Anna kissed the top of Lily's head before leaving.
The town felt different when they arrived.
Or perhaps Anna did.
People looked at her.
Some openly.
Others through windows.
Rumors had traveled faster than the deputy's horse.
Outside the general store, two women stopped talking when Anna passed.
Her face burned.
Thomas noticed.
"Keep walking."
"I am."
"Then don't look at them."
"Easy for you."
He stopped.
Anna nearly walked into him.
Thomas turned toward the women.
They suddenly became interested in a barrel of apples.
Anna grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't."
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"You were thinking loudly."
That surprised a laugh from him.
The stationmaster, Samuel Price, was inside his office.
He was a narrow, elderly man with wire spectacles.
Deputy Harris had already spoken with him.
Price examined Anna's baggage tag.
"April second."
"Yes."
"You boarded in St. Joseph?"
"Morning of the third."
He nodded.
"I telegraphed their agent."
Anna's stomach tightened.
"And?"
"No answer yet."
Thomas asked, "Would the railway have a record?"
"Possibly."
Price leaned back.
"Baggage definitely. Passenger travel, less certain. But the conductor on that run is still with the line."
"When will you know?"
"When the telegraph starts answering faster than men ask questions."
Anna looked disappointed.
Price softened slightly.
"Probably tomorrow."
As they turned to leave, he said, "Miss Miller."
Anna looked back.
"People here talked about Thomas Reed for two years after his wife died because he didn't attend enough church socials."
Thomas frowned.
Price continued.
"They talked about me when my son went to California. They talked about Mrs. Dalton when she shot a wolf from her bedroom window wearing her nightclothes."
Anna blinked.
Thomas said, "That one was worth discussing."
Price ignored him.
"My point is, Willow Creek talks. It gets tired."
Anna nodded.
"Thank you."
Outside, Thomas said, "Edith really did shoot that wolf."
"I assumed he invented it."
"No. She keeps the hide."
Anna laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
They visited the county office.
Deputy Harris showed Anna the written accusation Charles had submitted.
She read it twice.
Charles claimed $940 disappeared from a locked cashbox on April fifth.
He claimed Anna possessed a duplicate office key.
She did not.
He claimed she had threatened to take what the Whitmores "owed" her.
She had never said those words.
Then Anna noticed something.
"Wait."
She pointed.
"He says he discovered the money missing Sunday morning."
Harris nodded.
"Yes."
"Whitmore Mercantile never opened Sundays."
Thomas looked at her.
"So?"
"Charles wasn't supposed to be there."
Deputy Harris leaned forward.
Anna continued.
"His father was strict about Sunday business. The office remained locked from Saturday evening until Monday."
"Could Charles enter?"
"He had keys."
Harris took the paper.
"So he claims he happened to visit a closed office Sunday morning and discovered missing money."
"Yes."
Thomas said, "Convenient."
Harris did not disagree.
They returned to the ranch before sunset.
Lily ran toward them.
"Did they prove Anna didn't do it?"