At first she thought it contained recipes.
Instead, there were numbers.
Payments.
Cattle.
Freight.
Names.
Dates.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Prescott.
Mercy carried the ledger to Thomas.
He stared at it.
“What is this?”
“I don't know.”
He turned pages.
“This is Ruth's handwriting.”
“Yes.”
“She never showed me this.”
“Maybe she was trying to understand something before she told you.”
Thomas continued reading.
Then he stopped.
“What?”
He pointed.
A payment.
A large one.
Made shortly before Ruth became ill.
To someone identified only by initials.
Mercy looked at the date.
“When did Ruth become sick?”
“Three days later.”
Thomas sat down.
His face went pale.
“Do you think—”
“I don't know.”
“Adeline?”
“I don't know.”
“But you think she knew something.”
Mercy closed the ledger.
“I think your wife was investigating something.”
Thomas stared into the fire.
For eighteen months he had believed Ruth died from illness.
Now uncertainty entered his life.
He hated it.
But he could not ignore it.
Caleb appeared at the doorway.
“Pa?”
Thomas looked up.
“Did your mother ever argue with Adeline?”
Caleb hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before she got sick.”
“What about?”
“Papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don't know.”
Mercy asked softly:
“Did she seem afraid?”
Caleb shook his head.
“No.”
“Angry?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what she said?”
Caleb looked toward the window.
“She said Adeline had forgotten that powerful people still left footprints.”
Mercy felt a chill.
Outside, snow continued to fall.
The Bell family survived that winter because they became a unit.
Caleb took responsibility for the cattle.
Samuel repaired fences.
Jonah helped with firewood.
Eli became the unofficial messenger.
Matthew kept records.
Jacob fed the chickens.
Peter followed Mercy everywhere.
Thomas worked until his hands cracked.
Mercy managed the house and the supplies.
They were not perfect.
They argued.
They made mistakes.
They got tired.
But they became a family before any wedding took place.
One evening, Thomas found Mercy asleep beside the kitchen stove.
She had been working too long.
He placed a blanket over her.
Mercy woke.
“You're supposed to be sleeping.”
“So are you.”
“I was waiting for the bread.”
“The bread can wait.”
She smiled sleepily.
“Bread doesn't understand waiting.”
Thomas laughed.
Then he became serious.
“Mercy.”
“Yes?”
“I want to marry you.”
She looked at him.
He continued.
“Not because the boys need a mother.”
Her eyes softened.
“Not because the ranch needs someone.”
He took her hand.
“I want you.”
Mercy was silent.
“You don't have to answer now.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“I already know.”
“What?”
“I came here hoping I would eventually hear you say that.”
Thomas smiled.
Then Mercy added:
“But I need one thing.”
“Anything.”
“Don't marry me because you are afraid of being alone.”
He looked at her.
“I won't.”
“Then ask me properly.”
Thomas stood.
He went to the hallway.
He returned carrying an old wooden box.
Inside was a simple ring.
It had belonged to his mother.
“I was going to give this to Ruth,” he said.
Mercy looked at him.
“I never gave it to her. Her family had already chosen another ring.”
He placed it in her palm.
“I think she would have wanted you to have it.”
Mercy closed her fingers around it.
“Then yes.”
Thomas smiled.
Outside the kitchen, seven boys were listening.
Peter whispered:
“Does this mean she's staying?”
Thomas looked toward the doorway.
Seven guilty faces appeared.
Mercy laughed.
“Yes.”
Peter shouted.
The boys cheered.
For one night, the Bell ranch forgot to be afraid.
The next morning, they found Peter missing.
Mercy was the first to notice.
His bed was empty.
His coat was gone.
So were his boots.
Thomas searched the barn.
Caleb checked the road.
The snow made tracking difficult.
Then Mercy saw something.
A small wooden horse lay beside the back gate.
Peter never went anywhere without it.
Her heart stopped.
“He was taken.”
Thomas looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Peter would never leave that behind.”
The search began.