“I have one more set, ma’am, but truth be told, they don’t look much better than these. They’re cleaner is all.”
“Well, if I had the means, I’d make you a new set.”
“Thank you, ma’am. You just tell me what you need, and I’ll pick it up. I might not have clothes, but I do have some money. What happened?”
Maggie said, “You’d better come on in and sit down, Will.” She took him by the arm and led him into the bunkhouse. “We’ve had a hard time of it.”
“Is Rose okay?” he asked.
“We don’t know,” Mama said, “but I think so.”
“Where is she?”
“Isaac Pew took her.”
“Isaac Pew?”
Of the many possibilities that occurred to him over the long ride from Colorado, he’d never once considered that his sister might have been kidnapped by a rich old man.
Mama nodded. “He’s got your sister locked away and won’t let us see her.”
“Locked up? Why?”
“He plans to marry her.”
“Marry her? Pew? He’s an old man.”
“He’s also a rich man.”
“Rose doesn’t care about that.”
“And Pew doesn’t care what Rose thinks. He’s made up his mind to marry her. And he’s so rich, he can do whatever he wants.”
“I don’t care how much money Pew has. He can’t marry my sister.” He pictured old man Pew riding through town in his black carriage, and in the memory, he wasn’t alone. “Wait a second. What about Mrs. Pew?”
“That’s why he has Rose locked up. He couldn’t marry her right away. That would have been polygamy. Mrs. Pew has been on her deathbed.”
Will scowled at the notion. What a wicked old man.
“Well, we’d best get Rose before Mrs. Pew passes,” Will said.
Mama nodded gravely. “Lord knows, I don’t want trouble, but he can’t have my baby.”
Maggie said, “Things have changed, Will. The law doesn’t apply to men like Pew anymore. They do pretty much whatever they want.”
Will burned with indignation. “So in this new Texas, a rich man can kidnap a girl and force her to marry him?”
“If he’s a skalawag,” Maggie said.
“And the girl’s brother wore the gray,” Mama added. “I’m sorry, Will. I know that’s hard to hear, but I want you to know the truth.”
Will clenched his fists. “I’m gonna go talk to Sheriff Rickert.”
“I’ve already been. Several times. And Sheriff Rickert has been about as useful as a two-legged mule.”
“Well, I’m about to make him useful. And if he doesn’t help, I’ll go straight to Pew.”
CHAPTER 7
