In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

arrested Lutz for rape and murder under their authority. Lutz tried to fight him, and Jones killed him."

"My goodness, you lead exciting lives out here," Glenna said.

Looking at the girl's innocent face, Bethany decided it might be better if Glenna didn't learn her mother had sent Caleb Jones the message about Lutz's whereabouts.

To change the subject, she asked, "How is Samuel handling the death of his father?"

Jeanne gave her a wry smile. "Ira Johnson was a hard man to love. Most of the time Samuel was growing up, Johnson wasn't home, so Samuel never got close to him. He grieves for the father he wanted him to be. I hope eventually he will only remember the good things and put away the bad ones."

"Does it bother him because the killer hasn't been caught?" Iris asked.

"The local sheriff thinks his father's death was a hired murder, and Samuel assumes an old enemy took advantage of Johnson's trip out of his usual territories to get rid of him. Azure City is a big town and strangers come and go all the time. The chances of finding out who paid for the hit are small. It bothers him some, but his father made a lot of enemies over the years. Any one of them could have been responsible."

"What about the hired killer? Do they have any leads?"

"The sheriff can't even prove it was a hired murder," Jeanne said. "All he has to go on is the style of the killing and a certain tricorn was seen in town. One he thinks belongs to a hired killer called Blade."

Chloe made a rude noise. "He doesn't have a clue. If he says it was a paid kill, he doesn't have to work at solving it."

"Don't underestimate him," Jeanne warned her. "Sheriff Tom Yang is slow and methodical, not stupid."

"Listen to her, my dear," Giselle said. "Jeanne has an almost uncanny ability to judge men. If she says the sheriff isn't stupid, she knows what she's talking about."

"Chloe looked thoughtful. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Are you and Carlos going to be living up at the Lucky Strike?" Jeanne asked her sister.

Iris nodded. "Yes. Carlos has agreed to build a dairy facility and fence the meadow behind our house for my goats. As soon as it's done, I will bring some of them up there."

"Are you moving the whole dairy up there?"

"No, there will still be a dairy here, but I plan to put Patrice in charge of it. She will get a share of the money from the milk and cheese, of course."

"I also plan to talk Carlos into building a school for the miner's children, so they won't need to board their kids in town during the week."

"Does Carlos know about all these plans?" Bethany asked, amused.

Iris grinned at her. "He wants me to be happy up there."

Jeanne laughed. "In other words, you haven't told him yet?"

"One thing at a time," Iris said serenely.

Giselle tested the side of the teapot. "I think this has steeped long enough," she poured tea from the delicate teapot Jeanne had brought her as a gift. As Katrina handed around the matching cups as they were filled, Gran lifted hers in a toast.

"To the next generation of the Circle."

"The Circle," Chloe echoed raising her own.

After taking a sip from hers, Antoinette Larrabee's daughter Glenna sat the cup down on the table next to her. "I'm still not sure what the Circle is," she confessed.

"Neither are we," Bethany said, smiling.

Giselle looked fondly around at the women facing her. "When we formed it back in the emigration camp in Gateway City, there were only seven of us. Now with the daughters and granddaughters of each of us we will grow stronger."

"But what do we do?" asked Glenna.

Giselle smiled. "We live. We help each other when asked. If the first person asked can't do what is needed, the task gets passed on until there is someone who can."

Bethany nodded. "Like your grandmother asking if we would sponsor you when you came out here, Glenna, so you wouldn't need to make the choices she had to make."

"Yes," Giselle agreed. "It's now time for me to pass on the leadership of the River Crossing Circle to Bethany."

Bethany gulped. "Me? But—"

"The network for receiving and sending messages is already in place," her grandmother informed her. "All you will need to do is receive them and decide what actions can be taken." She looked sternly at the others. "I depend on you to support her efforts to do this. We must give back what we have been given. Do I have your promise?"

Iris and Jeanne nodded. "We promise," they said.

"I will do what I can, but I won't be here in River Crossing," Jeanne reminded her. "Katrina and I will be returning to the farm soon."

"What about the J-4?" Iris asked.

"Samuel doesn't want it," his wife replied, "But he knows it's his responsibility. He's asked Papa to look after it. Papa suggested Henry Miller might manage it, but it seems he will be escorting Gran when she goes traveling." She shrugged. "Perhaps Kevin or Katrina or one of our other children will want to run the ranch in the future. The farm is where Samuel and I intend to build our life."

"Then you will become a part of Marie's Circle in Azure City, Jeanne," Giselle told her, "And Iris will understudy Bethany here. Before I leave, I will make sure Bethany knows who else is a member in this district."

"Where are you going?" Iris asked her.

"I will be traveling around the other City States. It's time I reconnected with some old friends, and Chloe is going to travel with me as a companion. I need a younger pair of hands and feet, and she needs to widen her circle of acquaintances."

"And Henry will be traveling with you?" inquired Jeanne with a sly glance at her grandmother. "Do I smell a romance?"

Giselle looked a little self-conscious. "That is yet to be determined."

"Giselle says we will be traveling by train or by