“I…”
Cora stared at him.
“What did you do, Arthur?”
Harriet whispered, “Answer her.”
He looked at his wife.
And perhaps something inside him finally understood there was nowhere left to hide.
“Thomas wouldn’t sell.”
His voice cracked.
“I only wanted Wallace to frighten him.”
Cora’s fingers curled.
“You paid him.”
“Yes.”
“To kill Thomas?”
“No!”
Arthur shook his head violently.
“No. I told Wallace to stop the wagon. Take the map. Make Thomas understand.”
“What happened?”
Arthur looked toward the floor.
“Croft sent two freight men.”
Silas Croft cursed from the doorway.
Arthur pointed at him.
“Your men overturned the wagon!”
“I never told them—”
“You knew!”
The bank descended into shouting.
Marshal Reed raised his voice.
“Enough!”
Silence returned.
He looked at Arthur.
“You’ll come with me.”
Arthur sagged.
Then another voice spoke.
“Wait.”
Harriet.
Everyone turned.
She was trembling.
But not from fear.
From fury.
She walked toward her husband.
“I want to know one thing.”
Arthur avoided her eyes.
“Did you know Cora’s daughter was inside that house last night?”
His silence answered.
Harriet’s face crumpled.
Until that moment, Cora had regarded Harriet as vain, cruel, privileged.
But the woman standing before Arthur now looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
“You told me she was dangerous,” Harriet whispered.
Arthur frowned.
“What?”
“You told me Thomas Thornton had stolen from the bank.”
Harriet looked at Cora.
“You told me she refused charity because she thought herself better than everyone. You told me their debts were destroying honest depositors.”
Cora stared.
Harriet’s eyes filled with tears.
“I believed him.”
Then she turned toward Arthur.
“You made me cruel for you.”
Arthur said nothing.
Harriet slapped him.
The sound cracked through the bank.
“I made myself cruel,” she corrected. “But I will not remain that way for you.”
She removed her wedding ring.
Placed it on the counter.
And walked out.
Marshal Reed handcuffed Arthur Gable before noon.
Sheriff Wallace was captured two days later attempting to cross into Colorado.
Silas Croft turned state’s evidence.
Within a month, federal investigators discovered Arthur had embezzled nearly thirty thousand dollars from Clearwater Bank.
But none of that became the greatest surprise.
That came three weeks later.
The railroad representatives returned to the Thornton property after the first heavy snow.
There was no house anymore.
Only a blackened foundation.
Cora and Nellie were temporarily living in a guest cottage on Langford Ranch.
Josiah had offered it without negotiation.
Cora had accepted without pretending she could manage otherwise.
The railroad wanted the water rights.
Their initial offer was twelve thousand dollars.
Cora nearly dropped the paper.
Josiah did not.
“No.”
Cora stared at him.
“No?”
Railroad attorney Charles Benton shifted uncomfortably.
“That is an extremely generous offer.”
Josiah leaned back.
“No, it’s an extremely cheap offer.”
Cora whispered, “Josiah, twelve thousand dollars.”
“The route cannot run without your water.”
Benton sighed.
“Technically, alternate routes exist.”
“They add twenty-two miles.”
The attorney frowned.
Josiah smiled.
“I own cattle. That does not mean I can’t read engineering estimates.”
Benton returned two days later.
Twenty thousand.
Josiah said no.
Twenty-five.
No.
Thirty.
Cora nearly strangled him.
“You rejected thirty thousand dollars without asking me?”
“You would have said yes.”
“I might still!”
“That’s why I didn’t ask.”
She threw a dishcloth at him.
Nellie laughed from the table.
The final agreement arrived Christmas Eve.
The railroad would pay Cora Thornton forty thousand dollars for limited water access and a right-of-way through the southern field.
She would retain ownership of the surrounding acreage.
A depot would be built at the edge of her property.
And because Thomas’s original survey reduced construction costs substantially, the railroad would pay Nellie a small annual royalty from the water station until her twenty-first birthday.
Cora read the contract three times.
Then sat silently.
Josiah poured coffee.
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
She looked at him.
“A month ago I couldn’t buy lard.”
“I remember.”
“I have forty thousand dollars.”
“You have a contract offering forty thousand dollars.”
“That distinction is why you need a bookkeeper.”
He smiled.
Cora laughed.
This time she did not stop herself.
Josiah had been right.
It did scare birds.
It also made him look at her in a way that changed something inside both of them.
Nellie noticed first.
Children usually did.
She quietly carried her mug outside.
Cora watched her leave.
“She’s subtle.”
“No resemblance to her mother.”
Cora raised an eyebrow.
Josiah became serious.
“What will you do?”
“With the money?”
“With your life.”
The question frightened her more.
For nearly two years, survival had made every decision.
