Chapter Eight

Luckily, Sarah Sullivan regained consciousness on the third day after arriving at the doc’s. Despite all her injuries, the doc thought she would be able to move around very slowly in another week or two.

Cal’s arm was broken in two places but was healing nicely. But then again, a nine-year-old was able to bounce back quicker than an adult. He’d be using both arms again in no time.

Two weeks passed, and we still found no sign of Ethan. With Thanksgiving only a week away, Mama was getting the house ready for the family to arrive.

Uncle Mick and Aunt Mary were coming, and so were my sisters, Meghan and Molly, and my brothers, Tom and Daniel, as well as all their spouses and children.

Uncle Mick and Aunt Mary and their two children were the first due to arrive. Uncle Mick was so much fun. He always made us laugh, and he and Papa were the best of friends.

Papa and I sat in the carriage as we waited for their train. When it pulled into the station, I saw Aunt Mary waving from the window.

She came out of the train and gave me a big hug. Aunt Mary had been just a young girl when we were born. With only fifteen years between us, she was more like a sister than an aunt.

The reunion of Uncle Mick and Papa was short-lived because the sheriff came over and pulled Papa aside to speak to him. The two spoke for a while. I had no idea what was going on, but when Papa walked back to us, the expression on his face told me that it was not good.

“Annie, I need to go with the sheriff. Uncle Mick will get you all home. I will be home as soon as I can.”

“But Papa, it’s Thanksgiving.”

“I know, sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’ll be home before you know it.”

Uncle Mick interjected. “Look, Ryan, Annie can drive Mary and the children. I’m coming with you.”

“Mick, it’s not—”

“The discussion is over, Sir Galahad. I’m going with you.”

I did what I was told and drove my aunt and cousins back to the farmhouse, where a very impatient Mama was waiting.

“Where is your father?” she asked.

“He and Uncle Mick had to go somewhere with the sheriff.”

“Oh, I’ll wring his bloody neck! I told him to come back, and no short stops. Why of all people did I marry a stubborn Irishman?“

Aunt Mary looked at her sister, smiling and shaking her head. “You know they are never going to change, Abby. Both of them, it’s like they are playing hooky. They’re like little boys who never really grew up. But I will say the sheriff did come up and ask Ryan to speak with him.”

“Oh, Mary, don’t you fall for his tricks, too. That man knew I wanted him to help with the upstairs bedroom, and he took off. He probably had the sheriff in on it, and you know Mick—he’s always ready to go somewhere.”

“Well, we’re here, and I’m sure Peyton would help.” Mary looked at her son. “Wouldn’t you, Peyton?”

Peyton had grown so much since we’d last seen him. Soon, he’d be going off to college.

“Of course,” Peyton said.

The following morning, the sheriff knocked on the door of my family’s farm. I was the one who answered the door.

“Good morning, Miss Annie. Is your pa around?”

“Yes. If you’d like to come in, I’ll get him for you.”

“Why, yes, thank you.” He stepped inside and followed me to the dining room.

“The sheriff’s here,” I announced.

Pa and Uncle Mick looked up. Uncle Mick was the first to comment. “Well, I’m sorry, Sheriff, but I won’t go peacefully until after I’ve had my breakfast. By the way, you should have some also.” He smiled and started to attack the bacon and eggs on his plate.

Mama walked up to the sheriff. “Can I get you some coffee, Tom? How about some breakfast?”

“Why, coffee would be mighty nice, Mrs. Lochlan.”

Mama put down the coffee pot and looked at him. “Tom, how long have we known each other?”

“’Bout fifteen years now, ma’am.”

“Well, I think it’s time you called me Abby. Matter of fact, I demand that you call me Abby.”

Papa looked over the rim of his coffee cup. “Take it from me, Tom—when my wife demands something, she usually gets it. She has this way of haunting you until you agree.”

With that comment, everyone at the table began to chuckle.

“Tell me, Sheriff, have you found Ethan Sullivan yet?” I asked.

“No, we haven’t.”

“Well then, what are you doing here?”

“Annie!” Ma exclaimed. “You apologize to Tom right this instant.”

I got up and went upstairs. I heard Mama trying to smooth things over. “I’m sorry, Tom. I don’t know what got into her.”

At the top of the stairs, I didn’t go into my room. Instead, I stopped and listened.

“Oh, I know. Heck, we’re all upset about this. That’s why I’m here. I wondered if Ryan or Mick had come across any old mine shafts or caves a person could hang out in for a while.”

Mama looked at Papa and Mick.

“I’m not sure,” Papa said, “but I think I have some old maps we had when we worked for the railroad. There might be some locations on them.”

“That would a big help. Seems there’s a feeling that he may be hiding out, waiting for all this to blow over.”

“What about his brothers? Haven’t any of them seen him?”

“Well, Abel and the others were up on the north range. They want to get the herd of sheep down before the snow falls and they lose most of them. Travis was at the Hunter farm. He’s been helping the old man. Ole Henry is not as spry as he once was, and Travis has been helping him with his crops. I had to check his story, and the Hunters stated he was at their place and has been there everyday, except that he has been in town at the doc’s with Cal since Tuesday. I got his story about how he saw Ethan leaving but decided to take Sarah to the doc’s.”

“Thank goodness he did. She may not have made it if he hadn’t. She was pretty bad when he got her to there.”

Papa came back into the dining room with three scrolls in his hands.

“I have some maps here that may help. I figure if we divide the men into three groups, each one taking a map, we can cover more ground. Now, the main thing you have to remember is that not all these caves are deep. I would concentrate on the lower ones since those higher up could have company in them this time of year. Wolves like high places out of the wind.”

“Seems like a good idea,” the sheriff said. “We’ll keep to the lower sections.”

Papa moved the dishes off the table and spread out one of the maps.

“As you can see, these are basically where the tracks would be easier to follow. Also, it shows a number places that would be excellent for a person or persons to hide out should they care to.”

The sheriff looked at the map and agreed that it was a lot of land to cover but worth a try.

“Okay. I would like to get started on this as soon as possible. Mick, Ryan—I’d like you two to take a map each, and I’ll take the last one. The first one to find anything, send someone to alert the others to join you.”

They both agreed, and the sheriff took a last sip of his coffee and headed for the door. “I’ll tell the others, and we’ll all meet in town in about an hour.”

With the snow starting to fall, along with the temperature, we all wondered how long Ethan would be able to stand being out there and whether they’d be able to bring him back alive.

I left for town earlier the next morning. Before I got to the school, I thought I’d stop at Doc Seaver’s. I got off the wagon and looked around, making sure no one saw me. I gently tapped on the door. Doc Seaver opened the door and smiled at me.

“Annie Lochlan, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering how Mrs. Sullivan was doing.”

“Oh, she’s getting along just fine. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

I knew he as not going to let me in.

“No thanks, Doc. Just was wondering how she was. And Cal—is he also okay?”

“Cal is coming along fine. His uncle will bring him to school tomorrow before he leaves for Mr. Hunter’s farm.”

“Well, I’d better get going. Thanks, Doc.”

I was turning to leave when I saw Travis Sullivan drive up with the wagon. He smiled and tipped his hat to me. “Miss Annie.”

I smiled back, genuinely happy to see him. “Mr. Sullivan.”

He stopped the wagon near the doc’s and got off. He took his hat off when he walked up to me. “I left Cal at school. I know Doc said he could go tomorrow, but he wanted to go today. I hope it’s okay.”

“I was just asking Doc about him. I should get up to the school—I don’t want him standing out there.”

“I’ll pick him up after school today if that’s all right.”

“Of course,” I said. “I’ll make sure he’s ready when you come by.”

“Thanks, Miss Annie.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Sullivan.”

I was about to leave when I heard his voice again. “My name is Travis, ma’am.”

I turned and smiled at him. “You’re welcome, Travis.”

The smile on his face was priceless.

“Oh, do tell Mrs. Sullivan I was asking after her,” I said.

“Will do.”

After a lingering gaze on me, which made me blush, he knocked on the door, and the doc let him in. He turned around and smiled at me again before he closed the door.

I got back into the wagon and headed up the hill to the schoolhouse. There, Cal sat waiting for me on the front steps. I rode up and got off the wagon to greet him.

“I was just at Doc’s, asking about you and your ma,” I told him cheerfully.

“She’s coming along fine, Miss Annie. Hope we can take her back home soon.”

“That would be wonderful. Well, I guess we should get school started.”

For the past three days, the sheriff, Papa, and other ranchers had been looking for Ethan but with no luck. By that time, the brothers had joined in on the search.

Sarah Sullivan was recovering from her husband’s beatings but still had far to go. Once the bruises and scars faded away, the inner scars and nightmares would take longer to heal—if they ever did. Mama offered to let her, Cal, and Travis stay at our house until Sarah was well enough to go back to her home. Mama was like that. If anyone needed help, she was always there.

At the end of the week, that I noticed the Sullivan’s wagon in front of our house. I drove up slowly before stopping.

Cal came out the door and waved. “Miss Annie, we’re gonna spend some time here at your place.”

“Why, that’s fine, Cal. Just fine.”

As I turned, I saw Travis standing at the door, looking as dashing as ever. “Sarah would like to speak with you, Miss Lochlan.”

“Then I should go right in. Thank you, Travis. Oh, by the way, my name is Annie.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He held the door open for me, and as I walked into the hall, Mama appeared.

“Hi, Mama. I was just going to see Sarah.”

“She’s in Grandpa’s old room.”

I set my books down and headed to the room. I tapped on the door lightly.

“Come in,” a weak voice answered.

I opened the door and saw for the first time what Ethan had done to her. Sarah’s face was still badly bruised. Both of her eyes were swollen. Her arm was in a cast, and her lip was cut and swollen. I felt so sorry for the poor woman, but I tried not to show it.

“Mrs. Sullivan, Travis said you wanted to speak to me?”

It was hard for her to articulate her words because of her cut lip, but I did understand what she was trying to say.

“I would like you to teach me how to read and write. Could you do that, Miss Annie?”

“I would be happy to, Mrs. Sullivan.”

A tear escaped her eye as she tried to smile.

“Can I get you anything? Some water, or another pillow?

“Take care of my Cal until I can get around again. I don’t want him to worry about me. I don’t want his father to get him.”

“Mrs. Sullivan, no one has seen him since the accident.”

She closed her eyes and smiled. “Maybe he’s gone for good this time. Oh, dear Lord, forgive me for saying such a thing.” She turned to look at me. “Miss Annie, my son gave you that pup because he felt you would be kind to her and see that she was just a baby. I see now he was right—you truly are a gentle soul. I’m asking you not to judge Ethan for this. It’s just that something comes over him, and he can’t help it.”

“I’m not here to judge him, Mrs. Sullivan…”

“I know it’s wrong, but when you find someone you love, you’ll understand.”

I didn’t want to upset her, but I didn’t ever want to feel that I would love someone so much I would let them do that to me. I saw she was drifting off to sleep again, so I quietly backed out of the room.

As I closed the door, I saw that Cal had come up the stairs and was behind me. “How is Ma, Miss Annie?”

“Oh, she’s coming along. She’s still a bit tired and is resting now.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just go in and sit there until she wakes up.”

I smiled as he slowly opened the door and walked in. I went out to the hall and saw Chance. I leaned down and patted her head and made my way out front door with her by my side. As we stepped outside, Travis rose to his feet.

“It’s all right,” I told him. “She won’t hurt you.”

“Oh no, Miss Annie—I wasn’t afraid of her. Heck, I knew when Ethan took her home that day he wanted to kill her right off. That was when Cal said he wanted to bring her as a gift for the new teacher, and I convinced Ethan to let him do it. Cal figured other kids would bring you normal gifts like candy, handkerchiefs, flowers, and such. He wanted to give you something special.”

I looked at Chance and nodded. “Well, she sure is special.” I looked up and saw him smiling. “You have a very nice smile, Travis. You should smile more often.”

“I will, Miss Annie, when I find a reason to smile.”

“Then I hope you find many reasons to smile.”