Chapter 8 - Two Hundred Untouched Breakfasts
Maggie had traveled nearly twelve miles when the wagon wheel began squeaking.
Noah climbed down.
“Axle.”
“Bad?”
“Not yet.”
“That's comforting.”
They stopped beside a creek where cottonwoods offered shade.
Noah crawled beneath the wagon while Maggie unpacked grease.
Neither spoke about camp.
Finally Noah said, “Think they're eating?”
“Yes.”
He slid out.
“You don't believe that.”
“I believe hungry people eat.”
“Not if Amos gets Pete's biscuits.”
Maggie laughed despite herself.
Then she became quiet.
Noah noticed.
“You miss them.”
“Of course.”
“Cole too?”
“Noah.”
He grinned.
Before Maggie could threaten him with manual labor, hoofbeats sounded.
Noah stood.
A rider approached fast.
Maggie recognized the horse first.
Then the man.
Cole.
Her stomach tightened.
He reined in beside the creek.
“Maggie.”
“What happened?”
His breathing was heavy.
“The men won't eat.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“Breakfast. Nearly all of them put their forks down.”
Noah burst out laughing.
Maggie stared at him.
“This isn't funny.”
“It is a little.”
Cole dismounted.
“They want you back.”
Maggie's expression hardened.
“You rode twelve miles to tell me two hundred grown men can't feed themselves?”
“I rode twelve miles because my uncle agreed to investigate.”
“Agreed?”
“And offer you your position.”
“That's generous.”
“Maggie.”
She turned away.
Cole followed.
“I know an offer isn't enough.”
“No.”
“I know he humiliated you.”
“Yes.”
“I know I let him.”
She looked at him.
Cole did not avoid her eyes.
“That was wrong.”
Simple.
No excuse.
No explanation.
Just wrong.
Maggie's anger lost some of its shape.
“He threatened your ranch, didn't he?”
Cole looked surprised.
“You heard?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“You've been afraid of one thing since I met you.”
Cole glanced toward his horse.
“Yes.”
“And you came anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He smiled faintly.
“Apparently I'm learning faster.”
Maggie wanted not to smile.
Failed slightly.
Then she remembered what mattered.
“What about Harlan?”
“Silas ordered the books opened.”
“While Harlan is standing beside them?”
Cole understood.
“We should get back.”
Maggie shook her head.
“You should.”
“You're not coming?”
“No.”
“Maggie, the men—”
“The men made their choice. I'm grateful.”
“They may quit.”
“Then your uncle should think quickly.”
Cole stared at her.
“What would make you return?”
“Truth.”
“About the supplies?”
“About everything.”
Cole waited.
Maggie continued.
“I won't walk into that camp because two hundred men embarrassed Silas harder than he embarrassed me. If I go back, I need my name cleared. Not quietly. Not later.”
Cole nodded.
“Fair.”
“And Harlan doesn't touch my inventory.”
“Done.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“I just did.”
“That confidence is new.”
“I'm experimenting.”
A reluctant smile appeared on her face.
Noah groaned dramatically.
“Are we going back or not?”
Maggie turned.
“You're repairing the axle.”
“It's repaired.”
She looked.
It was.
Noah smiled.
“I'm learning too.”
They returned slowly.
By then breakfast had gone cold.
The scene was astonishing.
Hundreds of men still sat near the tables.
Some had wandered to water horses, but plates remained untouched.
When Maggie's wagon appeared on the horizon, Billy Carter saw it first.
He stood.
“Maggie's back!”
Men turned.
A cheer began.
Maggie immediately raised both hands.
“No.”
The cheer died awkwardly.
She climbed down.
“Don't do that.”
Amos frowned.
“Do what?”
“Make me into something I'm not.”
“You're the cook.”
“I was.”
Levi approached.
“Good to see you.”
“You too.”
Silas stood outside his tent.
His face could have been carved from fence wood.
Harlan was nowhere visible.
Maggie noticed immediately.
“So?”
Cole dismounted beside her.
“Where's Voss?”
Silas looked toward the supply wagons.
“He was here twenty minutes ago.”
Levi turned.
“No, he wasn't.”
Silas frowned.
Levi continued.
“He went to fetch the third ledger.”
Cole's eyes narrowed.
“How long?”
“Half an hour.”
Everyone understood at once.
Cole ran toward the wagon.
Empty.
Harlan's horse was gone.
So was a leather case.
Silas's face changed.
Maggie had never seen the older man look uncertain.
Noah walked around the back of the supply wagon.
“Uh…”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Maggie asked.
Noah pointed toward the ground.
Fresh wagon tracks.
Not horse tracks.
Wagon tracks.
The same type he had seen two nights earlier.
He looked at Maggie.
“Those are the tracks.”
“What tracks?” Cole asked.
Noah explained.
Silas's face darkened.
Cole searched inside the wagon.
A hidden compartment beneath the bench stood open.
Empty.
Maggie looked toward the southern horizon.
Harlan had not simply fled.
He had gone somewhere he had been sending supplies for weeks.
And whatever he had hidden there was important enough to abandon the cattle drive before anyone found it.
Silas turned toward Maggie.
For the first time since she had met him, there was no command in his voice.
“What do you know?”
Maggie folded her arms.
May you like
“Enough to know breakfast is the least of your problems.”
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