Maybe they busted her brain, but Conn figured her wounds were more psychological than physical.
Once the boy had covered her up, Conn went over and squatted down and spoke to her again.
She blinked at him.
He reached out and took her hand gently in both of his and gave it a light squeeze. “What’s your mama’s name, son?”
“Esther Meyers,” the boy said. “I’m Simon.”
“It’s good to meet you, Simon. I’m Conn. Is there a town we might go to?”
“There’s a village a couple miles that way,” Simon said, pointing east.
“All right. Are there nice people there?”
“Yes, sir. There are some nice folks there. I would have gone to them, but I didn’t want to leave Mama alone in case they came back.”
“You did the right thing, staying with her,” Conn said. “And everything’s going to be all right.”
He hoped that was true.
He gave the woman’s hand another squeeze. “Esther? Can you hear me? Esther, Simon needs your help, ma’am.”
The woman blinked more rapidly. “Simon?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Conn said. “Simon needs your help now.”
Esther Meyers shook her head and looked at Conn, really seeing him for the first time and pulled her hand free with a shriek. She scooched up against the tree, staring at him with terrified eyes.
“Mama!” Simon said, hugging her. “It’s okay. Conn is our friend.”
Conn kept his distance and nodded and spoke softly. “Simon’s right, ma’am. I am here to help you folks. I would like to feed you and take you to the village and find somebody to look after you until you get back on your feet. I’ll set things up and make sure you have some money, all right?”
She blinked at him, obviously having a hard time dealing with reality.
He didn’t want her slipping back into a daze, so he said, “Ma’am, you go ahead and talk with Simon. I’ll be just over yonder if you need some help, okay?”
She said nothing but seemed to relax a little.
Conn went back to where Sheffield was digging and grabbed the other shovel and worked alongside him. They were almost finished when the boy and his mother emerged from the trees.
“I’m sorry for earlier,” Esther Meyers said. “Thank you for helping us.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Conn said. “I’m sorry about what happened here. These same men killed my brother and burned his home. After we get you to the village, we’ll get on their trail again.”
“You’ll kill them?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Fire came into her eyes then. “Good. Kill the short one twice.”
“Ma’am?”
She shook her head and frowned. She stared for a time at her dead husband then looked back to Conn, her face softening. “God bless you, Conn. God bless you.”
