Chapter 10 - A Bride Without a Bargain
Nobody moved.
Samuel's face was white.
Cyrus pressed the pistol harder against him.
“Ledger.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“No.”
Jacob whispered, “Hannah.”
She ignored him.
“You've spent eighteen years using frightened people.”
Cyrus smiled.
“And it's worked.”
“Until now.”
“Ledger.”
Hannah lifted it.
“Let Samuel go.”
“Throw it.”
She did.
Cyrus shoved Samuel away and grabbed the book.
Jacob moved.
Cyrus fired.
The bullet struck Jacob's shoulder.
Hannah screamed.
Nathan tackled Cyrus.
Samuel crawled toward his father.
Daniel joined Nathan.
The pistol slid across the floor.
Hannah grabbed it.
Cyrus froze.
She aimed at him.
For years she had imagined hurting him.
Now she could.
Cyrus smiled.
“Go on.”
Her finger tightened.
Jacob whispered, “Hannah.”
She looked at him.
He was bleeding.
But his eyes were calm.
“Your choice.”
Those words saved her.
Hannah lowered the pistol.
“No.”
Cyrus laughed.
“Weak.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Free.”
The territorial deputies arrived before sunset.
This time Whitcomb's testimony, Crane's statement, Thomas Bell's records and the ledger were enough.
Cyrus was taken away in irons.
Jacob's wound wasn't serious.
Hannah cleaned it.
“You lied to me,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Mary made me promise.”
“You could have told me afterward.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because every explanation sounded like another man telling you what your life meant.”
She tied the bandage.
“I was angry.”
“I know.”
“I still am.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“And I still love you.”
Jacob stared.
Hannah hadn't planned the words.
But once spoken, they felt true.
He looked almost frightened.
“Hannah.”
“Don't say it because I did.”
He swallowed.
“I've loved you since the night you argued with me about a bedroom lock.”
She laughed through tears.
“That soon?”
“You were terrifying.”
“Good.”
Weeks passed.
Cyrus awaited trial.
Whitcomb had turned state's evidence to save himself.
Hannah's ownership of the north valley was recognized provisionally.
Spring began.
One evening Jacob found Hannah beside Mary's grave.
She held the fifty-dollar pouch.
“I kept it.”
“I wondered where it went.”
She handed it to him.
“I don't want this to be the price of my life.”
“It never was.”
“Then what should we do with it?”
Jacob considered.
“Buy something ridiculous.”
Hannah smiled.
“Like another bull?”
“Absolutely not.”
She laughed.
The sound carried across the ranch.
Jacob watched her.
Then he knelt.
Hannah stopped laughing.
He didn't have a ring.
Only the brass key to her bedroom.
“I won't ask you because I bought you.”
Her eyes filled.
“I won't ask because Mary wanted me to protect you.”
He held out the key.
“And I won't ask because the children need a mother.”
Hannah waited.
“I'll ask because when you're gone from a room, I notice. Because when you laugh, this house doesn't feel like a grave anymore. Because I want every morning I'm lucky enough to have left to begin with you.”
He swallowed.
“Hannah Reed, will you marry me?”
She looked at the key.
Then at him.
“Yes.”
Jacob stood.
She kissed him.
Ruth saw from the porch and screamed.
“She said yes!”
The boys ran outside.
Elizabeth cried.
Daniel pretended not to.
They planned a June wedding.
Small.
No bargain.
No transaction.
Hannah would keep her land in her own name.
Jacob insisted.
Then, three days before the ceremony, a telegram arrived.
Jacob opened it.
His expression changed.
Hannah took it.
CYRUS REED ESCAPED CUSTODY STOP BELIEVED HEADED NORTH STOP EXTREME CAUTION STOP
They stared at each other.
Then Caleb shouted from the porch.
A rider was approaching.
The rider carried no weapon.
He stopped at the gate.
It was Reverend Crane.
He looked terrified.
“Hannah!”
She ran outside.
“What happened?”
Crane dismounted.
“Your marriage can't happen.”
Jacob's face hardened.
“Why?”
Crane looked at Hannah.
May you like
“Because according to the territorial record, you're already married.”
And he held out a certificate bearing Hannah's name...
