Chapter 5 - What Mara Had Been Hiding
The accusation was so unexpected that Elias didn't answer immediately.
Boone smiled.
“Surprised?”
“Mostly curious how I killed a man eighteen months ago when I was in Colorado.”
“We'll discuss that.”
Abigail stepped forward.
“This is absurd.”
Boone looked at her.
“Stay out of it.”
“No.”
One deputy entered.
Elias could have resisted.
He didn't.
Boone wanted a fight.
Elias refused to give him one.
He held out his hands.
“Fine.”
The sheriff shackled him.
As they walked through Red Mesa, people emerged onto porches.
Elias saw Samuel Pike.
The blacksmith.
Several ranch hands.
Harlan.
Harlan smiled.
Elias understood.
This wasn't about convincing a court.
It was about controlling the story.
By morning, Red Mesa would hear that the mysterious drifter had kidnapped Mara, burned her home, and perhaps killed her husband.
Fear needed a villain.
Creed had just chosen one.
Boone locked Elias in the jail.
“You should've kept riding.”
“So I've heard.”
“Where's Mara?”
“Don't know.”
Boone stepped close.
“Harlan says you took her.”
“Harlan says many things.”
“Where are the papers?”
Elias smiled.
There it was.
“What papers?”
Boone's expression tightened.
“You're going to make this difficult.”
“Seems you already did.”
Boone left.
Hours passed.
Near midnight, Elias heard the rear door.
He expected Boone.
Instead, Mara appeared.
Elias stood.
“What are you doing here?”
She held a key.
“Abigail.”
“You came into town?”
“Yes.”
“That's a terrible idea.”
“I learned from you.”
Despite the situation, he laughed quietly.
Mara unlocked the cell.
“We have to go.”
“No.”
She stared.
“What?”
“If I escape, Boone gets exactly what he wants.”
“He may kill you.”
“Then we make sure he can't.”
“How?”
“Witnesses.”
Mara looked toward the front office.
Again that word.
Witnesses.
Elias continued.
“Tomorrow morning you walk into town.”
“No.”
“You prove I didn't kidnap you.”
“Harlan will be there.”
“So will everybody else.”
Mara's breathing quickened.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand you're afraid.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Don't say that as though it's simple.”
“I didn't.”
“You stood in front of Harlan once. I've lived under his shadow for a year.”
Elias nodded.
“You're right.”
That stopped her.
He sat on the cot.
“You're right, Mara. I don't know what that feels like.”
Silence.
Then he said, “So you decide.”
She stared at the key.
“What would you do?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Elias thought carefully.
“I'd walk into town.”
“Why?”
“Because they're counting on you staying hidden.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Then she relocked the cell.
Elias raised an eyebrow.
“You've decided?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you going?”
“To sleep.”
“Where?”
She looked at him.
“Somewhere Harlan won't find me.”
At nine the next morning, Boone dragged Elias outside.
Half the town was waiting.
Harlan stood beside the sheriff.
And beside Harlan was a man Elias had never seen.
Sixties.
Silver hair.
Black suit.
No gun visible.
He didn't need one.
Silas Creed.
Boone raised his voice.
“This man is being held on suspicion of kidnapping Mara Grey Hawk and involvement in the death of Thomas Grey Hawk.”
Murmurs spread.
Then a woman's voice came from behind the crowd.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Mara stood in the street.
Alone.
Harlan's face went blank.
Mara walked forward.
Each step looked difficult.
She took it anyway.
“Elias Ward did not kidnap me.”
Boone recovered.
“He threatened you?”
“No.”
“Then why were you hiding?”
“From Harlan.”
The crowd shifted.
Harlan stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Mara flinched.
Elias saw it.
So did everyone else.
Then Mara did something nobody expected.
She lifted her chin.
“No.”
Harlan stopped.
“You don't tell me to be careful anymore.”
Silence.
Mara turned toward the townspeople.
“My home was burned last night.”
Creed spoke for the first time.
“A tragedy.”
Mara looked at him.
“Yes.”
Creed smiled.
“You shouldn't accuse people without evidence.”
“I didn't accuse anyone.”
His smile faded slightly.
Mara continued.
“But since you mentioned evidence…”
She reached inside her dress.
Elias's heart stopped.
Not here.
Not yet.
Mara pulled out one folded page.
Only one.
Smart.
She held it up.
“My husband kept records.”
Creed's face did not change.
Harlan's did.
And everybody saw it.
Mara looked directly at him.
Harlan whispered, “You little—”
Creed raised one hand.
Harlan fell silent.
Creed stepped toward Mara.
“Mrs. Grey Hawk, perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“No.”
It was louder this time.
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Something was happening in Red Mesa.
Something small.
Something dangerous.
People were watching fear fail.
Boone grabbed the paper.
“I'll take that.”
Mara let him.
Creed relaxed.
Then Mara said, “It's a copy.”
Boone froze.
Elias smiled.
Mara looked toward Abigail.
The schoolteacher stepped from the crowd holding another page.
Then Samuel Pike emerged from his store.
He held another.
The blacksmith held another.
Copies.
Mara had spent the early morning distributing them.
Creed looked around.
For the first time, the man who owned Red Mesa realized he no longer knew where all the evidence was.
And somewhere in the crowd, someone began to laugh.
Not loudly.
But enough.
Silas Creed's face hardened.
Elias understood immediately.
May you like
The battle had changed.
And men like Creed were most dangerous when control began slipping from their hands.
