She grabbed for the gate latch. Had White Horse been hit? She couldn’t see clearly through the rails.
When she jerked open the barrier, the sight that greeted her clogged her throat. White Horse knelt over the trapper. The stranger lay face up, his chest rising and falling in hard efforts, his mouth working open and shut like a fish. A dark, wet circle widened on his chest.
How had he been hit? White Horse hadn’t had a gun at the ready. She could get answers later. For now, she moved out of the way as his friends scrambled through the gateway behind her.
If the wound was as bad as it looked, he likely had only a few moments left in this world. Her own chest burned, and her eyes stung. How had it come to this? To death, here on their doorstep?
She knelt by Nook’s head as his friends gathered on either side. White Horse had stepped back to allow them room.She reached to pull down the man’s collar so they could find the wound, but the trapper who’d pointed a rifle at her earlier touched her hand to stay her.
“There’s no help for him, ma’am. It’ll just hurt worse.”
She looked back at the face on the ground. He’d turned nearly as white as snow. He groaned, his mouth still working as he tried to find breath. Her own breath required effort.Lord, help him.
A gurgle sounded from his throat. His lungs must be filling with blood.No. A noise came from his mouth like he was trying to speak. She strained to make out words.
“Tell ... Ma ... love...” No more sounds came out, though his laboring grew worse. Tears clouded her vision, but finally his efforts stilled.
She wiped her eyes. The terror had eased out of his expression, leaving it dull. Lifeless.
One of his friends made the sign of the cross over his face and chest.
Lord, receive his spirit, please. She had no idea if the man had known the Savior.Oh, Lord, how did it come to this?
Hands gripped Lorelei’s upper arms, lifting her, helping her stand. Riley.
She let him guide her to the gate, then awareness slipped in, and she looked over at the calf. “Curly.” She couldn’t leave him alone with these strangers, nor could they risk the gate staying open.
“I’ll stay with these men and help. Go to your sister.” Riley murmured just loud enough for the words to register through the numbness taking over her mind.
He gave her a gentle push, and she continued through the gate toward Juniper. Her sister stood with their horses, onehand gripping her saddle as though she needed the animal’s solid presence to hold her upright. Watching a man die was no easy thing.
A new thought slipped in. Had Juniper been the one to pull the trigger? Unless the trapper’s pistol had backfired on himself, it must have been her or Riley. That would explain the pallor in June’s skin now.
When Lorelei reached her, the comfort of seeing the sister she’d missed so much swept through her. She moved in for a hug, and Juniper wrapped her tight. Her sister felt smaller in the embrace than she had only two months before. Had the journey been that hard? Is that why they’d returned early?
Those answers too would have to wait for later. Tears blurred her vision completely, and at last she pulled back and wiped her eyes on her shoulder, sniffing away some of the mess from her face.
Juniper reached a hand to her cheek, worry darkening her green eyes. “Lor, are you hurt? What did they do to you?”
She shook her head and swallowed the knot in her throat. “Nothing. I’m fine.” She sniffed again and cleared her throat, then glanced toward the men. “Why are you and Riley back so soon?”
Juniper took her hand and squeezed it. “That can wait. For now, why don’t we go inside? Riley and White Horse will handle these men and see that the one receives burial.”
Oh, that would be wonderful, to leave those hard details to someone else. But first ... “Let me move Curly to the barn so he’ll be out of the way.”
Juniper’s and Riley’s horses needed to be unsaddled too.By the time they had all the animals settled, Rosemary and Faith had come galloping in from the herd. No surprise they’d heard the gunshot and feared the worst.
Then came the decision on where to lay the trapper to rest. Hopefully it would be a long time before they had another body to bury in this land, but if they planned for this ranch to be their permanent homestead, they should give some thought as to where to place the cemetery.
A little section on one side of the valley nearest the hills received the most votes, so the men carried the body there and began digging. White Horse loosened the trappers’ saddles and hobbled their horses to graze, but he didn’t remove the saddles completely. Everyone was ready for the remaining two strangers to move on, including the men themselves.
Once they’d dug the grave deep enough and lowered Nook in, Lorelei stood with the others around the opening as Riley prayed. Her heart ached for the senseless loss. This never should have happened.Lord, why?
When the prayer ended, they stood in silence another moment. One of Nook’s friends, the one who’d first pointed a gun at her, shook his head and cleared his throat. “Sure is a shame. Nook was a good feller for the most part. Liked ta have fun. Guess he carried the fun a bit too far this time.”
Fun?That seemed the unlikeliest word to describe what had happened in that corral.
As the men covered the grave, Juniper turned the direction of the house and started that way. Riley moved to her side, and the way he scrutinized her seemed more intense than a normal look between a husband and wife. Twin lines formed between his brows. Juniper must have been the oneto shoot the man. How hard would it be for her sister to face the impact of her actions?
