Chapter 1

Middleton, TX 1855

They were going to get caught!

That thought kept repeating itself as Penny sat on her bed, waiting for Anna to return. She just knew ma was going to wake up and catch them.

And Anna would be in a lot of trouble.

Penny shivered as she thought about the discipline strap ma always carried around her waist. She knew how much hurt that strap could cause. Ma had not used the strap on Anna in a long time.

But, things could suddenly change.

Penny was trying to understand the sudden need for Anna and Alley to leave home in the middle of the night. Ma was a light sleeper.

They were going to get caught!!!

When her door quietly opened, she almost fainted from fright. But instead of ma, it was Anna.

Penny let out her breath.“You scared me!” she whispered.

“You knew I was coming back. Where’s Alley?”

“Still in the kitchen.” Penny saw Anna was holding something in her hand.“What did you get?”

“My money.”

Penny’s eyes widened when she saw the bills. “I thought ma hid the money.”

“She did.”

Penny looked from the bills to her sister. “How did you find it?”

“I saw where she put it.”

Penny knew how careful ma was with the money. “Ma didn’t see you?” Penny asked as she watched her sister place a small blanket on the bed, then laid hers and Alley’s clothes neatly in a stack on top. She watched as Anna carefully hid the money in the middle of the pile of clothes.

“No. At the time, she was busy. . . making arrangements.”

Penny’s mind was already anticipating the reaction. “Ma is gonna be real mad when she finds out you stole her money.”

Anna put the last of her clothes on the top of the stack, then placed a rope on top, leaving the ends hanging outside the blanket. “I didn’t steal her money. It’s mine.”

Penny watched as Anna rolled the blanket up, then used two ribbons to tie the roll shut. “Do you really have to leave?”

Anna tied the ends of the rope together to make a loop. “I’m not marrying that fat man.”

Penny thought Anna was right. Mr. Jake Taylor was fat.

“He’s fat, he sweats a lot, and he stinks!” Anna added. She turned to Penny. “And I hate it when he calls you “little one’. Pass the biscuits, little one,” she mimicked his deep voice. “And he always calls Alley “honey’. Hows about some potatoes, honey?” She turned back to her packing. “I don’t like the look in his eyes when he talks to us.”

“Why are you supposed to marry him?” Penny asked Anna.

“Cause ma . . . said so.”

Penny thought on that. “Maybe, if you told ma how you feel, she won’t make you—”

Anna turned angry eyes at her younger sister. “She’s not my ma. And she’s not yours either. It’s best if you remember that.”

Penny stood next to her sister, her hands still clutched together. Penny knew Anna was sorry for her outburst.

“Penny, you’re too young to understand. Besides, I don’t like the way Mr. Taylor looks at me when ma or pa turn their backs.”

The door opened and Alley quietly came in. All three girls were as different as could be. Of course, the reason was they were all adopted.

Anna was just turning fifteen. Slim with olive colored skin, her hair was long and black, which made her blue eyes stand out.

Alley was a few months younger. Also slim, her skin was fair, her hair long and blonde, and her eyes were a rich brown.

Penny was only twelve. Shorter than the older two, and not as slim, Penny’s hair was brown, her eyes hazel. And unlike Anna or Alley, freckles dotted Penny’s nose and cheeks.

“I packed enough food for several days,” Alley whispered as she put the differentpiles of food on the bed. Anna pulled her pillow out if it’s case and began to fill it with the food. “Are you sure I need to go too?”

Anna turned to Alley. “Alley, you’ll be fifteen in a few months. I don’t want you to go through this.”

Penny watched as Alley nodded her head.

“What do you think Mr. Taylor will do when he finds out you’ve gone and taken the money?”

Anna’s expression was cold as she looked at Alley. “I don’t care.”

Alley paused for a moment. “You think pa will find us?”

“No! I’m not coming back!”

“Where are you going?” Penny asked.

Anna shook her head. “I can’t tell you. When ma asks, you can tell the truth. You don’t know.”

“Have you thought about what we’re going to do after we leave?” Alley asked.

Anna placed the rope she tied together over her head and around her neck. Their clothes now hung against her hip. She handed the sack of food to Alley to carry. “I’m not sure yet. I can cook and sew. And so can you. Maybe we can start our own business.”

Penny felt the familiar twinge of jealously. Ma had not taught her how to cook or sew yet. From a distance she had watched, but Anna and Alley were the ones ma had spent time with. Penny had been the one to chop and stack the wood, wash the clothes, feed the stock, milk the cows, or empty the bedpans. Ma did not seem to have any patience with her in the kitchen, or teaching her with a needle.

Anna looked around the room again, making sure she packed all they needed. Her eyes fell on Penny.

“I know you’ll be scared, and all alone. Promise me you won’t do anything to anger ma.”

“Like trying to grow a tree sprig in one of ma’s canning jars,” Alley added.

Penny shuffled around a bit. “I only wanted something that was mine.”

“You need to remember that whatever you do, think of how ma is going to react. Promise me?” Anna asked as she looked directly at Penny.

Penny nodded her head.

“And I promise you,” Anna added, “we will be together again.”

Penny’s eyes lit up with hope. “You promise?”

“No matter where they move to, I will find you. I will come back and get you.”

Penny looked at her two older sisters. It did not matter that they were not true blood sisters. In Penny’s mind, what they shared made them family for life.

The sisters hugged each other, then snuck out of the house. Penny stayed in bed, hoping Anna and Alley made it to wherever they were going.

It was only half an hour later when she heard ma get up to check on the stove. Penny tried to keep still when she heard the bedroom door open, but jumped when she heard ma scream.

“BEN, THEY’RE GONE!”

Penny answered truthfully about their whereabouts: she did not know. She watched as pa grabbed his rifle and headed out the door.

Penny did not like being in the house alone with ma. She was madder than she had ever seen her. Every now and then, ma would shake her, then slap her, wanting to know where the girls went.

But Penny still did not know.

It was several hours later when pa returned with Alley in his arms.

Alley had tripped on a tree root and sprained her ankle.

Penny tried to cover her ears when ma used the discipline strap on Alley, trying to find out where Anna went. When Alley came to their room, Penny tried to comfort the crying girl. Her backside was bruised with marks ma had made. Penny knew from experience how much Alley was hurting.

Later, Alley had explained how after she fell, she had urged Anna to continue without her. She promised Anna that she would be ok, and that she would look after Penny.

The next week was filled with anger. Ma soon found out that Anna took the money, and like Penny thought, she was mad. Penny was trying to figure out why she was so upset when it was Anna’s money, not hers.

By the end of the week, Mr. Taylor came by again. When he learned that Anna was gone, he was madder than ma, if that was possible. Penny listened from her bedroom window as he and ma shouted at each other.

Mr. Taylor spent several days at their place. Sometimes she could hear him and pa talking just outside her bedroom window.

“Are you sure about the delivery?” Mr. Taylor asked one night.

“It’s coming, Jake. Be patient,” pa said.

“Yea, well, things can happen. I don’t want to lose this shipment.”

“We won’t.”

“Are you sure no one knows about it?”

“No one’s ever found it. And I always have a secret panel in my wagon.”

Penny wondered where the secret panel was. Maybe, if it was big enough, she could hide there when ma was so mad. It could be her special place.

During dinnertime, Penny noticed how Mr. Taylor looked at both her and Alley.

“Hand me those biscuits, honey,” he would say to Alley.“Hey, little one, how’s about some butter for my biscuit?” he would say to her. She noticed Alley kept her head down, always looking at her hands or her plate.

When Mr. Taylor finally left, pa went too. It was a few days later when pa returned. Whatever he did, ma was finally not shouting at them.

Penny was surprised when, a few weeks later, Mr. Taylor came back and took Alley. Alley cried and begged ma not to send her away. Penny thought she was being punished for trying to run away. She figured, when the punishment was over, Alley would return.

Penny watched the road every day for several months, waiting. But Alley never returned. Every now and then, ma would think about Anna, then her anger would quickly build. Penny made it a point to remain outside during these times. When ma got mad like that, nothing anyone did was right.

She noticed even pa stayed away from ma at those times.

Penny tried to do all she could to keep ma happy. She made sure she was up and dressed before ma was. She did her chores before anyone had to tell her to. And she kept her room clean and tidy.

She did not want to ever feel the discipline strap again!

Day after day, Penny would watch ma from a distance as she prepared the various meals. Every month, pa would take ma to town to get supplies.

She was never allowed to go to town and shop.

She wanted so much to learn to cook and sew, like Anna and Alley. But ma would scream at her when she made any mistake.

“It’s easier if I just did it myself,” ma would snap as she pushed her aside.

She contented herself with sitting in the corner and watching as ma made the biscuits, then the gravy. She tried to impress upon her young mind each of the ingredients, so the next time ma let her help in the kitchen, she would know better. She tried to repeat what she saw to herself, to reinforce her memory.

One day, she would make ma proud.

She never learned how to cook or sew, but she did learn to read and write.

And she learned how to draw. Actually, drawing seemed to come naturally to her. On any scrap of paper she could find, she would draw whatever caught her attention. She had several drawings of Anna and Alley she had drawn from memory. And if she had no pencil, she would use the charred remains from the fireplace.

Her drawings gave her comfort and peace. And they made Anna and Alley seem closer.

She had to keep her drawings hidden. Ma did not like it when she wasted her time doing useless stuff.

There’s always work to be done, she would say.

Three months before Penny turned fifteen, Mr. Jason Banks showed up at their house. He stayed for dinner, talking about his ranch and house. As he sat across from her, Penny noticed he kept looking her way. He did not look at her the same as Mr. Taylor looked at Anna or Alley. Mr. Banks smiled more, almost encouraging her to smile back.

A month before she turned fifteen, ma packed her clothes in a bag and took her to town, to the stage depot.

“Mr. Banks is going to meet you in Clearwater,” ma told her.

“Now, you do what he tells you.”

Penny did not understand. “Why am I going to meet Mr. Banks?”

“Because, now he’s your husband.”

Penny’s eyes widened.“My husband?”

“He already sent a stage ticket for you. He has a nice place, so you mind your manners. I don’t want him regretting his decision.”

Penny understood enough about marriage. This is what Anna ran away from.

This is where Alley went when Mr. Taylor came back.

Penny watched as her ma turned and left her standing on the stage depot platform. With a ticket in her hand and a small carpetbag by her feet, Penny was determined not to show how frightened she really was. Surrounded by strangers, she grabbed her belongings and sat on one of the three benches.

As she sat alone, she wondered:

What happened to Anna?

What happened to Alley?

What was going to happen to her?