Chapter 7 - Fired in Front of Forty Men
Silas had faced droughts, bank failures, cattle fever, broken contracts, and winters that froze livestock where they stood.
None of those had prepared him for two hundred men refusing breakfast.
“You are behaving like children.”
No one moved.
Silas pointed toward the herd.
“We lose daylight every minute you sit here.”
Levi answered, “Then settle it quickly.”
“Settle what?”
“The cook.”
“The cook is gone.”
“So's breakfast.”
Silas looked at the plates.
“There is food directly in front of you.”
Amos picked up a biscuit.
He squeezed.
It cracked.
A few men laughed.
The replacement cook turned red.
Amos immediately looked guilty.
“Ain't personal, Pete.”
Pete folded his arms.
“Feels personal.”
“Your coffee's decent.”
“Thank you.”
“Beans need salt.”
“Amos,” Levi warned.
Amos lowered his head.
Silas's anger shifted to Cole.
“You encouraged this.”
“No.”
“They wouldn't dare otherwise.”
Cole rose.
“You think that little of them?”
“I think men follow examples.”
“Then maybe you gave them one last night.”
Silas went still.
Cole had challenged him before.
Privately.
Never like this.
Never publicly.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
The single word moved through the camp like wind.
Silas stared.
Cole's heartbeat hammered, but his voice stayed even.
“If you have something to say, say it here.”
Harlan stepped forward.
“This is absurd. Miss Reed was dismissed because supplies have been disappearing under her supervision.”
Murmurs spread.
Billy Carter stood.
“Maggie never stole anything.”
Harlan looked at him.
“And you audited the kitchen?”
“No.”
“Then sit.”
Billy's face reddened.
Cole intervened.
“The receipts were forged.”
Harlan's expression barely changed.
Silas looked at Cole.
“You have proof?”
“One receipt.”
“One?”
“Enough to investigate.”
Harlan smiled thinly.
“Or enough to show Miss Reed made an error signing paperwork.”
Cole shook his head.
“She says it's not hers.”
“And naturally we must accept that.”
“Why would she forge her own signature?”
“To deny receiving supplies she misplaced.”
Cole stepped closer.
“You thought of that quickly.”
Harlan's smile disappeared.
Silas raised his voice.
“Enough.”
The camp fell silent.
He looked around.
“You want Reed back?”
Nobody answered.
Silas pointed toward the tables.
“Eat first.”
Still nothing.
His face turned darker.
“That's an order.”
Levi removed the trail-boss badge from his vest.
He placed it beside his plate.
Silas stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Making the situation simple.”
“You're quitting?”
“If eating requires pretending Maggie stole from us, yes.”
Another cowboy stood.
Then another.
Silas's face changed.
This had become dangerous.
Not physically.
Financially.
A cattle drive could survive losing one man.
Ten.
Perhaps twenty.
Not a hundred.
Not two hundred.
The herd needed them.
Silas knew it.
The men knew he knew it.
Cole said, “Send someone after Maggie.”
Silas turned toward him.
“And say what?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“That you made a decision before investigating.”
Silas's jaw clenched.
“You expect me to apologize to an employee in front of hired men?”
Cole's answer was quiet.
“Yes.”
Silas almost laughed.
Then he saw nobody else was laughing.
Finally he looked at Levi.
“If I investigate the receipts?”
Levi considered.
“And Maggie gets offered her job back.”
“Offered?”
“She chooses.”
Silas hated that word.
Choice.
He liked employment because employment clarified who held power.
But the sun was rising.
Cattle bawled.
Time vanished.
“Fine.”
Silas spat the word.
“Harlan, bring every kitchen ledger.”
For the first time, Harlan looked uneasy.
“I'll need time.”
“You have ten minutes.”
While the books were gathered, Cole saddled his horse.
Silas saw him.
“Where are you going?”
“To find Maggie.”
“I didn't tell you to.”
Cole tightened the cinch.
“No.”
The meaning was obvious.
For once, Cole was not waiting.
Silas walked closer.
“If you ride away now, don't expect me to protect your share of this company.”
Cole froze.
There it was.
The threat he had feared for years.
Silas lowered his voice.
“Your father's debts come due after Kansas. Without my guarantee, the bank can take your land.”
Cole looked toward the herd.
Then toward the road Maggie had taken.
He thought of his father.
The ranch house where he'd grown.
The pasture where he'd buried his first horse.
Everything inheritance meant.
Then he remembered Maggie's words.
There are things more important than a ranch.
Cole mounted.
Silas's face hardened.
“Don't do this.”
Cole looked down at the man who had raised him.
“For years you told me a Whitaker keeps his word.”
“I did.”
“I hired Maggie.”
Silas said nothing.
“I told her she'd be treated fairly.”
Cole gathered the reins.
“So I'm going to keep mine.”
He rode.
Behind him, Silas stood motionless.
Harlan watched Cole disappear.
Then Harlan quietly closed one of the ledgers.
May you like
Because hidden inside that book was a number he desperately needed to remove before anyone saw it.
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