THE LADY FUGITIVE
CHAPTER 13, CONT.
William didn’t act as if he heard, but
Jenny looked back at the ornery animal as she walked. Rocky had climbed on top
of the cellar again, reminding her of kids who liked to play king of the hill. Maybe that’s why they named him Rocky.
He thinks he’s a mountain goat.
She stood beside William and stared at
the grave, marked by a small wooden cross. A breeze sang in the
trees, more beautiful than any organ music. A tiny gray bird lit on a high
branch and joined the chorus.
William took her hand. “Let’s pray.”
He thanked God for the MacDougal family
and prayed in such a loud voice Jenny worried Grouch might pop out of the
trees, wanting to know what the yelling was about. With a catch in his voice,
he prayed for Mrs. MacDougal, her family, and the baby.
Then he prayed for Jenny.
“Lord, you know how happy I am to see
Jenny again. But she’s sick. She’s so pale and thin. She needs somebody, Lord.
Send good folks to her.”
He whispered then, and the name
Benjamin was loud enough to hear. When he lifted his head, tears pooled in his
eyes. He looked at her and gave her hand a squeeze.
She smiled. He grinned back.
When their eyes connected, Jenny’s
heart danced. William leaned toward her, pulling her closer. Is he going to kiss me?
Then he blinked, pulled away, and dropped her
fingers. They stumbled down the steep hill together, back toward the house.
“I don’t want to, but I’m going to look
at what the fire did.” William entered the log structure, scanning the ceiling,
the burned out wall, damaged furniture and the hole in the floor. “This wasn’t
just a house, it was a wonderful home,” he said, a catch in his voice.
Jenny stood beside him, and he reached
for her hand again. He bowed his head, and Jenny guessed he was thinking about
Christian. Then he opened his eyes, looked up, and let his gaze fall on her. He
led her outside.
“I met your brother on the train.”
He turned, his eyes huge, mouth hanging
open. “What?”
“He rode in the caboose with me. His
horse and Leather traveled in the same stock car.”
Their hands dropped apart. “How do you
know it was Benjamin?”
“He looks like you. But what revealed
his identity to me was how he acted when I mentioned your name and told him you
are looking for him because of a family crisis.”
“Did he seem interested in going home?”
“I don’t think so. He seemed emotional
about it, but he used the name Cameron and denied he’s your brother. He told me
he was a businessman going to Yucca Blossom, but while I
was asleep, he got off early and stole my satchel with all my money in it.”
“He didn’t!” William kicked a good-sized rock. It flew across the
yard. “How much money did you have?”
“Over three thousand dollars sewed into
the satchel lining.”
He threw his arms wide. “And he took
it? Where did you get it?”
“Mama saved it from the sale of peaches
and horses
after Daddy went to the sanitarium. John took his half when he ran away to
Minneapolis to live with Aunt Betsy.”
“When did he do that?”
“Shortly after the judge took over the
ranch. Uncle Danforth beat John with the horse whip. My brother tried to
interfere with the judge’s violent way of training horses. John doesn’t believe
a whip ever should be used on a horse, especially in training.”
“Sorry.” William placed his arm over
her shoulders. He bent to look into her eyes.
Rocky trotted down off the cellar,
working his way toward them.
William turned. “What was it you said
about a goat?”
Rocky pawed the ground.
“Look out. I think he’s
coming our way.”
Rocky raked his hooves then dashed
toward William.
A grin on his face, William pulled out
his red handkerchief and dangled it like a bullfighter waving a red
flag.
Rocky smashed his head into the
brilliant cotton then collided with the fence.
William shook the hills with laughter.
“This could be fun. That’s what you could do. Become a goat
fighter and charge admission.” He laughed until he doubled over.
Rocky took advantage of the situation
and rammed, headfirst, into the tempting backside.
Still laughing, William slowly got to
his feet. “The first thing I’d do with this animal is pen him up.” He pointed.
“He’s probably supposed to be in the pen with the chewed post. He needs a mama
goat. You could raise goats and sell them.”
“I wouldn’t have another goat on this
property for anything. Why don’t you take Rocky into town and sell him? Or take
him along while you peddle your household goods and give him to a farmer who
needs a daddy goat?”
William studied Rocky for a minute.
“Seems one time when I was by here, Valerie MacDougal was upset because a
neighbor—I think she called him Grumps—mistook the nanny goat for a deer and
shot her. I think she was talking about Mister Anderson.”
“Sounds like him, but she called him
Grouch.”
William picked up a big stick, herded Rocky into
the pen, and shut the
gate. “Did you say Mrs. MacDougal gave you this property?”
“Well, actually, I bought it.”
Jenny ran into the cellar and retrieved
the paper Valerie’s father drew up. She handed the
document to William.
“This looks legal. Do you mean they
sold it to you for one dollar?”
“That’s what it says, and I gave them a
dollar. Valerie’s pa is a lawyer, and he said it
was legal, only I did need to pay the dollar. Valerie told me if I sold the
farm to Grouch Anderson she’d really be angry.”
William lifted his hat and scratched
his head. “Strange. The land and the burned out house aren’t worth much. It
might be valuable to Mister Anderson, though, because of a nice stream that runs behind the
house.”
Jenny hadn’t paid much attention to the
creek since she’d used the windmill for water. The thick cellar walls must have
muffled the sound of water running.ll to investigate.
Her stomach growled. “You want to stay for lunch?”
“What you havin’?”
“I’ve been eating jerky and fruit from
the cellar.”
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