Silas looked at her.
She continued:
"I'm not leaving."
Neither of them knew that someone was listening outside the window.
The following morning, Anna disappeared.
Silas nearly tore the house apart searching for her.
They found her horse near the northern fence.
No Anna.
Eleanor noticed something caught on the barbed wire.
A piece of black fabric.
Whitcomb's coat.
Silas reached for his rifle.
"Wait."
Eleanor examined the cloth.
"Look."
There was a small brass button.
Stamped with a symbol.
A circle surrounding the letter W.
"Whitcomb," Silas said.
They followed the tracks.
The trail led toward an abandoned mining settlement.
They found Anna inside an old cabin.
She wasn't alone.
A man sat beside her.
Older.
Thin.
Bearded.
He stood when Silas entered.
Silas raised his rifle.
The man lifted both hands.
"Don't shoot."
Anna ran to Silas.
Eleanor stared at the stranger.
Something about him was familiar.
Then the man said:
"Eleanor."
She froze.
No one had called her by that name in years.
Not that voice.
She whispered:
"Who are you?"
The man removed his hat.
"My name is Amos."
Eleanor stopped breathing.
Her father.
Alive.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Eleanor crossed the room.
She slapped him.
The sound echoed.
Amos didn't defend himself.
She slapped him again.
"You were alive."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I was."
"You let me believe you abandoned me."
"I had no choice."
"You had six years."
"I was hiding."
"From whom?"
"Whitcomb."
She turned away.
"I hated you."
"I know."
"I thought you were a coward."
"I know."
"I thought you stole everything."
"I know."
She covered her face.
Silas stood silently.
Amos looked at him.
"You must be Benjamin's brother."
Silas nodded.
"Your brother knew the truth."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because Whitcomb threatened the children."
Silas's expression hardened.
"Benjamin was protecting them."
Amos nodded.
"He hid the documents."
Eleanor looked at the papers.
"Why did you disappear?"
"Because I found out Whitcomb wasn't working alone."
"Who else?"
Amos hesitated.
"The county judge."
Silas understood.
The debt.
The missing records.
The sudden absence of the judge.
It was all connected.
Amos continued.
"Whitcomb has been buying ranches for years. The judge validates the transfers. Bank officers hide the money."
Eleanor whispered:
"And the people who resisted?"
"Lost everything."
Silas looked at him.
"What do you need from us?"
"Proof."
"We have records."
"Not enough."
Amos pointed toward a locked chest.
"There is one ledger."
"Where?"
"In the courthouse."
Silas stared.
"Then we'll get it."
Amos shook his head.
"You won't."
"Why?"
"Because the courthouse is guarded."
Eleanor looked at Silas.
"Then we don't go through the front."
They entered the courthouse after midnight.
Eleanor had spent years studying the building's records.
She knew where old documents were stored.
Silas stayed near the entrance.
Amos waited outside.
They found the ledger in a locked cabinet.
Eleanor opened it.
Inside were names.
Payments.
Land transfers.
Dates.
The evidence was overwhelming.
Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Eleanor froze.
Silas whispered:
"Hide."
The door opened.
Whitcomb entered.
He wasn't alone.
The county judge stood behind him.
"I knew you'd come."
Eleanor stepped from the shadows.
"You knew?"
Whitcomb smiled.
"Your father was always predictable."
The judge looked at her.
"You should have stayed gone."
Eleanor held the ledger.
"You're finished."
Whitcomb laughed.
"No one will believe you."
Silas stepped forward.
"They'll believe the records."