Page 68 of Montana Lawman Rescuer
Gram gasped. “I’ll make sure she stays put.”
Jesse and Emily looked at each other. She started to smile, and so did he. Then they both laughed.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Gram said with a hint of exasperation.
Jesse grinned at her. “It’s just the idea that you could stop her. You’re smaller and, well, older.”
She huffed. “I got a lot more grit in these old bones than you give me credit for.”
Jesse and Emily grinned at each other.
“I’ll stay here until you bring Mikey back,” Emily said. “I have no desire to have Gram tackle me to the ground and chain me to the kitchen table.”
Gram shook her head. “I wouldn’t go that far...unless, of course, I had to.”
The three of them laughed together, recognizing the humor of the situation.
Jesse went to the door. “I have a few things to take care of. I’ll get Mikey when I come home for supper. And you’ll be here?”
She held up her hand as if making a vow and said most solemnly. “I will be here.”
He left, and with him went all her bravado. The man on the black horse had frightened her. Thankfully, he’d left town. Or, at least, appeared to have. She shivered and hoped Gram wouldn’t notice.
Needing a diversion, she turned her attention to making supper. “Do you mind if I make a raspberry dessert?”
“Child, you make whatever you want. I have to finish a shirt this afternoon.”
Emily went outside and picked enough berries for the dessert she had in mind. She knew the recipe in her head. Had she learned it from her mother or someone else? She straightened, closed her eyes, and thought of a mother who didn’t know where her daughter was. Or was Emily even missed?
She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself, to stop wondering why no one had come looking for her. It was foolish and a waste of time. Besides, if they expected her to stay to get Mikey settled, no one would realize she was missing...in her own mind.
The dessert was ready and cooling on the counter, and the meat, potatoes, and gravy were done. There was an abundance of fresh vegetables from the garden. She had chosen green beans and beet greens.
Mikey and Jesse came in through the back door, and Mikey ran to her. She bent over to receive his hug.
“Did you have a good time playing with Evan?”
“Me did. Me catched ball.”
Either he was speaking more clearly, or she was understanding him better.
Mikey ran to greet the dog and Emily met Jesse’s eyes. She stilled at his seriousness. “What is it?”
“Remember I sent inquiries down the line trying to learn where you started your journey?”
She nodded.
He pulled a letter from his pocket.
Her heart froze. “You got a reply?” she whispered.
He unfolded the page. “It seems a Miss Emily Smith and a young boy boarded the train in Alliance, Nebraska. There is little information apart from that. But I took the liberty to write back and ask if there was an orphanage nearby and did he know who Aunt Hilda might be. I wondered if Mikey was from an orphan’s home.”
She stared at him. “May I?” She held out her hand for the letter.
He gave it to her, and she read the words. They said nothing more than what he’d told her, but she read them over and over, hoping something would trigger her mind to remember. Finally, sighing, she gave the letter back to him. “It’s a start, I suppose.”
“I’d say so. First real information we’ve had yet. We should hear back in a week.”
