Chapter 16 - The Train Ticket in Clara’s Pocket
For two days, Everett tried to raise money.
He sold cattle.
He contacted buyers in Helena.
He offered equipment as collateral.
Nathaniel quietly offered three thousand dollars.
Everett refused.
They argued.
Clara heard it from the hallway.
“You would do it for me,” Nathaniel said.
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my ranch.”
“It was our father’s ranch.”
“You left.”
The instant the words came out, Everett regretted them.
Nathaniel’s face closed.
“Yes.”
He walked away.
Everett followed.
“Nate.”
“Save it.”
The old wound reopened.
Clara watched brothers who had spent eight years apart fall back into the same argument they had never truly finished.
By Thursday morning, Everett had raised forty-three hundred dollars.
He needed seventeen hundred more by noon Friday.
Gideon Rusk refused partial payment.
Of course he did.
Clara counted her savings.
Forty-one dollars.
Almost absurd.
She put every bill on Everett’s desk.
He stared.
“No.”
“It’s mine.”
“No.”
“You accepted help from everyone else.”
“Not this.”
“Why?”
“Because that is all you have.”
“That makes it more mine to give.”
Everett pushed the money back.
“Clara.”
“I can earn more.”
“And if you leave?”
The question stopped them.
“Leave?”
He looked at her.
“You should.”
Her chest tightened.
“What?”
“If the ranch goes to Rusk, I don’t know what happens here.”
“So?”
“So you need work.”
“I have work.”
“For one more day, maybe.”
Clara stared.
Everett stood.
“I can give you wages through the end of the month.”
“You’re dismissing me?”
“No.”
“It sounds exactly like that.”
“I’m making sure you’re safe.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“I don’t need you to decide safety for me.”
“If Rusk takes this house—”
“Then we figure it out.”
“We?”
Everett’s voice became quiet.
Clara stopped.
There it was.
The word she had been avoiding.
We.
Everett looked almost afraid of it.
Clara swallowed.
“Yes.”
His expression broke.
“Clara.”
Before either moved, Nathaniel entered.
“I have an idea.”
They both turned.
“Railroad company.”
Everett frowned.
“What about it?”
“They’re coming Saturday.”
“If Rusk owns the north range Friday, it doesn’t matter.”
“Unless they purchase an option before then.”
Clara understood.
“Pay Everett now for future access.”
Nathaniel nodded.
Everett shook his head.
“They haven’t inspected.”
“They have surveys.”
“Old surveys.”
“Enough to interest them.”
“How do we contact them?”
Nathaniel held up a telegram.
“They’re in Helena.”
Everett reached for his hat.
“I’ll go.”
“No train until evening,” Nathaniel said.
“How long?”
“Arrives Helena after midnight.”
“Then we meet them Friday morning.”
Clara looked at the clock.
Possible.
Barely.
Everett turned toward her.
“You stay.”
She stared.
He closed his eyes.
“Wrong word.”
“Very.”
“Would you come?”
“Yes.”
The train from Red Hollow was small and loud.
Clara had never ridden one.
She gripped the seat when it began moving.
Everett noticed.
“Nervous?”
“No.”
“You’re holding the bench like it insulted you.”
“I distrust anything that moves without horses.”
He smiled.
Nathaniel sat across from them.
“Wait until she sees the dining car.”
Clara looked alarmed.
“There’s food on this?”
Everett laughed.
The night journey felt strange.
Outside, darkness rushed past.
Inside, lamps swayed.
At one point Nathaniel slept.
Clara sat beside Everett.
Their shoulders touched.
Neither moved away.
“You meant ‘we’?” he asked quietly.
Clara looked at the window.
“Yes.”
Everett said nothing.
She turned.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I’m afraid I’ll ruin it.”
“You ruin many things.”
“I know.”
Clara smiled.
Then reached into her pocket.
A train ticket.
Return passage.
She had purchased one.
Only one.
Everett noticed.
“Where’s your return ticket?”
“This is it.”
“I meant another.”
“For you?”
“No. Yours.”
Clara looked at him.
“I bought one.”
His expression changed.
“You expected to come back.”
“Yes.”
“To the ranch.”
“Yes.”
Even if we lose it hung unspoken.
Everett’s eyes became bright.
He looked away.
Clara allowed him.
Helena greeted them before dawn.
They found the railroad representatives at a hotel.
Three men.
Tired.
Suspicious.
Nathaniel presented maps.
Everett explained the land.
Clara showed the documents proving the dispute.
The men listened.
Then one, Mr. Whitcomb, shook his head.
“We don’t purchase options on legally disputed property.”
Everett’s face fell.
Nathaniel pushed.
“The deed is valid.”
“Maybe.”
“We have proof.”
“A judge has not ruled.”
Clara leaned forward.
“When do you need the route?”
Whitcomb looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“When does your company need to decide?”
“That isn’t public.”
“Soon?”
He didn’t answer.
Which was an answer.
“Gideon Rusk knows.”
Whitcomb’s eyes changed.
Clara continued.
“That means somebody told him.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
She was gambling now.
“If Rusk gets Everett’s land, he controls the pass.”
“Yes.”
“And then what does he charge you?”
Whitcomb’s mouth tightened.
“Miss—”
“Whitmore.”
“Miss Whitmore, railroad negotiations are complicated.”
“So is extortion.”
Everett almost smiled.
Whitcomb’s companions exchanged looks.
Clara continued.
“You don’t need to buy the land. You need to keep Rusk from controlling it.”
Whitcomb sat back.
“What are you proposing?”
She looked at Nathaniel.
He understood.
“A bridge loan.”
Whitcomb laughed.
“We are not a bank.”
“No.”
Clara said.
“But you pay survey retainers.”
Silence.
She had seen the term in Eleanor’s documents.
Whitcomb’s eyes narrowed.
“Where did you learn that?”
“Your own survey paperwork.”
Now Everett smiled.
They negotiated for three hours.
At eleven twenty Friday morning, the Western Continental Rail Survey Company signed an exclusive access option for preliminary route inspection.
Payment:
Two thousand dollars.
Everett stared at the draft.
Clara could hardly breathe.
They had enough.
At eleven forty, they entered the Helena bank.
At eleven fifty-two, Everett instructed the bank to transmit full payment on the note.
Six thousand dollars.
At eleven fifty-nine, confirmation arrived.
Paid.
Nathaniel laughed first.
Then Everett.
Clara cried.
Nobody commented.
Gideon Rusk could no longer seize the ranch for debt.
But the larger fight remained.
The land dispute.
The poisoning.
The fire.
Miriam.
Henry.
Elias Pike’s notebooks.
They returned to Red Hollow Saturday afternoon.
A crowd waited at the station.
Clara expected celebration.
Instead she saw Sheriff Bell.
Dr. Aldridge.
Marta.
Silas.
All grim.
Everett stepped down.
“What happened?”
Sheriff Bell approached.
“Gideon Rusk is missing.”
Everett frowned.
“Since when?”
“Last night.”
“What does that have to do with us?”
Bell looked directly at Clara.
“Before he disappeared, he left a letter.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What letter?”
The sheriff removed paper from his coat.
“In it, Rusk says Clara Whitmore threatened him in town.”
Everett stared.
Bell continued.
“And that if anything happened to him, we should look first at Caldwell Ranch.”
The crowd murmured.
Clara suddenly understood.
Rusk’s last move was not to take Everett’s land.
May you like
It was to make the entire town suspect the people fighting him.
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