Chapter 4. Brothers
When I get back to the Duke, the King tells him everything, every last word.
“Can you play deaf and dumb?” he asks the Duke.
This is his plan. He wants everyone to believe he's Harvey Wilks and the Duke is William Wilks. So, we get on a steamboat and go to Peter Wilks' village. When we get off the boat, a group of men come to us.
“Can anyone tell me where Mr Peter Wilks lives?” the King asks them in a perfect English accent. They look at each other and nod their heads. Then one of them says, “I'm sorry sir, but I can only tell you where his house is.”
“Oh, no!” says the King “Our poor brother is dead!” He turns to the Duke and makes a lot of strange signs with his hands. Then they both start crying. The men are sad for them. Then they carry their bags up the hill to Peter Wilks' house and tell them about their brother's last moments.
Then the King says it all over again with his hands to his brother, the Duke. It's the best show ever but I am ashamed and I can't look at them.
Soon everyone in the village knows that Peter Wilks' is in the village.
“Is it them?” we hear them saying to each other.
“Oh yes, it is,” someone else answers.
When we get to Peter Wilks' house, there's a crowd of people outside and the three girls are standing at the door. Mary has red hair and is very beautiful. When the girls see their uncles, they're very happy and hug them. Then the King sees the coffin in the house and he and the Duke walk solemnly to it. Everybody is quiet now as they watch the two men.
As they look at the coffin, the King and the Duke start crying. They put their arms around each other. Then they put their heads on the coffin and say a prayer. When they do this everybody starts crying. It's such an amazing show!
Then the King speaks. He thanks everybody for their kind words and says how hard it is to lose his brother. Then he starts crying again.
Later, Mary brings the King a letter. The King reads it aloud and cries at the same time.
“My dear brother leaves this house and three thousand dollars in gold to his nieces. He leaves his other property and three thousand dollars in gold to William and me,” says the King. “He says that the money is in a bag in the cellar. Let's go and find it now.” The Duke goes with the King into the cellar.
“Bring a candle,” the King tells me. We go into the cellar and close the door.
“We're so lucky!” the King says, laughing. We find the bag of money and they count it. But there is four hundred and fifteen dollars missing.
“Where's that money?” says the King. He thinks for a moment then says, “Let's add our money to it and make it six thousand.” So they do, they take money out of their pockets and put it in the bag.
“I've got an idea,” says the Duke, “let's give all the money to to the girls! We can get it back later.”
“That's a fantastic idea!” says the King. So they go upstairs and give the bag the girls. Then he speaks to everyone.
“My friends, my poor brother is a generous man. He loved and cared for these three poor orphaned girls, so we want to give all the money to our nieces. Here, Mary Jane, Susan, Joanna, take all the money, it's yours!”
The girls are so happy. They hug their uncles. Everybody in the room has tears in their eyes. But there's one person who doesn't – he just stands and listens, he doesn't say anything. Then he laughs and says, “So, you're Peter Wilks' brother? You talk like an Englishman but it's a very bad accent! You're a fraudster!”
Everybody in the room stops and stares. The people in the room try to tell the man to be quiet. They say that they're Harvey and William Wilks but the man doesn't stop.
He says to the girls, “I was your father's friend, I was his Doctor, and I'm your friend. I want to help you. This man is a fraudster.”
But Mary Jane looks at the man and says, “Here's my answer!” She shows him the bag of money. Then she looks at the King and says, “Take these six thousand dollars and invest them for me and my sisters. I want no receipt.”
Then the girls put their arms around the King and smile. Everybody in the room claps.
The Doctor says, “All right. You do as you want. But remember this day!” Then he leaves the house.
Later, Mary Jane gives the King and the Duke bedrooms and they all have dinner together. Even I get a small room to sleep in.
But I feel bad for the girls. In bed that night I think about what to do. Maybe I can go to the Doctor and tell him about the fraudsters? But no. What if he tells everyone about me? What if I tell Mary Jane? No. I decide to take the money, hide it and then write a letter to Mary Jane telling her where it is. That's a good idea!
So I go quietly to the Duke's room and look around. There's nothing there. Then I go to the King's room but suddenly the King and Duke come into the room. I quickly hide behind the curtains.
They talk about their plans. The Duke wants to leave that night but the King wants to stay and get the property, too. The Duke agrees to stay. Just before they go downstairs, the Duke says, “I don't think the money is in a good place.”
“You're right,” says the King. He takes the bag of money from its hiding place and puts it under the mattress. They leave the room and I quickly take the bag. Then I hide it in my bedroom. When everyone is in bed later, I leave my room and go downstairs.
But the front door is locked and there's no key. Then I hear someone coming down the stairs. The only place to hide the bag is in Peter Wilks' open coffin. His hands are cold as I put the bag inside. Then I hide behind the door.
Just then, Mary Jane comes into the room. She goes to the coffin and looks inside. She starts crying and I go quietly back to bed.
The next day, lots of people sit around the coffin before the funeral. I can't see the bag. After the funeral, they close the coffin and bury Peter Wilks. I don't know what to do.
That evening, the King tells everyone that he has to go back to England and he wants to quickly sell the property. “I want to take the girls to England with me,” he says. The girls are happy.
The day after the funeral, the King sells the slaves. The sons go to Memphis and the mother goes to New Orleans. Everyone is sad.
The next morning, the King asks me, “Did you go into my room the other night?”
“No,” I reply “but the slaves are often in there.”
“So, it's them!” he shouts. “Let's sell everything quickly!”
Before the auction, I tell Mary Jane all about the bad story. I tell her where the money is.
Later, a steamboat comes and two men get off – an old man and a younger one.
“I'm Harvey Wilks,” the older man says in a perfect English accent, “and this is my brother, William.”
The King laughs and says, “They're fraudsters!” Everybody in the crowd agrees, except the Doctor and two other men, the lawyer Levi Bell and a big, rough-looking man.
