go on over there right now,” he said. “I have to let Hank know that I won’t be in tomorrow. I’ll ask Donna while I’m there.”

  Moments later, Kathleen stood at the front door and watched her husband fade into the darkness as he headed down the street on foot. The Mitchells only lived a couple of blocks away.

  She closed the door and leaned her back against it, smiling to herself. “Tom, what a marvelous and wonderful man you are!” she whispered. The smile faded, and her eyes sharpened into dark pin-points as she said, “And you, John and Maria Stallworth, when we take Meggie away from you, I hope it tears your hearts out! You deserve to suffer for what you’ve done to Meggie and me!”

  CALEB AWAKENED TO THE SOUND of his parents’ happy chatter down the hall. He yawned, stretched his arms wide, then threw back the covers and got out of bed. He went to the window where the shoe box rested on the sill, bathed in sunshine.

  “Good morning, Mr. Robin. Mommy will feed you breakfast pretty soon. You feeling better today?”

  Caleb turned his head when he heard the door open.

  “Good morning, son,” Tom said. “Sorry I didn’t get to read the Bible and pray with you at bedtime last night. I was over at the Mitchells’ house.”

  “That’s what Mommy told me. Dad…how come Mommy doesn’t want to pray with me and read the Bible to me? I asked her, and she said she had other things to do.”

  “Well, your mommy’s got a lot on her mind these days, Caleb. I believe the time’s coming when she will, but not just yet.”

  “I hope so.”

  Tom leaned over to look into Caleb’s eyes. “Listen, son. Mommy and I have a surprise for you. You’ll have to be a little late for school today in order to see it. Would that be all right?”

  “Sure! What is it, Dad?”

  “You have to wait till we get there. It’s a little ways outside of town. Actually, Mommy hasn’t seen it either. I didn’t tell her about it until last night, so it’s really a surprise for both of you. I told her about it when we had our private talk last night.”

  “Oh.”

  “And when I came home, she told me she hadn’t mentioned it to you. She wanted me to tell you about it.”

  “Are we going to see it right now?”

  “As soon as we eat breakfast and Mommy feeds Mr. Robin.”

  The Harned family buggy bounced along the road, heading east out of town. A flood of golden sunlight streamed across the rugged land. A fragrant breeze carried the scent of pine from off the surrounding hills. There was a fluttering of leaves in the nearby trees, the happy twitter of birds, and the gurgle of the very brook that eventually bisected the tract of land Tom had purchased for their new home.

  Sunlight danced on Caleb’s hair as he sat between his parents. Kathleen ruffled it and said, “You’re Mommy’s big angel boy.”

  Caleb grinned up at her. “Mommy, do you know what the surprise is?”

  “I sure do.”

  “What?”

  “Dad doesn’t want you to know till we get there.”

  Soon they left the main road and turned south onto a narrower road that wound its way through heavy brush and tall trees, never straying too far from the general course of the brook. They passed several places where houses and barns dotted the land, many of them surrounded by cattle and horses in the fields.

  A few more minutes brought them to a curve in the road, where Kathleen’s line of sight focused on a large two-story house under construction about two hundred yards from the road. Tom turned onto the lane that led down to the house.

  “Oh, Tom! Is this it? Look at this! It’s beautiful! Trees, brush, grass in abundance, just like you told me! And look over there—the brook! It runs right by the house!”

  He grinned. “I assume you like it.”

  “I love it!”

  “Wow!” Caleb said. “Is this the surprise?”

  “It sure is,” Tom said.

  “This is our place? That’s our new house?”

  “Yes!”

  “Hey, look! The house has an upstairs! Will I get to sleep upstairs, Dad?”

  “You sure will. I’ll show you where the bedrooms are up there, and which one I think you’ll like best.”

  “Oh, boy!”

  The large house was about three-quarters finished. The roof was on, the windows were in, and the walls were ready for paper, paint, or tapestries. Tom led Kathleen and Caleb on a tour of every room while carpenters banged away with hammers and the sound of saws ripping into wood filled the air.

  Kathleen was thrilled with the space she would have in her kitchen and amazed at the size of the master bedroom, which offered a view of the distant Sierra Nevada Range. She could see that with so many windows the entire house would be bright and cheery.

  Caleb was overjoyed when Tom showed him the room that would be his. It was at the opposite end of the second floor from the master bedroom. This made him feel grown-up. Kathleen mentally chose a bedroom for Meggie and one adjacent to the master bedroom for a nursery, should a baby come along.

  Tom took them outside to the site where the barn and corral would stand, and while Caleb ran across the open fields, Tom told Kathleen they would go to Reno and buy all new furniture for the house when they returned from Chicago with Meggie. She could pick out her wallpaper and tapestries, as well as curtains and drapes and carpets.

  As Kathleen looked around at the beautiful country surroundings and the choice location of their property, she slid her hand into the crook of Tom’s arm and said, “I don’t know when I’ve been so happy. Thank you for all of this, and for being willing to stand by me as I fight for the custody of my daughter.”

  “Our daughter,” he said, smiling. “Like Caleb is our son.”

  Tears filled Kathleen’s eyes. “Yes. Oh, Tom, it sounds so wonderful!” Standing there, holding on to Tom, she silently marveled at the tremendous change that had come into her life. Once a scrub woman living in a Chicago slum…now, according to Tom, a millionaire.

  As the Harneds drove back toward town, Tom said, “We’ll take you to school now, son. And Mrs. Mitchell will come there to walk you to their house when schools out this afternoon. Mommy and I have to go to Reno today.”

  “How come?”

  “We have to buy some railroad tickets. You see, we have to go back east to Chicago, where Mommy came from. We’ll be going in a day or two, and we’ll be gone several days. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are going to keep you at their house.”

  “Why can’t I go to Chicago with you and Mommy?”

  “You can’t miss that much school. It would be too hard for you to catch up when we got back.”

  “Oh, all right.”

  Kathleen ran her fingers through Caleb’s mop of blond hair. “You’re such a good boy, honey.”

  “You’ll only be gone a little while, right?”

  “Mm-hmm. Probably not more than a couple of weeks or so.”

  “Can I take Mr. Robin to the Mitchells’ house?”

  “You can,” said Tom. “I asked them about that. They’re expecting Mr. Robin to stay with them, too.”

  Caleb smiled. “That’s good.” The boy was quiet for a few minutes, then said, “Dad, how come you and Mommy have to go back to where she used to live?”

  Tom looked at Kathleen questioningly, and she made a slight shrug of her shoulders.

  “Should we go ahead and tell him?” Tom asked.

  “He has to know sooner or later. I think sooner is better.”

  “I agree,” said Tom. “Be best if you tell him.”

  Caleb’s
small face was alive with curiosity. “Tell me what?”

  The buggy rounded a curve, pressing Kathleen close to the boy. She took hold of his hand and said, “Caleb, you noticed that our new house has five bedrooms.”

  “Uh-huh. I sure like mine!”

  “That’s good. When your dad and I come back from Chicago, we’re going to have someone with us who will be living in our house and will occupy one of those other bedrooms.”

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “Are you gonna have a baby, Mommy?”

  A grin spread across Tom’s face. “That’d be good news!” he said under his breath.

  Kathleen glanced at him and grinned, then turned back to Caleb. “Would you be happy if you had a little sister?”

  “I had a little sister, but she…she died when she was born.”

  “I know, honey, and I’m sorry. You’d have been happy with a little sister, though, wouldn’t you? I mean…it wouldn’t have to be a brother, would it?”

  “I’d like to have a brother who could play cowboys and Indians with me, but a sister would be all right. I like girls.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear you like girls, since I’m a girl.”

  Caleb laughed. “Mommy, you’re not a girl. You’re a lady!”

  “Oh, that’s right. So anyway, Caleb, when your father and I come back from Chicago, we’re going to have a little girl with us who is five years old. Her name is Meggie.”

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “Really? She’s gonna live with us?”

  “Yes. You see, she’s my daughter.”

  The boy looked confused. “Your daughter? Your little girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t know you had a little girl.”

  “Neither did I, son,” Tom said. “Not until Mommy told me last night. She was keeping it a secret because she had to. We’ll explain that to you when you get older.”

  “Okay. Mommy…”

  “Yes?”

  “Does this mean Meggie is gonna be my sister?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And she’s five years old?”

  “She’ll be six next June. But by that time, you’ll be eight.”

  “Yeah. I’m two years older’n her, huh?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Then I can take care of her and that kind of stuff, huh. And if some ol’ bully like Frankie Johnson slugs her, I’ll slug him back!” Tom and Kathleen exchanged smiles.

  “You can take care of her, son,” Tom said. “That’s what big brothers do for little sisters.”

  The Harneds arrived in Chicago on a sunny September afternoon. Like Nevada, the leaves were beginning to turn gold and orange, and the grass was fading to a tawny color.

  They rented a horse and buggy from a stable near the railroad station.

  “Honey, which way is our hotel?” Tom asked.

  “Take a left. It’s only three blocks that way.”

  Tom pulled into the street after a break in traffic. “After we check in, I’d like to take a drive past the Stallworth mansion, just to get a look at it. Would that bother you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Even if you should get a glimpse of Meggie?”

  Kathleen thought on it. “No, because I know I’ll have her back soon. If she should happen to be in the front of the house, I’ll turn away so she won’t recognize me.”

  “How long will it take us to drive from the hotel to that neighborhood?”

  “About a half hour. Since we’re going that direction, I’d like to stop and see Hennie.”

  “Just guide me there.”

  “Thank you, Tom. And after we leave Hennie, we’ll be close to the neighborhood where I lived after Peter died. I’d like you to see what you took me out of.”

  “I’d like that. We’ll get our sightseeing done this afternoon. In the morning we’ll go downtown and hire the best attorney in Chicago.”

  When she opened the door in response to the knock, it took Hennie O’Banion a couple of seconds to recognize the lovely, well-dressed, self-assured woman standing before her.

  “Kathleen!” she squealed then lunged through the door and grasped Kathleen in a warm embrace. “I’m so surprised to see you back in Chicago!”

  Hennie looked over Kathleen’s shoulder at the tall, handsome man who stood behind her. There was a gleam in his eye as he observed the reunion of the two friends.

  When the young women released each other, Kathleen introduced Hennie to Tom.

  Hennie invited the Harneds in, and the sound of children playing somewhere in the rear of the house met their ears as Hennie took them into the parlor and sat them down.

  “So what brings you to Chicago?” she asked.

  “Meggie,” said Kathleen. “We’re here to take the Stallworths to court and gain custody.”

  Hennie’s face lost some of its liveliness as she said, “I guess you know you’re up against a mighty powerful pair.”

  “Yes, but we’ve got the law on our side. We just have to hire the right attorney to get it made right. You don’t happen to know who’s real good in this town, do you? You know, someone who’s won big cases for people.”

  Hennie shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you. I never read a newspaper anymore. I’m too busy being a mother, housewife, and Sunday school teacher.”

  Kathleen nodded. “That’s enough to keep you hopping, all right. Are you still going to the same church?”

  “Yes, we are. If you’re going to be in town over Sunday, I’d love for you and Tom to come. Our pastor is a great preacher. You never heard him, Kathleen. It was Dwight Moody who preached the time you went to church with us.”

  “Yes,” Kathleen said quietly, looking down at her hands. “Dwight Moody. I remember him well.”

  Hennie took a quick breath and said, “I saw Meggie just three days ago, Kathleen. She looked fine, but like I told you in my letter, she just doesn’t seem happy. I’ve drifted by the Stallworth mansion several times since I wrote you. I would’ve told you if I’d seen anything that looked out of line.”

  “I appreciate that, Hennie. You’ll never know how much it means to me that you’d go out of your way to do that.”

  “Well, I have a nice neighbor who’s always glad to watch my children. So this gives me time to peek in on Meggie. Would you let me know how this court thing goes?”

  “I sure will. Tom, we’d better be going.”

  “A little different than our new house in the country, wouldn’t you say?” Kathleen said with a laugh. They were looking at the neighborhood and apartment building where Kathleen had lived after Peter died.

  “Yeah…just a little. Thank God I was able to get you out of such squalor.”

  “Yes, it is rather bad, isn’t it? Just think, I’d still be living here if it wasn’t for you. How can I ever thank you enough, Tom?”

  “Thank me enough? I’m the one who’s been blessed, Kathleen.”

  The next morning, Tom and Kathleen drove downtown, left the horse and buggy at a stable, and headed for the First Bank of Chicago, where they Would begin seeking referrals to the best law firms.

  Before they entered the bank, Tom said, “Honey, do you know what law firm John Stallworth uses? We sure wouldn’t want to walk into their offices!”

  Kathleen nodded. “He always used the Zachary Hagen law firm. They’re big in this city.”

  By noon, the Harneds had inquired of bankers, merchants, and accounting firms for their recommendations. As it turned out, the names of two law firms were mentioned most often—the J. H. Bledsoe law firm and the Zachary Hagen law firm.

  When they reached the impressive office building where the Bledsoe offices were housed, Kathleen began to feel shaky. They stepped inside and eyed the register of offices.

  “Fourth floor,” said Tom. “Rooms 400 to 406.”

  Kathleen took hold of his arm and gave a gentle tug. “Before we go up there, I need to sit down for a few minutes.”

  “Sure,” Tom said. He spotted a small benc
h near the stairs and guided her there. When they were seated, he took her trembling hands in his and said, “It’s going to be all right, Kathleen. The Lord wants you to have Meggie. You’re her mother, and it’s only right. God gave Meggie to you, and she belongs with you.”

  Kathleen took several deep breaths and squared her shoulders, took another deep breath, and said, “All right, darling. I’m so thankful I have you. I’m ready to talk to the lawyers and to face whatever may come.”

  A middle-aged woman with her hair pulled back into a bun sat at the desk in the outer office of the J. H. Bledsoe law firm. She looked up as the Harneds came in.

  “Hello,” she said with a smile. “May I help you folks?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m Thomas Harned from Virginia City, Nevada. This is my wife, Kathleen. We’ve come to seek help concerning a situation that took place here in Chicago some time ago. Your firm has been highly recommended to us.”

  “All right. Please be seated over there in the waiting area, and I’ll see which one of our attorneys can see you.”

  “Ah… ma’am?”

  “Yes?”

  “If it’s at all possible, we would like to see Mr. Bledsoe himself.”

  “Oh. Well, it is possible, of course, but it may be an hour or more before he could see you.”

  “We don’t mind the wait. Our problem is very serious and involves the life of a five-year-old child. May we wait?”

  “Certainly.”

  It was exactly an hour and twenty minutes later when the secretary ushered Tom and Kathleen into the office of J. H. Bledsoe, a distinguished-looking, silver-haired man in his sixties.

  Bledsoe seated them in padded leather chairs facing his desk, then eased into his own chair. “All right, Mr. and Mrs. Harned,” he said with a smile, “I understand you have a problem that involves a young child.”

  “That’s right, sir,” said Tom. “I’ll explain it as best I can, and Kathleen can fill in where I leave gaps.”

  When Bledsoe had heard the entire story, he nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment, then said, “This case rings a bell, Mrs. Harned. I recall reading about it in the papers, and it struck me then that an injustice had been done.”