Going for a run left me dripping sweat when I eventually circled home, and my luck was holding ... Kari's car was still missing. Damn. I slipped insid... quietly and got into my room. I threw the lock, then climbed into the shower. I should not have been surprised when Barb was sitting on my bed when I came out of the bathroom. I paused toweling my hair dry, resisting the temptation to cover up."You've forgotten the rules?" Barb shrugged, making no effort to get up or look away. She bit her lower. Riles said, ‘Yes, but it was Cheyenne he ran away from. That’s where his mother and uncle ended up.”He looked like he was around seven or eight; turned out he was very small for his age — 14.Molly and Cayuse and I formed a privacy shield as Riles gently unbuttoned his tattered shirt. Rosie gasped and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.The boy’s shoulders and chest and back were crisscrossed with ugly welts. A rawhide riding whip, I would guess. Maybe a leather belt. Maybe both. Riles eased. I was so looking forward to some cross dressing and thanks to Barney, well from that time on I no longer liked him and I swore to get even.I was so angry I almost forgot the weird look Barney had as he fingered my aunts double string of pearls, Then I knew something was very much mixed up. A guy does not make notes of how a guy looks at something but he knows a weird look, and that weird look along with a cop fingering a double string of pearls really told me something. I somehow knew beyond a. I'm Lucy”, I answered, while he took a seat on my towel like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Did you just move here? I've never seen you here” he asked.I blushed a bit more. I never had considered the possibility of someone realizing I wasn't from here. I swallowed down the nervous knot in my throat and shook my head. “No, I'm here with my dad”, I lied. “He has to do some shopping in Greenhill, so I thought I use the opportunity and the good weather to work on my tan.”I started to.