A telegram was sent to the territorial marshal in Cheyenne.
Until lawmen arrived, Dry Hollow became a town governed by nervous citizens who had suddenly discovered courage.
Pike remained calm.
That frightened Elsie.
Men like him were most dangerous when they believed they still had power.
“You think a ledger ends this?” he asked through the bars.
Elsie stood outside the cell.
“No.”
Pike smiled.
“Smart girl.”
“That's why we're going to find my father.”
The smile disappeared.
Gideon had told her where Thomas was buried.
Elsie wanted to bring him home.
The next morning, she and Gideon rode north.
Ezra stayed behind to protect the evidence.
Mateo came too.
So did Reverend Cole.
They reached Red Creek after three days.
Gideon found the cottonwood.
The stones remained.
Elsie climbed down from the wagon.
For months, she had imagined her father riding back.
Sometimes angry.
Sometimes smiling.
Sometimes explaining everything.
Now she stood over the place where that hope had been buried without her knowing.
She knelt.
Placed her hand on one stone.
“Hi, Papa.”
Nobody spoke.
Elsie stayed there a long time.
Eventually Gideon stepped away to give her privacy.
She cried quietly.
Then she noticed something.
A metal corner beneath one stone.
She moved it.
There was a small tin box buried beside the grave.
“Gideon.”
He returned.
“I didn't put that there.”
Elsie opened it.
Inside was another letter.
Thomas had written it before dying.
Perhaps while Gideon searched for firewood.
The words were shaky.
Elsie,
If Gideon keeps his word, you may read this.
I am sorry.
I wanted to come home.
I tried.
Harland Pike has been stealing land for years. Samuel Mercer discovered it first. They killed him.
Sheriff Gannon helped.
But Gannon did not shoot me.
Elsie stopped.
Gideon looked over her shoulder.
She continued.
The man who shot me was Pike's son, Andrew.
Gideon frowned.
He had never heard the name.
Andrew Pike left Dry Hollow months ago. He may return when his father is threatened.
Elsie's stomach tightened.
The letter continued.
There is one thing Harland fears more than the ledger.
Samuel Mercer kept copies of every fraudulent deed.
They are hidden beneath the old courthouse foundation.
Elsie looked up.
More evidence.
Enough to destroy Pike completely.
Then Gideon's face changed.
“His son.”
“What?”
“If Andrew hears Pike is arrested, where does he go?”
Elsie understood.
“Dry Hollow.”
They rode back hard.
When they reached town two days later, smoke rose on the horizon.
Not from the bank.
From Elsie's old farm.
Someone had set the Rowan house on fire.
A rider waited in front of it.
Young.
Blond.
Well-dressed.
He turned as they approached.
Andrew Pike.
He held a rifle.
“Elsie Rowan?”
Gideon moved his horse forward.
“Careful.”
Andrew smiled.
“You Vale?”
“Yes.”
“My father says you've been inconvenient.”
“I try.”
Andrew pointed the rifle.
“Give me the letter.”
Elsie went still.
“How do you know?”
“My father knew Thomas wrote something.”
Gideon dismounted.
“You killed him.”
Andrew shrugged.
“He wouldn't give me the ledger.”
Elsie's hands shook.
Not from fear.
From rage.
“You shot my father?”
“He ran.”
“He was trying to expose you.”
“He was stealing private bank records.”
“You stole people's homes.”
Andrew laughed.
“People lose homes every day.”
Elsie took one step forward.
Gideon grabbed her arm.
Andrew aimed at him.
“Let her go.”
Gideon did.
Andrew smiled.
“Good.”
Then a gunshot cracked.
Andrew's rifle flew from his hands.
He screamed.
Mateo stood fifty yards away with a Winchester.
“Bad manners,” the old stableman said.
Andrew reached for his revolver.
Gideon crossed the distance before he could draw.
One punch.
Andrew dropped.
Gideon kicked the revolver away.
Elsie stood above him.
“This is for my father.”
Andrew laughed through blood.
“What are you going to do? Shoot me?”
Elsie looked at Gideon's gun.
Then at Andrew.
She wanted to.
For one terrible second, she wanted nothing more.
Then she remembered Thomas.
Money that isn't yours is heavier than gold.
What about justice that isn't justice?
She stepped back.
“No.”
Andrew smiled weakly.
“Coward.”
Elsie shook her head.
“No.”
She looked toward town.
“You're going to stand in front of everyone and tell them what you did.”
His smile disappeared.
“And then you're going to live long enough to hear my father's name cleared.”
The Day Dry Hollow Spoke
The territorial marshal arrived with six deputies.
His name was Nathaniel Cross.
He was unimpressed by wealth.
That caused Harland Pike immediate difficulty.
The courthouse filled for the hearings.
The ledger was entered as evidence.
The documents beneath the courthouse foundation were found exactly where Thomas's letter said they would be.
Twenty-three fraudulent deeds.
Seventeen altered loan agreements.
Bribe records.
Payments to Sheriff Gannon.
Payments to judges.
Payments to land agents.
And one document connecting Harland Pike to Samuel Mercer's death.
Andrew Pike confessed to shooting Thomas after two former bank employees testified against him.
Sheriff Gannon confessed two days later.
He did it to avoid hanging.
Harland Pike never confessed.
He simply sat at the defense table and watched his world disappear.
Farm by farm.
Name by name.
Signature by signature.
Then Elsie testified.
She wore a clean blue dress donated by Margaret Wilson.
Her hands trembled.
Gideon sat behind her.
The marshal asked, “Did your father ever discuss stealing money from the bank?”
“No.”
“Did he ever discuss Harland Pike?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Elsie thought.
“He said a man can own land without owning the people on it.”
Pike stared at her.
The marshal continued.
“What did your father teach you about money?”
Elsie swallowed.
“He said money that isn't yours is heavier than gold.”