“Explain.”
Ryan dragged a hand across his face.
“I discovered Voss’s men were searching the shack.
I sent James a note telling him not to come to Number Seven because I suspected a trap.
The messenger was caught.”
Voss chuckled.
“They changed one word.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“The note said,
Do not come to Number Seven.
”
Natalie understood.
“They removed ‘not.'”
Ryan nodded.
“James thought I needed him.”
“So he went.”
“Yes.”
“And they killed him.”
Ryan’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
For months Natalie had imagined James crushed instantly beneath falling timber.
An accident.
Bad luck.
A terrible ordinary tragedy.
Now she saw him instead walking into darkness because he believed his brother needed help.
Natalie’s knees weakened.
Margaret caught her.
Ryan stepped forward.
Natalie flinched away.
His face collapsed.
He stopped.
“I’m sorry.”
She wanted to hate him.
For perhaps one minute, she did.
But beneath the anger was the unbearable truth.
Ryan had not killed James.
James had chosen to go because someone he loved might have been in danger.
That was exactly the kind of foolish thing James would have done.
Natalie began to cry.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You should have come sooner.”
“I tried.”
“I needed someone.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know.”
His eyes lifted.
“I lost him too.”
The words landed softly.
Natalie looked at Ryan.
For the first time she did not see the stranger from the trail.
She saw a brother standing outside the grave of a man they had both loved.
And neither of them knew what to do with what remained.
The next six weeks were the hardest of Natalie’s life.
The twins survived.
That surprised nearly everyone.
The boy remained weaker than his sister, and for the first ten days his breathing sometimes became so shallow Natalie sat awake pressing a finger against his tiny chest simply to reassure herself it still moved.
She named him
James Ryan Foster
.
When she told Ryan, he left the room.
Natalie found him behind Margaret’s boardinghouse twenty minutes later pretending to repair a fence that was not broken.
The girl became
Grace Margaret Foster
.
Grace gained weight quickly.
James Ryan took longer.
A doctor from Ogden visited twice.
“Keep them warm.
Feed them often.
Pray if you’re inclined.”
Natalie did all three.
Meanwhile, Marshal Quinn used James’s copied records to begin an investigation.
Edgar Voss eventually talked.
Men facing prison often discovered principles were less valuable than reduced sentences.
The forged debts were exposed.
The territorial clerk confessed.
Lucky Banner officials were charged with fraud, conspiracy, and involvement in James Foster’s death.
Natalie’s belongings were returned where possible.
Harriet the cow came home too.
That pleased Natalie almost disproportionately.
“You fought harder for that cow than the silver mine,” Margaret said.
“Harriet never lied to me.”
Ryan, standing nearby, pretended not to hear.
The land James had purchased in Natalie’s name did indeed sit above a valuable mineral vein.
Experts began using words like fortune.
Natalie cared less than they expected.
