remember his groans when Runner dug the bullet out of his shoulder. I also remember how he looked at me when he first saw me with that horrible man. I know how much Pa wants to see those men die, and I do, too." She turned and faced her mother. "I'll go tell my story to the judge and the jury, as long as I only have to look at those men long enough to identify them to the jury."
Lettie nodded. "Luke will be proud. We'll all be with you, Katie, every step of the way." She walked closer and grasped the girl's arms. "Remember, what I told you is our secret."
Katie studied her mother's gentle green eyes, seeing the woman in a whole new light, understanding her own suffering. "I won't tell." She blinked back tears. "I'm glad you found somebody like Pa."
Lettie smiled, looking out the window along with Katie, noticing Luke was standing outside the corral then talking to Robbie. She knew how miserable Robbie had been over what happened to Katie, blaming himself for not watching out for her, sure his father hated him and would never forgive him. Her heart swelled with love then when she saw Luke embrace the boy. Oh, how Robbie needed that. "I'm glad, too," she told Katie. "Your father and I have had our differences, but nothing could ever get in the way of how much I love him."
"When will the judge get to Billings?" Katie asked.
Lettie watched Luke and Robbie walk toward the house, arm in arm. "Sheriff Tracy says he should be here by Saturday." Oh, how she hated the thought of what poor Katie would have to go through, but it had to be done. There would be law and order in Montana, and men like Luke would make sure of it. Talk about a hanging was already rampant, and word was, people were already filtering into Billings from all over Montana and even from Wyoming to see the event. How sad that all that excitement had to be from her daughter's personal horror. God be with us all, she prayed.
CHAPTER 25
Lettie could see Tyler and Robbie in the street below. They had been permitted to join the crowds that swarmed into Billings for the hanging, but were ordered to stay together. Because of the delicate reason for the hanging that would take place today, Katie had chosen to stay away from the staring eyes of others and watch the hanging from a room Luke had taken on the second floor of the Billings Inn.
Lettie thought how almost none of the people milling about outside were originally from Montana. Nearly all were from other parts of the country and from all walks of life, some with past lives no one else would ever know about, come to Montana for a hundred different reasons. The Stowes, the middle-aged couple who had bought Will and Henny's place, had lost a son in the Civil War. They had owned and managed a hotel back in Ohio, then lost it all to a fire. They had moved west with their daughter to try farming, and when that failed, they had come to Montana because they had heard it was growing fast and figured they would get back into the business they knew best. Nial Bentley was from England, now married to Sydney Greene's daughter, the Greene family from Pennsylvania. The tailor,
Gino Galardo, was born in New York, and his parents had come to America from Italy. Reverend Gooding was from Illinois; Herbert Grass, the reporter for the Billings Extra, was from Wyoming and from places back east before that. Bill and Betty Richards were from Illinois.
The Double L was itself like a little village in its own right, with whole families living there now. Gone was the terrible loneliness of winter, but such a price they and others had paid for settling this untamed land. James Woodward was dead, and Matt Duncan. Little Paul was gone, and Nathan was out there... somewhere. Maybe he was dead, too. Will was gone, Henny dead, simply from a hard life. Now living here had cost poor Katie dearly.
The atmosphere outside was like a circus, people having come in from miles around. The boardinghouse and the hotel were packed to overflowing. Luke was indeed right that Billings needed another hotel, but what a hideous way to find out more room was needed. Some citizens had even rented out storage rooms, or rooms in their own