Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Stepped Forward
The shot echoed through the ridge.
Nathan fell.
Catherine screamed his name.
For one terrible second she believed the bullet had struck him.
Then Caleb collapsed beside him.
Nathan sat up.
Untouched.
Caleb had taken the bullet high in his side.
Rourke tried to fire again.
The marshal shot the weapon from his hand.
Rourke dropped into the snow.
Vane’s men restrained him.
Elias rushed to Caleb.
Catherine fell beside her brother.
“Caleb.”
His eyes opened.
“You sound surprised.”
“Don’t talk.”
“I’ve been told that a lot today.”
Blood darkened his shirt.
Not instantly fatal.
But serious.
Elias pressed cloth against the wound.
“We need a doctor.”
Vane called for a wagon.
Nathan knelt beside Caleb.
“Why?”
Caleb looked at him.
“Because you’re my little brother.”
“You tried to drag me into all of this.”
“I know.”
“You threatened me.”
“I know.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Caleb managed a weak smile.
“I know.”
Catherine took his hand.
He looked at her.
The old resentment was gone.
Or perhaps pain had stripped him of the strength to hold it.
“I’m sorry.”
She could not answer.
Not yet.
Some wounds required more than two words.
But she squeezed his hand.
That was enough for the moment.
They brought Caleb down the mountain before dawn.
Doctor Henry Cole removed the bullet at the Miller cabin.
Catherine waited outside the room.
Nathan sat beside her.
Elias leaned against the wall.
Amos prayed quietly.
Silas Vane stood by the stove reading Samuel Miller’s journal.
“You should stop touching my family documents,” Catherine said.
Vane handed it back immediately.
“Fair.”
She studied him.
“You knew about the mineral seam.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Rourke was interested.”
“I knew he had asked questions.”
“You knew enough to be suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“Yet you still tried to buy the land.”
“Yes.”
“You’re remarkably comfortable admitting ugly things.”
“I find lies expensive.”
Catherine almost smiled.
“Your company still wants the property?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I assumed.”
“Good.”
Vane put on his coat.
“North Ridge will withdraw permanently.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
“Because this property will be tied up in litigation for years.”
“That sounds more like you.”
He tipped his hat.
Before leaving, he stopped.
“There is something else.”
Catherine’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The forged deed was not the only document filed at the county office.”
Elias straightened.
“What else?”
Vane handed Catherine a copy.
A debt instrument.
Secured against the Miller property.
Signed by Catherine.
Also forged.
Amount owed: $6,500.
Creditor: Gideon Rourke.
Catherine stared.
“Caleb?”
Vane shook his head.
“No.”
Nathan stood.
“Then who?”
“The clerk who filed it disappeared yesterday.”
Elias asked, “Name?”
“Martin Vale.”
Amos crossed himself.
“I know his mother.”
Vane continued.
“The debt document predates Thomas’s death.”
Catherine looked up sharply.
“What?”
“By two months.”
“That’s impossible. Father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And he would have stopped it.”
“Unless he never knew.”
Elias examined the copy.
“This means someone was preparing to take the property before Thomas died.”
Vane nodded.
“And Caleb’s scheme came later.”
Catherine felt cold.
“So Rourke was already moving.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vane looked at Samuel’s journal.
“Because perhaps he learned Thomas intended to reveal the mine.”
Doctor Cole opened the bedroom door.
“Caleb will live.”
Nathan sat down hard.
Catherine closed her eyes.
Relief came first.
Anger remained.
But relief came first.
She entered.
Caleb looked pale.
“You look terrible,” she said.
He smiled weakly.
“So do you.”
“Doctor says you’ll live.”
“Disappointing?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
He closed his eyes.
Catherine sat beside him.
“Did you know about the $6,500 debt?”
His eyes opened.
“What debt?”
She showed him.
He read the page.
His face changed.
“No.”
“You didn’t sign this?”
“No.”
“Did Nathan?”
“No.”
“Did Rourke ever mention it?”
Caleb stared at the ceiling.
“Once.”
“What did he say?”
“He said the land already belonged to him one way or another.”
Catherine leaned closer.
“When?”
“Before Father died.”
Her heart pounded.
“You were speaking to Rourke before Father died?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Caleb looked ashamed.
“My gambling.”
“Did Father know?”
“No.”
“Did Rourke ask about the mine?”
“He asked about old papers.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That Father kept everything locked in his desk.”
Catherine’s stomach turned.
Thomas’s study had been broken into six weeks before his death.
Nothing appeared stolen.
At least that was what they thought.
“Caleb.”
He looked at her.
“Father got sick two weeks after the break-in.”
Caleb’s eyes sharpened.
“You think—”
“I don’t know.”
Doctor Cole returned.
“What?”
Catherine turned.
“My father died of fever.”
“Yes.”
“Could he have been poisoned?”
Cole hesitated.
“Why are you asking?”
She showed him the forged debt.
Cole’s face darkened.
“I treated Thomas.”
“Could someone have poisoned him?”
“Some poisons resemble fever in their early stages.”
Elias entered.
“Can we know now?”
Cole looked troubled.
“Not without examining the remains.”
Catherine felt sick.
Exhuming her father.
Opening his grave.
She wanted to refuse.
Then she remembered Thomas’s letter.
A burden kept secret becomes heavier.
“Do it,” she said.
Amos arranged permission through Judge Mercer.
By afternoon, the county marshal returned with warrants.
Gideon Rourke was taken into custody.
His hired men were questioned separately.
One talked.
Then another.
By evening, they knew Rourke had paid Martin Vale to forge Catherine’s signatures.
But Vale was missing.
And no one could prove Rourke had anything to do with Thomas’s death.
Doctor Cole examined samples from Thomas’s remains.
The process took hours.
Catherine waited on the porch.
Elias joined her.
Snow had stopped.
The mountains stretched dark against the evening sky.
“You didn’t have to stay,” she said.
“Yes, I did.”
“Because of the trustee declaration?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Then why?”
He leaned against the post.
“Because your father asked me to.”
“You didn’t know about the declaration.”
“No.”
“Then how?”
Elias was quiet.
“Three weeks before he died, Thomas rode to my cabin.”
Catherine stared.
“He was already sick.”
“Yes.”
“He told me he was worried about you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He made me promise.”
“Everyone made promises except me.”
“I noticed.”
She gave him a look.
He continued.
“He said Caleb had returned to the valley. He said money was moving behind the scenes. He didn’t know who to trust.”
“So he trusted you?”
“He trusted that I didn’t want his land.”
Catherine smiled faintly.
“That sounds like him.”
“He asked me to listen.”
“For what?”
“Your scream.”
Catherine’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“He said, ‘If trouble comes, she’ll fight. If you hear her, go.’”
Her eyes burned.
Thomas had known her.
Even while hiding too much, he had known her.
Elias looked toward the trees.
“I was trapping two ridges over when I heard you.”
“That far?”
“Sound carries in cold air.”
She nodded.
“Lucky.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Thomas chose where to build.”
For the first time since the attack, Catherine laughed.
A real laugh.
Then Doctor Cole opened the cabin door.
The laughter died.
He held a small glass vial.
Catherine stood.
“Well?”
Cole looked at Amos.
Then Nathan.
Then Catherine.
“There was arsenic.”
The world narrowed.
“Enough?”
“Yes.”
“To kill him?”
“Yes.”
Nathan whispered, “Oh God.”
Catherine gripped the porch rail.
Her father had not died from fever.
He had been murdered.
Elias stepped beside her.
“Can you tell when?”
“No.”
“Can you tell how?”
“Likely repeated small doses.”
Catherine remembered Thomas’s final weeks.
Tea.
Broth.
Medicine.
She had prepared almost all of it.
Almost.
Except—
Her heart stopped.
“Caleb brought him medicine.”
Nathan looked at her.
“From Helena.”
“Yes.”
They both turned toward the bedroom.
Caleb.
No.
Catherine pushed inside.
He was asleep.
She shook him awake.
“Where did you get Father’s medicine?”
His eyes opened slowly.
“What?”
“The tonic. The one you brought him.”
Caleb frowned.
“Rourke gave it to me.”
Silence.
“You gave Father medicine from Gideon Rourke?”
“He said it would help his lungs.”
Catherine stepped back.
Caleb saw her face.
“What?”
“There was arsenic in Father’s body.”
Caleb’s eyes widened.
“No.”
“You brought it.”
“No.”
“You gave it to him.”
“I didn’t know.”
Nathan turned away.
Caleb tried to sit up.
Pain dropped him back.
“I didn’t know!”
Catherine believed him.
That was almost worse.
Rourke had used Caleb’s resentment.
Used his desperation.
Used his stupidity.
And Caleb had carried poison into their father’s home with his own hands.
A knock sounded at the door.
The marshal entered.
He looked grim.
“We found Martin Vale.”
Catherine stood.
“Alive?”
“For now.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned freight station south of town.”
“Did he talk?”
The marshal looked toward Caleb.
“Yes.”
Catherine’s pulse quickened.
“What did he say?”
“He said Rourke didn’t act alone.”
Elias stepped forward.
“Who helped him?”
The marshal removed a folded statement.
“He gave us a name.”
Catherine waited.
May you like
The marshal looked directly at Reverend Amos Bell.
And read it aloud.
