Chapter 10 - The Hearing at Black Pine
The courthouse in Black Pine had never hosted so many people.
By nine in the morning every bench was full.
News traveled quickly.
Especially when the story involved money, scandal, and a woman many townspeople remembered as Eleanor Bell's daughter.
Josephine sat beside attorney Rebecca Hale, one of the only female legal clerks in the territory.
Rebecca could not formally argue every portion of the case under local rules, but she had prepared Josephine's evidence with ruthless precision.
Harlan sat behind them.
Josephine had asked him not to sit beside her.
Not because she did not want him there.
Because she needed everyone—including herself—to understand that she was not hiding behind her husband.
Silas Vale entered with two attorneys.
Gideon Bell followed.
Josephine's stomach tightened.
Her father did not look at her.
The judge called the hearing.
Vale's attorney spoke first.
He argued that Gideon had legally managed the property as Josephine's guardian.
He presented a transfer document bearing Josephine's supposed signature.
He claimed Vale had purchased rights in good faith.
Rebecca whispered, “Good faith my left foot.”
Josephine almost smiled.
Then Gideon testified.
Her father lied beautifully.
He said Josephine had always known about the land.
He said she signed the transfer voluntarily at eighteen.
He said she was now being manipulated by Harlan Creek.
Vale's attorney asked, “Would you describe your daughter as financially sophisticated?”
Gideon sighed theatrically.
“No.”
Josephine's nails pressed into her palm.
“She has always been emotional.”
Harlan shifted behind her.
Josephine did not turn.
Vale's attorney continued.
“Dependent?”
“Extremely.”
“Easily influenced?”
“Yes.”
The man nodded as though the matter were settled.
Then Rebecca leaned toward Josephine.
“Ready?”
Josephine inhaled.
“Yes.”
She took the witness chair.
Vale's attorney smiled.
“Mrs. Creek, did your father provide food and housing during your childhood?”
“Yes.”
“Clothing?”
“Yes.”
“Education?”
“Yes.”
“Then would it be fair to say he supported you?”
Josephine looked at the man.
“With income from property I owned?”
Murmurs filled the courtroom.
The attorney frowned.
“Answer the question.”
“I did.”
“Did you understand property law at eighteen?”
“No.”
“Accounting?”
“Yes.”
He paused.
“You worked as an accountant?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“My father's furniture business.”
Gideon looked up sharply.
Josephine continued.
“I kept ledgers from age fourteen until I married.”
Vale's attorney shuffled papers.
“You expect this court to believe—”
Rebecca stood.
“We brought the ledgers.”
Gideon's face drained.
Three books were placed on the evidence table.
Josephine identified her handwriting.
Then Rebecca produced timber payments from Josephine's land.
The numbers matched deposits recorded in Gideon's business.
The courtroom became very quiet.
Next came the signature.
Josephine's supposed transfer.
Rebecca presented samples from the Bell Furniture ledgers.
“Look at the capital B,” Josephine said.
The judge leaned closer.
“Different.”
“Yes.”
Then Josephine pointed to another feature.
“My father forms the letter J with a backward hook.”
They compared Gideon's signature.
Same hook.
The judge's eyebrows lifted.
Vale whispered angrily to his lawyer.
Gideon stared at Josephine.
For the first time, she saw fear.
Then Silas Vale requested recess.
Outside, Harlan approached.
“You did well.”
Josephine laughed shakily.
“My hands won't stop trembling.”
“Courage isn't steady hands.”
“What is it?”
“Speaking while they shake.”
She looked at him.
“Shakespeare?”
“No.”
“You?”
“Maybe.”
Before she could answer, Gideon appeared.
“Josephine.”
Harlan moved.
Josephine touched his arm.
“It's all right.”
Gideon waited until they were alone near the stairwell.
“Withdraw.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I understand exactly.”
“If the court invalidates the transfer, Vale will destroy me.”
Josephine stared.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The truth.”
Her father looked older suddenly.
“I owe him money.”
“How much?”
Gideon looked away.
“How much?”
“Thirty thousand.”
Josephine almost laughed.
“You sold my land because you owed him?”
“I invested.”
“With what?”
“Timber profits.”
“My timber profits.”
“I was going to replace it.”
“But you didn't.”
Gideon lowered his voice.
“Vale will take the shop.”
Josephine thought of her brothers.
Agnes.
The house.
A part of her still wanted to rescue them.
Then she remembered the breakfast table.
Twenty dollars and two horses.
“Sell the shop.”
Gideon stared.
“You can't mean that.”
“I do.”
“It's our family legacy.”
“No.”
Josephine's voice remained calm.
“Apparently I'm the family legacy you've been spending.”
His face twisted.
“You ungrateful—”
The word stopped.
Harlan had appeared at the end of the hallway.
Josephine did not need him.
But knowing he was there felt different from needing him to speak.
She turned back to Gideon.
“The next time you call me ungrateful, remember which one of us stole from the other.”
Court resumed.
The judge announced he would issue a preliminary ruling the following morning.
Until then, no transfer could occur.
Josephine should have felt victorious.
Instead Rebecca approached with a pale face.
“What?”
“There is another document.”
“What document?”
Rebecca handed it to her.
A marriage contract.
Dated three days before Josephine married Harlan.
Signed by Gideon Bell.
Signed by Silas Vale.
And beneath them—
a signature bearing Josephine's name.
Vale had not merely planned to take her land.
May you like
On paper, he was about to claim that Josephine had already agreed to become his wife.
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