sounded as if he were choking on something big, like a chicken leg.
'I don't want no girls around,' Travis muttered. 'They ain't good for nothing. I hate every last one of them. They're just a bunch of complainers and crybabies.'
The other boys ignored Travis. Douglas and Cole were both watching Adam. Their boss was looking ill.
'What's the matter, boss?' Cole asked.
'A black shouldn't be holding a lily white baby girl,' Adam said.
Cole snorted. 'I watched you save her from getting eaten up by the rats. If she was older and understood, she'd be mighty appreciative.'
'Mighty appreciative,' Douglas agreed with a nod.
'Besides,' Cole said. 'She don't know if you're black or white.'
'You saying she's blind?' Travis asked, stunned by the very possibility.
'She ain't blind,' Cole muttered. He let the youngest member of the gang see his exasperation. 'She's just too little to understand about hating yet. Babies aren't borned hating anything. They have to be taught. When she looks at Adam, all she's seeing is a… a brother. Yeah, that's what she's seeing, all right. And big brothers protect their little sisters, don't they? Ain't that a sacred rule or something? Maybe this little one already knows that.'
'I made a promise to my mama,' Adam told the other boys once again. 'I gave her my word I would run as far west as I could until I found a place where I'd be safe. Mama told me there was a war coming, and when it was all over and everything was decided, there's a good chance she'll be free. She promised to come after me then. I just have to keep myself alive until that day comes. I promised her I'd survive, and a son doesn't break a promise to his mama. I have to run for her.'
'Take the baby with you,' Cole told him.
'They'd hang me for sure,' Adam scoffed.
'Hell, they're gonna hang you anyway for killing the bastard who owned you, remember?' Cole said.
'If they catch you, Adam,' Douglas interjected. 'And you're too smart to let that happen.'
'I'm feeling a might brotherly toward the baby too,' Cole announced.
The other boys immediately turned to look at him. He became embarrassed over the way they were staring at him. 'There ain't no cowardice in admitting it,' he quickly added. 'I'm strong, and she's just a puny little thing who needs brothers like Adam and me to see she grows up proper.'
'Proper? What do you know about proper?' Douglas asked. There was a snicker of disbelief in his voice.
'Nothing,' Cole admitted. 'I don't know nothing about being proper,' he added. 'But Adam knows all about it, don't you, Adam? You talk good, and you read and write like a gentleman. Your mama taught you, and now you can teach me. I don't want to be ignorant in front of my little sister. It ain't right.'
'He could teach all of us,' Douglas said. He wasn't about to be left out.
'I don't guess I'd hate her if I was her big brother,' Travis grumbled. 'I'm gonna get real strong when I'm all growed up. Isn't that true, Douglas?'
'Yeah, it's true all right,' Douglas confirmed. 'You know what I think?'
'What's that?' Adam asked. He smiled in spite of his worries, for the little one had just given him the silliest grin. She was sure pleased with herself. She seemed to like being the center of attention. For such a tiny thing, she held considerable power over all of them. Her smile alone made him feel all warm and comforted inside. Her easy acceptance of him was melting away the painful knot he'd been carrying around in his belly ever since the day he'd had to leave his mama. The baby was a gift magically given into his care, and it was his duty to see that she was nurtured and protected and cherished.
'I sometimes wonder if God always knows what He's doing,' Adam whispered.
'Of course He does,' Douglas replied. 'And I think He would want us to come up with another name for our baby. Sidney don't seem right now. I sure hope she grows some hair. I don't cotton to the notion of having a bald little sister.'
'Mary,' Cole blurted out.
'Rose,' Adam said at the very same time.
'Mary was my mama's name,' Cole explained. 'She died having me. I heard tell from neighbors she was a right good woman.'
'My mama's name is Rose,' Adam said. 'She is a right good woman too.'
'The baby's falling asleep,' Travis whispered. 'Put her back down in the basket, and I'll try to slip another nappy on her. Then you two can argue about her name.'
Adam did as he was instructed. They all watched as Travis awkwardly put a dry nappy on. The baby was sound asleep before he finished messing with her.
'I don't think there's anything to argue about,' Douglas said. He reached over to cover the baby while Adam and Cole both muttered their reasons again for wanting the baby named after their mothers. Douglas knew a full- blown argument was developing, and he wanted to stop it before it went any further. 'I say it's all settled. Her name is Mary Rose. Mary is for your mama, Cole, and Rose is for your Mama Rose, Adam.'
Cole was the first to see the rightness in the name and the first to smile, Adam quickly agreed. Travis started to laugh, and Douglas hushed him by shoving his elbow in his side, so he wouldn't wake the baby.
'We have to make plans,' Douglas whispered. 'I think we should leave as soon as possible, maybe even tomorrow night, on the midnight train. Travis, you got until then to get the things we'll need for Mary Rose. I'll buy the tickets for us. Adam, you'll have to hide in the baggage car with the baby. Is that all right with you?'
Adam nodded. 'You figure it all out, and I'll do it,' he promised.
'How are you going to buy the tickets?' Cole asked.
'The envelope I took from the woman who threw Mary Rose away was stuffed with money. There were some old-looking papers with fancy writing and seals on the paper, but I can't make out any of it because I can't read. I know money when I see it though. We got us enough to get as far as Adam needs to go and stake us some land.'
'Let me see those papers,' Adam asked.
Douglas pulled the envelope out of his pocket and handed it to their boss. Adam let out a whistle when he saw all the money tucked inside. He found two papers and pulled them out. One was filled with numbers and scratches he couldn't make out, and the other sheet looked like a blank page torn from a book. There was only a little bit of handwriting on the top, giving the baby's date of birth and her weight. He read the words out loud so the others would know what he'd found.
'It weren't enough they threw her away. They even thrown out her papers,' Douglas whispered.
'I didn't have papers when I was dumped at the orphanage,' Travis said. 'It's a good thing I already knew my name, isn't it, Cole?'
'I suppose so,' Cole answered.
Travis shrugged off the matter as unimportant. 'I got a suggestion to make now, so don't interrupt me until you hear me out. All right?'
He waited until everyone nodded before he continued. 'I'm the only one of us who knows for certain I'm not wanted by the law, and nobody's looking to find me, so I say Mary Rose should carry my last name. Fact is, if we're gonna do it right, like Cole says we should, then everyone should take my last name. Brothers and sisters are all part of the same family, after all, and they all got to have the same last name. So I'm saying, from this minute on, we're all Claybornes. Agreed?'
'No one's going to believe I'm a Clayborne,' Adam argued.
'Who cares what anyone else believes?' Cole asked. 'We ain't asking for approval, just to be left alone. If you say you're a Clayborne, and we say you're a Clayborne, whose to say you ain't? Anyone who challenges you has to get through the rest of us first if he wants to make trouble. And remember,' he added, 'I got me a gun now. Soon enough I'll be able to handle any trouble that comes our way.'
Douglas and Travis nodded. Adam let out a sigh. Douglas put his hand out over the basket, his palm down. He looked at each of the other gang members.
'I say we run for Mama Rose and we become a family for our little Mary Rose. We're brothers,' he whispered.
Travis put his hand on top of Douglas 's. 'Brothers,' he vowed.
Cole was next. 'We run for Mary Rose and Mama Rose,' he pledged. 'We're brothers until we die.'
Adam hesitated for what seemed an eternity to the other boys. And then his mind was finally made up. His
