Cutler 05 - Darkest Hour

and done, Emily. You don't know."
    "Then tell me," she said sharply.
    "I gambled away The Meadows in a card game. I've lost my family heritage," he moaned. "To a man named Cutler. And he's not even a farmer. He runs a hotel at the beach," he said disdainfully.
    He looked up at me, and despite all he had done to me and to Mamma, I could only pity him.
    "I've gone and done it now, Lillian," he said. "The man can turn us all out in the cold any time he wants."
    All Emily could do was begin to mutter one of her prayers.
    "That's ridiculous," I said. "Something as big and as important as The Meadows can't be lost in a card game. It just can't." Papa's eyes widened with surprise. "I'm sure we'll find a way to stop it from happening," I declared with so much certainty and authority that I even surprised myself. "Now go to sleep, Papa, and in the morning, with a clear head, you'll find a way to solve the problem."
    Then I pivoted and left him sitting there, his mouth agape, not sure myself why it was suddenly so important to protect this degenerating, old Southern plantation that had been a prison as well as a home to me. One thing was for sure—it wasn't important because it was the home of the Booths.
    Maybe it was important because it had been Henry's home, and Louella's and Eugenia's and Mamma's. Maybe it was important for itself, for the spring mornings full of chattering mockingbirds and blue jays, for the magnolia blossoms in the yard and the wisteria tumbling over the old verandas. Maybe it didn't deserve what was happening to it.
    But I had no idea how to save it. I had no idea how to save myself.

 
    14
THE PAST IS LOST AND THE FUTURE IS FOUND
     
    During the next few days, Papa made no more mention of his loss of The Meadows in a single hand of poker. I thought perhaps he had pulled himself together and found a way to solve his problem. But one morning at breakfast, he cleared his throat, tugged on his mustache and announced, "Bill Cutler will be stopping by this afternoon to look over the house and property."
    "Bill Cutler?" Emily asked, her eyebrows rising. She wasn't fond of us having visitors, especially if they were strangers.
    "The man who won the plantation from me," Papa replied, nearly choking on his words. He shook his clenched fist in front of his face. "If I could only get a stake together, I could go back into a poker game and win the debt back as quickly as I lost it."
    "Gambling is sinful," Emily pronounced with a dour expression.
    "I know what's sinful and what ain't. It's sinful to lose my family plantation. That's what's sinful," Papa roared, but Emily didn't even wince. She didn't retreat an inch, nor did she change her condescending posture. In a battle of stares, Emily was unbeatable. Papa shifted his eyes away and chewed his food angrily.
    "If this man lives in Virginia Beach, Papa, why would he want a plantation out here anyway?" I asked.
    "To sell it off, you fool," he snapped.
    Maybe it was the example of Emily sitting so firmly and assuredly across the table, or maybe it was my own growing sense of confidence. Whatever it was, I didn't retreat.
    "The market for tobacco is depressed, especially for the smaller farmers; our buildings are in need of repair. Most of the equipment is old and tired. Charles is always complaining about things breaking down now. We don't have half as many cows and chickens to provide for us as we used to have. The gardens and fountains as well as all the hedges have been neglected for months and months. Even the house cries out for attention. Finding people to buy another old, poor plantation isn't going to be easy for him," I pointed out.
    "Yeah, well, that's all true," Papa admitted. "It ain't gonna bring no fortune, that's for sure, but whatever it brings him is found money, ain't it? Besides, when you meet him, you'll see he's just the type who likes to toy with other people's lives and possessions. He don't need the money," Papa muttered.
    "He sounds dreadful," I said. Papa's eyes widened. "Yeah, well don't go gettin' him upset when he stops by. I want to be able to deal with the man, hear?" "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to see him at all," I said, and I really intended to avoid meeting him. I would have eluded him, too, if Papa hadn't brought him around to Charlotte's nursery while I was playing with the baby. We were both on the floor, Charlotte fascinated with one of Mamma's pearl-handled hairbrushes I had been using to brush her hair. Every