“Weel, there are seven of us, we ought to be able to find enough to do that without risking your delicate health.”
“Thank ye, dear brother, your kindness is boundless.”
“Shall we go then?” asked Abbie.
“We’ll just collect up what we need and what we must.”
Emily stood and headed out of the kitchen and Abbie quickly followed her. Matthew frowned but could not see any true danger to what they planned. Charlotte and George still lived in the town and several others had begun to return to the place. The men that had chased him and the others as they traveled here had not come from the direction of the town but from the direction of the troublesome border with Missouri.
“Are ye sure Abbie can protect them if it is needed?” asked Iain.
“Aye. She is nearly a crack shot. Steady arm and keen eye.”
“And she has no trouble shooting men?”
“I don’t think so. Only showed a hint once and that was when the man turned and faced her and he was not that far away. But otherwise, I think she soothes her mind and heart about it somehow.”
* * *
“I truly cannot believe they let us go. With both the babies!” Emily shook her head as she drove the cart along the road to the town. “We better not get injured or endangered in any way or I will be bound to the house until I am old and gray.”
“Icanshoot, you know,” said Abbie.
“I’m sure you can, but it has been rather dangerous around here for several years now and Iain is good at worrying. To be fair, I know why, I have all his children with me, Nuala, his son, and Ned. How did you learn to shoot so well?”
“My da had a rifle and I think he was just playing about when he handed it to me one day and pointed out a pinecone he wanted me to shoot. He showed me how to hold the gun, aim it, and fire it. Then I did. Hit the pinecone. He said I had the gift, that some people just can and others can practice all they want and can’t. For a while he took bets on what I could shoot and made a nice little pile of money.”
“You can make money off shooting?”
“Lots of men are more than ready to take a bet on what some little woman can or cannot shoot. They are so sure they can beat her.”
“I would like to be able to shoot but all I manage to do is accidentally kill some poor bird flying by. The minute I try to fire the rifle up, it goes and I get rained on by feathers.” As she waited for Abbie to stop laughing, she looked at the shawl Abbie was carrying Jeremiah in. “How do you tie those on and keep the babe safe inside?”
“I will show you when we get back to the house. It is surprisingly easy. I was taught by a pretty farmgirl down the road from us in Pennsylvania. She traded the knowledge and a pretty scarf for hints on how to shoot her gun as she was fed up with the teasing of her brothers when they went hunting.”
Abbie looked all around her as they drove. It was a nice piece of woodland but she did not trust tree coverage. It was a favorite place for the outlaws to hide and attack. She hoped the men were successful in their circular scouting party because she really was fed up with the attacks she had been under lately.
When Emily drew up in front of what had undoubtedly been a saloon, Abbie was shocked by how much had been destroyed. All the glass had been cleaned up off the walk in front of it but none of the smashed windows had been fixed.
“The store is the attached building. It has all its windows.” Emily got down and then lifted her basket. Abbie got a quick view of waving little arms before Emily covered them with a blanket.
Adjusting Jeremiah against her chest, Abbie followed. There were people outside the store and a decent amount of people inside. The store may have lagged in its selection but its prices were edging swiftly up into the highway robbery range. She suspected most general stores were the same. Just out of curiosity’s sake she would have to think of someone back East she could write to and ask.
While Ned and Nuala looked over the candy, she walked toward a small collection of children’s books and sighed. These would have been useful to her a month ago. Carefully going through the pile she decided she would have to give it some thought because once she collected Noah and Wags, storybooks were definitely going to be needed.
“You need some books?”
Looking at Emily, Abbie nodded. “Where I was staying they had very few and, unless you wanted to steal from some person’s house, you just had to make up a story for the children.”
“And you are thinking it might be a wise thing to get for young Noah when he joins you.”
“Exactly.” Abbie frowned. “Unless he is so angry with me he has tossed out the idea of living with me.”
* * *
“Do you think she will be mad at me for coming?”
“You have asked that a hundred times. No, I don’t believe so. If she really said you were to join her, then you will join her, just earlier than she had planned. So why not go back and wait?”
