Will hadn’t known Deputy Albee was married. He thought again of Mama, alone in Oregon with a baby after Mac left. Now the deputy’s wife was in a worse predicament—her husband would never return.
Will and Mac said good-bye to Zeke and the Abercrombies. “Let’s go home, son,” Mac said, clapping Will on the back.
“All right, Pa.”
Jenny cried when Mac and William entered the kitchen through the back door. “We’re filthy,” Mac said as she ran to him. But he put his arms around her and held her close. He smelled of woods and horse and sweat and blood.
She turned to William. “Are you all right?” she asked, hugging him in turn.
Will leaned over awkwardly to return her hug. “We’re both fine,” he said.
“Deputy Albee was killed,” Mac said. “But no one else was hurt.”
“And Johnson?” Jenny was almost afraid to ask.
“He’s in jail,” Mac said. “Sheriff will turn him over for trial as soon as he can.”
“Then it’s over with him?” Jenny asked.
Mac shook his head. “Can’t say for sure. He’ll be found guilty of Adam’s murder, that’s for certain. And with that murder, it’s unlikely any other charges will be necessary. Maybe Sheriff Thomas can keep our family’s name out of it. But I can’t tell you Johnson won’t start rumors.”
“If he does, he does,” William said. “We can withstand rumors.” He put his arm around Jenny’s shoulders, and she leaned into him a bit, taking strength from his assurance. “He can’t hurt us, even with the truth.”
Jenny nodded. The secret she’d feared William learning would not harm him in the long run. He was more resilient than she’d thought.
Mac went upstairs to wash, and Jenny followed him.
“You should be proud of Will,” Mac told her. “He acted like a man today.”
“But we told him not to go on the posse.” Jenny pulled a clean shirt from the wardrobe for Mac and handed it to him.
“Yes,” Mac said. “But he did a man’s job while he was with us.” He told her about Will covering for him and then for Zeke.
She closed her eyes and shuddered at the picture of her son risking his life, even for Mac and Zeke. “Land’s sake,” she whispered.
“And I asked him what we should do with Johnson. I wanted him to think through the options—vigilante justice or bringing the man back to town for trial.”
She sat on the bed facing Mac as he washed. “So Will decided to let Jacob live, even after everything the felon has done?”
“He did.” Mac wiped his face with a towel. “It was the right decision, and I’m proud of him.”
That evening, after he’d gone to bed, Will heard a soft tap on his door. “Come in,” he said.
It was Mama. She sat on the edge of his bed and brushed his hair back from his face, like she had when he was little. “I’m proud of you, William.”
“What for?” he asked.
“Mac told me you decided to let Jacob Johnson stand trial.” She smiled at him. “When did you grow up to be so wise?”
He shrugged, embarrassed by her praise. “It’s just the way I was raised.” She rose and turned to leave. “Mama?” he said.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I treated you so badly when I found out about him. I shouldn’t have said those things about you.” He’d called her a whore, he remembered. Maybe some other things, too.
She sighed. “It’s all right, William. As I said, I never wanted you to find out who fathered you.”
“Mac’s my father in everything but blood,” Will said. “I know that now.”
She walked to his bed, leaned over, and kissed his forehead. “Yes, he is. And I’m glad you have come to see it.”
Chapter 67: At Church on Sunday
Will accompanied his family to church on Sunday, the day after the posse. He felt eyes on his back as they filed into their usual pew, filling it from side to side.
The minister droned on, and Will didn’t hear most of what he said. The sermon was something about “there but for the grace of God go I.”
That was true, Will thought, as he let his thoughts roam. Only God’s grace had brought Will into this world, though the Almighty had had a pretty brutal way of bringing him into existence. Only God’s grace had brought Mac into Mama’s world, and therefore into Will’s. Only grace had kept Jonah and him safe when they ran away, only grace had kept Mac and him alive on the posse and saved them from the fate that befell Deputy Albee. How long would it be before Albee’s family could find grace after his tragic death?
When the congregation stood to sing, Will heard Mama’s lovely soprano loud and strong. He looked over the heads of the other children to see her singing:
