Yes, Bramwell said. He took the savings. He took the horse. He took the food. She set the letter down.
He left us with enough cornmeal for 2 weeks and four potatoes and no way to get to town. Foss knows all of that. Foss knows it. The question is whether the judge will. She was quiet for a moment, working through it.
What kind of judge do we have? Bramwell turned from the window. His name is Aldrich. He's been on the bench in this county for 11 years. Foss says he's fair.
He's also practical. He doesn't like cases that drag. Then we need to make the facts so clear that it doesn't drag, she said. She pulled a piece of paper toward her and picked up a pen. What are you doing?
Bramwell said. Writing down every person who saw us when we arrived here, she said. Denny saw us. August Ferris. Mrs.
Callaway at the general store knew what our situation was. She's the one who told you about me. If any of them will testify to what they observed, that's better than my word alone against a lawyer's reframing. Bramwell watched her right for a moment. Foss should be doing that.
He said Foss is a lawyer in Helena who has never met any of these people. She said, I know who will talk and who won't and how to ask them. I'll give the list to Foss and he can do the formal work. She didn't look up from the paper. Also, I need you to write down exactly what condition you found us in.
Not your impression of its specific things, what we had, what the children looked like, what the homestead looked like when you rode out to it. He was quiet for a moment. You're preparing this like a case, he said. It is a case, she said. Miriam, his voice had something in it.