Caleb survived.
That was the first mercy.
The second was that he woke before midnight.
By then Dr. Whitcomb had stitched the cut across his temple and wrapped his ribs. Two were broken. His left shoulder had been dislocated. Whoever attacked him had used fists, boots and probably a rifle stock.
Amos stood beside the bunkhouse cot.
“Tell me.”
Caleb's swollen eyes opened.
“Kane wasn't alone.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Did you recognize them?”
“One. Briggs.”
Pierce swore.
I knew Briggs by reputation. He worked Kane's ranch and had once been jailed for breaking a man's jaw during a card game.
“What happened?” Sheriff Harlan asked.
Caleb swallowed.
“Found 'em at the fence. They had tools. Asked what they were doing.”
“And?”
“Kane said measuring what would be his by spring.”
Amos's jaw flexed.
“I told him he'd have to bury Bell first.”
Caleb tried to smile.
“Probably shouldn't have.”
“No,” Amos said. “Probably not.”
“He hit me.”
“Then?”
“Don't remember much.”
Harlan wrote everything.
“This is enough for assault charges.”
“Against Kane?” I asked.
“If Caleb testifies.”
“I will,” Caleb muttered.
The sheriff nodded.
“We'll arrest him tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Amos said.
“He has armed men. I'm not riding into Kane's place at midnight with two deputies.”
Amos looked ready to argue.
I touched his arm.
“Let the sheriff do his work.”
He glanced at me.
For once, he listened.
We returned to the house after one in the morning.
The boys were waiting.
“Caleb?” Henry asked.
“He'll recover.”
Benji started crying.
“I don't want him dead.”
“He isn't dying,” I said.
“Promise?”
I hated promises about things beyond my control.
But I crouched.
“I promise he is alive tonight, and tonight is what we have.”
He considered this.
Then hugged me.
Samuel looked at Amos.
“What happens now?”
“Kane goes to jail.”
“And if he doesn't?”
Amos's gaze hardened.
“Then we keep you safe.”
Samuel shook his head.
“All of us.”
“What?”
“You keep saying you.”
He pointed around the room.
“It's us.”
Amos stared at him.
Samuel continued, “If this is our home, then stop acting like you're the only one allowed to defend it.”
I expected Amos to tell him he was fourteen.
He didn't.
He looked at me.
I said, “He's right.”
Henry said, “I can make alarms.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What kind?” Amos asked cautiously.
“Wire. Bells. Around the barn and house.”
Luke added, “We can keep watch.”
“No children with rifles,” I said.
Samuel opened his mouth.
“No.”
He closed it.
Amos leaned against the table.
“All right.”
So we prepared.
Not for war.
For caution.
Henry created a crude warning system using wire and tin cups filled with nails.
Pierce placed lanterns around the main yard.
Samuel slept in the room overlooking the barn.
Luke kept track of who entered and left the property because Luke kept track of everything.
Benji was assigned the vital role of staying wherever I told him.
This proved the least reliable part of the plan.
Morning came.
The sheriff rode east.
He returned four hours later.
Alone.
“Kane is gone.”
Amos's face went cold.
“Gone where?”
“Housekeeper says he left before dawn. Briggs too. Took four horses.”
“He knew.”
“Probably.”
“Someone warned him.”
“Maybe.”
The sheriff looked uncomfortable.
“There is more.”
Of course there was.
“Kane filed papers yesterday in district court.”
“What papers?”
“A debt claim against your ranch.”
Amos stared.
“On what basis?”
“That old loan.”
“It was paid.”
“I know what you say.”
“What does the court say?”
“Hearing in ten days.”
My mind went immediately to the records.
“His document?”
“Claims your father signed an extension with property as security.”
“Forgery,” Amos said.
“Could be.”
“Can we see it?”
“At the courthouse.”
I was already reaching for my coat.
We rode to Cheyenne that afternoon.
The document looked convincing.
Too convincing.
Silas Bell's signature sat at the bottom.
Amos stared at it.
“That's his writing.”
My heart sank.
Then he said, “But he didn't sign this.”
“How can you know?” Sheriff Harlan asked.
“My father always signed Silas M. Bell.”
The document read Silas Bell.
I leaned closer.
“Anything else?”
Amos pointed.
“Date says April ninth, 1870.”
“So?”
“My father was in Denver.”
“Can you prove it?”
He hesitated.
“Maybe.”
That word became our hope.
We spent the next three days searching boxes.
Old letters.
Receipts.
Ledgers.
Nothing proved Silas Bell's location on the date of the supposed agreement.
Kane remained missing.
Meanwhile, rumors spread that Amos would lose the ranch.
Men came quietly asking whether cattle were for sale.
One offered half value for the north pasture.
Amos threw him off the property.
On the fifth night, I found him alone in the barn.
He was sitting on a bale of hay with his face in his hands.
I had never seen him look defeated.
I sat beside him.
“Don't.”
He looked up.
“Don't what?”
“Decide how this ends before it ends.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You sound like me.”
“I've been subjected to your influence.”
“That is unfortunate.”
“Very.”
He stared at the stalls.
“If Kane wins, the ranch goes.”
“We'll find proof.”
“If we don't.”
“Then we'll deal with that.”
“You'll need somewhere to go.”
There it was again.
You.
Not we.
I stood.
His eyes followed.
“What?”
“You are the most stubborn man I have ever met.”
“Pierce says that.”
“Pierce is right.”
“Don't tell him.”
“You think if you lose this ranch, you lose the right to have us here?”
He looked away.
“This was the offer.”
“The ranch?”
“A home. Work. Security.”
“That isn't what you gave us.”
He frowned.
“What did I give you?”
I could barely say it.
“Peace.”
His expression changed.
“You gave my sons a place where mistakes did not make them afraid. You gave Samuel room to be fourteen instead of pretending he was forty. You gave Henry permission to break things and repair them. Luke asks you so many questions because you answer him. Benji follows you because he trusts you.”
I stepped closer.
“And you gave me mornings where I could drink coffee without wondering what mood my husband would wake in.”
Amos stood.
“Sarah.”
“So don't stand there and tell me a deed is the only thing holding us here.”
His face looked stricken.
“I don't know what else I have to offer.”
“You.”
The word came out before fear could stop it.
Silence.
I did not take it back.
Amos looked at me for what felt like a lifetime.
Then he whispered, “You don't know what you're saying.”
“I do.”
“You've been widowed eleven months.”
“I know.”
“You came here for work.”
“I know.”
“You have four boys.”
“I am aware.”
“You deserve—”
“If you finish that sentence by deciding what I deserve, I will hit you with that bucket.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead he crossed the distance.
He stopped inches away.
“May I kiss you?”
No man had ever asked me that.
Not even Daniel.
My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
Amos kissed me as though the answer could still be withdrawn.
Slowly.
Carefully.
One hand touched my cheek.
I realized I was crying only when his thumb wiped a tear away.
He pulled back immediately.
“Did I—”
“No.”
“Sarah?”
“No, you didn't hurt me.”
“Then why—”
“Because you asked.”
Understanding came into his face.
He kissed my forehead.
That was all.
No demand.
No claim.
Just warmth.
For one perfect minute, Virgil Kane did not exist.
Then a bell began clanging outside.
Henry's alarm.
Amos grabbed the lantern.
I ran behind him.
Samuel was already coming from the house.
“Barn!” Henry shouted.
A shadow moved near the far wall.
Amos ran.
Someone mounted a horse.
“Stop!”
The rider bolted.
Samuel grabbed a saddle horse.
“No!” Amos shouted.
But Samuel was already riding.
I screamed his name.
Amos mounted another horse and followed.
The night swallowed both of them.
Minutes became unbearable.
Then we heard hoofbeats.
Amos returned first.
Alone.
“Where's Samuel?”
“He followed him toward the creek.”
“You left him?”
“He took the east trail. I lost him.”
My fear became fury.
“You lost my son?”
“I know.”
“Go!”
“I am.”
He changed horses.
Before he could mount, a shot sounded.
Then another.
From the north.
Amos rode.
I did the only thing mothers are not supposed to do.
I followed.
Pierce shouted behind me.
I ignored him.
The creek reflected moonlight.
I found Samuel's horse first.
Empty.
Then Amos's.
Also empty.
I ran through the cottonwoods.
Voices.
“You should've stayed in Missouri, boy.”
Briggs.
I crouched.
Ahead, Samuel stood with his back against a tree.
Briggs held a pistol.
Amos stood fifteen feet away, hands raised.
“Let him go.”
Briggs laughed.
“Kane says the boy's why you got brave.”
“Kane sent you?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
Amos's voice remained calm.
“You hurt that boy, Kane hangs with you.”
Samuel's eyes found me in the darkness.
He started to speak.
I pressed a finger to my lips.
Briggs turned toward Amos.
That was his mistake.
Samuel kicked dirt into his face.
Amos lunged.
The pistol fired.
I screamed.
Men crashed into the grass.
The gun flew.
Samuel ran toward me.
“Amos!”
We reached him.
Briggs lay unconscious.
Amos was on his knees.
Blood covered his shirt.
For a horrible second, I believed the bullet had struck his chest.
Then he pressed his hand to his side.
“Went through.”
I dropped beside him.
“Don't you dare die.”
He grimaced.
“That an order?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suppose I can't.”
Samuel knelt, sobbing.
“I'm sorry.”
Amos gripped the back of his neck.
“You did something stupid.”
“I know.”
“We'll discuss it when I'm finished bleeding.”
That was when lantern light appeared between the trees.
Pierce.
Caleb, despite his injuries.
Sheriff Harlan.
And behind them, Henry.
Pierce saw Briggs.
“Looks like we caught our witness.”
Briggs groaned.
Sheriff Harlan picked up the pistol.
“He may be more than that.”
The sheriff searched Briggs's coat.
From an inside pocket, he removed a folded letter.
He opened it.
Read.
Then looked at Amos.
“What?”
Harlan handed him the paper.
It was written in Virgil Kane's hand.
Burn the second barn. If Bell still refuses to sell, take the Mercer boy. Fear will finish what fire started.
Samuel went completely still.
I took the letter.
My hands shook.
The sheriff's voice hardened.
“That's conspiracy, arson and kidnapping.”
“Can you find Kane?” I asked.
Harlan looked toward the dark hills.
“Now I have every lawman in Wyoming who'll want to.”
But Virgil Kane had one more move left.
And he made it in a courtroom.