"Their grandmother was killed by a drunk wanting money?" Lawrence gasped.
"Public drunkenness isn't something that appeared recently," Marie told him, "People have always enjoyed drugs that alter one's mental state. It's partially why temperance movements would start later because of the problems caused by alcoholism, and actually allowed the government to ignore the problems caused by drugs that today are illegal, though we're getting away from the story."
"Did Gita hunt him down?" Lilly wondered.
"Not in the way we would," Marie answered, "and there were witnesses to the murder of Balthilde Volksheer..."
+++++++
"Are you three alright?" the tavern keeper came forward slowly, looking down at the three girls crying over the body of an elderly woman, whom he assumed was a member of their family.
"NO!" Goldwyn wailed, "he killed her! He killed Grandma!"
"I'm sorry," the tavern keeper found himself apologizing, "I couldn't get out here in time to stop him."
"Why couldn't you?" Grisele demanded, "Grandma was good."
"I'm sure she was," the tavern keeper spoke, "and if I could have gotten out here in time, I would have. For now, you'd best stay with me while I get a constable. He'll track the man down."
"What about Grandma?" Goldwyn asked, tears in her eyes.
"Steps will need to be taken for her funeral," the tavern keeper sighed, "though I think that should be left to your grandfather, if we can contact him."
"Grandpa died a long time ago," Grisele told him, "of some plague. Grandma had to work for Robert Wise."
"I'll get the constable, sir," one of the tavern keeper's employees spoke.
The tavern keeper nodded and turned to another man standing at the door.
"Go find this Robert Wise," the tavern keeper said, "take the girls with you."
"Grandma wanted us to go to a mister Running-Bear," Goldwyn spoke.
"A savage?" the tavern keeper scoffed, "You'll stay with Mr. Wise. A civilized man."
"That is NOT what GRANDMA wanted," Gita growled angrily, and with much more force the tavern keeper though possible.
"Take them to the praying town," the tavern keeper then said to the man, in an almost trance-like voice.
The man looked at the tavern keeper and then at the three girls, with one of them looking exceedingly angry.
"Come along, we'd best hurry," the man spoke to them, "Don't worry the constables will catch the man who killed your grandma."
"And he will pay for what he's done," Gita vowed, "He will pay."
++++++
"They were gonna send them to live with Robert Wise?" Cassandra asked.
Marie nodded, "remember the colonists saw the Native Americans as savages and, some only saw them as partially human, much like they saw African Americans, as the Nazis would see the Jews. When one hates another group of people, one commonly denies that their target is human, making it easier to hate."
"Did the constables catch the man?" Betty wondered, "the one who murdered Balthilde?"
"They did," Marie nodded, "but that took a few days. Gita, Grisele, and Goldwyn, now kept in the praying town with Joseph Running-Bear, frequently urged him to take them to Glendale to see if the man had been caught... and for Gita, it seemed to rapidly becoming a lust for revenge..."
+++++++
"The path you're looking down is not the right one, young one," Joseph spoke as he lead them toward Glendale, "Revenge is never right."
"But he killed Grandma! He MUST pay!" Gita cried, "for nothing but MONEY!"
"Revenge wouldn't bring Balthilde back," Joseph told her, "Killing him wouldn't bring her back. And besides, the Lord says to turn the other cheek."
"But it would make me feel better," Gita grumbled to herself as Goldwyn and Grisele followed behind her.
They continued on in silence until they made it into Glendale and came to what was then the constable's office. As they did, they found nine foot tall lupman holding the man that had killed Balthilde by the shirt. His fur was black with gold highlights. The tavern keeper was also there. The constable was seated behind a desk and glancing between the wolf-man and the tavern keeper. As Joseph lead Goldwyn, Gita, and Grisele entered, the constable stood up.
"I'm afraid I must ask you to leave, sir," the constable spoke, "return to the praying town, where you belong."
"I'm not here to cause trouble," Joseph spoke, "and I am already a Christian, sir."
"All the same, you don't belong here," the constable spoke firmly.
"He is our guardian," Goldwyn spoke up, "Grandma told us to go with him if anything happened to her."
The constable then looked at the girls that had come with Joseph.
"They are the daughters of the woman that was killed, sir," the tavern keeper spoke, "I'd tend to think they want to know if he's been caught."
"Is this the murderer then?" the lupman asked as he shook the man in his grasp, "we found him on our lands and he took a swipe at one of the pack's pups... and very drunk. I could probably smell it from a hundred yards away."
"He does look like the guy I tossed out," the tavern keeper spoke, "it is him."
"You can put him down, John," the constable told the wolf-man, "I doubt he'll be going anywhere."
"They tried to... -hic-... eat me!" the man yelled.
The lupman, John, put him down.
"Eat you?" John spoke, "my pack eats venison as well as beef and pork if we can buy it at a good price, but predominantly venison. We do NOT eat people."
"We know that, John," the constable spoke, "we know."
"I've disarmed him," John told him, "You shouldn't have any trouble with him."
And with that, the lupman turned and left. He paid little notice to the three girls and had no knowledge of what his pack would go through in the distant future. The man was still paralyzed with fear from being caught on the pack's hunting grounds. He barely noticed the constable taking him by an arm.
"What will happen to him?" Gita questioned.
"He'll be tried," the constable answered, "and if found guilty, he will be punished accordingly."
"We watched him kill our grandma!" Grisele gasped, "he did kill her."
"Those are the rules we have to follow," the constable told them, "wouldn't want to punish an innocent man."
"He isn't," Gita said.
The constable looked down on the girls with some disapproval at their arguing with him, but he seemed to tolerate it.
"It is just the rules we have to follow," the constable spoke, "the tavern keeper has told me that he has more then enough witnesses to the murder that he'll be found guilty."
"So what will you do to him?" Gita asked.
"He will be punished," the constable spoke, "that is all I can say for now."
Gita glanced at the man who had killed her grandmother.
"I suppose that is all we can ask for?" Joseph spoke up and waited for the constable to nod. Once he did, he moved to usher the girls away, "I thank you, sir, for catching. The man's murder of their grandmother has been hard on these three."
"John caught him, not me," the constable answered.
"John who?" Goldwyn wondered.
"Just John," the constable commented, "the lupmans have no last names. I don't know why."
"Oh."
Once outside, the three girls followed Joseph closely. They were visibly bothered by the looks that Joseph received, but there was some relief that the man who murdered their grandmother would be punished. Gita, however, still looked somewhat angry. As the trail of the man approached, Joseph hoped he could find away to persuade the girl not to pursue her thoughts of vengeance. As the winds still blew in an ill manner around the three girls that he was no responsible for.