Chapter 5 - What Winifred Had Been Hiding
“Caleb?”
Judson couldn't breathe.
The rider nearly fell from the saddle.
He was thinner than Judson remembered.
A scar crossed his temple.
But it was Caleb McIntyre.
Alive.
Judson crossed the yard.
He grabbed his brother by the shoulders.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Judson struck him.
Winifred gasped.
Caleb staggered.
Judson grabbed him again.
“You were dead!”
“I know.”
“I buried an empty coffin!”
“I know.”
Judson's fist tightened.
Then he pulled Caleb into his arms.
The brothers stood there shaking.
Winifred looked away to give them privacy.
Later, beside the fire, Caleb explained.
He had discovered Western Crown men searching McIntyre land two winters earlier.
They caught him.
He escaped wounded.
A trapper found him and carried him north.
For months Caleb couldn't remember his own name.
When memory returned, he stayed away.
“Why?”
Judson demanded.
“Because I remembered what they wanted.”
“The deed.”
Caleb nodded.
“And I thought if they believed I was dead, they'd stop looking.”
“They didn't.”
“I know.”
Caleb looked at Winifred.
“Then I heard you married Nathaniel Mercer's daughter.”
Judson glanced at her.
Caleb continued.
“That told me the ledger might still exist.”
Winifred placed it on the table.
Caleb laughed softly.
“Nathaniel actually hid it.”
“You knew my father?”
“Once.”
Winifred leaned forward.
“Did Creed kill him?”
Caleb's expression answered before his words.
“Creed ordered men to search his cabin.”
“And the fire?”
“I don't know if they meant to kill him.”
Judson slammed his fist against the table.
Caleb looked at him.
“There's more.”
Judson went still.
“Father.”
Caleb nodded.
“He didn't freeze.”
“How do you know?”
“I found one of the men who was there.”
Winifred watched Judson's face harden.
Caleb explained that Elias had refused to surrender the original deed. Western Crown's predecessor arranged what looked like an accident.
They drove his horse away.
Left Elias injured in the mountains.
Judson stood.
“I'll kill Creed.”
Winifred stepped in front of him.
“No.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“He murdered my father.”
“Creed was barely older than us when Elias died.”
“His company did.”
“Then destroy the company.”
Judson stared at her.
“With evidence.”
She pointed at the ledger.
“With truth.”
His breathing slowed.
Caleb smiled faintly.
“She's smarter than you.”
Judson looked at him.
“You've been alive ten minutes and you're already irritating.”
“Feels good, doesn't it?”
For the first time in years, Judson laughed with his brother.
But Winifred's smile faded.
There was something she had not told them.
Something in Nathaniel's letter she had skipped.
Judson noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He knew her too well now.
“Winifred.”
She walked toward the bedroom.
He followed.
“You're hiding something.”
She stopped.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“My father's letter named someone else.”
“Who?”
She turned.
“Your mother.”
Judson stared.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
“I know.”
“What did Nathaniel say?”
Winifred retrieved the letter.
She showed him the paragraph.
Margaret McIntyre had kept copies of several financial records.
Judson read it.
“Where?”
“Nathaniel didn't know.”
Caleb joined them.
“Our mother's Bible.”
Judson turned.
“What?”
“She wrote everything in that Bible.”
They found it in a chest.
Between pages of Psalms were handwritten numbers.
Payments.
Names.
Dates.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Harlan Creed.
Silas's father.
And another.
August Bell.
Sheriff Bell's father.
Judson felt sick.
“Bell knew.”
“Maybe not,” Winifred said.
“His father took money.”
“That doesn't mean Amos did.”
Caleb pointed to one final entry.
Payment refused — E.M.
Elias had refused.
That refusal had likely cost him his life.
The evidence was now overwhelming.
But evidence meant nothing if Western Crown controlled the local judge.
They needed federal authorities.
Caleb knew a territorial marshal in Denver.
“We take everything there.”
Judson nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
Winifred objected.
“Creed will watch the roads.”
“Then we don't take the road.”
They planned a mountain route.
Before dawn, Winifred made copies of critical ledger pages.
She hid one set in the flour barrel.
Another beneath a loose floorboard.
Judson watched.
“You've become suspicious.”
“I married you.”
“Fair.”
She smiled.
Judson kissed her forehead.
The tenderness felt natural now.
Almost frighteningly so.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
Winifred looked up.
“I didn't ask for a wife because I needed a cook.”
“I suspected that after you nearly starved before I arrived.”
He smiled.
“I was tired of coming home to nobody.”
Winifred's expression softened.
“I wanted someone here.”
“Anyone?”
“At first.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Judson touched her cheek.
“Not anymore.”
Before she could answer, Caleb entered.
“We have trouble.”
Outside, smoke rose from the barn.
Judson ran.
Flames climbed one wall.
Caleb released the horses.
Winifred carried buckets.
They fought until their arms failed.
The barn survived.
Barely.
Then Judson noticed something.
The fire had been distraction.
The cabin door stood open.
They ran inside.
The ledger was gone.
Winifred rushed to the flour barrel.
Copies remained.
The floorboard copies too.
Caleb laughed.
“Smart woman.”
But Judson wasn't smiling.
On the table lay a note.
Creed had written one sentence.
THE ORIGINAL FOR THE WOMAN.
Judson looked around.
“Where's Winifred?”
Caleb turned.
She had been directly behind them.
Now she was gone.
Judson ran outside.
A horse was disappearing between the trees.
May you like
Two riders.
And between them, tied across a saddle, was Winifred.
