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The sisters moved into the parlor, and they worked on the huge pile of mending Susan had in her sewing basket. While they sewed, they caught up on the family. Susan had been gone for so long, that she envisioned her youngers siblings as children still, when they were far from that.
“I guess I knew they were all getting married, but it seems like they should still be sitting in that apple tree throwing things at all the wagons that drove past.”
“I had the best aim,” Alice said, grinning at her sister.
“I’d say that isn’t something to be proud of, but it obviously is. You just shot a man who more than deserved it.”
When the children got home from school, Susan sent both Walter and Thomas out, giving them the pistol Alice had used earlier. “Find Albert. Tell him he’s needed at our house, but make sure he knows everything is going to be fine.”
Walter’s eyes were wide as he accepted the pistol, and they both went out to saddle their horses. As soon as they were gone, Susan looked at Alice. “I guess I could have called David out the window. He’s in the corral working, but he’d gone to town earlier, and I didn’t know he was back.”
Alice shook her head. “I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to tell Albert, so the delay is probably a good thing.”
Susan shook her head. “You’re going to tell him the truth. You did nothing wrong.”
“Then why do I feel like I did?”
“I have no idea. But you need to stop.” Susan wrapped her arms around her sister and held her. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Alice felt tears pop into her eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d held them in as long as she had. “Thank you for being my big sister,” she said softly.
“We’re both safe, and it’s all going to be all right.”
Alice sniffled and pulled away, nodding. “I know I did the right thing, but I was so scared.”
“You should have been.” Susan shook her head. “I don’t know why I didn’t realize how upset you were earlier. Probably because your aim was so true.”
Alice giggled and wiped away a tear. “Probably. You can thank Wally for that.”
“I will write him a letter later, doing just that.”
Chapter Ten
When Albert saw his younger brothers riding toward him, he raised his hand in a wave. He’d just finished moving a lost heifer back to the herd and was seeing if there were others hidden in various places.
When Thomas and Walter pulled their horses to a stop in front of him, he frowned. Why were they on his land? He didn’t mind, but they never rode on his land, preferring to ride along the road or on their father’s land. “Is something wrong?”
Thomas nodded. “Ma gave Walter a gun and told both of us to come find you. She said to tell you everything would be all right, but you need to come back to the house. Alice is with her.”
Albert felt as if the earth was collapsing under him. “What happened?”
“They didn’t tell us. Just told us we needed to find you right away.”
Albert turned toward the house and rode as quickly as was safe for his horse. He jumped the fence between the two properties rather than using the gate between them, glad to make the jump this time.
When he got to his parents’ house, he dismounted and hurried to the front door, only to find it locked. He pounded on the door with his fist. “Susan? Alice?”
The door opened and Alice flew into his arms. He immediately wrapped his around her and held her close. “What happened? Walter and Thomas said they were sent to find me, but they didn’t know why!” His gaze was drawn to the blood on the floor. “Who’s hurt?”
Alice looked over her shoulder at Susan. “Guess we should have cleaned up the blood. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”
“I was keeping you calm. I couldn’t be expected to think about the puddle of blood.”
“Will someone tell me what happened?” Albert said, about to lose his temper if someone didn’t tell himsomething.
“I…” Alice couldn’t make the words come out. She still felt too guilty about what had happened.
Susan frowned. “Let’s go in the parlor, and we’ll explain.”
