The Devil You Know Read Online Free PDF

point. “Oh. I see. Liberty or the jail.”
    â€œHappy could have made his acquaintance in either place,” said Willa. “But if it happened, I’m inclined to think it was probably the jail.”
    â€œHe and Pa might have shared a cell. Wouldn’t that be something?”
    Willa did not hear any condemnation in Annalea’s tone. In fact, she seemed unreasonably intrigued by the notion. “I was not suggesting that they shared a cell. I was thinking of the posters hanging in the sheriff’s office. Happy might have seen this man’s likeness on one of those.” Shrugging, Willa returned her regard to the man’s countenance. Where the skin wasn’t scraped, it was bruised, and where it wasn’t colored red and purple, it was ash. Sometime during her ministrations, the left side of his face had begun to swell. If he tried to open his eyes, he would only be able to see out of one. That struck Willa as a damn shame, although not, she reflected, for the same reasons it would strike him. She was remembering the exceptional clarity and color of his blue-gray eyes. “Right now I am hard put to believe his mother would recognize him.”
    Annalea nodded in agreement. “He seems worse off than when I found him. I didn’t think that was possible.”
    Willa started to explain how that had come to pass, but her attention was caught by Cutter’s shout from two hundred yards up the hillside. “What’s he saying?” she asked Annalea. “And what has he got in his hand?”
    Annalea had already jumped to her feet. “It’s the shoe. He found the shoe.”
    â€œLot of fussing for a shoe, though I expect this fellow will be glad of it. Wave Cutter back here. We need to go.”
    Annalea cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for Cutter.
    â€œNot what I asked,” Willa said dryly. “And here comes John Henry. I’m not sure the dog knows his name yet, but he does recognize that come-to-me cry of yours. Go on, Annalea. Walk him out to meet Cutter.” After Annalea and the dog hurried off, Willa spread one of the blankets on the wagon bed and another beside her patient.
    â€œWhat about your name? It’s the least of what we need to know, but we have to call you something.” She did not really expect a response, but she did not think she imagined a shift in his breathing. Could he hear her? She pressed on, regarding him more keenly. “On the other hand, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster never had a name, and truth be told, you put me a little in mind of him.”
    Willa waited for a twitch and was rewarded when she glimpsed his long fingers curling the merest fraction. It was something at least, although if she were being strictly honest, she had hoped that it would be his mouth that twitched. Because all things considered, it was rather a nice mouth. Not particularly amused by the odd thought, Willa reined herself in as she gathered the soiled cloths and went down to the run’s gently sloping bank to rinse them. She had just finished wringing them out when Cutter and Annalea returned, John Henry quite literally dogging their footsteps.
    Willa slung the damp cloths around her neck and stood. She absently brushed herself off as she approached the trio. “Did you find anything besides that shoe?”
    â€œBits and pieces of clothing. Evidence that there were four horses, but I think only three other men. Best as I could figure out, he rode with them for a ways, probably from town, before things took a turn. Could’ve been planned from the outset, and they surprised him, or maybe he had his suspicions and no choice in the matter. Plenty of good hanging trees back there, and we know they had a rope, but Ican’t say if that was their intention and they had a change of mind.”
    Willa nodded. “Lots of ways to kill a man, but if his death is less important than his suffering . . .”