Read Online The Long Way Home by Lauraine Snelling - Free Book Online Page B

his back to me.’’ Benjamin walked upstream and bellied down to get a drink. When he finished, he wiped his mouth and reached for the reins. ‘‘We go soon’s you get your boots on.’’
    I wonder where his no-good brother is. Not far, likely. We better get out of here . Jesselynn sat down to pull on her wool socks and then her boots, all the while checking over her shoulder in case Rufus showed up. Knowing him, he was most likely abusing his brother’s wife, one way or another.
    When Ahab dropped his head to snatch a few mouthfuls of grass, she breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of taking the body into the fort went out of her mind as fast as it came in. There was no way on God’s green earth she was wasting any more horsepower, manpower, or even regrets on a man like Tommy Joe Jones. He’d earned the hell he’d be consigned to.
    They crossed the creek and kept to the trees until they were far enough away so that Rufus Jones wouldn’t see them, then picked up a lope to make up for some of the lost time. They covered five miles or so before either of them said a word.
    ‘‘He were a bad’un.’’ Benjamin finally broke the stillness.
    Jesselynn could only think of one worse, Cavendar Dunlivey, who’d burned Twin Oaks to the ground and then come after her. While she hadn’t pulled the trigger there, she had left him, gut shot, to die. Did war bring out the worst in men, or did they always harbor such cruelty behind a thin veneer of civility? Another one of those questions for which there were no answers.
    ‘‘You all right, Marse?’’ Benjamin raised his voice in case she hadn’t heard him before.
    Jesselynn nodded. She could still hear the thunk the knife made, and she knew if she closed her eyes she would see the shock on Tommy Joe’s face as he fell forward. Lord, what if . . . How do I. . . ? She couldn’t even finish the thoughts. Lord, am I becoming as callous as these men? This thought gave her another case of the shakes. ‘‘Thank you for saving our hides back there,’’ she finally responded to Benjamin.
    ‘‘You done more’n me. If he hadn’t been . . .’’ Benjamin let his words trail off. He shuddered.
    Jesselynn knew that if anyone discovered who’d killed the man, Benjamin would be hung without judge or jury. I can’t let them at Benjamin. Father, I promised not to lie anymore. How? What?
    So many have died. Please, Father, protect us .
    ‘‘What we goin’ do?’’
    ‘‘Nothing.’’ Jesselynn sighed. ‘‘We’re goin’ to trust in God to protect us.’’
    ‘‘Yes, suh.’’ But the fear hadn’t left his eyes.
    When they finally reached Fort Laramie several days later, they heard the bugle blowing the evening call and saw the flag coming down for the night. The haunting notes floated over the valley. As they rode closer, Jesselynn searched the grazing horses to see if Wolf ’s Appaloosa was among them. She took in a deep breath and let it out. So much for that hope, but perhaps Wolf was within the quadrangle somewhere.
    Or maybe he’s long gone, and you’ve been building up false hopes . She ignored that reasonable sounding voice within her head and continued to hope. Just the thought of seeing Wolf again set her heart to thumping.
    ‘‘What can we do for you?’’ The first soldier they saw wore the bars of a sergeant.
    ‘‘I’m Jesse Highwood. We came through here with a wagon train, the one led by Gray Wolf Torstead, until Cobalt took over.’’ The man nodded. ‘‘Our train met up with a terrible thunderstorm and a near stampede.’’
    ‘‘Where’s the train now?’’
    ‘‘Those that still trusted Jason Cobalt are on their way to Oregon Territory, taking a shortcut he talked them into.’’
    ‘‘I take it you weren’t part of that trusting group.’’
    ‘‘No, sir. We have five wagons on their way back to the fort. We’re hoping for another train.’’ Or for Wolf to come back to us .
    ‘‘How bad was the