Chapter 5 - The Man Who Owned Red Hollow
The clinic door opened.
Harlan Voss stepped inside alone.
That frightened Nora more than armed men would have.
He was perhaps fifty, silver beginning at his temples, dressed in a dark tailored coat that had never seen ranch work.
His confidence filled the room.
Silas raised his revolver.
Voss looked at it.
“Still bleeding, Reed?”
Silas did not answer.
Voss smiled.
“Nora.”
She hated hearing her name from him.
“You knew my mother.”
“I did.”
“You poisoned her.”
Dr. Foster inhaled sharply.
Voss merely smiled.
“Careful.”
“You gave my father the powder.”
“Did I?”
“We have records.”
“You have stories.”
Nora lifted the medical ledger.
“We have this.”
For the first time, Voss’s eyes changed.
Barely.
But enough.
“You should put that down.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“Your father created an unfortunate mess.”
“My father?”
“He gambled beyond his means.”
“You encouraged him.”
“I run businesses.”
“You ruin people.”
“Sometimes people ruin themselves.”
Nora stepped closer.
“What do you want?”
“Cedar Ridge.”
“At least you admit it.”
“I prefer honesty when possible.”
She almost laughed.
“When possible.”
“The railroad will pay thirty thousand dollars for access.”
Nora’s heart stopped.
Silas looked at Voss sharply.
Thirty thousand.
More than anyone had guessed.
Voss continued.
“Your father owes me six.”
“He sold me for six thousand.”
“He offered you.”
The wording made Nora sick.
“I declined.”
“You sent men after me.”
“Because Reed interfered.”
Silas’s revolver remained steady.
Voss looked at him.
“You’ve always suffered from your father’s moral disease.”
Silas said quietly, “Leave.”
Voss ignored him.
“Nora, sign Cedar Ridge to me. I forgive Elias’s debt. I pay you five thousand dollars. You leave Colorado.”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I did.”
“Your mother made the same mistake.”
The room went silent.
Nora stared.
“What did you say?”
Voss realized he had stepped too far.
But recovered.
“Margaret was stubborn.”
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“You just admitted—”
“I admitted nothing.”
Nora’s anger overcame fear.
“My mother refused to sell.”
“She refused to understand opportunity.”
“So you poisoned her.”
Voss’s expression hardened.
“I did not put anything in her drink.”
Nora caught the wording.
Neither Silas nor Dr. Foster missed it.
“You didn’t put it in her drink.”
Voss’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew how she took it.”
Silence.
Nora stepped closer.
“My father gave it to her.”
Voss smiled without warmth.
“You should ask Elias.”
Then he turned toward the door.
Silas said, “You’re not leaving.”
Voss stopped.
“You planning to shoot me in a doctor’s office?”
“If necessary.”
“You won’t survive the hour.”
Nora touched Silas’s arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
Not because Voss deserved mercy.
Because she wanted something better than revenge.
“I want him in front of a judge.”
Voss chuckled.
“You still believe judges save people?”
“No.”
Nora lifted the ledger.
“But evidence helps.”
For the first time, Voss looked genuinely angry.
Then he left.
Dr. Foster locked the door again.
“We have to move.”
Silas nodded.
“Tonight.”
Nora looked outside.
“We’ll never reach Red Hollow unseen.”
Dr. Foster smiled faintly.
“Then don’t arrive as yourselves.”
By evening, Nora wore an old widow’s black cloak.
Silas wore a doctor’s long coat and kept his injured arm hidden.
They left Silver Creek in Dr. Foster’s wagon beneath crates marked MEDICAL SUPPLIES.
The ledger, will, letters, and powder packet were hidden under the seat.
They traveled through the night.
Silas grew feverish.
Nora worried constantly.
“You’re burning.”
“Fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
At least he admitted it.
Near dawn, they stopped beside a stream.
Nora cleaned his wound again.
Silas watched her.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
“You got shot protecting me.”
“Choice.”
She paused.
That word again.
Choice.
Everything with Silas came back to it.
“You really meant what you said.”
“What?”
“At the cabin.”
He looked confused.
“Nothing I don’t choose.”
“Yes.”
Nora tied the bandage.
“What if I choose to stay?”
His eyes met hers.
“With me?”
She immediately looked away.
“I mean until this is finished.”
“Oh.”
Was that disappointment?
She was unsure.
“Would that bother you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
They resumed travel.
Near Red Hollow, they abandoned the wagon and entered through a narrow mining road.
Mrs. Daley hid them in the storeroom behind her shop.
Sheriff Hale had disappeared.
“Voss sent him away?” Nora asked.
Mrs. Daley shook her head.
“No one knows.”
The town buzzed with rumors.
Judge Henry Whitcomb was expected the next morning.
Railroad representatives had already arrived.
So had lawyers for Voss.
Nora’s chance had narrowed to hours.
“We need witnesses,” she said.
Mrs. Daley looked afraid.
“People won’t stand against Voss.”
“They will if someone goes first.”
Nora spent the afternoon visiting people quietly.
The bartender had heard Elias negotiate.
A ranch hand had seen Voss’s foreman deliver medicine years earlier.
A former deputy knew Sheriff Hale destroyed records.
Everyone began with no.
Nora understood.
Then she showed them her mother’s letter.
One by one, no became maybe.
Maybe became yes.
By sunset, six people agreed to testify.
Silas rested upstairs.
When Nora checked on him, he was awake.
“You did it.”
“Not yet.”
“They’ll speak.”
“If they don’t lose courage.”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you didn’t.”
Nora sat beside the bed.
For a moment neither spoke.
Then she said, “Why aren’t you married?”
Silas looked startled.
“Odd timing.”
“I’m curious.”
“No one asked.”
She laughed.
“You’re supposed to ask them.”
“Oh.”
She smiled.
“So that was the problem.”
“Maybe.”
Then his face softened.
“Mountain life isn’t easy.”
“Neither was my father’s house.”
“No.”
“You think I’m afraid of hard work?”
“No.”
“What are you afraid of?”
He thought.
“Becoming someone who takes.”
Nora understood.
His father had spent his life regretting a promise he could not fulfill.
Silas had shaped himself around never controlling another person.
“You’re not Elias.”
“I know.”
“You’re not Voss.”
“I know.”
“You’re allowed to want things.”
Silas looked directly at her.
“That can be dangerous.”
Nora’s heartbeat changed.
Before she could answer, Mrs. Daley rushed upstairs.
“Nora.”
Something was wrong.
“What?”
“Your father is outside.”
Nora stood.
Silas reached for his gun.
Mrs. Daley shook her head.
“He’s alone.”
Nora descended.
Elias waited in the alley.
He looked older than three days ago.
“Come home.”
Nora almost laughed.
“I don’t have a home with you.”
“Nora.”
“Why are you here?”
His eyes moved nervously.
“Voss is going to kill me.”
She felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
“Then testify.”
Elias stared.
“Against Harlan?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“You were willing to let him kill Silas.”
Elias looked ashamed for half a second.
Then anger returned.
“I’m your father.”
“That stopped meaning what you think it means.”
He stepped closer.
“I never meant for Margaret to die.”
Nora froze.
“What?”
Elias realized.
Too late.
“You gave her the poison.”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I gave her medicine!”
“From Voss.”
“Yes, but—”
“Why?”
“She wanted to leave.”
His voice cracked.
“She was taking you.”
Nora stared at him.
“So you drugged her.”
“To calm her down.”
“You poisoned her.”
“I didn’t know!”
Nora’s eyes filled.
“Did Voss know?”
Elias whispered, “Yes.”
A floorboard creaked behind Nora.
Silas stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
Elias’s face collapsed.
Then a gunshot exploded.
Elias jerked.
Blood appeared across his chest.
Nora screamed.
Her father fell.
At the far end of the alley stood Sheriff Hale.
May you like
Smoke curled from his revolver.
He raised it toward Nora.
