The Fire in Ember - DiAnn Mills [52]
John didn’t want Mama finding out about the shooting from anyone but himself. “Has he already left town?”
Bess nodded. “Right after he stopped into the saloon for a drink.”
“Mama will be as flustered as a stirred up snake pit.”
“Probably so,” Bess said. “Speaking of our Maker. Bert and I were discussing that topic earlier. She’s going to be a part of my prayer meetin’ after bit.”
Bert shifted from one foot to the other. John had heard of Bess’s fire and brimstone sermons, and no doubt Bert had been the recipient of one.
“We ought to be going now,” Bert said.
The girl could not learn how much her presence affected him.
“Reckon so,” Bess said. “John, I’ll send supper down to you.”
“The Missus has plenty,” Doc said.
“Supplying supper makes me feel like I’m helping the local law. And I’m having John’s favorite—chicken ‘n’ dumplings.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Would she send Bert? An awkward silence passed between him and Bert. How strange she didn’t know what to say either.
“Glad you’re not hurt too bad,” she finally whispered, as though emotion had crawled up into her throat.
After all, he had saved her from a hanging. “This should take the blame off you.”
“Hope so. What does this mean for—” Bert didn’t finish her words, and John knew exactly what she was about to say.
“We’ll talk later.”
Bess chuckled. Doc Slader cleared his throat and joined in the laughter. What was so funny?
Leah realized when John was a baby that a mother had premonitions when something was wrong with her children. As sons were added to her family, she studied their eyes to see if they were sick, like a farmer observed the weather. The moments came and went with children—black eyes, skinned knees and elbows, bruised feelings, and an aching in her heart without visible proof that one of her sons was hurtin'. The feelings she had about Frank prior to his murder had been nightmares and headaches.
She was in the same place now.
Her head throbbed. And like a mother hen, she wanted her babies gathered close to her. Evan and Mark hadn’t returned, and John was helping Marshal Culpepper find cattle thieves. They’d all been together early this morning, and now they were scattered.
Leah gathered up her skirts and marched out onto the front porch. Not a cloud in the sky to indicate a change in weather, to which she’d gladly attribute her peculiar feelings. Her stomach flitted as though a dozen caterpillars had burst into butterflies. Not good. Not good at all.
“Aaron,” she called.
He stepped from the barn into scattered western sunlight. Goodness, he looked like his father. “Would you ride out and make sure Evan and Mark are all right?”
He cocked a hip. “John said I wasn’t supposed to leave you and Davis alone.”
“John’s not here.”
“Yes ma’am. What’s wrong?”
“I hope nothing. But I have a feeling.”
“Yes ma’am. I’ll saddle up now.”
She waited while he prepared his horse and then watched him ride away. Aaron understood her feelings, and they’d not failed her yet—unfortunately.
After dusk, Leah and Davis ate alone. Or rather, Davis ate and she listened for the sound of riders.
“If Bert were here, we’d not be lonesome,” he said.
Leah missed Ember too and wished she was there. Although the confusion about the girl made Leah want to shake her. Could her sense of dread have something to do with the bit of a girl who had stolen all of their hearts? If only Ember—
The sound of a rider seized her attention. Leah scraped the chair leg across the wooden floor and walked to the door in an effort to hide her apprehension.
“Mama, John always says not to open up the house until you know who it is.”
“John’s not here.” Hadn’t she responded to Aaron the same way earlier in the evening?
She flung open the door to Victor Oberlander.
CHAPTER 23
Freedom. Sweet freedom.
Bert could run now. Nothing really stopped her.
John wouldn’t be riding after anyone with his arm bandaged and the fear of Doc Slader breathing down his neck. She could