10

Jared shifted in the saddle and pulled his hat lower.

The sun’s rays, now directly overhead, beat down across the valley.

“You’re a pretty good rider, Nathan. Have you ridden much?”

Nathan blinked and seemed taken aback by Jared’s compliment. “Hardly ever.”

“How’re you holding up? You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’m fine.” Nathan’s scowl deepened.

“Surely, your stomach is rumbling by now. You barely ate what Mercy fixed for breakfast.”

“I’m used to going without.”

Jared nodded, remembering how his mother’s cupboards sat bare when his father’s farm failed to produce a decent harvest. A familiar ache he’d prefer not to experience again flashed in his gut. “That don’t mean you need to deprive yourself when it’s offered.”

Nathan didn’t reply.

“Well, you’re riding well for a beginner. Relax your arms a little more, and don’t lean so far forward.”

Nathan released his grip on the reins and sat up straighter.

“There, that’s better, isn’t it?”

Nathan shrugged, but Jared detected a faint smile.

“I’m glad you rode out with me. It’s always good for a man to travel with company.”

“Why’s that?”

“Just is. You never know when you’ll find trouble, or when it’ll find you.”

“But weren’t you a lawman?” Nathan asked. “I thought you’d never be scared.”

“It’s not a matter of being afraid; it’s just smart. Always protect yourself and keep your eyes open.”

Nathan looked around.

The grove of trees thickened up ahead. Soon darker shades of billowy smoke rose more prominently in the distance.

“That’s more than a pile of brush,” Jared said.

Diamond led the way along the worn path. Wilfred Holcomb’s house was not the one on fire. Rather it was Ansel Jacob’s barn. The horses, spooked by the fire, wouldn’t step past the shelter of trees. Jared and Nathan dismounted and tied their horses to a nearby trunk.

Nathan’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

The fire roared with savage heat.

Jared whispered for him to stay close as they hurried toward the house.

A cluster of neighbors, including Wilfred Holcomb, littered the yard. Fortunately, the house, some distance away, remained untouched but the fiery flames had already engulfed the barn, sending dark wreaths of smoke jutting into an otherwise clear, blue sky.

Ansel’s wife watched from the yard outside her front door. A toddler wriggled in her arms while two young children huddled on either side.

Wilfred Holcomb spotted Jared and moved quickly to greet him. “Thank the Lord, you’re here, Deputy.”

“I’m no longer the deputy, but what happened?”

Wilfred’s eyebrows rose with surprise. “Well, Ansel ain’t talking much, but he claims he kicked over a lantern in one of the stalls. But that just don’t sound right. It’s the middle of the day, and his wife said he was repairing his fence when she saw the smoke.”

“So you don’t think Ansel’s telling the truth?”

“Seems that way to me, but why would he lie?”

Somebody got to him. “Where is he?”

“Over there, next to the side of the house.”

Jared nodded.

“We tried to put it out, but the fire got out of control pretty quick. There’s nothing left to do now but watch it burn and keep it from spreading.”

“Thank you, Wilfred.” Jared motioned for Nathan to follow.

Ansel stood with his arms folded across his chest, a disheartened expression plastered on his face. His eyes seemed to spark with fear. The lines in his face grew deeper. He moved aside and shoved his hands into the front pockets.

Jared couldn’t remember a time when the man had looked so worrisome. “Ansel, what happened here?”

“We’ve got it under control. My barn caught on fire somehow. That’s all I know.”

“Who did this?” The lawman in Jared sensed something didn’t fit. He’d known Ansel Jacobs for ten years and never had he seemed so uneasy and defensive.

Ansel’s eyes met Jared’s gaze, and it was as if a raging storm brewed inside. His jaw tightened.

“You don’t have to cover−”

“Well, I hear you ain’t the law now. Is that true?”

Jared nodded.

“It don’t make no difference no how.”

“Sheriff Pryor can−”

“Sheriff Pryor will not be notified!” Ansel’s face reddened. “He couldn’t do nothin’, anyway.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Sure I do. And so do you.” Ansel looked at Jared before tearing his gaze away. “It’s best we just let it go. In some cases, the law can only do so much.” He looked at Jared, his eyebrows raised. He tone teemed with significance. “You, Jared, ought to know better than anybody.”

Jared’s back stiffened and his throat knotted as the unspoken message behind the words sank in. He raced back to his horse.

~*~

Mercy was already exhausted from her trying day, but she would need water for cooking and washing dishes. Her fingers, cold and chapped from laundering the clothes in the creek, craved a thick coating of salve.

“They’re back!” Emma pointed down the worn path.

Caleb bounded through the tall grass, waving his hands and jumping up and down as if he thought Jared and Nathan might pass him by.

Emma tagged behind, hollering for him to slow down.

Thick, dark smoke still filtered into a seamless, pale blue sky.

Jared leaned forward in the saddle.

Caleb gestured wildly.

Jared straightened and looked toward the house. Even at that distance, his gaze connected with hers. Jared pulled Caleb up to sit behind him and then pulled Emma up to straddle in front.

Nathan, on his horse followed close behind.

Mercy’s heart fluttered. Her boots seemed glued to the grassy area in the front yard, and her eyes remained riveted on the four faces in the distance.

Emma looked so tiny seated on the large gelding and nestled between Jared’s arms. Her gold curls, now brushed and detangled, glistened in the sun’s rays. Caleb’s face was hidden behind Jared’s back, but she imagined he felt proud for possibly the first time in his life.

Nathan’s horse snorted as they approached the house. The defiant expression had left the boy’s face, but he remained pensive. Was he worried for her?

Jared let the children down and then dismounted. He motioned to Nathan. “Go ahead and take the horses to the barn, and I’ll be there in a minute. Have your brother and sister help you.”

Emma darted to Mercy’s side.

“Emma,” Caleb said. “You gotta come, too.”

Emma shook her head and wrapped her arms around one of Mercy’s legs.

Nathan grabbed both horses’ reins. “Emma, come to the barn with me now.” His words commanded, but his voice was calm.

Emma released her grip and scurried after the boys.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Four men on horseback. They seemed to have come out of the bushes. I didn’t know until I was surrounded.”

“What’d they want?”

“The one who did all the talking...the others called him Red.”

Jared’s face hardened, and his eyes flickered.

“He was sent to warn you to stay away from Dirk. He knew you weren’t here.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“He mentioned Laura.”

Jared’s fists knotted. He looked toward the barn and seemed to force himself to remain calm. He turned to meet her gaze once again. “Did he hurt you?”

“Only the fire stand. Tonight’s supper will be meager, just leftover corn muffins from breakfast and the few eggs I collected this morning. I spent the day washing clothes in the creek.”

“Nathan and I’ll rebuild the fire stand first thing. There are fallen trees in the brush on the other side of the barn. Shouldn’t take too long.”

“Jared? Why would Dirk Gullahan think you’re after him?”

His jaw twitched, but he didn’t reply.

“Are you after him?”

“I wasn’t.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I thought for sure he’d be on the other side of the Rio Grande by now.”

“And now that he’s not?”

“Get your belongings together. Enough for four or five days. I’ll give Dirk a two-day lead so we don’t have another run-in, and then we’ll head out.”

“Can’t we−?”

“We’re leaving for Baxterville.” Jared looked at the broken fire stand and then at the barn. “Those kids got to go where they belong, and I told Otis I’d get them there.” He went into the house.

Mercy picked up the pails of water.

Three figures stood in the barn entrance. Emma’s dress no longer twirled and a shadow had fallen over Caleb’s innocent eyes. Nathan shoved his hands in his overalls and walked back into the barn.

~*~

Near the edge of the woods, where the trees thinned, Jared stood in the peaceful twilight. Faraway noises faintly echoed. The wind rattled the branches, and here and there fallen leaves rustled beneath the feet of scurrying animals.

Such a beautiful evening for the hatred to come back. Actually, it had never left. It had just been hidden, buried underneath layers of pain and torment.

The midnight air grazed the back of Jared’s neck leaving him as chilled on the outside as he felt on the inside. He pulled the locket from inside his vest. He couldn’t see Laura’s picture in the moonlight. He made no effort to push the memories from his head; it had never worked before. Wretched images of her lifeless body unfolded in his mind. Her blood-stained dress, the ripped petticoats and undergarments strewn about the yard, her bruised and swollen cheeks and cut lip. The devastation flooded his senses, leaving him beaten and defeated.

He wasn’t there when she needed him. He’d left his wife unprotected. A lawman should’ve known better. The thought sickened him. Would the pain ever go away?

Now, Laura’s murderer was closer than he anticipated, and his accomplice had sneaked in like a ghost, to the very threshold of his home. He’d deliberately set the fire to rouse Jared out of the nest. How stupid Jared had been to fall for it. Rest would never come as long as Dirk Gullahan was out there.

A thousand questions rumbled like the thunder that gathered force on the horizon. Why was Dirk’s gang back in Sheldon? And why would he send Red to a territory where he was wanted as a thief and a killer? His actions didn’t make sense. Yet crazed, menacing outlaws never lived by a set of rules. Unpredictability often became their greatest weapon.

Jared looked up at the heavens, so immense and awesome, and prayed for courage. Admitting he was powerless beyond his own means had never come easy. A twig snapped in the bushes, and Jared’s attention diverted to the darkness. An eerie silence permeated the country stillness.

Jared’s fingers twitched. His palm slid to the butt of his gun. He scanned the area. Nothing stirred in the blackened night, not even a shadow. Only an inkling of emotion stirred Jared’s spirit, something pushing him to confront the past before he could move on with the future.