“I saw.” Kevin spoke as if his jaw was clenched tight. “Molly and I have never spoken of how our parents died. But I could see her fear. I came in and found them dead and Molly bleeding. I hid the bodies, and we never spoke of them again. Ma was a near recluse due to Pa’s hard fists and her shame over the bruises. Pa was a man who lived recklessly, running straight into trouble all the time. They were never missed.”

“It would be good for her to talk about it.”

“After all these years? We’ve managed not to talk about it for so long, to break through that would be so hard for her . . . for both of us. I remember when I first told you how terrible it was to say it all out loud.”

“It would be hard. I can feel myself shaking as if I’ve exposed something terrible to the whole world. As if I’ve taken a huge risk. As if fear has me in its grip. But I think maybe airing it out to the world has helped.”

“And you think Molly should take that risk, too?”

“I think if she doesn’t, she’s never going to know true freedom. Whatever she witnessed when your parents died, and whatever her part was in it, keeps her chained to the past. She’s a solemn young woman who isn’t happy here and maybe can’t really be happy anywhere until she breaks those chains.”

“And if she does speak of it, she could hang for murder. That’s one brutally heavy chain.”

Eleven

The school is closed?” Molly had to force her gaping jaw shut.

“Shhh . . .” Mrs. Brownley took Molly’s arm and led her farther from the gathered congregation outside the little log church.

The services were over. The congregation wasn’t staying long outside due to the chilly weather.

Molly had packed all her belongings. She intended to stay in town while her family went home without her.

Mrs. Brownley was near the small cemetery behind the church when she glanced around Molly to make sure no one was near enough to overhear. “We are a small town. Not many children in the school. We hoped for twelve, though one family with two children is out of town a fair distance and don’t come in during the winter.”

Molly looked at the gentle snow swirling down around the tombstones. It was like her dream of independence was blowing away with the dispersing church members. It was October, and winter was as good as here. It would be her first winter in Wyoming, and the rumors of blizzards and bitter cold were frightening.

“If two of the twelve are out, or soon to be, what about the other ten?”