“As I remember, he left Eastfield early on. I doubt I could put a face to him now. I don’t think Jimmy much cared for him. It was sad, you know, the girl was such a pretty little thing, took after her mother. And the boy was plain as a fence post, with a nature to match. I don’t think I’ve ever met such a disagreeable child. Jimmy told me he could never keep up and was always whining. What’s more, he could never see when he wasn’t wanted.”

“Was there ever any particular trouble between Tommy Summers and your son?”

Roper shook his head. “Jimmy was never a troublesome child. Well, there was the fair in Battle. As I remember, Tommy’s father had given him a pony for his birthday, and Tommy was to show it at the fair. For a lark, Jimmy and the other boys painted the pony’s hooves purple the night before the fair. They thought it would wash right off, Jimmy said, but of course it didn’t, and they were sorry for that. It wasn’t meant to keep the pony from being shown. They just wanted to see Tommy’s face when he walked out of the barn that morning.”

“What did Tommy’s father have to say about this prank?”

“He was that upset, of course, but I said to him, they are only lads, they didn’t know the paint would stain the way it did. Even blackening the hooves didn’t help, when the sun struck them, the purple showed. I sent Jimmy over to apologize to Tommy, and that was that.”

But of course “that was that” may have satisfied the father, but what about the boy?

And Roper answered as if Rutledge had spoken aloud. “Tommy was the butt of more than one prank, now that I think about it. But it’s all part of learning to get on together, in my book. The lad just seemed to have the knack for making a nuisance of himself.”

Rutledge found himself wondering how Roper would have felt if the shoe had been on the other foot. But he said only, “Was Jeffers one of the youngsters who painted the hooves?”

“I believe he was. It was such a long time ago, and my memory isn’t what it used to be. I do recall sending Jimmy to apologize. To his credit, I don’t believe he was as thoughtless after that. It was a good lesson learned.”

“What about Anthony Pierce? Did he take part in these pranks?”