Chapter 13 - A Town Finally Stands Up
Silas Creed was captured two days later.
He had made it thirty-seven miles.
A washed-out bridge forced him toward a railroad settlement where Reeves's deputies were waiting.
When they brought him back through Red Mesa, nobody cheered.
Mara appreciated that.
This wasn't a celebration.
Too much had happened.
Thomas was still dead.
Caleb had lost eighteen months.
Samuel's store was burned.
Families had lost cattle and land.
Justice could stop tomorrow's harm.
It could not erase yesterday's.
Creed stepped from the wagon in irons.
He saw Mara.
“You think this changes anything?”
“Yes.”
“You'll always be what you are in this town.”
Mara looked around.
Samuel.
Nathan.
Abigail.
Ben.
Caleb.
Elias.
“Maybe the town can change too.”
Creed laughed.
“People don't change.”
Elias answered.
“Good thing you're wrong.”
Creed was placed in the jail.
Over the following weeks, investigators arrived.
Records were examined.
Fraudulent deeds surfaced.
Ranches were returned.
Boone confessed to accepting bribes but denied involvement in Thomas's death.
Deputy Miller admitted arson and corruption in exchange for cooperation.
Harlan began talking.
Men like Harlan often mistook loyalty for fear.
Once Creed could no longer protect him, loyalty disappeared.
He confirmed Caleb's story.
Thomas Grey Hawk had been assaulted at Creed's ranch after refusing to surrender the ledger.
Boone helped conceal the crime.
Mara listened to the statement without moving.
Afterward, she walked outside.
Elias followed but stopped several yards away.
She sat beneath the cottonwood.
For a long time she said nothing.
Then:
“I knew.”
Elias sat nearby.
“Some part of me always knew Thomas didn't die of fever.”
She looked at her hands.
“I let myself believe it because the truth was worse.”
“You survived.”
“Is that supposed to make it better?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not trying to make it better.”
Elias understood.
Some wounds weren't puzzles.
They didn't need solutions.
May you like
They needed room.
So he sat beside her until sunset.
