Lauraine Snelling by Whispers in the Wind Page A

the old Indian handed him the ax.
    As the dark encroached, Ransom decided they’d better quit before someone got hurt. He set the tools in the bed of the wagon. “I’ll sharpen those axes before we go at it again. Chief, you want me to sharpen yours too?”
    “I’ll sharpen it with a file,” Micah said. “We need it to cut firewood.”
    “I’ll bring up the crosscut saw when I come. I’m sure Mor is expecting you for dinner tomorrow. Will you be attending church with us?”
    Cassie thought for a moment. “We’ll see. What time do you leave?”
    “Gotta leave here by nine to get there in time. I know the Brandenburgs will be delighted to see you there. Come down to the house. There will be room in the wagon.” He stepped up into the wagon seat. “Thanks for your help.”
    “Thanks for yours too.” Cassie started to walk up the hill, dog at her side, the two men flanking her. She turned to look at him and raised her voice. “Will we be hunting in the morning, since we won’t be going tonight?”
    “No, sorry. We don’t hunt on Sundays either. Lucas must have forgotten what day it was.”
    “Okay, but hunting is all right up behind the cabin?”
    “Yes. The elk and deer frequently come down into the pastures too. Probably not tonight, since we’ve been working up here. Makes ’em skittish.”
    She raised her hand in acknowledgment and kept on walking.
    Ransom started down the hill and then turned to watch them. I should have said just her and Micah for church, but I couldn’t do that. Sure do hope she figures it out. The realization that the three were all slogging along as if they were exceedingly weary made him realize he was tired too. Having another pair of hands would have lightened the load. Leave it to Lucas to be gone.
    Lucas was sitting at the kitchen table when Ransom walked in.
    “I thought you were going to help us today.” Ransom knew a belligerent tone would not sit well, but his brother’s not showing up didn’t sit well with him either. He stopped at the sink to wash his hands.
    “Sorry, but I got involved in town.”
    “Sure.”
    “I kept a plate hot for you,” Mavis said, probably before another argument could heat up. “Lucas, I need some more wood in both woodboxes.”
    Ransom saw the look she gave her younger son. She meant business.
    “I didn’t realize he wasn’t up there until he came in all excited about a shooting match in Hill City, or a possible one.”
    “So that’s where he went.” Ransom dug into his meal. The lunch she had sent with the work party had ended a long time ago.
    She frowned. “You didn’t know about it either?”
    “Nope.” The sound of wood being dumped into the box came from the other room. “Where’s Gretchen?”
    “Spending the night with Jenna.”
    “I’m surprised she didn’t come up.”
    “Said she’d pass on the fencing.”
    “I invited them to church in the morning.” He forked another potato into his mouth.
    “Good. Do you think they’ll come?”
    “Some folks wouldn’t be too welcoming to Chief and Runs Like a Deer, you know.”
    “Land sakes, how could I not think of that?” She sat down at the table, a cup of coffee between her cupped hands, and stared into the dark liquid. “I want them to be happy here.”
    And I want them to be on their way, without claiming half of my — our — land. But he figured that wasn’t about to happen.
    Lucas dumped a load into the kitchen woodbox and dusted off his hands. He poured himself a cup of coffee, raised the pot to ask Ransom, and set it back down at his brother’s no. Sitting down at the other end of the table, he laid his arms out on the table and leaned forward. “I talked to Mr. Porter at the Hill City Hotel about sponsoring a shooting match, and he got real excited, especially when I told him Cassie Lockwood is living right here.”
    “He knew of her?”
    “He knew of that Wild West Show and her father. He remembered seeing a performance up in Dickinson a few