Until that morning.
Hutchins raised his hand.
“Strong. Young. Healthy.”
A few men moved closer.
“Useful around a ranch.”
Tala's jaw tightened.
The first bid came from a cattleman.
“Fifty dollars.”
Hutchins smiled.
“Fifty.”
Another man raised his hand.
“Seventy.”
“Seventy-five.”
“One hundred.”
The numbers climbed.
Tala listened.
One hundred.
One hundred twenty-five.
One hundred fifty.
The sound of money became a rhythm.
Her entire life had been reduced to numbers.
She remembered her mother's face.
She remembered the smell of cedar smoke.
She remembered being carried on horseback as a child.
She remembered laughing.
That memory hurt most.
Because no one in the crowd seemed capable of imagining that the woman standing before them had once been a child who laughed.
The bidding reached one hundred seventy-five dollars.
Then the crowd became quiet.
A man at the back raised his hand.
Everyone turned.
He was tall.
Very tall.
He wore a black coat despite the heat.
His hat was old.
His boots were covered with dust.
He walked through the crowd without saying a word.
People recognized him.
Tala did not.
Someone whispered his name.
“Jonah Reed.”
Another voice answered.
“The rancher.”
Jonah stopped near the platform.
Hutchins smiled.
“Well, look what the wind brought in.”
Jonah ignored him.
His eyes moved to Tala.
Not her body.
Not her clothing.
Her face.
Then her wrists.
He looked at the rope.
Something changed in his expression.
It was subtle.
Most people would not have noticed.
Tala did.
He was angry.
But he controlled it.
Hutchins tapped his pencil against the ledger.
“You interested?”
Jonah reached inside his coat.
He removed several folded bills.
“Two hundred.”
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Hutchins grinned.
“Two hundred dollars.”
The cattleman who had bid one hundred seventy-five looked irritated.
“You buying her?”
Jonah looked at him.
“No.”
The man laughed.
“Then what are you doing?”
Jonah placed the money on the table.
“Buying the document.”
Hutchins's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“The document.”
“This is an auction.”
“I know.”
“You bid on the woman.”
Jonah shook his head.
“I bid on the paper that says you can sell her.”
Several people laughed nervously.
Hutchins stepped closer.
“You think you're clever?”
“No.”
Jonah's voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
He pulled another paper from his coat.
“This was filed in Prescott yesterday.”
Hutchins's face changed.
The paper bore an official seal.
A witness statement.
A notice.
And a challenge to the legality of the transfer.
Hutchins read the first lines.
Then looked up.
“Where did you get this?”
Jonah folded his arms.
“From someone who knows the law.”
“You're interfering with military property.”
Jonah's eyes hardened.
“She isn't property.”
The crowd went silent.
The soldier behind Tala shifted.
Hutchins laughed.
“You're going to make a speech now?”
“No.”
Jonah looked toward Tala.
Then back at Hutchins.
“Cut the rope.”
Hutchins refused.