Chapter 6 - The Cabin in the Mountains
Ethan knew which cabin the message meant before anyone said it.
His.
The cabin Thomas Reed had built twelve years ago.
Clara read the words twice.
"Why would anyone take Thomas there?"
Ethan folded the paper.
"Maybe they didn't."
"What does that mean?"
"It may be meant to move us."
Jacob, standing nearby, nodded.
"Silas and Webb weren't the only men in this."
Ethan looked at him.
"You know who?"
"No. But Silas answered to someone."
"Who?"
"I never met him."
"You worked three years for Silas and never met the man above him?"
"I heard a name once."
Clara waited.
Jacob hesitated.
"Vane."
Mary Hale went still.
Ethan noticed.
"You know it."
Mary looked toward Jamie.
"Not here."
They entered the saloon office.
Mary closed the door.
"August Vane."
Clara frowned.
"Who is he?"
"A lawyer."
Jacob laughed bitterly.
"More than that."
Mary nodded.
"Vane drafted the land contracts Silas used. But officially he represented the families."
Ethan understood.
"He created both sides."
"He made the theft legal enough to survive questions."
"Where is he now?"
Mary looked at Clara.
"Territorial capital."
Clara shook her head.
"Then why send us to Ethan's cabin?"
Mary hesitated.
"Because Thomas built it."
Silence.
"Thomas hid evidence there?" Ethan asked.
"Maybe."
Jamie sat outside with two ranch women.
Clara crossed her arms.
"No more maybes."
Mary nodded.
"Thomas told Caleb he had one final safeguard. Something Silas could never reach."
"At my cabin?"
"He never said."
Ethan grabbed his coat.
"We'll find out."
Clara followed.
"You are not riding alone."
"I didn't say I was."
Jacob stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
Ethan looked at him.
"No."
"Ethan—"
"No."
"It's my mess too."
"That's exactly why you're not."
Jacob absorbed that.
Then Ethan added, "Stay with Jamie."
Clara looked surprised.
Jacob did too.
Ethan continued.
"If something happens to us, get him to the territorial marshal."
Jacob nodded slowly.
It was not forgiveness.
It was responsibility.
Sometimes that came first.
Ethan and Clara rode north before noon.
The climb toward Devil's Ridge took most of the day.
Clara had never seen Ethan's country.
She understood him better with each mile.
The mountains were beautiful but unforgiving.
Nothing survived there by pretending weakness did not exist.
Trees bent.
Rivers found new paths.
Animals learned when to fight and when to hide.
Ethan lived the same way.
Near sunset Clara asked, "Are you afraid?"
"Yes."
She nearly fell off her horse.
"You admitted that quickly."
"You asked."
"People in Red Creek think you're afraid of nothing."
"People in Red Creek thought Silas owned you."
That ended the argument.
They reached the cabin after dark.
No light inside.
Ethan dismounted quietly.
The door was closed.
No tracks obvious in the hard soil.
He signaled Clara to stay behind him.
She ignored the distance he intended but remained quiet.
He opened the door.
Empty.
Nothing disturbed.
His bed.
Table.
Stove.
Tools.
The shelves Thomas built.
Clara turned slowly.
"Where would he hide something?"
Ethan looked around.
"Thomas liked things that appeared ordinary."
Her eyes moved to the fireplace.
"Stone?"
"Too obvious."
"Floor?"
"Cabin sits on rock."
They searched.
An hour passed.
Then Clara noticed one wooden peg near the coat rack was newer than the others.
She pulled it.
Nothing.
Twisted.
A click sounded inside the wall.
A section opened.
Ethan stared.
"I've lived here twelve years."
Clara almost smiled.
"Maybe you need a woman around."
He looked at her.
She blushed immediately.
"That isn't what I—"
"I know."
"Good."
A small compartment held a packet of papers.
And a photograph.
Ethan lifted the picture.
Thomas Reed stood beside Caleb Ellis.
Jacob.
Mary Hale.
And a fifth man.
August Vane.
On the back Thomas had written:
All of us helped build it.
Some tried to tear it down.
One never stopped.
Clara looked at Ethan.
"Build what?"
They opened the papers.
The answer was worse than expected.
Silas had not invented the scheme.
Jacob had not merely been recruited into it.
Neither had Caleb.
Years earlier, Thomas, Mary, Jacob, and Caleb had formed a land cooperative designed to protect small families from speculators.
August Vane was their attorney.
At first, everything had been legitimate.
Then Vane discovered the railroad survey.
He began buying interests secretly.
Forging defaults.
Silas became his collector.
Jacob found vulnerable owners.
Thomas authenticated property lines.
Caleb managed some accounts.
Mary kept records.
All five had touched the machine before realizing what it had become.
Clara sat down.
"Caleb was part of it."
"At first," Ethan said.
"He stole from people."
"Looks like he helped process deals."
"That is stealing."
Ethan did not argue.
She looked at him.
"I wanted him to be innocent."
"So did I with Jacob."
"What do we do with men who did wrong and then tried to stop worse men?"
Ethan considered.
"Tell the truth."
"That simple?"
"No."
"But necessary."
"Yes."
A knock sounded at the door.
Three slow knocks.
Ethan drew.
"Who?"
"Thomas."
Clara gasped.
Ethan opened the door carefully.
Thomas Reed collapsed inward.
His shirt was covered in blood.
"Thomas!"
They carried him to the bed.
The wound was not fresh gunfire.
A knife had cut his side.
Ethan pressed cloth against it.
"Who?"
"Vane."
Clara stared.
"He's here?"
Thomas nodded weakly.
"Came ahead of the marshal."
"Why?"
"He knows the evidence survived."
"How did you escape?"
Thomas almost laughed.
"I'm old. People mistake that for helpless."
Ethan leaned closer.
"Why the message?"
"I didn't write it."
"Then who did?"
Thomas's eyes went to the hidden compartment.
"You found the papers."
"Yes."
"Not enough."
Ethan frowned.
"There's more?"
"The original railroad survey."
"Where?"
Thomas looked at Clara.
"Jamie knows."
Clara's face changed.
"My son?"
"Caleb taught him a rhyme."
"What rhyme?"
Clara suddenly remembered.
Jamie used to sing nonsense while carving.
Horse goes north.
River goes west.
Three stones sleep where the iron rests.
She had heard it a hundred times.
She thought Caleb invented it to amuse him.
Thomas whispered, "The survey proves Vane knew the railroad path before the land seizures."
"Where is it?" Ethan asked.
"Iron rests."
Clara understood.
"The abandoned rail camp."
Thomas nodded.
"Near Dry Creek."
Ethan swore softly.
They had left Jamie there.
Thomas grabbed his sleeve.
"Vane knows too."
Ethan stood immediately.
"We ride."
Thomas shook his head.
"Too late tonight."
"My nephew died because I was ten minutes away."
His voice broke for the first time.
"I'm not being ten hours away from that boy."
Clara touched his face.
He froze.
"You didn't kill Eli."
"I know."
"Do you?"
The question landed deeper than accusation.
Ethan closed his eyes.
When he opened them, Clara was still there.
"I need Jamie alive."
"So do I."
"We ride together."
They left Thomas with food, water, and a rifle.
The moon was high.
They rode hard.
Near dawn they reached a ridge overlooking Dry Creek.
Smoke rose below.
Too much.
Clara kicked her horse forward.
"Jamie!"
Ethan caught her reins.
"Look."
Mary's farmhouse was burning.
Riders moved in the yard.
One.
Two.
Five.
Then a sixth man emerged from the house.
Tall.
Gray coat.
Silver-headed cane.
August Vane.
Beside him stood Jacob.
Clara stared.
"What is Jacob doing?"
Ethan could not answer.
Vane handed Jacob a revolver.
Then two men dragged Jamie from the barn.
Jacob took the boy by the shoulder.
Clara made a broken sound.
Ethan's face became stone.
Down below, Jacob looked toward the ridge.
As if he knew exactly where his brother was hiding.
May you like
Then Jacob raised the gun.
And pointed it at Jamie.
