Chapter 17 - Seven Dollars Returned
On the anniversary of the auction, seven women gathered at Silas's ranch.
Each brought one silver dollar.
Silas stared at the coins lined across the table.
“No.”
Eda smiled.
“Yes.”
“I don't want them.”
“They aren't payment.”
“Then what?”
Mabel answered.
“A reminder.”
Ruth added, “You didn't purchase us.”
Pearl said, “You purchased time.”
Susanna corrected her.
“No. He interrupted something.”
Joelle smiled.
“He made Clem mad.”
Everyone laughed.
Eda pushed the seven coins toward Silas.
“You gave seven dollars when everyone else gave silence.”
Silas looked uncomfortable.
He had never learned to accept praise.
Eda understood.
“So we're giving them back.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody owes anybody.”
Silas looked at each woman.
Then gathered the coins.
“What am I supposed to do with them?”
Joelle immediately said, “Buy coffee.”
Seven voices protested.
Silas laughed.
Eventually the coins were framed.
Not as evidence of ownership.
As evidence of interruption.
Beneath them Mabel wrote:
Seven dollars. Seven names. Seven free women.
Silas hung the frame beside Abigail's portrait.
Eda watched him.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Abigail belonged to the story.
Not as a ghost preventing happiness.
As someone whose courage helped expose the truth.
Silas touched the frame.
Then Eda took his hand.
Outside, the ranch was green.
Winter had finally ended.
May you like
And soon, a different kind of gathering would bring all seven women back to the place where their lives had changed.
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