Chapter 27Libby Appleton showed up first, bringing with her a supply of milk for the infant. She and Ethan almost got into a fight over the child, but my injured lover was in no condition to put up effective combat against a hundred-ten-pound wildcat, so Libby ended up feeding the tiny child Ethan had taken to calling Wi’cin, or girl, in Lakota.
Gideon surprised me by arriving next with the regimental surgeon and two troopers in tow. The medical man was welcome. My brother-in-law’s news was not.
“John, you’re apt to be in for a rough ride when the sheriff arrives. He had to rush home earlier this morning when a neighbor rode in to let him know his wife had been attacked. He’s got a farm outside town alongside the Yanube, you know.”
“Attacked? By whom?”
“Dunno. Neighbor said Lucy wasn’t
