He didn’t know what to expect. If Johnson showed up, would Will be at the right place to stop him? He wished he had Jonah or someone else to help him guard the house.
Mama looked tired and worried all day. Will wanted to tell her to rest, that he would handle everything. But truth be told, he needed her assistance. He couldn’t watch both sides of the house at the same time. At one point, he murmured, “Should we tell Maria?”
“No.” Mama’s voice was sharp. “I don’t want any of the other children to dwell on this. It’s bad enough that you do.”
Shortly before supper, Maria asked Will why he kept peering out the window. “Just watching it snow,” he said. A soft sleet fell and melted on impact.
“What’s wrong, Will?” She touched his arm, and he startled. “You’re scared of something.”
He shrugged.
She sat in the chair beside him, saying nothing.
He turned to her. “You should go upstairs.”
“Why?” She picked up her needlework bag and pulled out a sock she was knitting.
“Move away from the window.” He tried to sound as stern as Mac.
She frowned. “Tell me why.”
Will sighed and gave up. No matter what Mama wanted, he needed to talk to someone. “Jacob Johnson. He’s in the area again.”
Maria gasped. “Is he coming here?”
“We don’t know. But Mama and I are watching.”
“I was the one who got rid of him last time,” Maria said, sounding irritated. “Someone should have told me he’s back.”
“I just did.” Will turned back to the window, gazing out through the snow.
“I’ll help guard,” Maria said. “My bed is right by the upstairs front window. I’ll watch tonight while you get some sleep. I’ll wake you toward dawn.”
Will turned to her. “Make it sooner. Mama will be up as well, and I don’t want her alone. One of us should be awake, too.”
Maria nodded grimly.
Will remained in the parlor with Mama after the other children went to bed. “Go on up, William,” Mama said. “I’ll stay here.”
“Maria is watching also,” Will said, kissing Mama’s cheek. “I told her.”
Mama frowned at him. “I told you not to.”
“She guessed something was troubling us.” Will went to the door and turned back. “I’ll be back downstairs later. Then you can sleep.”
Maria shook Will’s shoulder sometime in the middle of the night. “It’s your turn,” she whispered.
Will hugged her briefly. “You go to sleep now. I’ll be fine.”
He waited and watched for the rest of the night and all the following morning. Will was glad when Mac returned in midafternoon.
“Did you see anyone?” Mac asked Will.
Will shook his head. “No one.”
Chapter 63: A Posse Sets Out
The day after he returned from Portland, Mac stayed close to home. He’d left Jenny and Will to manage long enough. He worked from his home study, then went to town briefly to pick up his mail after the noon meal. When he returned, he took his correspondence into the parlor to read, sitting where he could look out the window every few minutes.
All remained quiet until midafternoon when a knock sounded on the door. Mac opened it to find Sheriff Thomas. He shook the sheriff’s hand and ushered him inside.
“I can’t stay but a moment,” the lawman said, standing in the foyer. “I came to tell you Albee found what we think is Johnson’s hidey-hole. He’s got a shack on an abandoned claim northeast of town. In the hills, isolated in a little hollow.”
“Have you arrested him?”
The sheriff shook his head. “I’m taking a posse out tomorrow to bring him in. Do you want to be part of it?”
Will gasped from behind Mac.
“Of course,” Mac told Sheriff Thomas.
“Meet at my office at first light,” the lawman said.
“Who else is going?” Mac asked.
“I’ll round some men up,” Thomas said. “You’re the first.”
