The Fire in Ember - DiAnn Mills [36]
When Leah pondered what had happened since the girl had arrived, she failed to remember any time when John had openly stated he believed in her innocence. Oh, her poor boy. His heart had been plucked away while his mind fought to maintain reason.
And Evan … Aaron, Mark, and sweet Davis. If anything happened to one of her dear sons because of Ember, Leah would tear her apart with her bare hands.
Leah startled. Her emotions were as torn and varied as her sons’ temperaments. She glanced at Ember, wanting to reassure her, but she couldn’t smile at the girl. With the truth holding her in a staggering hold, she wished she’d never set eyes on her.
If Leah felt this confused, how must John feel?
The girl kept her life private except when she relaxed and talked about her brother Gideon. How much should Leah reveal to John about those conversations? Yet Gideon might not be her deceased brother’s real name. And he might not be dead. Or he might not have been a brother.
Would any of them ever find the answers? Leah prayed the truth about the mare and the current missing cattle didn’t lead back to Ember.
Frank, I need you!
“Do you want me to help you put a few things together?” Leah stood from the rocking chair.
Her gaze met John’s, and she saw his perplexed emotions. “No thanks. I’ll only be a minute. I’m in a hurry to get this handled.” He glanced at Bert, his features stoic as though some inner resolve had given him strength. Lifting the latch, he marched inside.
Within a few minutes, John joined Leah, Bert, and Bob on the front porch. He slung his saddlebag over his shoulder.
“Take care, son. And Godspeed.” Leah would not cry. She’d see him off just as she’d done the other times — wishing him well and being brave. “We’ll all be praying for you.”
John hugged her and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Appreciate it. I’ll be home as quick as I can. Bob’s riding back to town, but I plan to visit a few ranchers first.” He narrowed his gaze at Bert, then nodded.
What was her boy thinking? Regret for allowing his heart to overrule common sense? Leah watched Bob and John ride off, her emotions threatening to crash in around her … remembering again when Frank wore a deputy’s badge and paid for it with his blood. At that moment, her heart felt like it would break. She eased onto a porch step and emptied her heart through a flood of tears.
All the way to the Wide O, crossing over his newly purchased land, John fumed at the thought of cattle stolen. The business with cattle thieves had brought Bert’s possible horse thievery to the forefront again. Just when he thought the summer would trickle by like the summers before, a pint-size bundle of trouble had landed on his front porch. Now one of his brothers thought he was falling in love, and two ranchers were missing cattle.
John believed the good Lord never handed out more than a man could bear. Perhaps He needed a reminder that John Timmons had requested it all to end.
John found Victor Oberlander at home reading the latest cattle prices in the Rocky Mountain News and drinking coffee mixed with brandy. The bottle sat beside a silver coffeepot. Mama did not need this kind of man in her life, especially when whiskey had dealt their pa a raw hand. Oberlander could take his “need” to town, just like he’d advised John.
“What brings you to see me?” Oberlander laid aside his paper. “Or did you read my mind?”
John sat in Oberlander’s parlor with the distinct odors of money and liquor swirling around him. “If you have missing cattle, then we need to talk.”
Oberlander lifted a brow and poured a jigger of brandy into his cup—minus the coffee. “How’d you find out?”
“Marshal Culpepper paid me a visit this morning. Sparky McBride and Walt Breacher reported missing cattle. Breacher trailed them until rain washed away the tracks. How many of yours are gone?”
“About fifty head. Discovered it this morning.”
That meant at least a hundred stolen so far. “Have