Page 66 - Homestead By Ann Newhouse

“Have you spoken to Sofie?” she asked me. “Yes, she told me about Josh’s foolish carry on.”
“Did she tell you his father beat him with a crop and punched him so hard he fell and broke his arm?”
Johanna had tears in her eyes as she explained this. Seeing the shocked look on my face she sat down and put her head in her hands and murmured, “Sorry, I might have known she would not blame her father. Ned, we must do something about that man. Sofie will be next if he finds out about you two,” she added.
“Over my dead body!” I shouted a little too loudly with anger. “I’m going over to see Josh tomorrow to find out what happened. I will have to wait until John Tirrell is out of the way. I believe he is going to Gallop for a couple of days. This will let both Josh and Sofie speak their minds and hopefully accept help.”
Johanna informed me she’d talked with Mitch after the incident. Mitch had told his mother what had happened to Josh and said he feared for her and himself. He wanted her to agree to leave the Homestead and move to Truth. Mrs. O’ Neilson had agreed, if Mitch could get a job and a place to live. Johanna had agreed to help them.
I went to my old rucksack and took out the papers and documents I had, to confront Margarete with. I hoped she would be able to explain who they referred too and what they could mean, for me and Sofie, and what hold John had over the O’ Neilson’s. I called to Sofie and asked her to dinner in the restaurant. She refused as she was cooking for her father and Josh, saying her father had given Mrs. O’ Neilson a couple of days off. She didn’t give a reason, but I suspected John Tirrell didn’t want Margarete to see Josh’s injuries. I felt bad not telling Sofie I knew the truth about what had happened. I just arranged with her to have lunch in the big house the following day.
I then paid a visit to Margarete O’ Neilson and invited her to the lunch along with Mitch. Johanna also agreed to be there. Happy with this arrangement, I went to muck out the barns in place of Josh, where Mitch later joined me, with a lot of questions.
He wanted to know what information I’d got from Liz’s parents. I explained it was not a great deal.
“John and Shelly have some bad history, around the time of the big Ranch fire. It turns out that Shelly’s first husband, Liz’s father, died suspiciously not long after the fire. She blames the Tirrell family. Liz was born later in Truth and Shelly married Bob Tully. She is now a long time married to him. They were reluctant to give me all the details, but I’m sure Bob Tully knows what had occurred.