Place to Belong, a Read Free

a living.”
    â€œThank you, Miss Lockwood. Cross?” The judge looked toward the three suspects’ lawyer. The man thought a moment and shook his head.
    â€œYou may stand down,” he said to Cassie and motioned to the row of chairs.
    Cassie did as he said, but by the time she got there, her knees quit on her and she sank into her chair. Mavis picked up her hand again with gentle pressure. Cassie blinked back the moisture that threatened to flow down her face.
    â€œYou did good.” Lucas spoke from her left side.
    â€œRansom Lockwood to the stand,” the sheriff called.
    She watched as Ransom repeated the vow and took his seat. He didn’t appear scared or shaky at all. He told of the dogs barking, their ride up to see flames, hearing the shots and all the yelling. “We rode in, firing in the air and yelling back. We saw two of the men ride off and a horse with no rider circling around. The wagon had flames coming out the door and the sides, so we pulled that away from the cabin.
    â€œChief and Micah came out of hiding, and then we found Miss Lockwood sitting against the cabin wall, covered in blood. She was bleeding from being shot in the arm. Chief discovered Jud there.” He indicated the fellow with Hercules as a middle name. “A bullet had grazed his head, a pretty deep one, and we put him back on his horse and told him to hang on. With Cassie in front of Lucas, we headed back down the hill to where Mor waited. Sorry, I mean my mother. She put a tourniquet on Cassie’s arm and told us to get her to the doctor as fast as we could. We rode in on horseback because that was faster than hitching up. I was sure she was going to die before we could get to town.”
    â€œAnd Mr. Dooger?”
    â€œHe looked a lot worse’n he was.”
    â€œThat was your medical opinion?” An arched brow accompanied the question.
    â€œNo, sir. But to be truthful, I had a hard time feeling any sympathy for a man who could take part in such a thing.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Engstrom.”
    Lucas was called next, but he didn’t have any new information, so his time was shorter. The sheriff testified that he’d thrown Jud in jail after his wound was bandaged, and that the other two were caught later.
    â€œI think we’ll break for dinner, folks, and hear from the accused afterward. Court is dismissed.” Judge Cranston banged his gavel and stood up even as the sheriff was calling, “All rise.”
    Reverend Brandenburg smiled at the Engstroms. “The missus and I figured this is what would happen, so she has dinner waiting for us. We can walk or, of course, take your wagon.”
    â€œOh, a walk would feel so good.” Mavis gathered up her coat and slipped into it while Ransom held it for her. Lucas helped Cassie into her shawl, patting her shoulders before stepping back.
    Cassie stopped a sigh. Lucas had vowed he would make her fall in love with him. Surely this was another bit of his plan. But she had to admit, right now a touch from anyone helped dilute the fear that seemed to flow along with her bloodstream. What if these men got off scot-free because she, the witness, could not identify them? It would have been so easy to simply say they were the ones.
    What if their next attempt, now with thoughts of revenge, was many times worse? Was she being fair to Chief and Runs Like a Deer to keep them in harm’s way? But then, what else could she do? They no longer had a wagon to live in if they decided to move someplace else, and she had no idea wheresomeplace else could be. With winter hard upon them, they would have to have dependable shelter if they traveled. The wagon had provided that.
    Gone now.
    And I don’t want to leave here. I want to live here, especially since, thanks to my father, I own half of the Bar E. Not sure whether this was a plea or a promise, she kept pace with the others as they walked for what seemed like a thousand miles to