He turned hard and pulled Pinto to a stop by his niece, jumping to the ground before the animal stopped. He'd ridden with his Hawkins in his lap and now gripped it in one hand. "What's wrong?"
She looked pale. Scared.
His heart hammered as he approached her, gripping her shoulder. But he tried to gentle his voice. "What is it, Lilly?"
She pointed into the barn. "Miss Dinah."
A new round of panic flared through him. He never should have left her.
He turned and grabbed the barn door. But when he jerked it open, he nearly plowed into Jonah, standing with walking sticks by the doorway.
"Jericho." His brother's face held a twist of emotions that flamed the fear inside him even higher.
"What's happened? Where's Dinah?" He looked past Jonah, but the inside of the barn was cast in shadows.
Jonah shifted to the side, his voice shaking a little. "I didn't have a choice. I had to."
A scream built inside Jericho as he plunged into the barn, squinting to force his eyes to adjust to the dim light. If his brother had hurt Dinah…
Naomi knelt on the ground beside…Dinah. With her arm around Dinah’s shoulders.
He sprinted to them, moving around in front. Only then did he see the mound on their other side.
His mind took an extra second to understand what his eyes were seeing. Chalmers. Dead. That unseeing gaze forced a shiver through Jericho.
He pulled his focus back to Dinah. She looked as pale as Lillian had. Trembling. And as she met his gaze, she looked stricken. Had she killed this man?
He dropped to his knees in front of her, and she crawled into his arms. He pulled her onto his lap. "Dinah." He murmured into her hair. Her trembling turned to shivers, and he tightened his hold as she curled herself against him.
"Shh." He rocked a little, doing his best to quiet his racing heart.
She was alive. Unhurt, as far as he could tell, but definitely distraught. Were there injuries he hadn't seen?
He glanced at Naomi. She looked calmer than any of them. He raised his brows, doing his best to ask with his eyes what had happened.
She murmured quietly. "Lillian and I were out for a walk. We ran back when we heard the shot. She was kneeling here, casting up her accounts."
He kept rocking, sliding one hand up Dinah’s back to smooth her hair that had fallen from its moorings.
What Jonah had said... He looked over at his brother, still positioned at the barn door. Like a sentry.
He held a rifle in his hand...somehow Jericho had missed that before. Jonah must have been the one to shoot.
So why was Dinah so distraught? Something must have happened between Dinah and Chalmers. Of course it had. Jonah wouldn't have killed the man for no reason.
Naomi used her hands to push to her feet. "I'll find out what happened and check on Lillian. I told her to wait outside."
An invisible hand squeezed Jericho's throat. His poor niece. Children shouldn't have to experience so much death. Had she seen this man's lifeless body? Even if she hadn't, she was frightened enough, left alone outside, fearing the worst. Knowing something awful had happened here.
While Naomi stopped to murmur something to Jonah, Dinah stirred in his arms. She straightened, pulling back as she used her sleeves to wipe her eyes. "I'm sorry." She sniffed, looking toward the barn door before glancing up at Jericho. Thankfully, she didn’t look at the body.
"It's all right." He moved one hand to rest on her arm, keeping the other loose around her back.
She sniffed once more, then her shoulders rose as she inhaled an audible breath. She seemed stronger as she turned to him. "It was my fault. I told Mr. Chalmers he couldn't have laudanum today. I didn't want him to become dependent on it. I should have weaned him more slowly. I didn't realize how attached he'd become. I mean…I did. He begged for more, and I knew he must have struggled with an addiction before. I shouldn’t have cut him off."
He was doing his best to follow her stream of words, but it didn't answer any of his questions. At least, not that he could understand.
"So…did he follow you here to ask for more?" The man had barely stirred from the floor during the four days he'd been here. The few times he'd needed to use the chamber pot, Jericho had to practically lift him to his feet and hold him upright. How had he managed to stumble all the way to the barn?
