her nose from the stench.
As she watched, a wagon hurried into town and stopped in front of the mercantile. Her eyebrows pulled together, and she stood up, immediately recognizing the figures quickly jumping down.
“Is that Winnie, and little Delia?” Her aunt had come over to see what she was looking at.
“It is. Colt must still not be home, but where’s Owen? And why are they coming into town so late?”
Something in her stomach just wasn’t sitting right. The way Mrs. Hammond had driven the wagon into town and then jumped out as though she was a spry child, and not an aging widow, told Kathryn something was wrong.
She hurried out the door, lifting her skirt as she ran across the street to the mercantile. As she raced up the steps, she almost collided with Caleb as he threw the door open and ran out.
“What’s going on? Is Colt all right? Owen?” Kathryn gasped out.
Caleb kept going, stopping just long enough to look at her seriously and shake his head. “Owen’s gone missing. He left a note and said he was leaving. Go on inside. Fae is with Mrs. Hammond and Delia. I’m going to gather some men and head out to find him.”
Kathryn ran inside, with her aunt right behind her. As soon as she got through the door, Delia ran over and threw her arms around her waist.
“Miss Reeves, Owen ran away, and Pa’s not home, and we don’t even know where he is. Everyone is leaving me!”
Kathryn pulled the small arms from around her and crouched down, holding both of Delia’s hands firmly in her own as she looked into her eyes and smiled. “Delia, don’t worry. I know Mr. Bailey and all the men in this town won’t stop looking for your brother until they’ve found him. And I’m sure your pa will be home soon too.”
Tears streamed down the girl’s face from red-rimmed eyes. She sniffed and shook her head. “You’re leaving too.”
The little voice sounded so grief-stricken, that every single word she spoke tore at Kathryn’s heart.
“Oh, sweetheart.” What could she possibly say to comfort her about her own leaving? She couldn’t lie and say she would stay. So, she just pulled her into her arms and let the girl sob into her shoulder. This child had already lost so much when her mother left, and now she believed everyone else she cared about was leaving too.
When they got Delia calmed down, Kathryn held her hand and led her back into Fae and Caleb’s living quarters, pulling the child up to snuggle in beside her on the settee.
“He left a note saying he was going to the train. His spelling isn’t that good, but at least that’s what it looked like.” Mrs. Hammond sat down beside them and reached out to caress Delia’s hair, as she patted at her own eyes with her hankie.
“Where is Colt?” Kathryn was suddenly feeling an irrational anger toward the man who should be here looking after his own son.
Mrs. Hammond shook her head. “I don’t know. After all the hubbub yesterday, he said he had to get away from here, and he was heading to Brookings so he wouldn’t be back for a few days. I just never thought Owen would run away. I should have been paying more attention, but I’ve just been so upset about everything and I guess…”
Kathryn reached out and put her hand on the older woman’s. “No, Mrs. Hammond, don’t blame yourself.”
Fae came over and crouched down in front of the woman. “And don’t worry. I know Caleb, and he won’t rest until he’s found Owen. There are enough men in town who can spread out and cover a lot of ground. The boy is on foot, so he can’t have gotten very far.”
As the sun set completely over the horizon on the other side of town, the women couldn’t do anything but sit there and pray they were right.
“We’ve still got men out looking, Mrs. Hammond. I just came back to let you all know what we’ve found so far, which isn’t much. And to see if there’s anything else in the note that might give us more of a hint.”
Kathryn kept her arms around Mrs. Hammond’s shoulders as the older woman desperately tried to think. “I should have brought it with me. I was just so upset, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. If you want to ride out to the farm, Caleb, it will still be on the table where I dropped