Trail of the Hanged Man by Steve Hayes Page A

that Sven sheepishly admitted he had hidden there so Ingrid wouldn’t know he hadn’t thrown it away like she’d insisted. Among the items were a pitchfork with two prongs missing, a rusted saw with no handle, a surveyor’s tripod with only one leg, and an old harness, its leather so deteriorated it broke when they tried to untangle it. ‘Heaven only knows why I kept all this stuff,’ he said. ‘I knew I’d never use it when I was hiding it here. Guess I’m just a pack rat, like Ingrid says.’
    ‘I’m the opposite,’ Lawless said. ‘I get rid of things too quickly.’ Including people, he thought.
    ‘I inherited the trait from my father,’ Sven said as they carried the junk out behind the barn. ‘“Possessions”, he used to say, “are like memories, to be stored away and cherished later”. My mother, on the other hand, was like you. “Out with the old, in with the new”, was her motto.’ He chuckled, adding, ‘Caused some dreadful arguments. “The Battling Bjorkmans” they were known as.’ He paused, saddened by the thought of his parents, then said, ‘I still miss them, Ben. I miss my brothers and sisters, too. I tried to get them to come to America with me, but they wouldn’t. Said they loved Norway too much to leave. Thank heavens I have Ingrid and Raven or my life wouldn’t be worth a tinker’s damn.’
    Lawless felt a tinge of guilt, but said nothing.
    Returning inside the barn, they lugged an old straw mattress up to the loft for Lawless to sleep on and then stabbed the hay with pitchforks to get rid of any rats. As they worked, Sven asked Lawless if he had a wife and children. Lawless shook his head. How about parents, brothers or sisters? Again, Lawless shook hishead. Sven smiled sympathetically, then broke into a big grin and slapped Lawless on the back. ‘Well, now you’ve got us, my friend. So you’ll never be lonely again.’
    Lawless knew better. But not wanting to hurt Sven’s feelings, he kept silent. Finished in the loft, they descended the ladder and let the horses loose into the corral. Sven then grabbed the grease bucket and two brushes and together they began greasing the axles on the wagon. As they worked, Sven told Lawless about what it was like growing up in a village in Norway. In the middle of the conversation he suddenly stopped and looked at the empty stall behind him. ‘All right,’ he said sternly, ‘you can come out now.’
    Lawless looked between the spokes of the nearest wheel and saw Raven emerge from the stall. ‘I wasn’t doing nothing,’ she said defensively.
    ‘Anything,’ corrected her father. ‘If you were doing nothing, you had to be doing something.’
    ‘I meant I wasn’t listening to what you were saying.’
    ‘You’d better not be. I catch you eavesdropping and I’ll spank the fur off you.’
    ‘Have to catch me first.’
    ‘I’ll do that too,’ Sven said, more amused than angry, ‘and then I’ll double spank you.’ He faked a sudden grab at her, but she was ready and easily eluded him. She made no attempt to run away, though, and Lawless realized this was a game between them. ‘What’re you doing here anyway?’ Sven asked her. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be helping your mother?’
    ‘Nothing to help her with. That crazy Violet’s doing everything . And what she isn’t doing, Joey is.’ Raven frowned, puzzled. ‘I swear, the way they keep following Momma around, asking if they can do this or that, they must love doing chores.’
    ‘I doubt that,’ her father said. ‘They’ve just been raised properly and want to help out – unlike a certain young lady I know.’
    Raven made a face. ‘If being a lady means doing chores, I don’t want to be one. Are they going to be staying with us fromnow on?’ she added.
    ‘Until they have their own place to live, yes.’
    ‘They got an aunt and uncle in Denver, why don’t they go live with them?’
    ‘I’ve no idea,’ Sven said. ‘Why, don’t you like having them