"Elias."
He looked up.
"How did you know there were men on that ridge?"
"I didn't."
"You did."
He sighed.
"Mountains speak if you've lived in them long enough."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one you're getting."
Abigail looked toward the window.
"Those men aren't ordinary thieves."
"No."
"Do you know who they are?"
"I know one thing."
"What?"
"They weren't after your money."
She tightened her fingers around the cup.
"Then what do they want?"
Elias looked at her.
"That is what concerns me."
Later that night, Abigail woke to the sound of a horse.
She sat upright.
Elias was already standing.
He held his rifle.
"Stay here."
She whispered, "Who is it?"
"I don't know."
He stepped outside.
Abigail moved to the window.
Three riders stood in the distance.
Elias walked toward them.
One man raised his hands.
"We're looking for a woman."
"You're too late."
"She came through this pass."
Elias leaned against the fence.
"A lot of women come through these mountains."
"Her name is Abigail Mercer."
Elias's expression did not change.
"Never heard of her."
The rider studied him.
"We know she was with you."
"Then you already know where she is."
The rider's hand moved toward his gun.
Elias's rifle appeared in his hands instantly.
"Don't."
The man stopped.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the rider smiled.
"You don't understand what you're protecting."
Elias's eyes hardened.
"Maybe."
The man turned his horse.
"But you will."
They rode away.
Elias watched until they disappeared.
Inside, Abigail stood trembling.
"They know my name."
"Yes."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know."
She walked toward him.
"You lied to them."
"I did."
"Why?"
Elias looked at her.
"Because they were lying to me."
He returned inside.
Abigail followed.
"About what?"
Elias closed the door.
"They said they were looking for you."
"They were."
"No."
He stared at her.
"They were looking for whatever you have."
Abigail froze.
Her hand moved instinctively toward her satchel.
Elias noticed.
"What's inside?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me."
She hesitated.
Then she opened the satchel.
She removed the Bible.
The letters.
And finally the folded deed.
Elias opened it.
His eyes narrowed.
"This isn't your husband's property."
Abigail shook her head.
"No."
"Then whose is it?"
"My father's."
"Where is he?"
"Dead."
Elias studied the document.
The name at the top was Samuel Mercer.
Below it was a description of more than six thousand acres of mountain land.
Elias looked at Abigail.
"How did your father die?"
She swallowed.
"They said he fell from a horse."
Elias folded the deed.
"And you don't believe them."
"No."
"Neither do I."
The Secret in the Deed
The next morning, Elias rode to the nearest settlement.
Abigail stayed behind.
He returned three hours later with a newspaper, several supplies, and a grim expression.
"What happened?" Abigail asked.
Elias placed the newspaper on the table.
There was a story about a land dispute.
The article mentioned Samuel Mercer.
It also mentioned a powerful cattle company called Blackstone Holdings.
Abigail read quickly.
"My father refused to sell his land."
"Yes."
"They threatened him."
"According to this, they offered him twice the value."
"He still refused."
Elias nodded.
"Three weeks later, he died."
Abigail's face went pale.
"And now they want the land."
"They want more than that."
Elias pointed toward the deed.
"Your father marked something here."
Abigail frowned.
"Where?"
He pointed to a tiny symbol near the bottom.
A circle with three lines through it.
"I've seen that mark before."
"Where?"
"On an old survey map."
He took a pencil.
"Your father's land borders a canyon called Wolf's Hollow."
"I know it."
"Do you know what's there?"
"No."
"Silver."
Abigail stared at him.
"Silver?"
"Possibly."
Elias explained that several years earlier, a surveyor had discovered traces of a rich silver vein beneath the mountains.
The discovery had never been publicly recorded.
Someone had buried the information.
But if the land could be legally acquired, whoever owned it could potentially claim the mineral rights.
Abigail looked at the deed.
"So they killed my father for the land."
"I don't know."
"They killed Samuel."
"Probably."
"They tried to kill me."
"Definitely."
She stood.
"Then I'm going back."