Chapter 13 - Fifty Dollars Before the Judge
The explosion opened a crater fifty yards from the barn.
No child was hurt.
That was the only mercy.
Railroad men had entered the property before dawn.
Jacob ordered them off.
Their foreman produced a federal survey authorization.
Hannah read it.
Then tore it in half.
The foreman stared.
“You can't do that.”
“I just did.”
“This land belongs to Northern Continental.”
“No.”
“You'll lose everything.”
Hannah looked toward the burned house.
“I'm getting experienced at that.”
The legal hearing was scheduled in Miles City.
For once, Hannah entered the courtroom through the front door not as property, ward, victim, or evidence.
As owner.
Cyrus was brought in under guard to testify.
Whitcomb sat separately.
Dozens of women from Thomas Bell's ledger filled the gallery.
Jacob sat behind Hannah.
Not beside her.
This was her case.
The railroad attorney argued that Daniel's deed had been improperly recorded.
Hannah's attorney presented the original.
Reverend Crane testified.
Jacob Vale testified.
Elizabeth testified.
Daniel testified.
Then Cyrus took the stand.
He tried one final lie.
“Hannah agreed to the sale.”
The courtroom murmured.
Hannah's attorney stood.
“She agreed to be sold?”
“She climbed into Mercer's wagon.”
“During a January blizzard?”
“Yes.”
“After you told her she belonged to him?”
Cyrus smiled.
“She didn't object.”
Hannah's attorney placed the fifty-dollar pouch on the table.
“Is this your payment?”
“Yes.”
“And the bull?”
“Yes.”
“So you acknowledge accepting payment for an eighteen-year-old woman?”
Cyrus realized the trap too late.
The gallery erupted.
The judge called for order.
Then Hannah was asked to testify.
She stood.
The attorney asked what Jacob had done after purchasing her.
“He gave me a bedroom.”
“Did he enter it?”
“No.”
“Did he demand marital relations?”
“No.”
“Did he require labor?”
“No.”
“What did he give you?”
Hannah looked at Jacob.
“A key.”
The courtroom became silent.
“To what?”
“My door.”
“Why does that matter?”
Hannah looked toward Cyrus.
“Because it was the first thing a man had ever given me that allowed me to say no.”
Even the judge paused.
The railroad claim was dismissed.
Hannah's deed was recognized.
Cyrus's fraudulent guardianship documents were voided.
Whitcomb was remanded for criminal prosecution.
And Cyrus Reed was ordered to stand trial on charges ranging from fraud and kidnapping to conspiracy and murder.
Outside the courthouse, reporters gathered.
One shouted:
“Mrs. Mercer! Is it true your husband bought you for fifty dollars?”
Hannah stopped.
Jacob looked uncomfortable.
She smiled.
“Yes.”
The reporter leaned forward.
“And what did he get for his money?”
Hannah looked at Jacob.
He looked horrified by the question.
She almost laughed.
“He bought me nothing.”
The reporter frowned.
“But—”
“He paid a cruel man to open a door.”
She took Jacob's hand.
“I decided where I walked afterward.”
By evening, the story had traveled across Miles City.
Within weeks, newspapers throughout the territory repeated it.
Some distorted it.
Some romanticized it.
Some called Jacob a hero.
He hated that.
“Why?” Hannah asked.
“Because I bought you.”
“To free me.”
“I still participated in something ugly.”
Hannah nodded.
“Then don't make it pretty.”
He looked at her.
“But don't pretend your reason didn't matter either.”
They rode home.
Spring covered the valley in green.
Construction on the new house had begun.
Hannah stopped beside the ridge.
“What should we do with the coal?”
“It's yours.”
“I asked what we should do.”
Jacob smiled.
“We.”
“Yes.”
They decided not to sell outright.
Instead Hannah negotiated mineral rights herself.
The railroad would pay royalties.
A portion would rebuild the ranch.
A larger portion would create a trust.
“For what?” Jacob asked.
Hannah opened Thomas Bell's ledger.
“For them.”
The women.
The girls.
People trapped because they had nowhere to go.
She would build a place where leaving was possible.
They called it Bell House.
Margaret cried when she heard.
Summer approached.
For the first time, Hannah began believing the fight might actually be ending.
Then one morning, the sheriff rode into the yard.
He removed his hat.
Hannah's heart sank.
“What happened?”
“Cyrus's trial ended.”
“And?”
“Guilty.”
She exhaled.
“Then why are you here?”
The sheriff looked toward the children.
“Cyrus asked to see you before sentencing.”
“No.”
“He said you'd say that.”
“Good.”
“He told me to give you this.”
The sheriff handed Hannah a small envelope.
Inside was a single sentence.
ASK JACOB WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT MARY DIED.
Hannah slowly lifted her eyes.
Jacob stood twenty feet away.
His face had gone completely still.
She walked toward him.
“What happened the night Mary died?”
Jacob said nothing.
“Jacob?”
He looked toward Mary's grave.
Then he whispered:
“She didn't die from her illness.”
Hannah stopped.
Jacob's eyes filled.
“Someone helped her die.”
May you like
And then he said the last thing Hannah expected.
“It was me...”
