Not only Jonah's.
Several ranchers had been cheated.
Thomas had discovered altered documents.
He had copied names.
Dates.
Property boundaries.
Payment records.
Then he disappeared.
Mara had spent months trying to find him.
She had no money.
No powerful family.
No protection.
So when she saw the advertisement for Jonah Mercer, she made a decision.
Marriage might give her a place to live.
It might also give her access to records.
She had not come to Blackstone solely because of Jonah.
She had come because Blackstone was one of the properties threatened by Rusk.
But as the weeks passed, her original plan became complicated.
Jonah was not the man she expected.
He was kind.
He was lonely.
And slowly, against every instinct she possessed, Mara began caring about him.
That made her secret heavier.
One evening, she opened her carpetbag.
At the bottom was a small leather notebook.
Thomas's notebook.
Inside were copied figures and names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Gideon Rusk.
Another appeared beside it.
The territorial water clerk.
Mara read the pages by candlelight.
Then she heard Jonah outside.
She closed the book.
"Come in."
Jonah entered.
He carried two cups of coffee.
"I thought you might want one."
Mara smiled.
"Thank you."
He sat across from her.
For several minutes, they drank in silence.
Then Jonah said, "You ever miss the city?"
"Sometimes."
"Why?"
Mara looked toward the window.
"Because nobody there knew me."
Jonah frowned.
"Is that good?"
"It can be."
She looked at him.
"Nobody expected anything."
Jonah thought about it.
"Here?"
"Here, everyone expects me to be something."
"What?"
"A wife."
Jonah's expression softened.
"I don't."
Mara lowered her eyes.
"That's why I stayed."
Jonah went still.
"You could leave?"
"Yes."
"Would you?"
Mara looked at him.
"No."
The word was quiet.
But Jonah heard it.
Neither spoke.
The moment was interrupted by gunfire.
A shot cracked across the night.
Jonah jumped to his feet.
He grabbed his rifle.
Mara stood.
Another shot.
Then another.
Jonah moved toward the door.
"Stay inside."
"No."
"Mara."
"I said no."
He looked at her.
She picked up a shotgun.
Jonah stared.
"Where did you learn to use that?"
"People should stop asking me questions they don't want answered."
He almost laughed.
Then the barn door exploded inward.
A lantern crashed.
Fire spread across the straw.
Jonah ran.
Mara followed.
Two masked men were setting fire to the barn.
Jonah raised his rifle.
"Get out!"
One man fired.
Jonah ducked.
Mara fired the shotgun.
The man dropped his weapon and ran.
The second man escaped into the darkness.
Jonah grabbed a bucket.
Mara grabbed another.
They fought the flames together.
By dawn, the barn was badly damaged.
Three cattle were missing.
The fence had been cut.
And Jonah's horse had been injured.
Jonah stood in the ashes.
Mara watched him.
"Rusk?"
Jonah nodded.
"Probably."
Then he looked at her.
"How did you know how to use that gun?"
Mara didn't answer.
Jonah didn't press.
Not yet.
Instead, he walked toward the injured horse.
Mara followed.
They stood together in the cold morning.
Jonah finally said, "Whatever you're hiding..."
She stiffened.
"...you can tell me when you're ready."
Mara looked at him.
"Why aren't you angry?"
"Because I don't know what happened."
"What if you don't like it?"
"Then I'll decide after I hear it."
Mara almost cried.
Nobody had ever offered her that.
The right to explain herself before being judged.
She touched his hand.
Jonah looked down.
Neither moved.
Then Mara whispered, "I'm trying to trust you."
Jonah squeezed her fingers.
"So am I."
The Truth Beneath the Water
The following morning, Mara told Jonah everything.
Thomas.
The notebook.
The altered water records.
The names.
The missing papers.
The possibility that Rusk had been manipulating property claims across the territory.
Jonah listened without interrupting.
When she finished, the kitchen was silent.
Finally, Jonah asked, "Did you marry me because of this?"
Mara closed her eyes.
"At first."
Jonah looked away.
The answer hurt.
She could see it.
"I'm sorry."
He stood.
Mara waited for anger.
It didn't come.
Instead, Jonah walked outside.
She followed.
He stopped beside the creek.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Jonah said, "I don't know what hurts more."
Mara swallowed.
"What?"
"That you didn't trust me."
He looked at her.
"Or that I understand why."
Mara's eyes filled.
"I wanted to tell you."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because every time I thought I knew someone, they eventually used what I told them."
Jonah nodded.
He understood that better than she realized.
Then Mara reached into her dress and pulled out the notebook.
"I think this can prove what Rusk has done."
Jonah took it.
They spent the entire day comparing the entries with his property papers.
By evening, they discovered something.
The water boundary on Jonah's original deed had been altered.
The ink was different.
The handwriting was different.
The date was suspicious.
And the signature of the water clerk appeared forged.
But they needed more.
They needed the original records.
Those records were kept at the territorial office in Dry Creek.
Getting them would be dangerous.