A fighter, then,Conn thought. He asked, “You said something about a store?”
“Yes, sir. We saw him earlier today at the hardware store.”
“Does he work there?”
She shook her head. “He and another man came out into the lumber yard and looked at us and then went back inside when we did.”
“Did you talk with him?”
“No. Cole nodded to him. That was it.”
“And you said there was another man with him? Was he here tonight, too?”
“I have no idea.”
“What did he look like?”
“He looked like anybody. Brown hair, average height, average build. Nothing special at all. Type of man you don’t really look at, you know? Not without a reason.”
Conn nodded. He had a reason now to look at the man. “Did you see any of the others?”
“Not in any detail. But I counted them. There were eleven men.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I counted them several times, looking down from the hillside. There were eleven.”
“All right. That helps. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“Such as?”
“Do you have any idea who might do something like this?”
“No idea. Cole didn’t have any enemies. He was friendly with everyone.”
Which sounded just like Conn’s brother. The man didn’t have a mean bone in his body, and if anybody needed anything, he jumped right up to help.
But then, looking thoughtful, she said, “I suppose maybe those men saw the gold.”
“Gold?”
“The gold coins Cole had saved up. He brought them to town and bought lumber with them. For the barn. The men were standing behind us when Cole took out his money pouch. They must have seen the money and heard us tell the man behind the counter where our property was.”
“That must be it,” Conn said. He thought they had seen more than the gold, though. They’d seen her, too.
Even in the gloom with her scratched and dirty face and puffy eyes, he could see that she was remarkably good-looking. Scoundrels such as these might do anything to have their way with a beautiful woman like Mary.
Of course, he said none of this to her, not wanting Mary to feel like she had in any way caused what had happened.
Which she hadn’t.
Bad men try to pin their wickedness on all sorts of things from drink to lack of opportunity to a pretty woman’s smile.
But in the end, we are all responsible for our actions.
“I wish you’d come earlier, Conn. I wish you’d come to supper, wish you’d been here. Together, maybe…”
Conn nodded.
