Read Online Katy Run Away by Maren Smith - Free Book Online

know what you’re talking about! They respected my father. They gave him their loyalty.”
    “Did they extend your mother that same loyalty or respect?” Cal softly countered. “Or did they just walk off?”
    She turned her face more fully toward the window, her brow furrowing slightly as she frowned.
    Lowering his voice again, Cal leaned toward her, hands clasped, forearms resting on his knees. “Katy, you say I don’t understand, but I think I understand better than just about anyone else in the world. When I took over after my father died, those men who had been so loyal to him, who I had worked alongside and thought were my friends—every one of those men turned on me. That’s not to say they weren’t civil; they were. They were very civil, but they didn’t trust me. I had to earn that by showing I knew how to accomplish every task I set to them, down to the smallest detail, and by proving I could make hard financial decisions, regarding my herd, regarding my men, and most importantly, regarding the money with which I paid them. I was late one time, and I lost two hands. They just left. It’s been almost two years and I think I’ve got about half of them won over now, but my ranch isn’t anywhere near the size of yours and I don’t have half your hands. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for your mother, because I guarantee, not one man in your father’s employ—whether they liked you or not, whether they liked her or not—cut your mother one inch of slack. In fact, I’ll bet they were twice as hard and twice as unforgiving because she was a woman. Yeah, four months is awful quick to marry after losing your husband. I doubt it was easy for her; I’ll bet it tore her up, especially when she realized that she might have saved her home and her ranch, but she’d lost the loyalty and respect of her only child in the process.”
    The coach rocked slightly as the two men climbed up onto the seat. One knocked on the side. “Heading out!” he called, giving them warning only half a second before Cal heard the snap of the reins and the coach began to roll. It was just as he thought too. The wagon wheels found every dip and rain-washed dent in the road—little more than a well-worn path of ruts that led out of town—and he very nearly bounced off the seat when they hit their first real hole.
    Katy grabbed onto the bench and the wall, wincing once when her bottom also became disconnected from the seat, only to find it again an instant later. The padding wasn’t anywhere near thick enough, but he didn’t think that had much to do with it when Katy started crying. She turned her face all the way to the window, trying to hide it, but the space was too small, and she just couldn’t turn far enough to hide her tears or the wracking spasms that jerked at her shoulders.
    She hid her mouth behind one hand and Cal switched seats, sliding onto the hard bench beside her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, but she resisted being drawn against him. Prickly as she was, she thumped him in the ribs with her elbow, but Cal could be stubborn too and this was too important to just let go.
    “Come on, honey,” he said, coaxing her to turn from the window to him. Eventually, she did. Eventually, she let go of the seat and the wall and her small fingers hooked into the folds of his shirt, clinging to him as she gave up all the effort it took to hide, to be silent, or to be angry.
    “I don’t want to go home!” she wept.
    “I know.” Cal folded his arms that much tighter around her. He rubbed her arms and her back. He pressed a kiss upon the top of her hair. He tried to be as comforting as he knew how.
    The only thing he didn’t do was order the coach to turn around and take them back to town.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Katy couldn’t remember falling asleep. She certainly didn’t mean to, but she woke with a start, almost pitching forward straight off the bench and onto her nose when she heard the gunshots. It