Elias looked at her.
"Back where?"
"To my father's land."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"You'll be dead before you reach it."
"I have a legal claim."
"They have guns."
"I can't simply run."
"Running isn't what I'm suggesting."
"Then what are you suggesting?"
Elias walked toward the window.
"We find out who is behind this."
Abigail crossed her arms.
"And how do we do that?"
"We go to Wolf's Hollow."
She stared at him.
"That's exactly where you just told me not to go."
"I didn't say I was going to let you go alone."
For the first time, Abigail saw something in Elias's eyes.
Not pity.
Not duty.
Something deeper.
He understood what it meant to lose everything.
And perhaps he was tired of watching decent people be destroyed by men who believed money gave them the right to decide who lived and who died.
They left at dawn.
The journey took most of the day.
When they reached Wolf's Hollow, they found an abandoned mining camp.
Inside one of the buildings, Elias discovered boxes of blasting powder, survey maps, and ledgers.
Abigail opened one.
Her father's name appeared repeatedly.
So did the name of a local rancher.
Marcus Vane.
Elias's jaw tightened.
"I know him."
"Who is he?"
"Man who owns half the cattle in the territory."
"Is he dangerous?"
Elias looked at the ledger.
"Very."
Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the silence.
Elias pulled Abigail behind a wall.
Another shot struck the doorway.
"They followed us."
Elias looked around.
There were at least six riders outside.
Abigail whispered, "What do we do?"
Elias checked his rifle.
"We survive."
The battle lasted less than five minutes.
Elias used the buildings and rocks for cover.
Abigail did something he had not expected.
She found an old lantern and kicked it beneath a pile of dry timber.
Smoke filled the camp.
The attackers began coughing.
Elias moved through the confusion.
One by one, the gunmen fled.
When silence returned, Abigail emerged.
Elias stared at her.
"You started a fire."
"I noticed."
"You could have burned the whole camp."
"But I didn't."
He almost laughed.
"You've got more courage than sense."
"And you have more arrogance than manners."
"Fair."
Then they heard a horse approaching.
A lone rider appeared.
It was an elderly man.
He raised his hands.
"My name is Caleb Mercer."
Abigail froze.
"Mercer?"
The man looked at her.
"I'm your father's brother."
The Truth Beneath the Mountain
Caleb Mercer had been hiding for two years.
He told Abigail the truth her father had never been able to reveal.
Samuel Mercer had discovered the silver deposits beneath Wolf's Hollow.
But he also discovered something more dangerous.
The silver belonged to land that Marcus Vane had been secretly purchasing through false names.
Vane wanted the entire mountain.
He had already bribed officials.
He had forged documents.
And he had arranged accidents for anyone who stood in his way.
Samuel refused to cooperate.
So Vane had him killed.
Caleb had survived only because he disappeared before the men found him.
"Why didn't you come for me?" Abigail asked.
Caleb lowered his head.
"I tried."
"When?"
"After your father died."
"Where were you?"
"Following Vane's men."
Abigail's eyes filled with tears.
"You should have found me."
"I know."
She turned away.
Elias watched silently.
He understood that some wounds could not be healed in one conversation.
That evening, Caleb revealed that the original proof was hidden beneath an old church outside Eagle Ridge.
A record book contained copies of every fraudulent land transfer.
If they could get it to the territorial judge, Vane would lose everything.
But there was a problem.
The sheriff of Eagle Ridge was working for Vane.
They couldn't trust the local authorities.
Elias suggested traveling north to Fort Benton.
They would need three days.
Vane would likely catch them within one.
So they made a different plan.
They would return to Eagle Ridge and confront Vane.
Abigail objected.
"You said he was dangerous."
"He is."
"Then why go to him?"
"Because men like Vane become careless when they think they've already won."
They reached town the next afternoon.
Eagle Ridge was small.
A general store.
A blacksmith.
A saloon.
A courthouse.
And Vane's enormous ranch house overlooking everything.