CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE MARKET SQUARE

By midmorning a crowd had gathered near the courthouse in Alder Creek.
The county editor had printed a short notice announcing a public explanation of a disputed photographic commission.
He had not printed Samuel’s name.
Ida insisted on that condition before she would bring anyone to the square.
The notice attracted curiosity because several prominent dinner guests had already spread conflicting versions of the previous evening.
Some said Catherine had exposed a trick.
Others claimed she had interrupted her husband in a fit of jealousy.
Nobody agreed about the figures in the photograph.
Julian intended to take advantage of the confusion.
He arrived with Pritchard and two hired men, demanding that the editor withdraw his notice.
The editor refused.
He was a small man with red cheeks and a habit of rubbing ink from his fingertips.


“People have been talking since breakfast,” he told Julian.
“I would rather hear one account plainly.”
“You will print what I authorize,” Julian said.
The editor stepped back.
“That is a very expensive misunderstanding.”
Across the square Ida stood beside Frost and Greer.
Catherine arrived separately, wearing a plain gray traveling dress.
She carried no bundle of letters.
She had chosen to leave them at the house because the private words between Julian and Martin were not the evidence the gathering needed.
Samuel came in the back of a wagon with Pritchard’s driver.
He had been told that he was going to the broker’s office.
Instead, Ida had asked the driver to stop beside the square so the witnesses could see him before the transfer was completed.
The driver agreed only because the editor promised to record that he had followed his route as instructed.


Samuel stepped down beneath the gaze of people who rarely saw an enslaved man address a public gathering.
He felt a terrifying urge to run.
Then Liza appeared on the edge of the crowd.
Ruth had insisted she travel with Ida’s laundry wagon rather than remain at the house.
The sight of his sister gave Samuel courage, but it also reminded him of the cost of every word.
Julian pushed through the gathering.
“Samuel, return to the wagon.”
Samuel remained where he was.
“Mr. Vale, I have been asked to speak.”
“By whom?”
“By the people who intend to repeat what I say.”
Julian reached for his arm.
Martin stepped into the space between them.
“Don’t,” Martin said.
The crowd fell quiet.
Julian stared at him with an expression of disbelief.
“You choose him over me?”
Martin shook his head.
“I choose to stop lying.”
He turned to the editor.
“I helped arrange a photograph that was intended to suggest Catherine Vale had behaved improperly with Samuel.”
The editor raised his notebook.
“Were either of those people shown in the image?”
“No.”
“Who posed?”
“Two hired models.”
“Did you tell Mr. Vale this would be used against his wife?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Samuel would be threatened afterward?”
Martin looked directly at Samuel.
“Not at first.”
“Later?”
“Yes.”
A woman near the front covered her mouth.
The editor looked at Julian.
“Sir, would you like to answer?”
Julian’s voice was low and furious.
“This entire gathering is an insult to my household.”
Catherine stepped forward.
“You have made the household’s honor depend on the silence of people you can punish.”
Julian turned on her.
“Do you wish to destroy us both?”
“No,” she said.
“I wish to stop you destroying Samuel.”
The editor looked toward the transfer broker, who had emerged from his nearby office.
“Have you accepted this man’s sale?”
The broker shook his head.
“Not without proper completion of the agreement.”
Martin reached into his coat and removed a purse.
“I am prepared to purchase Samuel and his sister and release them from my claim.”
Samuel’s heart lurched.
But before he could speak, Liza stepped beside him.
“We won’t be separated,” she said.
The broker glanced between them.
“Neither of you sets the terms.”
Ida answered steadily.
“Then let the public hear the terms before any of us agrees they are just.”