Blood Ties Read Online Free Page A

Matthew, but I promised our experts that they
wouldn't get bogged down in island politics. We don't
want to drive them off before they do what they came here to do. It was bad enough that Dr. Knight had to
find young Gilbert's body, but we can't help that."

    "He's gone to a better place," Phillip's wife intoned.
    "Mary Love, will you take your own good advice
and hold your tongue long enough for Matthew to
say his piece so we can all get home tonight?" Emma
remarked.
    Snickers erupted into genuine mirth. A waterman
near the door shouted, "The boy shouldn't have dug
in that marsh in the first place."
    Mary Love glared at Emma. "And who on this island's got a bigger mouth than you?"
    Emma laughed. "Not many, I expect." She waited
until the titters had settled and then continued. "So,
as I see it, this realty company may or may not have
bought a good-sized chunk of Tawes. Tom Sherwood
should have sold the property to one of us, or left a
proper will. Shame on him. And if any of you are in
the same fix, shame on you." She glanced at Abbie and
her mother. "For a few hundred years, no property on
Tawes has passed to a mainlander."
    "Except for Bailey," a freckle-faced woman called.
    "Is she an outsider?" Emma said loudly. "She's a
Tawes."
    "'Nuff said," Phillip agreed.
    "All right. That's been our custom-law, if you want
to put name to it-for three hundred years. Ours to
ours. But Tom broke that code and left the island
open to attack by these mainland pirates. If we don't
stop them, we'll look like the western shore of the bay,
all high-rise apartments, highways, and shopping centers. Now this Onicox Realty is a real threat to our way
of life."
    "Shoot 'em!" an octogenarian shouted. "It's what
my granddaddy did to the Yankees!"
    "None of that talk," Emma scolded. "There'll be no shooting of anybody-unless I'm forced to set
some of you back a few pegs." She paused for effect.
"Matthew?"

    "Absolutely," the minister agreed. "We on Tawes are
law-abiding people, and we don't condone violence."
    A woman chuckled. "Not much."
    "Not unless we're pushed," a man added.
    "All right," Emma continued. "Now bite your
tongues if you want to get out of here before midnight." The crowd quieted. "Like I've been saying all
week, Matthew and Bailey Tawes called in Dr. Knight,
who is a genuine archaeologist and an expert in American Indian stuff, to see if the Indian burial ground
should be protected. If it is a genuine historic site,
maybe the State of Maryland will forbid the sale, and
things can stay the way they are."
    "Thank you, Emma. Well put. That's about it. Dr.
Knight has agreed to help us. We're glad to see so
many of you here in support of protecting Tawes, and
I'll call another meeting as soon as we have more information. Good night and God bless. Thank you all
for coming, and I hope to see this many at Sundaymorning service."
    Abbie attempted to escape by a side door, but
Emma blocked her exit.
    "Don't rush off yet. Matthew's got something in the
office he wants you to see. Something. . ." She shook
her head. "It won't take long." She motioned to
Matthew and lowered her voice. "Cut the jabbering
short and show Karen and Abbie what your father
gave you."
    "Yes, yes. I did want to do that. Give me five minutes
to see my congregation out." Matthew flashed his minister's smile.
    Slowly the assemblage began to file out.
    "Emma!" A thin, childish voice came from the rear of the church. A tiny woman in a yellow striped dress
and a white Mother Hubbard apron waved her cane.

    "That's my mother," Emma said. "Maude Ellen McCready Parks. Everyone but me calls her Aunt Birdy."
    "Hold your horses, girl," Mrs. Parks called to Emma.
"I want to meet Bailey's friends."
    Abbie watched as Mrs. Parks felt her way to the aisle
and then used her cane to walk to the front of the
church. As she drew closer, Abbie saw that the elderly
woman's eyes were cloudy with thick cataracts. "Pleased
to meet you." Mrs.