Read Discovering Daisy for Free Online Page A

died that same night.”
    “So what happened then?” he queried as she grew quiet.
    “My sister was already seeing Clancy, though my father made it known that he didn’t like him,” Daisy replied. “So they married and Clancy took over everything.”
    “No brothers or uncles to look out for you?” Jacob asked wondering how a man that was not yet family had been able to step in and take control.
    “Both of my parents were only children,” she said.
    “So what made Clancy decide to come west?”
    “Adventure and the possibility of building something bigger and better than what we had in town,” she sighed as she really thought about what was going on then. “Plus I think my dad’s business partner was planning on making things difficult for Clancy. So he wanted to leave.”
    “And you had to go with them?” Jacob wanted to know why a woman who was obviously of age had been forced to go with her new brother-in-law.
    “No,” she admitted. “I had plenty of offers from friends of my parents to stay and live with them. But Amelia was all I had left and I wanted to be with her.”
    So she had come west to remain with her sister. He understood that. “So when did things start going bad?” Because he had no doubt that there was a reason why her dad and others hadn’t liked or trusted Clancy.
    “I guess looking back he must have started hitting her and stuff while we travelled, but he never did it around me. I would hear noises and stuff and when I asked he would just say that when I got a man of my own I’d find out.” She shook her head in confusion. What she and Jacob had shared hadn’t made her cry out in pain as she had heard her sister. Would that change?
    Jacob seemed to read her thoughts. “I will never hurt you physically,” he swore. “My father and mother raised us better than that.” Somehow she sensed he was being honest.
    “When he bought the homestead we all moved out to the house and tried to make a go of it,” she stated. “But it wasn’t as easy as Clancy had thought and he began to leave for long periods of time. And then he started coming back with other men, hard men.”
    “What do you mean, hard men?” Jacob asked.
    “They wore guns. It was the way they spoke, the way they walked,” she shook her head in aggravation. “I don’t know how to explain it. They just were hard.”
    He nodded his head. “So what happened?”
    “My sister would send me away while they were there and I would stay gone until I saw the sign from her that it was okay to come back,” she whispered. “She would light a big fire in the yard and I would know that it was time to head back.”
    “And?” he queried as she faltered again.
    “I noticed that she was getting quieter and quieter with each visit,” she said and a lone tear tracked down her cheek. “I noticed bruises and the fact that she would have trouble moving and lifting or carrying anything for weeks after they left. She denied anything was wrong, but I knew. I knew, and still I left when she told me to. I left her to what they did to her.”
    He reached out and pulled her to him holding her in his arms as she cried. Not the harsh sobs of last time but softer sobs that seemed to come straight from her soul.
    “You did what she told you to,” he whispered. “And you can’t know that your being there would have made a difference. It could have made it worse for her and for you.” In fact he knew it would have and he might have lost her before he ever found her.
    “So tell me about that night,” he urged as she quieted in his arms.
    She shook her head. “I have to tell you something else first, about someone else.” He tensed as he watched her face soften at the mention of this other person. Was it possible that his wife was in love with another man?
    “I stayed close one night,” she said. “I was determined to find out what they were doing and stop them from hurting her. I heard her scream and saw her being grabbed by two of