A Single Thread (Cobbled Court) by Marie Bostwick Read Free Book Online Page A

feel Liza flinch next to me.
    “I am…I mean…I was…”
    I frowned. What was this? Had she dropped out of school?
    Franklin answered for her. “Your Honor, until recently, Miss Burgess was working toward her degree in art. However, her circumstances have changed.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning, I left school,” Liza said. “I flunked out, your Honor. That’s why I’m here. Yesterday I had to move off campus and…” Her voice began to quaver, threatening to give way to tears but she choked them back. In spite of my irritation at being forced to play a role in this family drama, I felt a grudging respect for the way in which my niece refused to get carried away by emotion. She was definitely a Burgess.
    “I didn’t know what I should do, so I caught a bus to New Bern,” she said in a more composed voice. “Mr. Spaulding was my mother’s attorney and is in charge of her estate.”
    He was? He is? I shot Franklin a look, but he ignored me.
    “There wasn’t much left after all her medical expenses, but he made sure my school bills got paid and, after she died, he helped me with the funeral and everything.” She shrugged. “He was nice to me.
    “I don’t know why,” she continued, “but I just wanted to talk to him about what he thought I should do. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I caught a bus to New Bern. When I got to Mr. Spaulding’s office his secretary said he’d left early, to go to my aunt’s birthday party. The secretary knew my last name was Burgess; I guess she assumed I was in town for the party. She told me to go downtown to the restaurant and I’d find Mr. Spaulding there. So I did, even though I wasn’t invited to the party. There were a lot of people inside. I could see them through the front window, laughing and talking.
    “The stores are open late on Thursday, so I decided to check them out while I waited for Mr. Spaulding. That’s when I went into Kaplan’s and…” she hesitated and then, for the first time, turned to look at me.
    “I didn’t plan on this,” she said in a defiant tone, “and I wasn’t trying to get your attention. No matter what you might think, I’m not a thief.”
    That’s funny, I thought, tossing an arch look in her direction. How is it you happen to have stolen goods in your possession?
    Judge Gulden groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. “So, Miss Burgess, are you saying that, as of yesterday, you are no longer a college student? That you have no permanent home or address?” Still scowling, Liza nodded.
    “Well, this presents something of a problem. I can’t just let you walk out of here and hope that you’ll come back when you’re supposed to. It was already complicated enough since you were going to school out of state. However, I had planned on making contact with someone at your college and asking them to be responsible for you…”
    “I can be responsible for myself!” Liza snapped.
    “Yes, we can all see that,” I mumbled under my breath.
    “Hey!” Liza shouted. “Who asked you? I never asked you to come down here! You can just keep out of this!”
    “That is perfectly fine with me. I never wanted any part of this to begin with.”
    I rose from my chair and was getting ready to walk out the door when Harry pointed a finger at me and said in a commanding tone, “Abigail! Sit down!”
    I hesitated, but the look on his face told me I’d better comply. Smoldering, I slowly lowered myself back into the chair while the judge started speaking to Liza.
    “Miss Burgess, you may think you are capable of being responsible for yourself, but in the eyes of this court, that is clearly not the case. And Abigail,” he continued, turning to me, “you may not want any part of your niece’s life, but given her current living situation, there really isn’t another choice.”
    “Excuse me,” I interrupted, the gist of Harry’s meaning beginning to dawn on me. “Are you saying that…”
    He nodded to me and then spoke to