It wasn't something that had come up in conversation other than her mentioning she'd been approached to see if it was even a remote possibility. She k...ew I would accept and support her decision whichever way it went.As I entered the judge's chambers, a couple of things made loud clicking sounds in my mind when pieces suddenly fell together.Castille was his usual pleasant self, welcoming me and thanking me for coming. It wasn't as though I had a choice in the matter but I accepted his thanks. She was a MaryPoppins with fangs and claws, as fierce as a tiger and just as pitiless.She'd spanked Dolly once for not coiling up the flex on the electriciron when he'd finished with it, and she always seemed to find a reasonto smack his own bum until it looked like a polished red plum. "What'shappening with all these strawberries?" he asked."I'm making jam," Marianne explained, straightening the napkin on hislap. "I'm a good jam-maker. I make jam all the time, you know that. Youlot eat loads. ’ ‘My, uhm…my penis,’ it was hard for her to hear him, his head turned away from her in pre-adolescent embarrassment, ‘it kind of got real hard and then, when I looked a second time, it felt like I was , you know, uhm…peeing, kinda…I guess, but nothing came out.’ Hearing nothing, he turned his head back and saw his mother smiling so sweetly at him. ‘Uhm, am I okay, Mommy? What happened? What did it mean?’ He knew he would never forget the love in her smile and the softness in her voice. ‘It. Marshal William Bennet, one of only four marshals assigned to the Oklahoma Territory, took off his hat and wiped his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. His vest and coat were packed in his bedroll. He only wore them when he wanted to impress somebody.Out here in what seemed like the trackless prairie of the Oklahoma Territory, there wasn't anybody to impress. He'd been conducting his investigation into a mysterious group of rustlers for a week now, and all he'd come up with was that there.