“I need your help,” Ditch said. He didn’t have time for her tears. “Samuel does, too.”

“Do you know where he is?” she said, perking up.

“I do,” Ditch admitted, “but he’s hurt. He’s hiding out, like me. If he’s found—”

“—they’ll hang him,” Idelle finished. “I know. I heard some marshals talking. How bad is he hurt?”

“Bad enough. I need some whiskey and a sheet to make more bandages. I also need some food.”

“Pa told me whiskey is bad for you,” Idelle said.

“It ain’t to drink, Idelle. I need it to clean up Samuel’s wounds.”

Worry lighted the girl’s face. “Please tell me where he is,” she pleaded, “and what happened to him?”

“I can’t,” Ditch insisted. “All I can tell you, is that some very dangerous folks have reason to believe he’s dead. I want to keep it that way.”

“But he isn’t dead,” Idelle protested. “Mama said he had to go away, to keep from getting hanged for killing the men who killed Pa. She said he weren’t never coming back.”

“You’re right,” Ditch said. “He’s alive. But if the men who believe he’s dead discover he ain’t, they’ll come after him, sure as hell. You and your mama, too. Now do you understand why he’s hiding?”

Idelle nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“Get the things I asked for and stash them behind this woodpile. I’ll be back after dark to pick ’em up. Can you manage that?”

“I think so,” she said.

“This ain’t no game,” Ditch said sternly. “If you can’t get it done, say so. I don’t want you to get in trouble doing this.”

“Samuel needs my help,” Idelle said. She looked into Ditch’s eyes. “You do, too. I’ll get it done.”

“Thank you,” Ditch said. He kissed her on the forehead. “Remember, no matter what happens, you must never, ever, tell anyone we spoke. Not even your mother. Far as you know, your brother just rode away.”

“I won’t tell Mama,” Idelle said. She stared at the ground in shame. “I can’t. She’s gonna be takin’ up with Burnell Shipley. She doesn’t think I know, but I do. It makes me sick in my stomach to think about it.”

“Don’t be so hard on your ma,” Ditch said, lifting her chin. “She’s only doing it for you and Samuel.”

She nodded and produced a weak smile. She couldn’t help it, looking into Ditch’s eyes.

“I’ve got to get back to Samuel,” Ditch said. “He’s in a bad way. Wait here until I’m gone, before you come out. It’d go poorly for all of us, especially him, if we were seen together.”

“When are you and Samuel coming back?”