Zachary watched as Sadie slipped into the back seat of his father’s Pierce Arrow alongside her grandmother. He and his mother stood on the back porch and waved as they drove down the road in the opposite direction from downtown.
“Oh, my Lord,” Mary Catherine sighed. “I can’t imagine the pain our sweet Johanna is going through right now.”
Zach turned to his mother, who stood almost as tall as he was at 6 feet, and he saw the sadness in her clear blue eyes. “He’s innocent, Mama. Jacob has never laid an angry hand on anybody.”
She shook her head. “He’s always been a little different, honey, and folks around here will use that against him. You know that as well as I do.”
“But once the truth comes out…”
“We have to hope and pray that the law can protect that poor boy so the truth can come out. It won’t be easy.”
“Do you think Jo-Jo and Sadie will be all right?”
Mary Catherine pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders though the weather was warm. “The truth is they’re in danger since they’re Jacob’s only family. But Uncle Willie’s farm should be a safe place for them.”
“But why couldn’t they have just stayed here with us? Pa and I could’ve protected them!”
“We’re only four blocks from the courthouse, son. It’s just too dangerous to keep them here. For them and for us.”
A wave of irritation washed over Zachary at his mother’s words. “I don’t like sending them out to an old man’s house who can barely walk.”
Mary Catherine laid her hand on her son’s arm. “Don’t forget your Uncle Willie is still the best shot in Grayson County. ”
Zachary pulled away and stomped inside to the kitchen. It was bad enough that Jacob was being accused of such a hideous crime, but now Jo-Jo and Sadie being sent away, well, that made everything so much worse.
The phone rang and Mary Catherine rushed to answer it. “Hello?” she said. “No, he’s not here.”
Zachary came running in. “Who is it, Mama?”
She put her hand over the receiver and mouthed the words, “The sheriff,” then put the phone back up to her ear. “What’s happened? Oh no, no, no! That can’t be! Does he have a decent lawyer? What? Yes, of course. I’ll tell the Colonel. Yes, well, thank you for letting us know. Good-bye.”
Mary Catherine hung up the phone and sank down in the nearest chair, her face ashen. “The Grand Jury met an hour ago and has indicted Jacob for criminal assault.”
“But how can they do that? He’s innocent!”
“The sheriff said there was compelling evidence.”
Zach closed his eyes, not sure what to say or do.
Just then the crack of a shotgun shattered the afternoon. The sound came from the south, the direction of the courthouse.
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