Do not sell them.
Do not sign anything Arthur brings you.
And if anything happens to me, take this ledger to a federal marshal, not Sheriff Wallace.
The final sentence blurred beneath Cora’s tears.
Tell Nellie her father loved her more than all the land beneath heaven.
For several seconds, the only sound was the stove popping.
Cora whispered, “He knew.”
Josiah looked at the ledger.
“What’s inside?”
Transactions.
Dates.
Loan numbers.
Names.
Arthur Gable.
Sheriff Wallace.
Silas Croft.
Payments.
Land transfers.
One entry occurred three days before Thomas died.
$300 — Wallace.
Beside it, Thomas had written:
Gable says accident must happen before railroad board arrives.
Cora stopped breathing.
Josiah took the ledger from her before she dropped it.
“This is evidence.”
“My husband…”
She looked toward the window.
“He didn’t die in an accident.”
“No.”
The word destroyed eighteen months of fragile acceptance.
Cora sank into a chair.
Josiah crouched in front of her.
“Cora.”
“They murdered him.”
“Yes.”
“Nellie asked me this morning whether her father would have bought her that red dress.”
Her voice broke.
“And I was worrying about seven cents of lard while the man who killed him owns half this town.”
Josiah’s expression hardened.
“Not for much longer.”
A sound came from outside.
A horse.
Then another.
Josiah extinguished the lamp immediately.
“Stay here.”
He drew his revolver.
Cora grabbed Thomas’s old shotgun.
Josiah glanced at her.
“You know how to use that?”
“I’ve been a widow on an isolated farm for eighteen months.”
“Fair point.”
Voices approached.
Men.
At least three.
A fist struck the door.
“Mrs. Thornton!”
Sheriff Wallace.
Cora and Josiah exchanged a look.
Wallace knocked again.
“Open up!”
Josiah whispered, “Hide the map.”
Cora shoved it beneath her apron.
“What about the ledger?”
Josiah slipped it inside his coat.
Cora opened the door.
Sheriff Wallace stood outside with two deputies.
His smile disappeared when he saw Josiah.
“Langford.”
“Wallace.”
The sheriff looked past him.
“Mrs. Thornton, we received a report that stolen bank documents are on this property.”
Cora almost laughed.
“From whom?”
“That’s official business.”
“You mean Arthur Gable?”
Wallace’s jaw tightened.
“I have authority to search.”
“Show me the warrant.”
“This is Wyoming Territory, Mrs. Thornton.”
“And you are still a sheriff, not a king.”
One deputy looked away.
Wallace’s face darkened.
Josiah stepped forward.
“You heard her.”
The sheriff rested his hand near his pistol.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
Josiah smiled without warmth.
“Everything happening on this porch concerns me.”
For a dangerous moment, neither moved.
Then a wagon appeared on the road.
Mr. Higgins.
Behind him rode six ranch hands from Langford Ranch.
Josiah had sent word before leaving town.
Wallace saw them.
His courage adjusted itself.
“We’ll return.”
Josiah nodded.
“With a warrant.”
Wallace mounted.
As he turned his horse, Josiah called after him.
“Sheriff.”
Wallace looked back.
Josiah touched his coat where the ledger rested.
“You should probably start running.”
The sheriff went pale.
By midnight, Arthur Gable knew the ledger had been found.
Wallace entered the banker’s office through the rear door.
“You said the chest was empty.”
“It was!”
“They found something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur seized his lapels.
“You fool.”
Wallace shoved him away.
“You paid me to frighten Thornton. Croft’s men were the ones who overturned his wagon.”
“You accepted the money.”
“You planned it.”
“Quiet.”
Arthur paced.
The railroad representatives were arriving the next morning.
If the Thornton documents survived until then, everything ended.
His bank.
His property.
His freedom.
Arthur looked toward the safe.
“There is one solution.”
Wallace’s eyes narrowed.
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I know that look.”
Arthur opened the safe.
Inside was cash.
Thousands.
“Burn the Thornton house.”
Wallace stared.
“No.”
“Make it look like a chimney fire.”
“The girl lives there.”
“Then wait until they leave.”
“And if they don’t?”
Arthur’s silence answered.
Wallace stepped backward.
“You’re insane.”
Arthur placed money on the desk.
“Five hundred dollars.”
“No.”
“One thousand.”
Wallace looked at the cash.
Then at Arthur.
And once again, greed defeated whatever remained of the man he had once been.
“When?”
“Before dawn.”
Nellie woke to smoke.
At first, she thought she was dreaming.
Then the window shattered.
Fire rolled across the kitchen ceiling.
“MAMA!”
Cora bolted upright.
The hallway glowed orange.
“Nellie!”
Josiah had insisted Cora and Nellie stay at the farm only because eight of his men were stationed outside.
But the attackers had not approached from the road.
They had crawled through the frozen creek bed behind the house.
Kerosene had been poured against the southern wall.
