Jennie wiped her brow with the dingy white apron that hung around her waist. A long sigh followed as she watched her father ready the chicken for the evening meal. Her eyes longed for the hills and what lay beyond, but her father kept his eyes on her; more so since her mother died five years ago.
Jennie filled in the gaps in more than one way. How she yearn for and escape and leave that prairie house for the comfort of a real home and a real bed with a real family. One that loved her the way any teen girl should be loved. She prayed to get away from her father's clutch and his drunken ways which made her ill to think of. She stood quietly and watch birds in circled flight, freely winging in the sky. Jennie so much wanted to be there with them - anywhere but where she was at that moment.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by her father who gruffly grabbed her forearm. "You dreamin' again?!" He shook her hard and leered at her.
"No, Pa...I was..." fear flooded into her heart. He readied his back hand. "You was what?" Thomas Brown pulled his daughter even closer and squeezed her arm tight as he tried to get an answer from his daughter. His eyes were black from hate and mistrust. "You look just like yer Ma did...always looking into them hills." he shook her hard.
Jennie broke down and cried. "I was only wishin' that Ma would come back..." she continued to sob.
"Well she ain't! And you know that!" Brown barked at his only offspring and pushed her to the ground. "Now get them things hung on that line and get to cookin' supper!" He marched back to the barn to finish off the chicken. As he stepped though the open door he hollered back, "You better do right girl. If I have to tell you one more time to stop dreamin', I'll shoot you..."
Jennie slowly pushed herself off the dusty ground. Being in her late teen years she still needed a mother figure in her life. But her father made life so miserable for her mother that the woman just died one day - likely from loneliness and hate that consumed her waking hours. Jennie sighed and started to hang the laundry on the line as her father instructed - she daren't tell him she felt light headed and wished to lay down.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Festus hummed his way down the boardwalk on Front Street toward the jail house. Doc was part way down his stairs as he watch the hill man strut by. Doc chuckled to himself knowing that when Festus Haggen had something on his mind, he'd hum until the cows came home. Now curiosity was getting the better of the town doctor and he wondered what could be so darn important that such attention was required. Doc reached the boardwalk himself and watch Festus entre the jail house. He also noted that Festus looked back over his shoulder to see that no-one was following him.
Doc straightened his back and ran his fingers of his right hand over the top of his ear. "Somethin' wrong, Doc?" Kitty spoke from behind.
Doc turned and looked Kitty in the eye. "Kinda hard to say. Did you see Festus trot by here just a moment ago?" He returned his look to the jail house.
"I sure did. Where'd he go?" Kitty stepped up beside the doctor and looked up and down the street.
Doc pointed lazily over to the red brick jail house. "He went into Matt's office. He looked pretty suspicious to me." Doc looked back to Kitty who wore an unusual look on her face. "What?" He bark.
Kitty couldn't help but laugh out loud which thoroughly exasperated the physician. "You're worse than a group of gossips!" Kitty gasped between laughs.
"Oh! Is that so?" Doc mumbled in self defence while swiping his hand across his greying moustache. "Well, if people in this town would act half normal, I wouldn't begin to think that something is in the water supply..." he grumped as he looked back to the jail house.
Kitty regained her composure and took Doc by the arm and looped her's over his. "Come on Curley, let's go see what's up." Doc adjusted his hat and curled his lip in some disapproval but went along with Kitty anyway. She smiled warmly at her friend and the two of them strolled to the law office.