“A bit of a mess but I don’t think anything is broken. You’ll have to tell me if something is missing.”
Almost afraid to see what had been done to her home, she stepped inside. When things appeared only in disarray she was relieved.
Bret righted kitchen chairs. “Look carefully in case they left us a surprise.”
Sheriff Haney strode inside. “Rick’s helping round up animals. What’s happened in here?”
Bret glanced at him. “Not sure. We’re checking. Looks as if it’s mischief but we have to be sure there’re no shocks to catch us unaware.”
The sheriff took off his hat and hit his leg with it. “If this doesn’t beat all. What kind of mind thinks of things like this?”
Charlotte met his gaze. “An angry one.”
He tossed his hat on the table. “Wait here in the open while Bret and I check nooks and crannies.”
She grabbed the back of a chair for support. “What do you think could be here?” Her gaze darted around. Movement in the parlor caught her eye.
Her finger shook as she pointed where Davie had slept last night. “Look… on the pallet.”
From between the blankets, a large rattlesnake crawled out and coiled.
Bret already had his revolver drawn and he shot the rattler. “I hope we catch the yellow-bellied coyote who’d put that thing in a boy’s bedroll. He needs to be strung up by his… um, his neck.”
She was angry but she couldn’t stop shaking. “Sheriff, you better catch whoever did this before I do because if I get to him first I’ll shoot him.”
“Mrs. Dunn, you’ll have to get in line to finish off this fellow. Bad enough to attack adults but targeting children is a new low.”
Moose ran into the house. “What was the shot for?”
Rick was right behind him.
When he saw the beheaded snake, Moose stopped. “Well, I’ll swan, if that don’t beat the drum. Nice shot, Bret.”
“Thanks.” Bret looked at her. “Charlotte, do you have your revolver with you?”
She went to the cupboard and opened the door, standing back in case something fell out. After retrieving the revolver, she grabbed the broom. “I’ll check the beds.”
Bret opened drawers and cupboards. “I don’t see how anyone could have had time to do much more. When we left Winfield at the bank we went to the ice cream parlor. Probably took us not much over half an hour there. Then we came to talk to you but Winfield had already told some people about the mortgage being paid.”
The sheriff was on his all fours looking under furniture. “Whoever did this had to already have the rattler in a gunny sack stashed where he could get to it easy.”
Bret poked in the wood by the stove. “He’d need to have help, too. There was too much mischief done for one man to accomplish in a few minutes. Unless it was done by someone watching who saw us leave. If that’s the case, he’d have had plenty of time.”
Moose went to the door. “Davie, will you bring the shovel?” He turned back to Bret. “We need to bury that head before one of the dogs gets it.”
Bret checked inside the range. “We left both dogs in the barn. I wonder how they got the dogs inside the house without getting bitten.”
The sheriff asked, “All the critters back where they belong?”
Moose lit a lantern and opened the cellar. “Yeah, didn’t seem to be anything done except letting them out into the yard. Reckon I’d better check the cellar.”
Rick carefully moved everything in the parlor.
Bret looked at the sheriff. “I believe this was an attack aimed at Davie.”
Davie came in carrying the shovel. “Why at me?”
Bret gestured to the snake. “Your mother said she wouldn’t sell because this ranch was to be yours some day. If you were dead, then it would be revenge against her in several ways.”
Sheriff Haney got to his feet. “You could be right. Everyone with a brain knows she loves the children and it would break her heart to lose any one of them. Wouldn’t do any good to save the ranch for someone who wasn’t around any longer.”
Moose came out of the cellar carrying a dead salamander. “Guess I was a mite jumpy ’cause this fella surprised me. Normally I wouldn’t bother him.”
Bret grinned. “Guess we’re all a little spooked. I’m going to help Charlotte check the bedrooms.”
Charlotte was remaking the bed in what she thought of as Bret’s room when he came to the door. “I haven’t checked anything in here except the bed.”
“Okay with you if I open doors and drawers?”
“I’d appreciate it. I looked under the bed. How I’d like to strangle whoever is responsible for this then shoot him then hang him. I don’t know how long it will take before I feel safe in my own home.”
She smoothed the sheet on the bed and tucked in the corners. “Susie still has nightmares from Ike being shot and dying. She was getting better since you came.”
He opened the armoire. “We’re checking everywhere, sweetheart. You’ll know you’re safe by the time we’ve finished.”
She shook out the top sheet and froze. “Y-You shouldn’t call me that unless you mean it. Words like that mean a lot to a woman even though some men toss them around carelessly.”
He strode to her and put his hands on her shoulders to turn her toward him. “I don’t toss endearments around, not ever. I didn’t mean for it to slip out any of the times, Charlotte. I know you’ve recently lost your husband and I have no right to feel this way for you.”
Her eyes widened and her voice trembled. “We can’t help the way we feel. No one should criticize you for the way you think of
