The barn was finished by midafternoon. Douglas volunteered to keep an eye on the house and newly rebuilt barn, so the others could go to the dance. Clyde wanted to stay too but was forced into going by Mary, who insisted both he and Robert needed to get out and socialize with the young ladies. They gave Mark a ride in gratitude for his help with the barn.

The dance was being held in a large barn. It was not as well attended as it might have been in other places as a lot of people in the area didn't hold with dancing, thinking it a sin.

Joan Campbell was waiting outside by the entrance when they got there. She wasn't there to dance as she was in mourning. She was laying there in wait for Ruth, knowing her family would be playing there.

"I thought witches only dance in the woods on a full moon," Joan sneered when they got close enough to hear.

"Obviously not," Mark returned cheerfully, "since you're here."

Although Kid wasn't overly fond of Mark, he couldn't help being amused by his comeback and gave him a smile, which Mark returned. Was it possible they would end up as friends?

"My brother was murdered by this witch," she said with her finger stuck out accusingly at Ruth. Then she directed the next part to her, "And I'll see you in hell first before I let anyone else fall by your doing."

Mary put a hand over Danny's ear and pulled him against her side though it was a little too late to shelter him from the language. "Have some decency. My grandbabies are here."

"I suggest you be on your way, ma'am," Kid said simply but meaningfully.

Ruth, on the other hand, looked at her with compassion. "Joan, if there's anything I can do—"

Joan cut her off. "You always were a self-righteous, vulgar girl. Even if you aren't a witch, you could've used your healing powers and saved him. I'll leave for now, but you're going to pay for this one way or another."

"I could not've. I don't decide who lives or dies and if he thought the power came from me or the devil, which obviously he did as you do, his faith couldn't have healed him. All I could've done is pray for him and I would have if I'd've known."

Joan gave an unladylike snort of disgust and disbelief. Then she stormed away from the barn. There was a volatile woman, Kid thought. The whole Campbell family seemed to be hot-tempered, unstable people. Was she behind the acts? Still, how could she or Michael have kept from making tracks in the snow? They couldn't be the ones behind the chickens unless the barn and chickens were 2 separate happenings, which he doubted. They were just everyday rabble rousers, who weren't doing Ruth or the McKenzies any favors but not doing the deeds themselves. It was someone in Ruth's own family or it was Samuel, the only non-family who had made tracks in the snow before the chickens had been discovered.

Anna was mortified by the scene and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here at the moment. "If Joan is any sign, people are going to be staring at us when we go in. I should've stayed home with Douglas."

"If they stare, it's only because the women in this family are so beautiful," Mark replied.

Kid bristled but realized he was talking mainly to Anna and it did manage to get a smile from her. She quickly separated from them inside though in favor of Samuel.

"Well, Danny, how about you and me kick up our heels?" Ruth suggested.

Danny looked up at Kid, who must have seemed like a giant to him, as if he needed his permission.

Ruth laughed. "I don't think your uncle cares. He's going to be playing the guitar not dancing."

"I trust you to take good care of her," he told the boy.

Danny's chest puffed up with being given such an important task and he took her hand, leading her out to the floor with a skip, eager to start dancing though there was no music yet, causing Kid to smile. He didn't know if the boy thought of him as an uncle yet, but he did have respect for him now.

Mary's brothers were already waiting as they made their way over to where the musicians would sit. The men had a banjo and a fiddle to add to the sound. He and Mary took their seats on the stools and got their guitars ready.

The little woman could play. Ruth hadn't been exaggerating. She had a style all of her own. She was coaxing out melodies from it he didn't know you could get from a guitar. He was amazed at the way her thumb hit the bass and middle strings while her pointer finger created a rhythm. He could've just sat there and watched her, but her look demanded that he join her and so he added his simpler style to her own.

He watched with a smile as Ruth and Danny hopped around the room more than danced, out of breath but with wide, beaming smiles on both their faces. She was so good with children. He couldn't wait until they had children of their own someday.

"You play fine," Mary complimented after they'd played their first set.

"Not as good as you."

"I'm older. Been around longer. Who taught you to play?"

"Nobody. I taught myself."

"That's quite an accomplishment. It ain't everybody that can do that and I can see that the tunes you don't know, you're quick to pick up on. You've got a musical gift, son, and a pleasing voice. Ruth don't think much about her musical ability either, but once she's learned a song, she's got it committed to memory. She can pick out a tune or remember the lyrics to a song quicker than you can blink and when she does perform, for the Lord mostly, she gives it her all. She puts her heart and soul into it."

"I've heard her sing and play and I do enjoy her, ma'am." He chuckled. "Her hand flies on the guitar at an unholy speed. I don't know how she does it, but it sounds good."

"Yeah, she's a bundle of energy alright, and please, call me Mary. Ma'am or Mrs. McKenzie is entirely too formal."

"Alright then, Mary." His position gave him the advantage of being able to see everybody and he had been keeping a close eye on the family. Clyde was sitting in the corner blushing bashfully every time a girl came near and not asking anyone to dance.

Mary noted where he was looking. "I reckon he'll get a girl when he's good and ready. He's young yet."

"Robert seems to be ready," Kid said with a wry grin.

"He's a flirt is what he is. I ain't seen him dance with a single girl twice tonight."

Mostly though Kid had been watching Anna. She danced almost exclusively with Samuel. They were as good as engaged from the look of things.

Mary stopped in the middle of the song once. All the dancers came to a standstill. When he looked at her quizzically, she explained. "It's out of tune. These folks didn't come here to listen to bad music."

She quickly got it back in tune. She was as fussy with her guitar as she was everything else, but he was quickly coming to enjoy that about her now that he wasn't one of those things she was fussy about.

During the next short break, he went for a drink. It was amazing that strumming a guitar could make a man as thirsty and parched as if he had been dancing. He was met at the punch bowl by Ruth's father.

"I've noticed you haven't been able to keep your eyes off my daughter," James said accusingly.

"Well, sir, I am married to her," he reminded him before taking a drink.

"Not Ruth, Anna," he clarified.

The punch suddenly became thicker and it was an effort to keep from choking. How was he going to explain that away? It was too soon to go spouting off accusations with no evidence to back it up.

"You've got a wandering eye," James continued, not waiting for him to come up with a suitable defense. "Just one more reason for me not to like you. You may have charmed my wife, but you ain't going to charm me."

"I ain't saying I don't admire a pretty lady. Lord knows, I've carried my admiration a little too far at times, but I've never loved or wanted to marry another woman beside your daughter, your middle daughter," he added, in case he was confused on the point. "If it helps, Ruth didn't marry me with any blinders on. She knows my past, my whole sordid past, and loves me for the man I am now by God's grace. I won't stray."

"Pretty words. You may not think you'll ever hurt her, but that's your youth talking. I'm sure she does know all about your past and forgive you, but I don't. No father wants their little girl to marry a man who has a long history with women; it means you have no respect for ladies or boundaries. The marriage won't end well even if you mean it to."

"If I ever hurt Ruth, I give you permission to shoot me like you've wanted to from the beginning," Kid promised.

"Deal," he said with no traces of humor.

As long as he was having this confrontation with his father-in-law, he thought he might as well have it out. "But I'm not the one hurting her, you are."

James' eyes narrowed. "How do you figure that?"

"Because Ruth wants us to get along. And you don't approve of her choice to go out west and be a healer and a revivalist. In a lot of ways, that's the same as rejecting her."

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then he humphed. "That's not what my disapproval means and I think I know my daughter better than you." Then he walked over to talk to Mary while she was on break.

It hadn't went well, Kid thought. Nothing had been solved, but at least they had finally cleared the air.

When the short break was over, he started to sit down on his stool again.

"Go dance with Ruth," Mary ordered. "You're too young to spend your whole night sitting and playing."

He grinned. He didn't need to be told twice.

As he approached Ruth, he hoped she hadn't notice his watching Anna. He didn't want to have to explain it to her. Although he would if he had to rather than letting her think he was being unfaithful. "May I have this dance?" he asked with a hand out.

"Well, you are the most handsome man here," she said as if she were debating it.

"Not the most light on my feet though," he said with a wry grin.

"It's worth a few bruised toes to spend some time with you," she teased as she scrunched her nose up in the way that he found adorable.

He relaxed when he was out on the floor with her. He would never be graceful, but he managed to keep from tripping over himself with her in his arms. Her cheeks were glowing prettily and her eyes bright from all the dancing she had done. Mostly with her relations as no one else had been giving her the time of day. "You been having a good time?"

She shrugged. "Dancing wise, yes, and I got some folks to talk to me in between times. I don't know that I was ever popular, you know what they say about never being appreciated in your hometown and all that, but people at least tolerated me. Now they're afraid of me… but I'm going to church tomorrow. I'm going to ask the pastor to let me speak. Maybe I can correct some misconceptions and make some of this die down. Although good news and truth never seem to travel as fast as bad news and lies."

"Ain't that the truth." He hesitated a moment before asking, "You think that Ronald may have been murdered?"

Ruth shook her head, "Not according to my granny. She attended his body. It was just an unlucky coincidence, I think."

"I'll be glad when we have some miles between us and this place."

"We can't leave until we find out who is doing this."

He rested his chin on the top of her head. "I know." His eyes flitted to Anna and Samuel who were also holding a private chat. Was it possible they were in league together? It didn't look like they were whispering sweet nothings to each other. "I got some ideas on who it might be."

"Oh?"

"I just hope I'm wrong."