They saved every penny. After Tilly graduated, they moved to the country, thirty minutes away from their jobs but worth it. The three of them craved peace and nature. The owner of their rental home was an elderly friend of Marvin’s. He was going to live with his daughter in Fresno, but he needed someone to care for his six beloved horses, his three dogs, and his chickens and to keep an eye on his property. His home was white, two-story, rambling, and built a hundred years ago. The rent was cheap.

Johnny, Betsy, and Tilly moved in, pampered the animals, fixed things that were broken or worn down or rusty, cleaned the windows, scrubbed the rest of it, painted walls, and planted a huge garden. They all found gardening therapeutic, and it helped to cut down on the food bill. As they planned, years ago, they started selling their vegetables at the farmers’ market on Saturdays along with apples, blackberries, and blueberries that were already growing on the property.

Johnny made a wooden stall and a sign that said ROSE’S MARKET. They worked their day jobs during the week, the market on Saturday, and were together on Sunday. They saved every penny so they could hire an attorney and get their Rose back—or at least get visitation. They wanted to know she was okay. They wanted her to know they loved her. They longed to hug her.

When Johnny and Betsy had enough money saved from their jobs and Rose’s Market, they talked to an attorney named Frieda Yann and told their story. Frieda was already familiar with it. They had been falsely imprisoned. It was self-defense. They had been declared innocent. They deserved to have their daughter back. Frieda could whip almost any other attorney’s butt and eagerly took the case. Under the hatchet she held in one hand, a legal brief in the other, she did have a compassionate side. But she had an ulterior motive, too: She knew this would be an epic legal case, egged on by Frieda.

The state fought back. They had taken baby Rose, as Johnny and Betsy were in prison and could not parent. It would be disruptive to the child’s life to return the girl to them. It would tear her from the people she believed were her parents. The girl doesn’t even know she was adopted. It was tragic, the state said, but the child must remain where she is for her own sake.

The press loved the story: Johnny Kandinsky and Betsy Baturra, the woman who had premonitions, had spent ten years in jail and lost their daughter. Now they were married and they wanted their love child back! Both were photogenic, articulate, likable.