The sky outside the window was just starting to get lighter when someone knocked at the bedroom door. “Time to wake up!” Father walked into the bedroom. He looked at Bertie’s bed, then looked at the corner. “What are you doing way over there and why do you have that poker?”

“He thinks that my father and cousin William are up to no good,” said Dawsey.

“Bertie has been reading too many detective novels.” Father walked over to Bertie. “Come on Bertie, time to wake up. It is time for breakfast and then we must be leaving.”

Bertie groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Father, we have to talk! Mr. Binns and Mr. Young are planning something bad. We have to prevent it.”

“So I hear. You can tell me all about it later, but right now you have to get your clothes on, pack your bags, and get downstairs for breakfast. I want to get an early start because it is going to be a long day on the road.” Father closed the door.

Bertie stared at the door, then turned to Dawsey. “I need your help. I think your father and your cousin William did something bad last night.”

“My father would never do anything bad. I think you are making things up. He is a good man,” said Dawsey.

“I am sorry. I did not mean to imply that your father is bad. When I overheard him talking to Mr. Young, one of them said that he put laudanum in our drinks and the other one just laughed it off. That cannot be good.” Bertie put on his pants and started tying his Oxfords.

“I do not believe that happened. But even if you did hear something, can you be sure but that is what they said. Maybe you misheard them.” Dawsey buttoned up his shirt.

“I did not mishear them. One of them specifically said that he put laudanum in the final drink.” Bertie tied up his shoes.

“Well, OK. Maybe they just wanted us to have a good sleep. Why do you think it is something mysterious? My father and cousin William are not bad people.”

“No. You must be right. They are not bad people, but what was all the noise that I heard? It did not sound good,” said Bertie.

Just then someone knocked on the door, then opened it. “You had better get downstairs. You do not want to miss breakfast and do not forget to bring your bags,” said Kate.

Bertie and Dawsey grabbed their bags and went downstairs. They deposited their bags on the first floor. Then they quickly went back up to the second floor to the dining room. They saw what to their eyes was a feast. There were eggs, bacon, oatmeal, and toast. There where two items that Bertie did not recognize. A white, pasty looking porridge and brown, greasy squares. Dawsey and Bertie sat down. Dawsey put a little bit of everything on his plate, especially the brown squares. Bertie was hesitant to put anything on his plate even though he was hungry.

“Go ahead, eat up. Try the grits and scrapple. They are house and local delicacies,” said cousin William.

Bertie took a small scoop of grits and the smallest square of scrapple that he could find. He tried to grits and almost gagged.

Cousin William laughed. “Not everybody likes grits. It is a dish from Virginia. Now try the scrapple.”

Bertie eyed the brown square with suspicion. He put a small bite in his mouth and started chewing. His eyes widened. “This is good! This is called scrapple? What is in it?”

“Pork, cornmeal, and spices. I will leave it at that. Just enjoy it,” said Father.

“I will tell you all about it later. Just eat as much of it as you can. We do not always have it,” said Dawsey. With that said everyone focused on eating and soon all of the food was gone.

“Y’all are surprisingly hungry. I thought that I made more than enough, but there is hardly anything left,” said cousin William.

“You are not used to eating with teenagers. They will eat you out of house and hearth.” Father smiled and stood up. “I want to thank you William for the splendid meals and letting us stay the night in your house. You are very gracious and we all appreciate what you have done for us.”

“Yes, thank you very much,” said all of the Haigh family except for Bertie. He just muttered something.

“Now it’s time for us to leave, unless you have an objection Mr. Binns,” said Father.

“That is precisely what I have in mind. So I want everyone to go downstairs and take your bags outside to the corner,” said Mr. Binns. Everybody stood up and went downstairs. As they went down, cousin William winked at Mr. Binns. Mr. Binns smiled.

“Where are the bags,” asked Vicki.

“I know. He took them!” Bertie pointed his finger at cousin William.

“Bertie, show your matters! You are not to say such things of our gracious host,” said Father. Father turned to cousin William. “I apologize for the behavior of my child. I do not know what has gotten into him.”

“Thank you. But there is no need for alarm, because Bertie is right. I did take the bags.” Cousin William opened the front door and there was the buckboard. All of the bags were in it and it was all ready to go. Cousin William smiled at Bertie and winked.

“See, I told you cousin William is a good guy.” Dawsey lightly punched Bertie in the arm.

“I still think that something is going on. But there is nothing that I can do about it right now. So we just have to get on the buckboard and leave,” whispered Bertie.

“Thank you Mr. Young for letting us stay at your house and for the lovely meals,” said Kate.

“Thank you very much Mr. Young,” said Arthur.

There was a slight pause, then Bertie muttered “Thank you.”

“Yes indeed, thank you very much Mr. Young. If you are ever in Texas, look us up and we will be glad to host you in our new house on the range,” said Father.

With that said, everybody got on the buckboard. Dawsey and Mr. Binns waived at cousin William. “Dawsey and I will see you in a month. Take care of yourself until then,” said Mr. Binns.

The horse trotted down Cherry Street as they started on their journey home. Mr. Young went inside and smiled. He had his monthly shipment of Laudanum and other, less than legal supplies from Mr. Binns.