Sean took Rachel’s hand, giving it a squeeze.
“How about Cade? And Victoria? What is she up to these days?”
Brooke didn’t miss the way Sky’s parents glanced at one another after this last question. A tingle of jealousy marched down her spine, but she refused to acknowledge it. Rising, she moved to refill the coffee cups and completely missed the answers Rachel gave to Sky’s questions.
Sky and his parents talked late into the evening. Brooke remained fairly silent, allowing them to catch up, only speaking when she was spoken to.
Finally, Sky called the evening to a close. “I hate to end the evening so soon, but I have to be in Pierce City very early in the morning. How long can you stay?”
“As long as two weeks if that is all right with you two. We’ve made arrangements at home to be gone that long,” Sean said.
“Great!” Sky exclaimed. “The trial should be over before then, and that will give me some time to spend with you. I hoped you weren’t going to have to rush home. We have a spare room out in the barn. I built a fire in the stove out there when I was taking care of your horse so it should be warm. The bed is small for two people, but it’s comfortable.”
Sean winked at his wife. “We don’t mind a small bed, do we, honey?”
“Sean!” Rachel blushed but smiled lovingly in her husband’s direction.
“All right, you two.” Sky grinned. “Come on. I’ll show you the way.” Turning to Brooke he said, “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded but didn’t look his way. She busied herself with clearing off the table and wiping it down.
Rachel and Sean lay snuggled in bed in the small room out in the barn. It was a bit chilly, but warming up fast with fragrant pine popping in the stove. Though her body was weary from a long day on the road, Rachel felt the need to talk about their new daughter-in-law before they went to sleep.
“She is very sweet and thoughtful,” she said. “But I felt her trembling when I hugged her after we first arrived. I somehow think she might be afraid of us.”
“I got that impression, too. I don’t think she is so much afraid of us, though, as she may be afraid of what we will think of her. Do you remember how you felt around my mother when we first got together?”
“Yes, I was sure she’d know what a terrible girl her son had fallen in love with and that she’d banish me from the family for good.”
“Her son was not a goody-two-shoes either, if you will recall.”
There was regret in Rachel’s voice. “Yes, I remember.”
Sean pulled her closer to him and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “It’s all in the past. Let’s not rehash it now. God has forgiven us, and we have forgiven each other, so we forget what is behind and press on toward our goal, right?”
“With the Lord’s help.”
“That’s the only way, dear.”
“But Sean—” Rachel turned toward her husband, trying to see his face in the dark—“do you think we should have wired ahead that we were coming? You know, given her a couple of days to get used to the idea?”
“Looking back, that probably wouldn’t have been such a bad idea, but we’re here now, so it’s too late. We’ll have to make the best of the situation.”
“Maybe if I share our story with her she will understand a little more how we feel about her? That we will love her, no matter what?”
“I think that’s a good idea, honey. Why don’t you bring it up tomorrow?”
There was a lull in the conversation. Then a sudden thought struck Rachel, and she sat up in bed. “Do you think Sky has been sleeping out here?”
Sean drew his wife back down by his side. “Well, maybe, but if he has, it won’t hurt for them to be pushed together a little bit. The more she’s around him, the more she’ll see he’s not going to hurt her. I get so angry, Rachel, when I think of what that girl must have been through.” She felt the tremor that pulsed through him. “Why God allows men like that to live, I’ll never understand.”
Rachel stared up into the darkness. “We will never understand God until we get to heaven, will we?”
Sean kissed her on the forehead. “I suppose not.”
She sighed in contentment. “At least he loves her.”
Sean chuckled. “Now, how do you know that? Did you and Sky have a private conversation that I missed?”
“No, dear. I can see it in his eyes.”
They were quiet for a time, and then Rachel returned to their earlier discussion. “Hopefully she’ll be more comfortable around us in the morning once she has had time to get used to the fact that we’re here.” She twirled a strand of her graying brown hair around one finger. “In all the excitement I forgot to ask about Jason. I wonder how he’s doing.”
Sean sighed. “I’ve had him heavy on my heart for the last several days. I’ve really been praying that he won’t forget the things Mother and I taught him as a boy. He needs to give his life back to God.”
“Let’s pray for him now, Sean.” Rachel grasped one of Sean’s hands, and they prayed together for Jason. They prayed he would remember all those things he had been taught, and that he would be convicted of the life he was now living.
“God, please bring Jason back to You. Show him all he is missing by living for himself and not trusting You with his life. Help him to return to Your loving arms. Lead him beside Your still waters. And be with Brooke. Help us to be a witness to her. She also needs Your love, Lord. Help her to understand that she will never be worthy of Your love but that it is a free gift, given in Christ Jesus. Bring her to feed in Your green pastures. These things we ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”
When Sean had ended the prayer, Rachel lay quietly in the dark, wondering just how God was going to answer their prayers.
Sky walked slowly back toward the house after showing his parents to their room. Moving up onto the porch he raised one leg onto the rail, looking up into the moon-washed sky. The snow had stopped, and now sporadic clouds scuttled lazily across its surface, alternately blocking out the light and then revealing it.
Sky folded his arms across his chest. The cold was bone-chilling, but he wanted to give Brooke plenty of time to prepare for bed before he came back into the house.
It was good to see Mother and Dad. It had been far too long since he had spent any time with a member of his immediate family. He only wished the circumstances surrounding the death of Fraser were different.
His thoughts turned toward the inquiry that would take place tomorrow. “Lord,” he prayed aloud, “be in this trial. Work things out according to Your will. You know who committed this crime. Bring them to justice. And help all those who conduct these proceedings to be satisfied with the evidence. Don’t let any false evidence be used just to convict someone. Help us to figure out who the guilty really are.”
He paused in his prayer as his thoughts turned back to Brooke. “Lord, help me with Brooke. Help me to be patient with her. Give her confidence in me. Help her to know she can trust me and make me trustworthy, Lord. Show me how to be a good husband. Protect her, Lord. I don’t know what she was afraid of at the funeral, but please don’t let any harm come to her. Yet the most important thing I ask is that You bring her to know You. She needs You in her life, Lord. She needs to acknowledge her need of a Savior. Help her to know that nothing she has ever done is too terrible for You to forgive. Help her to find peace in You. And if You don’t mind—” he smiled sheepishly at a space between two sluggish clouds—“would You make her fall in love with me, while You’re at it?”
He watched the clouds for a few minutes more, enjoying the beauty of the night. Then he knocked on the cabin door.
“Come in,” he heard her soft reply.
Opening the door, he moved quietly into the warmth of the house. Brooke lay in the bed with her back to the room, but the lamp was still burning on the table so he knew she had expected him. Pulling off his boots, he blew out the lamp and then eased under the covers next to her. He
felt her stiffen, but when he turned his back to her and said, “Good night, Brooke,” she relaxed again. He closed his eyes, satisfied that she had accepted this next small step toward a complete relationship as husband and wife.
“Sky?”
He was surprised when she spoke. “Yes?”
“Will you please tell Jenny tomorrow that she is more than welcome to come here and stay with us for a while?”
“I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a good idea. I’ll tell her.”
“Thank you. Good night.”
“Good night.”
The next morning Brooke awakened to someone shuffling through the cupboards. Momentarily startled, she sat up, wondering who it might be. Glancing toward the window, she saw it was still dark outside, but the lamp was burning low on the table. Then memory flooded her mind. “Sky?”
He stood up from where he had been bent, peering into the cupboard. “Sorry I woke you. I was trying to be quiet.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find some breakfast. You’ve moved things around a bit since I last looked in here.”
Forgetting that she wore only her long flannel nightgown, Brooke threw the covers back and moved toward the cupboard as she said, “I’m so sorry, Sky. I didn’t even think about how early you would have to be in town today. I should have thought to lay something out for you last night.” She moved around confidently getting bread out, slabs of ham into a pan, and eggs in another.
Sky stood by with a jar of preserves in hand, his mouth slack. His heart pounded like a stampede of wild mustangs as he realized what a great feat had just been accomplished in their relationship. Brooke was not nervous. Usually if something happened and she was caught off guard, like not having breakfast or dinner on the table at the right time, she would be so jumpy she was almost panicked. But today...
“Now where is that jar of jam?” Brooke interrupted his thoughts. “I know I left it right here last night.”
Brooke turned toward him just as he snapped his mouth shut. “Oh, there it—” She broke off when she saw his expression. “What?” Then, looking down, she realized she was still in her nightgown. Heat suffused her face.
“It’s not that, Brooke. It’s just that you aren’t tense this morning.” She gave him a blank look.
“The last time I came in the house and breakfast wasn’t quite ready, you were so nervous you almost jumped out of your skin. You even spilled your milk, remember?”
She nodded, realizing what he was saying rang true. She no longer feared Sky would turn out to be like Hank or Uncle Jackson. She had finally accepted that Sky was a man of integrity. What you saw in Sky was what you got. He didn’t put on a face in public and then act differently at home. Suddenly she wanted Sky to understand at least this one aspect of her life. She made a small gesture with her hand near her waist trying to come up with the right words to explain. “It’s just that Hank...,” but she found she couldn’t go on. Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes and she turned to the stove to stir the eggs.
Sky set the jar of preserves on the counter and let her stir for a moment, then gently took her hand, turning her so that she faced him. He bent down, gazing into her eyes. “I’m sorry I brought up a painful subject. But you don’t know how happy it makes me to know that you are finally relaxed with me. I think that means you know I will never, ever, harm you in any way?”
She nodded.
A wide grin of relief split his face, and she couldn’t help but smile in return. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Then he tapped the end of her nose in a teasing gesture and asked, “How about breakfast?”
“Oh!” She turned away with a little gasp to rescue the very-well-done eggs.
16
As Sky stood up from the table, Brooke was surprised to see him pull a box out from underneath the bed. He opened the lid, pulled a gun belt from the box, and slung it around his lean waist in one smooth motion. He then removed a mean-looking revolver, much heavier than the one they had used the night before. He spun the cylinder, checking the load, then set it firmly into the holster. As he slid the box back under the bed he reached down to the floor and picked up something that Brooke had not seen earlier. It was the small .22 that he had taught her to use the night before. He had set it on the floor by the bed without her noticing.
“Brooke, I want you to keep this close to you at all times during the next couple of days. In fact, does your dress have a pocket?”
She nodded.
“Good. When you get dressed, I want you to put this in your pocket and take it with you everywhere. Do you understand?”
She nodded again, but said, “Sky, I don’t think I can shoot anyone.”
“Let’s hope it won’t even have to come out of your pocket, Brooke. But I will feel much better knowing you have the gun. Just carry it for my peace of mind, all right?”
She nodded a third time. Having the gun might ease her fears a little.
“All right, I’ll see you tonight. I’ll probably be late, so don’t wait up for me. Tell my parents I said good morning, will you?”
Brooke’s jaw clenched as she remembered she’d have to spend the day alone with Sky’s mother and dad. How was she going to keep them busy all day long?
“Brooke, honey.” Sky tilted her face up with a gentle caress. “My parents are going to love you the way you are. Like I do. You don’t have to worry about what they’re going to think of you, or even how to entertain them for that matter. Just try to enjoy the day with them, okay?”
She licked her lips and gave him a weak smile. “I’ll try to remember that they raised you and anyone who taught you to be the way you are must be very special.”
Sky looked thoughtful.
She swallowed, wishing she could read his thoughts. It was the closest she had come to saying she cared for him.
He chucked her under the chin. “That’s the spirit. See you tonight.” He stepped out, leaving a cold draft in his place.
Sky rode Geyser quickly through the brush, intent on reaching town before any of the posse from Lewiston arrived. He could see his breath in the chilly morning air, but it looked as though the sun was going to come out and warm the day up. The sprinkling of snow from the night before would be gone by the end of the day.
He pulled up in front of Jed’s boarding house as the first rays of sunshine peeked over the horizon. Jed already had good, strong coffee in his pot by the fire.
“Were things quiet during the night?” Sky asked as he poured himself a cup of the brew.
“Hmmph. Quiet, you say. The night of the murder ‘twas quieter ‘n last night.”
“What happened?”
“You ever hear tell of a fella by the name o’ Lon Sears?”
“Seems like I do recall that name from somewhere. He from around here?”
Jed scratched his head, pondering this last question. “I reckon he is, sorta. He’s got hisself a mine back in the hills a ways. He don’t come to town very often, though. Maybe once a year. Anyhow, that don’t rightly matter. What matters is that he speaks Chinese.”
Sky sipped his coffee, watching Jed over the rim of his cup. “And?”
“Well, a couple o’ the fellas had this here idee to sorta disguise Lon there as a drunken injun an’ throw him in the jail with them jail birds to sorta see if he could make out any information, or a confession like. Only trouble was, they was all so excited about their idee that they all stayed here a chattin’ an’ a wond’rin’ whether it was gonna work, an’ I couldn’t sleep for all of the ruckus they was makin’.”
“So have they pulled him out yet? Do we know if he heard anything?”
“Yeah, they took ‘im out this mornin’, early. He didn’t hear nothin’ except the younger ones that been arrested plannin’ to blame the whole shebang on the older ones ‘cause they ain’t got that long to live anyway, they said.”
“Well, it was worth a try, I suppose.” Sky tossed the dregs of his coffee into
the fire. “I’m going to head over to the livery and stable my horse for the day.”
Sky was headed out the door when Jed stopped him, “Oh, I plum forgot. One o’ them there men confessed last night after you left.”
“One of them confessed? A man confessed, and you are telling me stories about Lon Sears disguised as a drunken Indian?”
Jed had the presence of mind to look sheepish.
“If one of them confessed, why did you all go to the trouble of disguising Lon in the first place?”
“Well, the man—it was the one you an’ I arrested that first morning after the murder, by the by—that one with the blood on his shirt. Anyhow, he tells us that he an’ four others were involved, including Lee Chang, you should know. But none o’ them other men will cop to the confession. They be stickin’ to the story that they is innocent. So we wanted to see ifn we sorta caught them off guard like, if we could hear somethin’. But no such luck.”
Jed turned to refill his cup but paused, looking back. “Oh yeah, an’ one more thing. Carle an’ Gaffney brought in another man this mornin’. So that makes nine down to the jail now.”
Sky shook his head. One man had confessed and another had been arrested, but Jed had thought to tell him about Lon and his Indian disguise. A grin split his face. Good ol’ Jed.
Suddenly from out on the street Sky and Jed heard horses approaching. Sky opened the door and stepped out onto the boarding house porch. Six riders cantered up the street on spent horses.
From behind Sky Jed spoke up. “Only six o’ them?”
“There will be more. Lots more.”
The riders pulled to stop and looked up at Sky. A short balding man wearing a red bandanna around his neck spoke for the group. “We got the town surrounded—about seventy-five of us. John Bymaster’s my name. The men have elected me to be captain of the posse. I had them form two lines of about thirty each and surround the town in case anyone saw us coming and thought about making an escape.”
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