Seth nodded. “They know your sympathies?”
“They probably suspect, but I’m the only saloon in town. Right now we live and let live. Now, about Marilee…are you sure you can take care of her? Mebbe you should wait…”
Seth impaled the man with his eyes.
“I appreciate your concern, Abe, but she’s my sister and I’m not waiting.”
“And then?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find someplace we can stay.”
“And Dillon?”
“I’ll find him, too.” But bitterness seeped deeper in his soul. All his dreams and hopes had centered around the ranch and building it with his brother and father. He’d thought about it during the long months he’d spent in prison. The ranch was not large, nor had it been particularly successful. Cattle was plentiful in Texas and getting them to market difficult if not impossible.
Yet he knew that after the war, people would flock west and with them would come an expansion of railroads.
His father could have tried to grow cotton, but the Major had hated slavery and there was no economical way to raise cotton without it.
But a father and two sons-along with a few hands- could well handle a herd of cattle. He had thought that he and other ranchers could join their herds and drive them north.
Now he had no home, no money, no cattle, no land.
But by God, he had remnants of a family left, and he intended to see them together. And on Sinclair land.
He thrust his hand out. “Thanks, Abe.”
“Wish I could have done more,” Abe said, taking his hand. Then he eyed Seth sadly. “Don’t go out to the ranch. Delaney has an eye on the McGuire woman. He’s warned off several men who wanted to court her.”
“I’ve been officially pardoned,” Seth said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That doesn’t mean anything in Canaan. And when Delaney discovers you’ve returned from the dead, he’ll try to use you to get to Dillon.”
“Then I won’t lead him to Dillon.”
Abe hesitated, then shrugged. “If you’re determined to get Marilee, the old Keller place is empty. I bought the land a few weeks ago. Managed to do it before Delaney got his hands on it. He particularly wanted Keller’s place because a stream runs through it.”
“Where’s Keller?”
“Found dead. The new sheriff said it was renegades. I have different ideas. But I knew something Delaney didn’t. Keller has a daughter in Dallas. I contacted her and made an offer. She accepted. Delaney’s mad as hell, but I have friends, too. Anyway, you and Marilee can stay there until you find something else. There’s water. Some furniture’s been stolen but there’s probably enough.”
“I owe you.”
“No, you don’t. I’ve been here thirty years and what’s going on turns my stomach.”
Seth turned and left the room. He paused outside the door, grateful to Abe. The man had been afraid, that much was obvious, yet he had given his advice. A warning. And, more importantly, a place to stay.
Seth decided to leave the back way. He had no desire to see those uniforms again. Nor a marshal. He wanted no confrontations. Not until he fetched his sister.
Chapter Three
ELIZABETH READ TO Marilee as she waited for her father to return from town. Elizabeth hugged Marilee closer and settled the storybook in her lap. She hoped the story would relieve some of the child’s terror.
Marilee had heard the shots but she had stayed in her room as instructed by Elizabeth. It wasn’t the first time threats had been made, or guns fired.
Elizabeth had found her huddled on her bed, her face pale. She had watched her father die and her brother wounded. Only Trini had kept her from running after her brother, Dillon, as he’d been dragged away by Union soldiers. Three nights later, friends had broken him out of jail.
For weeks, Union soldiers had surrounded the ranch, hoping that he would return. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that they had left, detailed instead to hunt Dillon Sinclair in the hills.
Elizabeth had worried about his return, that he would try to take an already shaken young girl, and about what would happen to the child if he succeeded. Marilee was fragile, more than fragile, and haunted by a cough. What would happen if she accompanied a fugitive?
The newest Sinclair looked no better. He’d looked desperate and dangerous. Not only that, he wore the remnants of a uniform.
The men who had killed Marilee’s father wore uniforms. I have no right. Marilee is not mine. In my heart, she is.
If only her father and Howie returned. Then they could ride for help.
Howie and the other four hands were out searching for cattle, though she was sure they had been rustled. Her father had gone into town to complain to the federal authorities about the latest theft and to ask for help.
It had taken more than an hour to soothe Marilee after the intrusion. “It was just a stranger who needed water,” she said, hoping she wouldn’t be struck dead for what she was leaving out.
“I heard shots,” Marilee said.
“A stranger. I just didn’t want him near the house,” Elizabeth said. “He took his water and left. Everything is fine now.”
“I want Dillon,” Marilee said suddenly.
“He’s gone, sweetpea,” she said.
“I don’t care. I want him.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“He’s not dead?” Marilee sought reassurance.
“No.”
“Then why doesn’t he come to see me?”
“I don’t think he can,” Elizabeth replied. For two months after she and her father arrived, Marilee hadn’t said a word. Then she gradually started to speak. The nightmares were rarer, but she still woke up screaming.
“I want my daddy.” It was the first time Marilee had mentioned him since Elizabeth had first seen the little girl in Trini’s small house on the ranch. Her heart had gone out to the silent child who had trembled when Elizabeth had stopped at the small foreman’s house after she and her father moved in.
Trini had kept her hidden, in fact, for several weeks, afraid that she would be ordered away, and the child with her.
Then Trini had died and Marilee had suffered still another loss. How much could a child bear?
Elizabeth was determined to protect her as much as possible.
Was she doing that by keeping her away from the man who claimed he was her brother?
If only he hadn’t looked like the worst of renegades.
She looked up at the grandfather clock. Afternoon. When would the man who called himself Sinclair return? Could she stay here without any help? Would he bring others when he returned?
Her father had been gone half a day, more than enough time to see to his errand and return. But she knew him too well. Once in town, he often became involved with others. He was a gregarious man who loved stories and an audience and he often forgot about time.
She reluctantly made the decision to go into town. But she didn’t want to take Marilee with her. The road was too dangerous. If they were caught out alone…
“Let’s go see Robert,” she suggested to Marilee.
Robert was the son of a neighboring rancher, another newcomer. Elizabeth refused to think of either of their families as carpetbaggers, the derogatory term that had often been thrown at them.
All the other children shunned Robert. Marilee, who instinctively was for the underdog, had become his good friend.
Marilee’s face brightened. “Can I?”
“Of course. I need a few things in town and I’ll fetch you on the way back.”
“Will you bring some peppermint candy?”
“Always,” Elizabeth said.
The thought of her favorite treat, and a few hours to play with Robert, was obviously a partial cure. Marilee fetched her bonnet as Elizabeth went down to hitch the horse to their buggy. She added the shotgun at the last moment. It would be more effective than a rifle if they ran into trouble.