Not today.
“I’ll buy him,” she said.
For one suspended moment, even the wind seemed to stop.
Sheriff McCrae’s mustache twitched with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Now, Mrs. Hartman, this ain’t a church charity case. This here’s a dangerous—”
“I said I’ll buy him.” Eliza didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t need to. The words landed like an ax set into a chopping block.
She reached into her worn purse and pulled out a small cloth bundle. Coins clinked softly as she held it up.
“Seventy dollars,” she said. “Everything I have.”
The crowd erupted.
“Eliza, have you lost your mind?” gasped Mrs. Halloway, the banker’s wife, hand flying to her throat as if scandal were a choking hazard. “You can’t bring that… that creature onto your property.”
“He’s a thief!”
