“No.”
Martha’s face twisted.
“It should have been mine.”
And suddenly the final piece moved into place.
Mabel stared at her mother.
“You knew the partnership agreement existed before Edwin died.”
Martha said nothing.
“You knew he had made me beneficiary.”
Silence.
“Martha,” Josiah whispered.
Mabel felt ice spreading through her veins.
“The night Edwin died…”
Harrison stepped closer.
Martha backed away.
Mabel heard herself ask the question.
“Was it an accident?”
Josiah surged forward.
“Don’t.”
Sheriff Reed restrained him.
Martha began laughing.
A terrible, exhausted laugh.
“I loved him.”
Mabel stopped breathing.
“I loved Edwin more than I ever loved anyone.”
Tears streaked Martha’s face.
“And he was going to leave.”
“Leave where?” Mabel whispered.
“With you.”
The world tilted.
“He discovered Josiah had taken money. Edwin wanted to expose him, take you, and go to California.”
Martha pressed both hands to her temples.
“He said I could come.”
Mabel whispered, “Why didn’t you?”
“Because Clementine was three.”
Clementine recoiled.
“I couldn’t take both of you. Josiah would never allow it. Edwin said…”
Her voice broke.
“Edwin said you were his responsibility.”
Mabel understood before she finished.
“He was going to take me and leave Clementine behind.”
“Yes.”
Clementine looked shattered.
Martha continued.
“We fought at the hotel. I begged him not to destroy the family. He walked out.”
“And then?”
Martha closed her eyes.
“I followed.”
The auction yard had become silent.
Not a horse moved.
Not a man coughed.
“He was near the railway embankment. We argued. He said he had waited thirteen years to be your father.”
Martha looked at Mabel.
“He turned away.”
Her lips trembled.
“I grabbed him.”
Mabel stopped feeling the ground beneath her boots.
“He pulled away.”
Martha’s voice became a whisper.
“And he fell.”
Clementine covered her mouth.
Mabel could hear her own heartbeat.
“Did he die immediately?”
“No.”
Martha’s answer was barely audible.
“He was alive.”
Mabel’s stomach twisted.
“You could have helped him.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t.”
Martha looked at her daughter.
The woman she had hidden.
The child whose face reminded her of a man lying beside railway tracks.
“I was afraid.”
Mabel began crying.
“You left my father to die.”
Martha sank to her knees.
“Yes.”
Sheriff Reed slowly approached.
But Martha reached inside her dress.
Harrison moved instantly.
“Mabel!”
Steel flashed.
Not a gun.
A folded piece of paper.
Martha held it out.
“Before you hate me forever, read this.”
Mabel did not move.
Harrison took the paper.
Opened it.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” Mabel asked.
He looked at Sheriff Reed.
Then Silas Bell, who had arrived for the auction.
“It’s another letter.”
“From Edwin?”
“No.”
Harrison looked at Mabel.
“From my father.”
Silas took it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then widened.
“What?”
Silas looked up.
“This letter is dated two weeks after Edwin Marsh died.”
Mabel waited.
Silas swallowed.
“Thomas Cole writes that he personally witnessed Edwin alive in Denver.”
Nothing made sense.
Mabel stared at Martha.
“You said…”
Martha was crying.
“He survived the fall.”
Josiah shouted, “Martha!”
But it was too late.
Harrison seized the metal meaning hidden inside the words before anyone else.
“If Edwin survived…”
He looked at Silas.
“…then who was buried beside the railway?”
Silas went pale.
Martha smiled through her tears.
“No one.”
The crowd erupted.
Mabel could barely stand.
“What happened to him?”
Martha looked toward the western road.
“He left.”
“With injuries?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the fall changed everything. He knew if he took you, Josiah would expose the affair. He knew scandal would follow you.”
“So he abandoned me?”
“No.”
Martha shook her head.
“He watched you.”
Mabel stared.
“What?”
“From a distance.”
“Martha,” Josiah pleaded.
But Martha seemed almost relieved now.
“He wrote every year.”
“Where are the letters?”
