Chapter 4 - The Doctor at the Door
Elias drew his revolver before the door opened.
The man outside entered with both hands visible.
He carried a doctor's bag.
Martha recognized him immediately.
Dr. Hollis Crane.
The man who had treated Daniel.
Crane stopped when he saw her.
"Martha."
Her blood turned cold.
Elias moved between them.
"You know him?"
Martha could barely answer.
"He gave Daniel the medicine."
Crane's eyes closed.
Abigail whispered, "Hollis, you shouldn't have come."
"Neither should they."
Elias cocked the revolver.
Crane looked at him.
"If you intend to shoot me, do it after I see the wounded man."
Samuel stirred in the next room.
Martha stepped forward.
"Did you kill my husband?"
Crane went still.
"Answer me."
"No."
"Did Coyle order you to?"
"No."
"Then why did Daniel get worse after your medicine?"
Crane's face sagged.
"Because the bottle was changed."
Martha stared.
"What?"
"I gave him quinine and willow bark. The next day, the bottle in my case wasn't the same one."
"You knew?"
"Not until afterward."
"And you said nothing?"
"I was afraid."
Martha slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Crane accepted it.
"You let me bury him."
"I know."
"You watched me believe it was fever."
"I know."
"You coward."
"Yes."
That answer stopped her.
Crane looked at Elias.
"Coyle's men are less than an hour behind me."
"Why warn us?"
"Because I've spent four months deciding whether I can live with what I allowed."
He opened his medical bag.
Inside was a small brown bottle.
"I kept this."
Martha stared.
"The bottle that replaced Daniel's medicine."
Crane nodded.
"There's residue inside."
"Poison?"
"Likely arsenic."
Elias took it.
"Can it be proved?"
"By the right chemist."
Crane looked at Martha.
"And I will testify."
The ledger suddenly had a witness.
Daniel's death had a witness too.
But Coyle was coming.
They had little time.
Abigail revealed an old mining road behind the trading post.
It would take them toward Fort Laramie without using the main trail.
Crane insisted on traveling with them.
Martha hated the idea.
She hated him.
But she needed his testimony.
By dawn, five adults and a child crowded Elias's wagon.
Samuel was weak but conscious.
Ben stayed close to him.
Martha sat beside Elias.
Crane rode behind.
"You all right?" Elias asked.
"No."
"Fair."
"I want to hate him."
"Then hate him."
"That doesn't bring Daniel back."
"No."
"Nothing does."
Elias looked ahead.
"No."
She studied him.
"Did revenge bring Anna back?"
His jaw tightened.
"No."
"Then why are you still chasing Mercer?"
"Because some men keep hurting people until somebody stops them."
That answer stayed with her.
The trail climbed.
By afternoon clouds gathered over the mountains.
Wind rose.
Martha shivered.
Elias handed her his coat.
"I'm not cold."
"You're shaking."
"I'm angry."
"Be angry inside the coat."
She took it.
It smelled of leather, smoke, pine, and him.
That realization unsettled her.
She wrapped it tighter.
At dusk, they camped beneath cottonwoods.
Crane checked Martha's pulse.
She tolerated it.
"The child seems strong."
"She is."
"You know it's a girl?"
"No."
Crane almost smiled.
Martha didn't.
He lowered his eyes.
"Daniel talked about you constantly."
She froze.
"While he was sick?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"That you were braver than him."
Tears stung her eyes.
"He was dying."
"People become truthful when dying."
Martha looked toward the fire.
"Did he know?"
Crane hesitated.
"Know what?"
"That he'd been poisoned."
"I think so."
Her breath caught.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"He made me promise not to."
Anger returned.
"Everyone made promises about my life except me."
Crane nodded.
"You're right."
"What else?"
Crane looked toward Elias.
Then back at her.
"He gave me a letter."
Martha stood.
"You have a letter from Daniel?"
"Had."
"Where is it?"
"Coyle took it."
Her hope collapsed.
"But I read it," Crane said.
"Every word."
"What did it say?"
Before he could answer, Elias raised a hand.
Silence.
A horse moved somewhere beyond the trees.
Mercer?
Elias disappeared into darkness.
Minutes passed.
Then he returned with a young woman at gunpoint.
She wore men's riding trousers beneath a long coat.
Her hair was dark.
She glared at Crane.
"Tell your mountain dog to lower the gun."
Crane whispered, "Clara."
Martha remembered the witness list.
Clara Bell.
The housekeeper.
Clara looked at Martha.
"So you're Daniel's widow."
"Apparently everyone knows me."
Clara gave a humorless smile.
"Coyle certainly does."
"Why?"
"Because your husband stole more than a ledger."
Martha's heart pounded.
"What?"
Clara looked toward the leather case.
"He stole Coyle's original land seal."
Samuel sat upright.
"You never told me that."
"Daniel never told anyone."
Clara reached into her coat.
Elias raised the gun.
"Slow."
She removed a folded paper.
"I've been hiding for six months."
She handed it to Martha.
It was a copy of a land transfer.
At the bottom appeared Everett Coyle's signature.
Beside it was a seal.
"Without the original seal," Clara explained, "Coyle can't authenticate several forged transfers. Daniel took it so Coyle couldn't finish stealing the corridor."
"Where is it?"
Clara looked at Martha.
"You have it."
"No, I don't."
"You must."
"I searched everything."
Elias's gaze shifted.
"The cradle."
Martha stared at him.
Daniel's unfinished cradle.
They went to the wagon.
Elias untied it.
He examined the joints.
One rail sounded different when tapped.
Hollow.
Martha's hands began shaking.
Elias removed a wooden peg.
Something slid from inside.
A small brass seal.
Martha covered her mouth.
Daniel had hidden it in their child's cradle.
Beneath the seal was a rolled strip of paper.
Martha unfolded it.
Daniel's handwriting.
My dearest Martha—
She couldn't continue.
Elias gently took the paper.
"You want me to read it?"
She nodded.
His voice softened.
"My dearest Martha, if you find this, then I failed to tell you the truth myself. Forgive me. I wanted our child to inherit more than land. I wanted her to inherit a world where men like Coyle could not simply take whatever they wanted."
Martha cried silently.
Elias continued.
"I hid the seal where I knew you would never abandon it. Trust Samuel. Trust Marshal Briggs. And if neither can be found, trust the man who carries Anna Cole's wedding ring."
Elias stopped.
Everyone looked at him.
Martha stared.
"What?"
Elias's face had gone white.
Slowly, he reached beneath his shirt.
A leather cord hung around his neck.
On it was a woman's wedding ring.
Anna's.
Daniel had named Elias.
Before Martha had ever met him.
"How did Daniel know you?" she whispered.
Elias couldn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
Then Clara looked toward him with recognition.
"Oh, God."
Elias turned.
"What?"
"I know."
She pointed at Anna's ring.
"I know why Daniel wrote your name."
Elias stepped closer.
May you like
Clara swallowed.
"Your wife didn't die in that fire."
