"That may be true, but until those children are on that train heading east, I won't give up trying."
***
"Are you ready, Nathan?"
Nathan nodded. "Yes, Pa."
"Then put your bag in the wagon," Sam said, doing his best to keep his voice from breaking. God, it was hard to talk with a lump the size of a potato in your throat. "Where are Joseph and Becky?"
"Outside, I think," Nathan replied. "They wanted to say goodbye to Lulu and Samson."
"What about you? Don't you want to say goodbye?"
Nathan eyed his father squarely, but Sam detected a quiver in his chin when he spoke. "They's just horses."
Sam suspected Nathan had already spent a fair bit of time in the barn that morning, but he said nothing. "I suppose that's so."
"When do we gotta go?" Nathan asked.
Sam glanced at the grandfather clock near the door. "Soon."
Soon. A few more hours, and he'd be alone. A few more hours, and the past ten years of his life would be gone, as if they'd never happened. A few more hours, and he'd be coming home to a house filled with nothing but memories.
Nathan's voice drew Sam's attention back. Nathan was gazing at the ceiling, but Sam saw the shimmer of tears in the little boy's eyes. "The lady lied."
"What lady?"
"Miss Emma. She lied. She said she wouldn't let you send us away. But you're gonna, ain'tcha?"
Damn the woman! Why had she promised them something she couldn't deliver?
"She didn't lie exactly," he suggested. Yes, she did. She'd stuck her nose into my business and made this whole thing even harder than it already is.
"She didn't?" Nathan's eyes widened. "You mean we don't gotta go?"
"No. That's not what I mean. She just ..." She just what? She just got carried away and butted into something she had no business in. She just gave them hope, hope that he had to destroy. "She just ... tried to help, that's all. But she doesn't know us, and she doesn't understand."
The hopeful expression on Nathan's face faded. "Me neither," he muttered.
"Nathan ..."
Nathan turned, his gaze searching his father's face.
"I'm sorry."
Nathan stared at Sam for what seemed like minutes, but it was only a few seconds. When he finally spoke, hi
s voice was louder than usual, and he pronounced his words carefully. "Don't matter. I don't care if you don't want us."
The words smashed into Sam's gut like a fist. Before he could catch his breath, Nathan turned and ran out.
"Well, Nathan Jenkins, ain't you a sight for sore eyes?" The voice outside boomed. Sam looked outside to see Fred Holloway climbing the steps. "Why if I didn't know better, I'd swear you was all spiffied up for some young lady."
"It's for my grandma and grandpa," Nathan replied solemnly. "Pa said we should look cibi ... civ ..."
"Civilized," Fred put in.
"Yeah. Civilized. Pa says we don't want our grandma and grandpa to think we're savages just 'cause we live in Texas."