He stared at Anya.
Then at Thomas.
Then at the documents.
For twenty minutes, he read without speaking.
Finally he looked up.
“Where did you get these?”
Thomas said:
“My wife.”
Mercer went pale.
“Clara?”
Thomas nodded.
Mercer sat down.
“I wondered if she had kept copies.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Thomas felt anger rise.
“You suspected?”
“I asked her once.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me some truths were dangerous before people were ready to hear them.”
Thomas clenched his jaw.
“People were ready.”
Mercer looked toward Anya.
“Perhaps now they are.”
He agreed to publish.
But before he could do it, the door burst open.
Deputy Cole entered with six armed men.
“Thomas Weller.”
Thomas turned.
Cole pointed at Anya.
“You are under arrest for aiding a wanted fugitive.”
Thomas's hand moved toward his rifle.
Mercer stepped between them.
“On what charge?”
“Orders from Captain Vane.”
“Show me the warrant.”
Cole hesitated.
“There is no need.”
Mercer smiled coldly.
“There is always a need.”
The room became silent.
Then someone outside shouted.
More soldiers were coming.
Thomas looked at Anya.
“Back door.”
They ran.
Through the alley.
Across the stable yard.
Into a narrow street.
Bullets struck the wooden wall behind them.
Thomas pulled Anya around a corner.
They ran until they reached the old church.
Inside, Thomas locked the door.
Anya leaned against the wall.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“Your wife.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You didn't kill her.”
“But because of me…”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“This started before I ever met you.”
Anya stared at him.
Then she said:
“You still can leave.”
Thomas almost laughed.
“Where?”
“Your farm.”
“They'll come there.”
“Yes.”
“Then I suppose they already know where I am.”
Anya lowered her eyes.
Thomas sat beside her.
For the first time, neither spoke.
Then she reached into her clothing.
She removed a small metal object.
A locket.
Thomas recognized it.
Clara's.
His breath stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“My brother gave it to me.”
Thomas took it.
Inside was a faded photograph.
He and Clara.
Young.
Smiling.
Thomas had lost the locket years earlier.
He stared at it.
Anya spoke softly.
“She trusted your wife.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Clara believed people could choose who they became.”
Thomas closed the locket.
Outside, horses thundered past.
Then the church door shook.
Someone shouted:
“Weller! Come out!”
Thomas stood.
He looked at Anya.
“We're going home.”
She nodded.
But neither of them knew what waited for them there.
The Farm Under Fire
They reached the farm at dawn.
Smoke rose from the barn.
Thomas stopped his horse.
“No.”
Anya looked ahead.
Three horses stood near the fence.
The barn doors were open.
Thomas drew his rifle.
They approached slowly.
Inside, two of Thomas's horses were gone.
The others were terrified.
Someone had searched the place.
The cabin door had been broken.
Furniture overturned.
Clara's cedar trunk lay open.
Thomas entered.
Everything he had owned seemed to have been touched by strangers.
Then he noticed something.
The wooden box was gone.
His heart sank.
“They took it.”
Anya shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed beneath the bed.
A floorboard had been removed.
Thomas knelt.
Inside was another bundle.
Clara had hidden it.
More documents.
And a small journal.
Thomas opened the journal.
It contained dates.
Meetings.
Names.
Locations.
One entry caught his attention.
A meeting was scheduled at an abandoned mission north of Fort Harrow.
Tonight.
Thomas looked at Anya.
“They're going there.”
She nodded.
“And we go too.”
Thomas stared at her.
“That is exactly what a sensible man would not do.”
Anya smiled faintly.
“You are sensible?”
“Occasionally.”
They prepared.
Thomas took his rifle.
Anya took her knife.
They rode north.
The abandoned mission stood beneath a ridge of black stone.
They watched from a distance.
Six men entered.
Then Captain Silas Vane.
Thomas knew him immediately.
Vane was tall.
Immaculate.
His uniform spotless despite the dust.