Saturday, March 05, 2016

Astounded: Day 5

Word Count: 30,015

Summary of Events:
Penrod visited with Pastor Locke and asked him what he knew about the Vaughans, along with talking to him about the eligible bachelor situation in town, and found it wasn't good. Jemima did some copywork of what Penrod read to her after they had lunch. After another meal Penrod asked Jemima some more questions in regards to where her father kept his cattle, what they looked like, if they had a brand, and whatnot, with plans to go out looking. Jemima was overcome with emotion while hanging the laundry to dry and spent most of the afternoon crying at the loss of her father.

Excerpt of the Day:
""Are you going to go looking for them?" Miss Vaughan asked.
"Yes," Penrod replied. "It's easier to look for living cattle than a dead man."
Miss Vaughan nodded, her face looking sad. "Yes, it is."
"I'm sorry," Penrod said quickly. He felt like he'd been callous.
"No, you're right, Papa must be gone, I wouldn't have been left alone this long otherwise," Miss Vaughan said. "He would've sent word to someone."
"I was thinking I might go look for them today, and I'll stop by and report back to you if I find anything," Penrod said.
"You should look for Papa's horse too," Miss Vaughan said.
"What did it look like?" Penrod asked.
"His name is Samuel, and he's a gelding, he should be somewhere around fifteen years old," Miss Vaughan replied. "Papa said he was a handsome black with a right fore stocking, a left rear white pastern, and a big bald face."
"Was he branded too?" Penrod asked.
"Oh no, who would brand a horse?" Miss Vaughan asked.
"Some people," Penrod replied. "I've heard of it."
"I should hope they didn't hurt Samuel," Miss Vaughan said.
"I wouldn't think so," Penrod replied. "I worked at a ranch before I came up here, we don't harm a good horse. If a horse is bloodied and battered and needs to be put out of its misery, then we'll give it that grace, but if the horse is calm, in good working condition, and willing to work, we usually work to find its owners. Of course, these men would know full well who the owner is, so they would probably have absorbed his horse into their own herd of working horses."
"So if you find Samuel you may well find who killed Papa?" Miss Vaughan asked.
"Not necessarily," Penrod replied. "If their conscience got to them they might well have sold him off quickly to someone else."
"And they could well have sold or slaughtered the cattle too," Miss Vaughan said.
"Yes," Penrod replied. "And the worst part's that they have a six month head start."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't get into town on my own," Miss Vaughan said.
"That's completely understandable," Penrod said. "I, for one, am slightly more baffled as to why someone from town didn't think that they hadn't seen you or your father in a time and come out here to see what had happened. The fact that no one thought to check up on you really leaves me shaking my head."
Miss Vaughan nodded. "Yes, there was many a night I hoped desperately that someone would come to see if I was alright, or even just find me."
Penrod nodded. He couldn't imagine being trapped alone with no ability to get help for himself. And not even a way to know if there was danger about either."

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