The handle had split.

“Ma?”

Martha was peeling carrots.

“What?”

“There’s something inside Pa’s hammer.”

The knife stopped.

Gideon, who had been repairing a harness, looked up sharply.

Caleb carried the hammer to the table.

Thomas had used it for twelve years in the silver mines.

Martha recognized every dent.

The wooden handle had cracked near the iron head.

A thin roll of paper protruded from the hollow center.

Gideon went white.

Martha saw it.

“What is it?”

“Don’t know.”

“You’re lying.”

Gideon said nothing.

Caleb pulled the paper free.

Oilskin.

Wrapped tightly.

Inside were three folded documents and a letter.

Martha recognized Thomas’s handwriting immediately.

Her knees weakened.

MARTHA.

Just her name.

Written by a dead man.

She sat down.

Her hands shook as she unfolded it.

My dearest Martha,

If you are reading this, then I was not given the chance to tell you what I found.

Martha stopped.

“What I found?”

Gideon had not moved.

Caleb stood beside her.

She continued.

There is silver beneath the north face of Bitterroot Ridge. More than anyone in Oak Haven has ever seen.

Martha looked up.

Gideon closed his eyes.

“You knew.”

“I knew there was a vein.”

“You knew Thomas found it?”

“Keep reading.”

Her voice hardened.

“You knew.”

“Read.”

She did.

I filed the claim in Helena under your name because I no longer trust Abernathy or Jonas Pike. If anything happens to me, take the enclosed certificate to the territorial land office. Gideon Cole knows the ridge. He can show you the markers.

Martha’s vision blurred.

Jonas Pike.

Owner of the Black Crown Mine.

The mine where Thomas had died.

She kept reading.

Pike has been stealing ore from independent claims and using Abernathy’s ledgers to purchase the land after families default. I confronted him. I should not have.

Martha stopped breathing.

Caleb whispered, “Ma?”

She read the final lines.

If they say I died in a collapse, do not believe it was an accident.

Trust Gideon.

I am sorry I did not tell you sooner.

I thought silence would keep you safe.

Forgive me.

Thomas

No one spoke.

The wind outside brushed snow against the windows.

Martha lowered the letter.

Her entire body began trembling.

“Thomas’s death wasn’t an accident.”

Gideon looked at her.

“No.”

The room tilted.

“You knew.”

“I suspected.”

“You knew.”

“I couldn’t prove it.”

“You knew!”

Martha hurled the letter at him.

“You watched me bury him!”

Caleb grabbed Sarah and Bess and pulled them toward the bedroom.

Gideon did not move.

“I found Thomas at the bottom of Shaft Seven.”

Martha froze.

“There hadn’t been a cave-in.”

His voice became rough.

“He’d been struck behind the head.”

Martha’s hand rose to her mouth.

“No.”

“He was alive when I found him.”

The room disappeared.

Only Gideon’s voice remained.

“He told me Pike had found out about the claim. Told me to get the hammer to you.”

Martha stared at the hammer on the table.

“But you didn’t.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I tried.”

“What happened?”

Gideon touched the scar beside his temple.

“Someone hit me before I reached town.”

Silence.

“I woke two days later in a ravine. Hammer was gone. Thought Pike had taken it.”