“You want to put it in the paper?” Luke asked, surprised.
“That wasn’t what I had in mind, but it’s not a bad idea.” Charles tilted his head, considering. “The notice would have everyone in the area looking around for animals like this in case there’s more than the one. But what I was thinking was to send a copy to an acquaintance of mine. He was also a Pinkerton agent, but his father breeds dogs. I’d like to get his thoughts on it. That beast Tom brought down is out of place around here.”
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Luke said. “It’s important to protect my herd, but there’s also the danger that it could have attacked people. I hope we got the only one.”
“As a precaution,” Charles said, “I’ll make sure Jim knows it’s a rush. Hopefully, he can get out here before Christmas.”
“The sooner the better.” Luke urged his horse forward and said over his shoulder, “If we don’t get this settled, I won’t have a herd left by spring.”
It was an exaggeration, of course, but winter was always tough on a herd. This year looked especially so. The additional losses from these attack dogs would only make it worse.
By the time Luke rode into the barn, he was beginning to wonder if he’d ever get warm again. He took care of his horse and made sure he had food before heading to the house. It wasn’t until he was leaving the barn that he recognized a Circle B sleigh. It was the one Judith usually used. Drat it. He’d forgotten she was supposed to come today. Luke broke into a run. Now he’d kept her waiting.
As soon as he entered the house, Frances reached for his coat. “You’d best hurry. She was just talking about leaving.”
“Did you ask her to stay for supper?” he asked, pulling off his scarf and handing it to her.
“Of course, I did, but it’s getting late. She said she wanted to be home before dark.” Frances gave a meaningful glance at the window. “Uh, it’s too late for that now.”
Luke straightened his shirt and strode to the parlor where he found Judith looking at the Christmas tree. She glanced over her shoulder, her expression cold.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” he said. “Tom brought down a dog that killed one of my cows. That’s half a dozen of them now. We had the sheriff out to look at it.”
Judith had turned to face him, her expression full of concern. “Marshall mentioned the trouble with wolves or a wild dog pack. He’s been worried they might attack his herd too.”
“Attack is the key word. It was anattackdog.” Luke indicated she should sit.
With a stunned expression, she sank to the sofa next to her bag where she usually kept her society paperwork.
“Are you at liberty to tell me more?” she asked, her voice subdued.
Luke explained how he’d been forced to put more men on watch because of the attacks on his herd. When he described the dog, she frowned.
“Do you know something about animals like these?”
“Not from personal experience, but my father was friends with men who were into dogfights. On more than one occasion, my mother and I were forced to leave the table when the men would begin describing the events. On one occasion, I wanted to prove I wasn’t merely a weak female and stayed longer than I should have.” Judith shuddered, her face having gone pale.
“You don’t have to say more.” Luke reached over and covered her hand with his.
“No, I’m fine. It’s a thoroughly despicable pastime.” She turned her hand under his and clasped it, as though for strength. “One of the men talked about the German Bullenbeisser breed you mentioned. He said he was breeding them with Pit Bulls which he said were noted for not letting go of their prey. As I was leaving, he said something about using these new animals as attack dogs.”
Luke leaned back on the sofa but didn’t release her hand. He liked the idea he was offering support to this rigidly independent woman.
“You wouldn’t happen to remember the man’s name, would you?”
“Philip Russo. Have you ever heard of him?” she asked.
“No.” Luke groaned in frustration. “I just don’t understand why someone would come afterme.It can’t be cheap to hire someone with these animals. If there’d been a train wreck or something and the animal had gotten loose, it might explain why it was in this part of the country.”
“But I haven’t heard of any train wrecks since I’ve been here.” Judith shifted but didn’t move her hand, which was turning warm in his. Luke wondered if he should release it, but she gave no indication she wanted him to. So, he didn’t.
“No train wrecks.”
“Well, hopefully, there’s only the one animal. Your men killed it. Perhaps the attacks will stop now.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Luke said with all the fervency he had inside. He’d always worked hard to be a good neighbor, and it troubled him he might have become a target for some kind of vendetta.
“I’ll keep praying for you,” Judith said, her voice soft.
