Read Someone Like You for Free Online

suspected of being Union spies—which, it was discovered later, they were not. The possibility that it could happen again hit her squarely. She felt nothing for this stranger, true, but the thought of anyone being hanged by an unruly crowd sickened her. Quivers of anxiety rushed over her.
    Jonah turned to Hiram and asked, “Just what crime did Mr. Garrett commit?”
    “I told you I caught him stealing,” Hiram said with much exasperation in his voice.
    “Well, what in tarnation did he steal?”
    “I caught him stealing my milk cow. That was after he stole a pie.”
    “He stole a pie?” Jonah asked.
    “Yes sir, a cow and a pie my wife baked. Mabel had just put it on the windowsill to cool when this man came along and took it.”
    A rumble of laughter erupted from the townsfolk.
    “Well now, what do you have to say to those charges, Mr. Garrett?”
    “I didn’t steal a pie.”
    “You didn’t?” Jonah scratched his head. “Hiram says you stole a pie. You say you didn’t. Now, one of you is lying and it’s my job to find out which one.”
    “Perhaps we are both telling the truth. I didn’t steal a pie, but I did take one slice.”
    “You ate one slice?”
    “No, I only took a bite; then I put it back.”
    “You took a bite and put the slice back with the rest of the pie?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s mighty strange, don’t you think? I mean, why did you steal the pie in the first place?” Jonah asked.
    “I was hungry.”
    “You were hungry, so you took a piece of pie?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then you took a bite and put it back?”
    “That’s right.”
    “You couldn’t have been too hungry if it took only a bite to fill you up. That is mighty strange behavior for a hungry man, don’t you think?”
    “I said I was hungry. I was not desperate. Only a desperate man could eat a pie that tasted that bad.”
    This time the crowd loudly erupted with laughter. Men were guffawing and slapping one another on the back. Women were laughing and shaking their heads in agreement, as if they knew exactly what point Reed Garrett was making, and they did, for everyone in the county knew that Mabel Bixby couldn’t boil an egg. It was reported that licking your fingers after touching something Mabel had cooked could lay you up for a week.
    Susannah was relieved when she heard the laughter. She felt her body relax and she leaned back, about to make a comment to her aunts, when Violette spoke up.
    “I hear Mabel’s coffee is strong enough to raise a blood blister on a rawhide boot.”
    Susannah waited for Dahlia to contradict, but heard not a word. It was the first time she could remember her aunts agreeing on something.
    When the laughter died down, Sheriff Carter confronted Reed. “What’s this about you stealing a cow?”
    “I wasn’t stealing that cow.”
    “All right. If you weren’t stealing the cow, what were you doing with it, taking it for a walk?”
    Everyone laughed.
    Except Reed Garrett, who said, “I was going to get myself a cup of milk.”
    “What did you want a cup of milk for?”
    “Maybe he was baking something,” someone shouted and members of the crowd laughed again.
    As Susannah looked at Reed, she noticed his feet were placed well apart, as if he were ready to hold his ground; in spite of his standing quite still, there was nothing about him that spoke of fear. His face was expressionless and the narrowed eyes moved from time to time to stare dispassionately across the throng. Susannah had a feeling he was judging the temperament of the bystanders.
    The sheriff looked at Reed, waiting for his answer.
    “I told you. I was hungry.”
    “And since you didn’t eat the pie, you thought you’d try a little milk,” Jonah said.
    “That’s right.”
    That answer caused a stir of conversation by the bystanders. “If you don’t have a horse and you can’t even buy a cup of milk, what are you doing here in Bluebonnet, destitute and down on your luck? Were you expecting a handout?”
    “No, and