The Far West Read Free Page A

herd on Rennie’s brood, but there was something else. His shoulders were tense, and a second after his eyes met mine, he looked away. I felt more uneasy than ever, in spite of the way the childings were bounding around.
    After a bit, Lan pulled some extra chairs up to the table for the grown-ups and offered to take the childings to the kitchen for some dinner. As soon as they were out of the room, Allie fairly exploded into questions. “Oh, Rennie, it’s so good to see you, but why didn’t you tell us you were coming? Or did the letter get lost? Settlement mail isn’t always reliable, I know. Why haven’t you come before?” She gave Brant an unfriendly look, like she thought he was to blame — as if Rennie wouldn’t have just upped and come home if she’d really wanted to. “How long are you staying? And where?”
    Rennie looked down at her plate and picked at the carrots she’d just served herself. “We — it was kind of a last-minute decision. We haven’t settled much yet.”
    Mama’s eyes narrowed, and I could see that she’d gotten over her surprise and was starting to add things up … and I didn’t think she liked the total she was getting any more than I did. “Rennie,” she said, “I hope you and Brant know that you and your children are welcome here, no matter what has happened.”
    “I — thank you, Mama,” Rennie whispered without looking up.
    “Now, why don’t you tell us what is going on?”
    Allie opened her mouth to say something, and Mama shot her a glance that made her close up again real quick.
    “The long and short of it is, we’ve parted company with the Oak River settlement,” Brant said heavily. “They’re buying out our share, but … well, it wasn’t exactly a friendly parting.”
    There was silence while everyone waited for him to go on. Before it got awkward, Papa said, “I see. Have you had time to consider what you’re going to do next?”
    “Not really, except looking for work as soon as I’m able.” Brant hesitated. “I was hoping that Rennie and the childings could put up here for a few days, until I can get a place lined up for us to stay.”
    “With Jack and Nan and Hugh gone, there’s plenty of room for all of you. I won’t hear of you staying anywhere else,” Mama said firmly. “I expect you’ll have enough to do without househunting on top of it, so don’t argue.”
    “I wouldn’t dare, ma’am,” Brant said with a faint smile, and Robbie laughed.
    “The wagon with our things is still over at the Settlement Office holding pen,” Rennie put in. “We —”
    “Your father and Robbie can go with Brant to pick them up tomorrow,” Mama told her before Rennie could get any further. “You’ve had a long trip, and you need a quiet evening. If you don’t have enough with you to get through the night, I’m sure we can find something in the attic. Lewis is too old to need any of the baby clothes I passed on to Nan, and most of the things for older children are still there.”
    Mama and Allie spent the rest of the meal going over details with Rennie, deciding which rooms Rennie’s family would have and tiptoeing around the question of what they might need, in case asking straight out or waiting for Rennie to ask would make her feel worse than she already did.
    I wasn’t as worried as Mama. It wasn’t as if Oak River had failed and left Rennie and her family with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing. Oak River was actually one of the more successful settlements, and Brant had been one of the founders. He and Rennie might not have brought much home with them, but if the settlement was buying them out, they should have a fair stake to start over with.
    The real question was why they had to start over at all. The settlement had been founded by the Society of Progressive Rationalists to prove that people could manage well without magic, and they’d always been strict about making people avoid using spells even if they were only