Read Online Whispers on the Wind by Brenda Jernigan - Free Book Online

“This isn’t a pretty tale, but one you should
know if you’re going to understand my son.” She took a deep
breath.
    “Lisa and Carter had gone
to town for supplies. Unknown to them, a bank robbery was taking
place at the same time. Lisa had been waiting in the wagon while
Carter carried their purchases. He came out of the dry goods store,
his arms full of packages.
    “He told me that
everything else from that point on seemed to happen as if time had
slowed. The wagon wasn’t directly in front of the store, but
several stores down. When Carter realized what was happening, he
ran toward the wagon, but he wasn’t fast enough.
    “The robbers spotted Lisa
and swept her from the wagon, then continued on out of
town.
    “Carter heard her
screaming all the way out of town, but he could do nothing. By the
time he’d dropped the packages and pulled out his gun, it was too
late. And he couldn’t shoot for fear of hitting his
sister.”
    Judith’s voice broke and
Mary looked at the tension in Judith’s usually calm face. Mary
waited a minute before asking, “Did Carter go after
them?”
    “Carter was young then, he
did the only thing he knew, he went to the local sheriff, who was
slow pulling a posse together. It was five days before they found
my little girl. "Judith looked off into nowhere. “Or what was left
of her.” Judith’s words hung in her throat, and it took a moment
before she could continue. “They had used her badly, then beaten
her until we could barely recognize her face.” Judith
sobbed.
    By the time Judith had
finished her story, Mary was crying, too. She reached over and took
the woman’s hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Mary finally
managed to get out as Judith clung to her hand.
    “I’ve never told anyone
the whole story. And I don’t know what made me open up just now.”
Judith wiped the tears from her cheeks. Talking about Lisa’s death
always dredged up feelings that Judith thought she had gotten over,
but for some reason she’d wanted to confide in Mary. There was
something about this child that reminded her of her daughter.
“Carter wouldn’t let me see her. That’s when I knew my baby must
have suffered.”
    “Did they ever get the
men?”
    “No. Perhaps if they had,
Carter would be different. Instead, he took the whole thing as if
he believed it were his fault”
    “But it wasn’t” Mary said,
taking up for a man she hardly knew.
    “Of course it wasn’t He
could have been killed, too, and I would have lost both my
children. I wouldn’t have been able to bear that "Judith choked
back another sob. “Sometimes I feel as if I have lost Carter
anyway.”
    “How so?” Mary asked
gently.
    “Where once he’d been
content to take over the ranch, now his only goal is revenge. After
his sister’s murder he became a lawman, determined to track down
the men who killed his sister. He’d gotten a good look at the
men.”
    “Has he caught any of
them?”
    “He’s killed two. There
are two more to go.”
    “Killed?”
    “I would like to think
that he would have brought them in for trial if he could have, but
they are dangerous men.”
    “Carter seems like a man
who takes his job very seriously.” Mary shivered. “I’m sure he is
very good at what he does.”
    Judith smiled. “Yes, he is
the best. I’m very proud of him but... Carter needs a life, a home,
and a family. He can’t be driven by the past. He needs something in
his future. Something to look forward to.”
    “Instead of the past.”
Mary sighed. “Maybe one day he will find that
something.”
    Judith turned and looked at
her with a sad smile. “Maybe.”
     
     
    Marshal Forester was
hitting dead ends everywhere he turned. Nobody had seen Mark
Costner, and it seemed that nobody knew much about him. So Forester
looked for the address on the deed, maybe some of the boy’s kin,
people who could shed some light on why he would murder anyone.
Forester shook his head. Something wasn’t right with the