“Will you drop the lawsuit if he gives you a written easement for the water rights?” Mac asked. Maybe this matter could be resolved. But not by tomorrow.

“I need to talk to my lawyer,” Samuel said. “See what he says.”

Mac shook his head. Samuel had no problem giving his own opinion on most matters, but when it served him to rely on someone else for delay or chicanery, he did so. “Do I have your permission to negotiate a settlement with your attorney?” Mac asked.

Samuel shrugged. “Do as you please. I ain’t sayin’ what I’ll agree to yet.”

Mac turned to Daniel. “We should delay our trip to Eugene. I hate it, but I don’t feel right leaving Zeke alone to deal with your father and his lawyer.”

“Pa—” Daniel began.

“You ain’t likely to find them two rapscallions anyway,” Samuel said. “They’s probably sailed for China by now. Jonah’s just like his pa—Franklin Pershing was a foolhardy drunk.”

Daniel glared at his father. “Jonah is my son in all but name, and I’ll thank you to—”

“He ain’t your son, not in name and not in blood. He’s Franklin Pershing’s, and he’s no better’n his father.”

The feud between the Pershings and Abercrombies had gone on since they’d met. Marriages between the families hadn’t helped. Sharing farm duties on their claims hadn’t helped. And it wouldn’t help for Mac to respond to Samuel’s harsh words now.

Despite Mac’s allying himself with the Pershings, Abercrombie usually treated Mac with grudging respect. That could end if Abercrombie learned of Mac’s and Jenny’s past. Abercrombie didn’t know Mac wasn’t Will’s father, and Mac didn’t want him ever to know. If Samuel found out, he’d likely use the information against Mac and his family. No point in riling the bitter old man now.

Jenny was furious when Mac told her he and Daniel would postpone their trip to Eugene because of Samuel Abercrombie—another delay in finding her son. “I’ve a mind to talk to Samuel Abercrombie myself,” she fumed as she paced the parlor.

“I don’t think that’s wise, Jenny,” Mac said in a soothing tone that irritated her further.

“How can you let him do this?” she demanded. “Don’t you care William is traveling farther and farther from us every day? He’s been gone for weeks now.” Her throat caught on the last few words.

“We don’t know he’s still on the move,” Mac said. “We don’t even know whether he and Jonah were in Eugene.”

“But it’s the only clue we have,” she wailed. She crossed her arms over her stomach. Will seemed lost to her, and the life of the child she carried felt equally precarious. She prayed for God to protect them both. She wanted her family back together, all safe. She wanted the normal bedlam of family life they’d enjoyed before Jacob Johnson intruded. Now, Will and Maria knew of her darkest moment, a day she’d tried so hard to bury for so many years. Will hadn’t been able to handle the knowledge, and her loving family was gone.

“I’ll still go to Eugene,” Mac said, taking her into his arms. “It won’t be long.”

Jenny sagged against him, but his embrace didn’t comfort her. “When?” she asked, her voice muffled in his shirt. She wanted to run after Will herself, but she couldn’t, not while pregnant. “When will this all end?”

“Abercrombie says he’ll consider a settlement. I need to work that out with his lawyer. It’ll only take a few days,” Mac said, his hand moving gently up and down her back. “We’ll find Will.”

But would they? Jenny wondered. Would she ever have William home again?

By the end of the week, Mac and Abercrombie’s lawyer had worked out the terms of a written lease permitting Samuel to have a ditch dug, just as Zeke had promised him weeks earlier. The agreement specified how much water Samuel could take from the creek, what would happen in low water seasons, and even how much Zeke would contribute to the building of the ditch and pond to capture the water.

“We can leave next Tuesday,” Mac told Daniel. “I’ll trust your father and Zeke to dig the ditch and pond while we’re gone. Abercrombie’s attorney has agreed to supervise the construction. He’s a good man.” With a bad client, Mac thought, though he didn’t say so—he tried to keep his feelings about Samuel out of his dealings with Daniel.

“I’ll be ready.” Daniel said. “I’m glad of the extra week at home. Esther’s now fully up and about after Martha’s birth. Bustlin’ about like she always does.”

“You named the baby Martha?” Mac asked with a smile. “How did you decide on that?”

Daniel shrugged. “We’re runnin’ out of names. We have a George already. Martha seemed to fit.”

On Tuesday, June 28, Mac and Daniel boarded the steamship south to Eugene. They brought their horses and extra clothing, and Mac had cash to buy provisions, in case they needed to travel beyond Eugene. “Depends on what we find,” Mac told Jenny as he packed. “We might get to Eugene, learn nothing, and come straight home.”

She took his arm, gripping it. “If you hear anything that indicates where William has gone, you must follow that lead. Find our boy. Please.”

He kissed her. “I’ll do my very best.” He hoped he could give Jenny what she wanted most—Will home safely.

After watching Mac ride Valiente toward the ferry dock, Jenny took her knitting to the parlor. She tried to work on a baby blanket for Esther. She hadn’t seen Esther’s new baby yet, and she hoped to take the gift to Esther soon.

Jenny had promised Mac she would stay in the house while he was gone. But she couldn’t focus on her knitting. She had no idea how long Mac would be gone, no idea where Will was, no idea whether her next child would be born healthy. She dropped a stitch, then stuffed the half-done blanket in her sewing basket in frustration. She couldn’t sit at home waiting.

Esther would be waiting as well. Jenny decided to take her knitting to Esther’s house.

She called to Maria, “We’re going to visit Esther.”

“But Pa said to stay home,” Maria protested.

“I can’t simply sit here, Maria,” Jenny said. “You can come with me, or I’ll go alone.”

Maria sighed as if she were mothering Jenny. “I’ll harness the horses.”

Jenny asked Mrs. O’Malley to watch the children, little Maggie and the others who were out of school for the summer. When Maria drove the horses and buggy into the yard, Jenny took her knitting bag outside. Once Jenny was settled in the buggy, Maria headed the horses toward the road.

When they got to Esther’s house, Maria clambered out and knocked. “Are you ready for visitors?” she called inside.

Esther came to the doorway holding her newborn. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said as Jenny climbed out of the buggy. “I thought you were confined to home.”

“I’m too tense,” Jenny said. “Aren’t you anxious, too?”

Esther laughed, gesturing to the baby in her arms and then to the turmoil in her house. “I don’t have time to worry.” She ushered Jenny and Maria inside. Maria went with Esther’s older girls to check the chicken coop for eggs, leaving Jenny and Esther alone with newborn Martha.

“May I hold her?” Jenny asked, stretching her arms out for the baby.

“I gladly give her to anyone who’ll take her,” Esther said, sighing and handing over the infant. “Every time, I forget how much work a new young’un is.” She frowned at Jenny as she moved about the kitchen. “How are you doin’?”

“I’m fine,” Jenny said, trying to convince herself as much as Esther. “William is my biggest worry at the moment.”

Esther nodded. “I wonder which I’ll do first when I see Jonah—hug him or wring his neck. Maybe both at the same time.” She poured coffee, then put a plate of day-old bread and a jar of jam on the table.

“I hope I have the chance to choose with Will,” Jenny murmured.