Around the River's Bend by Aaron McCarver Read Free Book Online Page A

the house this week, Miss Fairfax. The creditors have taken action, and they have the necessary papers.”
    â€œBut where will we go?” Sabrina hated herself as soon as she spoke these words. She was not used to looking for pity and knew that Mr. Franks had no answer for her.
    â€œI understand that your aunt has offered to take you in.”
    â€œWe can’t live with her. She’s so gloomy.”
    Mr. Franks looked down at his feet for a moment before lifting his face. “I’m afraid you have little choice, Miss Fairfax. We all have to do things we don’t want to do.”
    The words struck Sabrina like a sharp blow. She realized that all of her life she had been protected from the harsh realities of life, but now there was no more hiding.
    â€œVery well,” she said wearily. “This week, did you say?”
    â€œAs soon as possible, I’m afraid.”
    ****
    Sabrina spent five days frantically trying to get ready to move. Aunt Elberta had been there to help but had warned Sabrina, “I have a very small house, you realize. You can’t bring much.”
    â€œYou don’t have to worry. None of the furnishings are ours. They all go to the bank.”
    Sabrina had been told that her jewelry would have to be turned over to the court, but she had taken two pieces. One was a diamond necklace that had belonged to Sir Roger’s mother, who had given it to Sabrina on her sixteenth birthday. She knew it was valuable and wondered if she would be prosecuted for keeping it. As far as she knew, there was no written record of the necklace. She also kept a large ruby ring that her own mother had given her when she was fourteen. It was a family heirloom that had belonged to Sabrina’s great-great-grandmother. She kept these two pieces but nothing else.
    The biggest problem, of course, was taking care of her father. There was only one bedroom in Elberta’s house, but Elberta had offered to give up the room and sleep in the main room with Sabrina. Sabrina had spent the better part of a day helping Cecily and Randell move a washstand and a chifforobe to her aunt’s cottage. Defying the mandate that all the furnishings belonged to the creditors, she had taken these two furnishings.
    The question of how to care for her father was always present. She could not afford to pay the wages of any of the servants, so she and her aunt would have to do everything for the sick man.
    Sabrina was physically tired and emotionally drained. More than once at night she had given way to tears but had managed to keep such scenes from her aunt and from everyone else.
    Wearily she left her aunt’s house and went back home to try to cheer her father up. Elberta had been taking care of her brother while Sabrina worked at the cottage, and now Elberta met Sabrina at the door. She knew at once that something terrible had happened.
    â€œSabrina—” Elberta was rarely at a loss for words, but now she struggled to get them out as tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “He’s gone, Sabrina! It happened no more than thirty minutes ago.”
    Sabrina Fairfax knew then the depths of despair. She was now not only poor but alone, as well! Except for this gloomy woman who stood before her, she had not a relative in the world. She silently followed her aunt to her father’s bedroom and looked down at his peaceful face. He looks so rested now , she thought. He’s better off out of all this. He could never have borne it!

Chapter Four
    The Necklace
    Sabrina straightened her back and groaned. She looked at the wood she had split and stacked and said, “Well, there, it’s done. If Father saw me splitting wood, he would turn over in his grave.” Moving slowly, she walked around the back of the cottage and leaned the ax against the step. She looked down the row of houses all so close together, marveling once again that there was barely room for a person to pass