Chapter Twenty-Three

 

I threw my arms around Bart's neck and hung on tight. My big brother was with me, and I wouldn't let him out of my sight. That meant only one thing. Everyone had just been teasing me. Ma, Pa, and Peter were hiding nearby. The other, awful thing just couldn't have happened.

“Tell me they'll come back. Ma, Pa, and Peter went with you to find the sheriff, right?”

Bart lowered me to the ground and stroked hair off my forehead.

“Oh, Abby, I can't lie no matter how much I want to make you feel better. I'm sorry, baby, they didn't make it out of the house,” he said.

The hole in my heart chasmed into a monstrous gorge and all my feelings fell into it. Numbness started at my toes and spread through every inch of my body. Live without Ma, Pa, and Peter? That was unthinkable.

“You made good time,” Paul said. “I thought it would take almost a week to return with the sheriff.”

Sheriff Cove finished tying up Gabriel and walked over to us. The sheriff swatted his hat against his leg.

“I was headed out here. There were rumors up in Carson City about Horace pouring something into Michael's coffee,” he said. “I wanted to speak to your pa about it. Did he take sick after he came back?”

“Yes, sir,” Adam said. “Peter and Paul, too. That's why Abby joined us on the last delivery.”

I gulped when they stared at me, trying to hold back my grief but shivers hit me hard, and I started crying again. It isn't true. It just can't be.

“It was my fault. If I hadn't talked to Pony Bob and disobeyed Ma, this wouldn't have happened.” A single tear landed on my lip. I swiped at it. “Adam, you can find Ma and Pa, can't you? I'm awful lonely without them.”

“Oh, short stuff,” Adam said. “I wish I could, but they won't come back.”

Gabriel struggled to a standing position. At least, he tried to, but the sheriff had tied him to one of the fence posts, and he only managed a squat.

“You got that straight.” He glared at me. “That contract will be ours now. Your pa signed it, and you cain't stop us from takin' it now that he's dead.”

Adam restrained Mark and Paul while the sheriff held onto Bart and Charles. All of my brothers glared at Gabriel, but he just kept hollering.

“Not a one of ya can prove nuthin'. We weren't nowhere near this place when the house burned.” He snickered. “I'll call ya liars if you say we done it. Didn't nobody see us.”

“You rolled tumbleweeds up to the back of the house.” Uncle Andy's voice rang out clear in the silence.

“Albert and Daniel did it to each side,” Bart announced.

“Your pa stacked them on the porch,” Paul said. “Everyone in these parts knows Westons don't lie.”

“You don't lie, do you?” Gabriel smirked. “What about the big one you told Abby for ten years? I bet she hates you for that.”

“They did it to protect me,” I screamed.

“Best you hush your mouth, boy,” Sheriff Cove suggested. “A couple of other men spoke to me while Bart and I rode out here. Bill Adams and Zeke Stallings saw what you did.”

Someone other than my family knew he had destroyed our house and murdered Ma, Pa, and Peter. Now Sheriff Cove could do something about it.

“Liars!” he shouted. “No one saw us. They're just tryin' to keep us from takin' the Pony contract.” Gabriel glared at me. “You'll pay, gal. Ain't no woman gonna best a Johnson.”

Before I discovered what he meant, shots rang out. Rocks exploded and pebbly bits showered us. Adam gathered rifles from the horses tethered to the fence, in spite of how they fought him.

“Bart, Charles, here!” Adam tossed the weapons to them.

Mark crawled toward me while I stared in amazement at the glints coming from behind the barn.

“Abby, drop to the ground,” Bart howled.

Bemused, I took a step toward the barn when the cows mooed.

Those cows sure are raising a ruckus. Guess it's up to me to take care of them.

“Mark, get her,” Adam yelled.

It wasn't all that far. I could find safety inside the barn. Sheriff Cove dropped to one knee and pulled a six-shooter from his holster. Fire spat from the barrel. Someone behind the barn yelped.

That's Albert! Those good-for-nothing Johnsons are shooting at my family!

Hot, fiery anger replaced my confusion. I grabbed another handful of rocks. The first one flew over Mr. Johnson's head, but the next found Daniel. He clapped a hand over his cheek. Blood flowed through his fingers.

“Mow down that wildcat,” he hollered. “No woman hurts me.”

I pelted rocks at the Johnsons while the sheriff and my brothers shot at them. My missiles hit more of our lazy neighbors than bullets did.

“Holy heck, you thought you could mess with a Weston,” I shrieked. “Take that. You think you can hide from me. Well, you can't, Albert.”

Darting forward, I threw more stones. Finally, the Johnsons emerged from hiding with their hands over their heads. Everyone but Adam and Uncle Andy ran over to tie them up.

The sudden silence scared me. While I fought the Johnsons, I didn't have to think about losing more of my family. I pulled out the locket Ma gave me the night before I left for the station. The cover had a real pretty curlicue on it.

“Ma,” I whispered. “You can't leave me alone. We just figured out stuff about each other.”

I dared not think about it, but now I wanted to go back, to feel her tight hug again. To see one of her rarer than gold smiles was worth more than smacking the Johnsons with rocks. How I yearned for another happy afternoon in the kitchen, making an upside down cake. We could have taken the crazy idea further and done it with a pie. The recipe danced through my head while I wished for the impossible.

“Abby, did they hit you?” Uncle Andy asked. “Are you all right?”

Was he blind? The Johnsons hit me hard by taking away my ma just as we discovered we really liked each other. I would never be all right again. Pa had promised that he and Ma would take me around after my birthday tomorrow. They wanted me to get to know our neighbors and maybe find a husband in one of their friends' sons. Who would do that now? Where would we live? How could I take care of so many men? Who would help me?