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"I don't know for sure. Could have been the man I ran off. Could have been Ed. Or even your tribe."
"My tribe would have reason if they thought I was there, but they would seek Elan first. I do not believe it was them."
"It isn't important who did this right now. It is important to understand that we are alive, and we can rebuild." Clay told her.
Clay got down, took Elan in his arms and carried him while Willa got off. Then Cora and Charlie came driving up in the wagon.
"My God!" Cora cried out.
"I don't believe it!" Charlie shouted.
Clay looked at them and nodded.
"What happened?" Cora and Charlie asked.
"We had visitors." Clay explained.
"Who?" Charlie asked jumping down from the wagon and going closer to look into the ashes.
"I don't know, it could have been anyone. Ed, strangers, Indians, someone who hates us."
"Were you two in there when it started burning?"
"No, Willa had gone to take her bath this morning. I checked on her just as some man attacked her. I had to kill him; he pulled a gun on me. Another came along and I ran him off. It may have been him that did this, or it could be someone from town who just simply hates us."
"You killed a man?" Charlie asked. "Did you bury him."
"Yeah, back there in the woods. I doubt anyone will ever find it."
"Well, let's go to my place, you can't sleep here." Cora told them.
Cora took Elan and Clay and Willa hopped on the back of the wagon. Clay stared at the ashes and told his father they could rebuild.
"We'll talk about that later." Charlie said, his face a wad of frowns.
Chapter Seventeen
When they pulled into Cora's place, they all got out and walked up to the house.
"Sorry to put you out, Cora." Charlie told her.
She made a face and turned to look at all of them. "You're not putting me out a bit, Charlie Nelson. I think of all of y'all as kind of family. So, let's don't go on about that." She insisted.
"We need to search the place and see if anyone left any clues as to who did it." Charlie told Clay.
"I don't think we should even worry about who did it, dad. It's too late, it's gone, and sooner or later, we'll probably find out who did it. Guilt has a way of coming forward dad. You know that. What we should think about is rebuilding." Clay told him.
"First, if you want to know, look for tracks around the cabin. If it was my people, the horses would not be shod. And if it was them, there will be tracks of many. There are so many that hate. But to burn our home, I cannot believe it." Willa said sadly.
"She's right, that's true." Clay nodded. "but I kind of doubt it was the Indians.
"Outlaws would have no reason to burn the place unless they thought we had money somewhere, but I don't think anyone would even think that, looking at our cabin. It would be more a hate crime. Someone that wants us dead. Or simply someone trying to run us off our land." Clay told them.
"You're right again." Charlie agreed.
Clay shot Willa a smile. It was the first time she called their place home. He appreciated that more than he could say.
"It might even be a woman," Cora chimed in.
