He said he could tell if they were happy or scared just by the sounds they made at night.”
“The noises? You mean the sheep?” the deputy asked.ĭewey lifted his head and frowned at the silly question. He said he’d been having trouble sleeping. “I don’t know,” the boy said, dropping his voice and his head. “Where is Branch now?” Maddie asked, ignoring the warning look the deputy shot her. “For the past four days, you’ve been up in the mountains with the sheepherder, is that right?” “How about we start at the beginning?” Jamison said. The fork froze in Dewey’s hand, and then slowly he began to scrape the crumbs from the plate, never taking his eyes off the table, before dropping his fork and washing the cake down with the rest of his coffee. “Son, can you tell me what happened?” the deputy asked. What of her sheep? She’d been hanging on to the ranch by a thread for so long. She realized with a start that Branch wouldn’t have let the boy go hungry-that was, if he’d been able to take care of the two of them.ĭid that mean something had happened to Branch? Her stomach dropped at the thought. “Maddie was just telling me you were hired on as the sheepherder’s tender.”ĭewey nodded but kept his eyes on the cake he was in the process of devouring. Jamison shot her an annoyed look before turning back to the boy again.
She desperately needed to know what had happened and what she was going to have to do about it. Maddie tried to still her impatience as she sliced the deputy a large portion and topped off his coffee even though he hadn’t touched it. She felt her chest tighten at the thought of what kind of trouble Dewey might be in. Dewey ignored both and began to slurp up the hot coffee as if dying of thirst. She automatically reached for the sugar and cream because that was the way Matthew had always taken his coffee. She’d planned to take the cake to the stock-growers’ meeting she had later in the afternoon, but all her plans would change now.ĭewey pulled out a chair at the end of the table, and she placed a slice of cake and a mug of coffee in front of him. “Sit,” she ordered, and turned away to cut the chocolate cake she’d made only that morning. She already felt sick at heart as it was for Dewey, for his horse, for whatever had frightened him and maybe worse, whatever he might have done. He looked enough like her Matthew that it felt like being kicked by a horse. “Come have some coffee,” she called, moving to get him a mug.ĭewey came meekly into the kitchen, wearing her son’s clothing. “I don’t really know,” she said quietly then turned as Dewey filled the open kitchen doorway. “Boy stuff, I would imagine.” She glanced toward the sound of footfalls in the hallway. His father thought spending the summer in the mountains, away from his friends.” Silence stretched between them until she finally broke it. “You might as well tell me if the boy’s been in trouble,” Jamison said. If this man would just let her talk to Dewey and find out what had happened up in those mountains, she could get this cleared up before Deputy Jamison jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Who says he’s in trouble now?” she snapped, and looked away, angry with herself, Dewey and the situation. The deputy studied her for a long moment before he asked, “Has Dewey been in trouble before?” That’s why Chester asked me to give the boy a job and made me his guardian.” His father works odd jobs that take him north to the Bakken oil fields for long periods of time. “If you’re his legal guardian, then where are his parents?” “Plenty of men his age are doing a lot harder ranch work than being a sheep tender.” She knew she sounded defensive, but the deputy unnerved her with his intent silver gaze. “Sixteen.” She saw the deputy’s eyes widen. “So the boy hadn’t been a tender before?” “Dewey’s a little green, I’ll admit, but I figured he’d learn well enough from Branch.” Maddie hated to admit she’d had misgivings about giving the boy the job. “Did everything appear normal when you left them up in the mountains?” “That’s the name I’ve been putting on his paycheck for almost twenty-five years. She gripped her mug tighter as she lifted it to her lips. That was the last time I saw either of them until.” An image of Dewey’s horse, then the boy flashed into her mind. “Four days ago when I helped take the sheep up. “When was the last time you heard from your sheepherder?” “Branch just took the sheep up to the grazing area four days ago.”
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