Chapter 8 - The Man Behind the Threats
They returned to the ranch immediately.
Mian and Atseli were gone.
Silas found the front door open.
A chair overturned.
Luli's blanket lay on the floor.
For several seconds, Silas could not breathe.
Then he saw blood.
Not much.
A few drops leading outside.
“MIAN!”
Nothing.
Boon found tracks.
Wagon wheels.
Several horses.
Heading south.
Silas saddled Buck.
Boon grabbed his reins.
“You ride angry, you die.”
Silas looked at him.
“If those babies—”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Boon tightened his grip.
“Then stay alive long enough to get them back.”
They followed the tracks toward Voss's freight camp.
Silas expected guards.
Instead they found workers gathered outside.
Nobody stopped them.
A Chinese laborer pointed toward the warehouse.
Inside, Mian and Atseli sat tied to chairs.
The babies were unharmed.
Deputy Harlan guarded them.
Silas entered from behind.
Harlan turned.
Too late.
Atseli kicked his knee.
Silas tackled him.
The fight lasted seconds.
Silas wanted to keep hitting him.
Then Luli cried.
He stopped.
Mian stared at him.
Silas released Harlan.
That mattered.
Not because Harlan deserved mercy.
Because Silas refused to let Voss decide what kind of man he became.
They freed the women.
Outside, dozens of workers watched.
Mian climbed onto a wagon.
She raised one of Voss's contracts.
“He says we owe him!”
Her English was imperfect.
Her courage wasn't.
“We owe nothing!”
A murmur spread.
Atseli joined her.
“He keeps you afraid because one frightened person is easy to control.”
She looked across the crowd.
“But there are more of us than him.”
For the first time, workers began walking away from Voss's camp.
One.
Then five.
Then twenty.
By sunset, the camp was empty.
Caleb Voss had lost his workforce.
But he had not disappeared.
May you like
And somewhere beyond Rattler Creek, he was preparing his final move.
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