Chapter 12 - The Witness Everyone Thought Was Dead
Jacob stared at Elizabeth.
“What did you say?”
She looked horrified.
“Not you.”
Daniel closed his hand around the watch.
“My brother's name was Jacob Vale.”
Hannah exhaled.
A coincidence.
But Elizabeth shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Mary knew him.”
Jacob Mercer went still.
“My Mary?”
Elizabeth nodded.
Before Mary married Jacob Mercer, she had known Jacob Vale.
He had helped Daniel and Elizabeth escape Cyrus's first attack.
Then disappeared.
“Why does this matter?” Hannah asked.
“Because Jacob Vale witnessed everything,” Daniel said.
“If Cyrus found his body—”
“He's destroying evidence.”
They rode to the mine.
The sheriff's men had detained Cyrus.
He sat against a tree in irons.
He smiled at Hannah.
“Missed your wedding?”
“No.”
His smile faded.
Inside the excavation, they found a coffin.
But when opened, it was empty.
Only a coat remained.
Daniel recognized it.
Jacob Vale's.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“I wondered how long you'd take.”
An elderly man stepped from the trees.
Daniel stared.
“Jacob?”
The brothers faced each other after more than twenty years.
Jacob Vale was alive.
He had spent decades in Canada under another name.
Thomas Bell had contacted him shortly before dying.
He had returned when he learned Hannah was in danger.
“You sent the raven,” Hannah said.
“Yes.”
“You could have knocked.”
“I wasn't sure whom to trust.”
Jacob Mercer muttered, “You have a dramatic streak.”
For once, Hannah laughed.
Jacob Vale testified.
He had witnessed Cyrus and Whitcomb forging documents.
He knew Hannah's true parentage.
He knew the false marriage certificate was fraudulent.
Most importantly, he knew where the original birth record was hidden.
“Where?”
“Inside the Reed family Bible.”
Hannah stared.
They had searched it.
“Not yours.”
Cyrus's.
They returned to Cyrus's abandoned cabin.
Hannah hadn't entered since the night she was sold.
The place looked smaller.
She found his Bible beneath the bed.
Inside was her birth record.
HANNAH ELIZABETH VALE.
Father: Daniel Vale.
Mother: Elizabeth Reed Vale.
Cyrus's final legal claim collapsed.
Outside, Cyrus sat shackled in the wagon.
Hannah approached.
He looked at her.
“You think you won?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Then what?”
“I think you lost.”
His smile disappeared.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
She looked toward Jacob, the children, her parents, and the neighbors.
“Winning would mean becoming like you.”
She walked away.
Cyrus shouted after her.
“I fed you for six years!”
Hannah stopped.
He continued.
“You owe me!”
She turned.
“You charged me for every bite.”
His face twisted.
“You'd be nothing without me.”
Hannah smiled sadly.
“That may be the first lie you told that I no longer need to argue with.”
The sheriff took him away.
That evening they returned to the ranch.
The wedding guests were still waiting.
So were the flowers.
Crane looked at Hannah.
“Continue?”
She looked at Jacob.
He didn't move toward her.
He waited.
Always waited.
“Yes.”
They stood between the burned walls of the house.
Crane began.
Then another rider arrived.
Hannah nearly laughed.
“What now?”
The messenger handed her a telegram.
She opened it.
Her smile vanished.
The territorial court had issued an emergency injunction.
The north valley land was being seized.
Not by Cyrus.
Not by Whitcomb.
By the Northern Continental Railroad Company.
Jacob read the telegram.
“They claim your father's original deed was illegal.”
Daniel swore.
Hannah looked toward the valley.
After everything, someone else wanted to take it.
Jacob touched her hand.
“Do you want to postpone?”
Hannah looked at him.
“No.”
They married.
Not because the trouble was over.
Because trouble no longer got to choose their lives.
That night, after the celebration, Hannah entered the small room prepared for them in the bunkhouse.
Jacob remained outside.
She smiled.
“Are you coming in?”
“Are you asking?”
“Yes.”
He entered.
She closed the door.
And for the first time in her life, Hannah turned a lock because she wanted privacy—not protection.
The following morning, however, Daniel arrived holding the railroad claim.
“Hannah.”
She read his expression.
“What?”
“They aren't after the valley.”
“What are they after?”
He pointed to a survey marking beneath the property.
A black line crossed the northern ridge.
Then she saw the notation.
MINERAL DEPOSIT — CONFIDENTIAL.
Jacob leaned closer.
“Gold?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Something more valuable to a railroad.”
“Coal?”
“Yes.”
Hannah looked toward the mountains.
Two thousand acres.
The fight had never been about a girl.
It had been about what lay beneath her land.
Then a blast echoed from the northern ridge.
Everyone turned.
A column of smoke rose into the morning sky.
Jacob grabbed his rifle.
“They've already started digging.”
May you like
Hannah stared toward her valley.
And then the second explosion came from directly beneath the children's pasture...
