"It sounds like I was taken," I said, frowning.
"We thought so as well. Your father could not bear the idea that someone he knew had done something so foul, so he told everyone you left him because of the marriage."
"I wish I could remember."
"Maybe it's better you don't. The doctor says he has met many people who are unable to recall tragedy, and he feels it's better for them that way."
"Hmmm. Maybe." I want to know what happened to her. An image popped into Nell's head. "You blamed … my cousin Philip."
The memories began to flow again, this time of the blond man with a beard and cold eyes. "Don't you repeat that to no one, Miss Josie. He has been after your father's money since before you were born," Nell said. "Your father spoilt him, too, the son he never had, but he left all his money to you." The gravity on her features faded. "But, you have returned. There is nothing Philip can do. You are better served finding a husband soon, my child, even so."
"John … Father said the same," I said, amused. "I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself."
"It is not fashionable for a woman to speak her mind as you do, and a woman's right to land is not always recognized in the uncivilized new world."
I rolled my eyes and gazed at our surroundings. We were quiet the rest of the way to town. Uncertain what to expect, I was surprised by how busy the tiny town I had seen the other night was by daylight.
"Every landowner and his son is here," Nell said, anger in her voice. "They heard you were back. Each of them greedier than the last! No daughter of John is going to sully her hands by wedding any of them."
"Whoa," I said with a laugh. "You're cute, like an angry grandma. I can take care of myself."
"That frightens me more." Nell eyed the men in town as we entered.
"My god - a real, live stagecoach!" I stared at the lumbering mode of transportation that was popular in the West. It was pulled by a team of four horses with two men seated on the driver's box. It appeared worn, the wooden carriage dusty and the spokes of large wheels flecked with mud.
"A woman of your station travels by train," Nell said with some disdain.
Not far from an inn where two stagecoaches were parked was a raised platform with a noose dangling from a center beam. I had never seen a real live gallows before. "Do they hang people here?"