Chapter 6 - Footprints Beyond the North Fence
Elias opened the door only after Clara had hidden the ledger.
Not beneath the floorboard.
Too obvious.
She wrapped it in oilcloth, lowered it into the empty flour barrel in the pantry and poured dried beans over the top.
Then she gave Elias the smallest nod.
Sheriff Pike entered with two deputies.
One was Mercer.
The other Clara had never seen.
Pike was in his fifties, broad-shouldered, silver-haired and polished in a way frontier lawmen rarely were. His boots were clean despite the snow.
Clara disliked that immediately.
“Morning,” Pike said.
Elias remained in the doorway.
“Cold one.”
“Usually is in winter.”
Pike smiled.
“This won’t take long.”
“Warrant.”
The sheriff produced folded paper.
Elias read every line.
Pike’s smile tightened.
“You planning to become a lawyer?”
“No.”
“Then—”
“But I can read.”
Elias handed it back.
The warrant authorized a search for stolen financial records belonging to Creed Freight Holdings.
Clara almost laughed.
Daniel’s records had never belonged to Creed.
They were copies.
But truth mattered little when the sheriff writing the warrant was part of the theft.
Pike entered.
Deputy Mercer gave Clara an apologetic glance.
The other deputy went upstairs.
Samuel moved closer to Clara.
Pike noticed.
“That your boy?”
Clara’s arm wrapped around Samuel.
“Yes.”
“Victor Hale says he’s the boy’s uncle.”
“He isn’t.”
“He says your husband named him guardian.”
“He’s lying.”
Pike shrugged.
“Possible.”
His gaze lingered on Samuel.
“So many misunderstandings after a death.”
Clara wanted to slap him.
Elias stepped between them.
“Search.”
Pike looked amused.
“All right.”
For twenty minutes they opened drawers, cupboards and trunks.
The unknown deputy pulled blankets from Clara’s bed.
Mercer searched Elias’s study without enthusiasm.
Pike entered the pantry.
Clara’s breathing stopped.
He lifted the lid on the flour barrel.
Empty.
Then the sugar tin.
Nothing.
He tapped the bean barrel.
Clara felt Elias watching her from across the room.
Pike opened it.
Dried beans filled the barrel nearly to the rim.
He reached one hand inside.
Clara’s heart pounded.
His fingers disappeared almost to the wrist.
Then a horse screamed outside.
Everyone turned.
Elias moved first.
He ran through the door.
Samuel followed until Clara grabbed him.
In the stable, one mare kicked wildly against her stall.
Someone had cut the rear gate.
Tracks led into the snow.
Elias stared.
“Stay here.”
He mounted another horse bareback and followed the trail.
Pike stepped into the stable.
“Convenient.”
Elias ignored him.
He disappeared north.
The sheriff looked at Clara.
“Your friend has a habit of getting involved in other people’s problems.”
“He seems to.”
“Dangerous habit.”
Clara met his gaze.
“Depends who considers it dangerous.”
Pike smiled without warmth.
“You’re smarter than Victor described.”
“You know Victor well?”
“Everyone knows everyone around here.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
His smile disappeared.
“Be careful, Mrs. Voss.”
Clara went rigid.
She had never told Pike her surname.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
Pike leaned closer.
“Wyoming is a hard place for widows.”
Then he walked away.
The search ended without finding the ledger.
But Elias did not return for two hours.
When he finally rode in, his horse was sweating despite the cold.
“Tracks?”
“Ended near the north ridge.”
“Meaning?”
“Two riders waiting.”
“Who?”
“Gone before I got there.”
Pike had already left.
Elias looked toward the road.
“Diversion.”
Clara nodded.
“They wanted you out.”
“Did Pike search the pantry?”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved to her.
“Found anything?”
“No.”
“Where’s the ledger?”
She waited until Samuel and Jonah were out of earshot.
“In the stable.”
Elias frowned.
“I thought you put it in the beans.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Before Pike arrived.”
“And then?”
“When everyone ran outside because of the horse, I took it through the side door and hid it beneath Buck’s feed trough.”
Elias stared.
“You moved it while the sheriff was ten yards away?”
“Yes.”
“That was reckless.”
“It worked.”
His mouth twitched.
“Don’t look pleased.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“A little.”
For the first time since the note arrived, they both laughed.
Briefly.
Then Clara’s expression sobered.
“Pike knows who I am.”
“Expected.”
“He called me Mrs. Voss.”
Elias’s eyes darkened.
“Did you tell anyone your surname?”
“No.”
“Jonah?”
“No.”
“So Victor told him.”
“Yes.”
They agreed the depot could not wait.
The following morning, Elias and Jonah rode into Mill Creek separately.
Clara stayed with Samuel.
The plan was simple.
Too simple.
Jonah would distract the depot caretaker.
Elias would open Locker 18.
Retrieve the manifests.
Return before noon.
At eleven, Clara began checking the road.
At noon, nothing.
At one, Samuel asked for lunch.
At two, Clara could no longer pretend she was calm.
Then she saw a horse.
Jonah.
Alone.
She ran outside.
“Where is he?”
Jonah dismounted.
“Elias?”
“Yes!”
“He never came.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was supposed to meet me behind the depot at nine.”
“He left before you.”
“Then something happened.”
Clara grabbed her coat.
“You stay with Samuel.”
“Clara—”
“Stay with him.”
Samuel ran onto the porch.
“Ma?”
She knelt.
“I need to find Elias.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
His face fell.
“Listen to Jonah.”
“But—”
“Samuel.”
He stopped.
She touched his cheek.
“I’ll be back.”
She rode Elias’s second horse toward town.
Snow clouds were gathering.
Again.
Mill Creek looked ordinary.
That was the most frightening part.
People carried groceries.
Children ran outside the schoolhouse.
Smoke rose from chimneys.
Clara tied her horse behind the livery and walked toward the old depot.
No Elias.
No sign of struggle.
The rear door stood partly open.
She entered.
Dust covered the waiting room.
Rows of abandoned lockers lined one wall.
18.
Clara’s heart raced.
The door was open.
Empty.
She crouched.
Fresh boot prints marked the floor.
One set belonged to Elias.
She recognized the worn edge on his left heel.
Another set was larger.
Then she saw blood.
A few drops.
Nothing more.
“Elias?”
No answer.
She followed the trail into the freight room.
There she found his hat.
Crushed beneath a crate.
Clara picked it up.
A voice behind her said, “You shouldn’t have come.”
She turned.
Victor Hale stood in the doorway.
Tall.
Gray coat.
Scar beside his left eye.
The same man who had followed her across Wyoming.
He smiled.
“Hello, Clara.”
Her hand moved toward the knife.
Victor raised one hand.
“I wouldn’t.”
“Where is Elias?”
“Alive.”
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
“You know.”
“The ledger?”
“And the key.”
“You have the key.”
Victor smiled wider.
“No. We have Elias.”
Clara’s breath caught.
“The key opened the locker,” Victor continued. “But Daniel was clever. Inside was another box.”
He stepped closer.
“A box requiring a combination.”
“I don’t know it.”
“I think you do.”
“I don’t.”
“Then perhaps Elias can help you remember.”
Victor moved aside.
Two men appeared.
Between them stood Elias.
His hands were tied.
Blood marked his temple.
He looked directly at Clara.
“Run.”
One of the men struck him behind the knees.
He fell.
Clara took one step forward.
Victor’s expression remained calm.
“Bring me the ledger by sundown tomorrow.”
“And Elias?”
“You get him back.”
“How do I know you won’t kill him?”
“You don’t.”
Elias lifted his head.
“Don’t give it to him.”
Victor kicked his hat aside.
Clara’s fear became something else.
Cold.
Focused.
“What happens if I refuse?”
Victor leaned close enough that she smelled tobacco on his coat.
“Then Samuel grows up without another man who tried to protect him.”
Clara’s knife was in her hand before anyone saw it move.
She did not attack.
She simply held it between them.
Victor laughed.
“There she is.”
Clara stared into his eyes.
“I’ll bring the ledger.”
Elias shouted, “No!”
She ignored him.
“Where?”
“Blackwater Crossing.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow. Sunset.”
“Alone?”
“Unless you want him buried somewhere nobody finds.”
Victor stepped backward.
His men dragged Elias toward a freight wagon waiting outside.
Clara watched.
She memorized every face.
Every coat.
Every horse.
Every direction.
Because she had spent months running.
But as the wagon disappeared beyond Mill Creek, something inside her finally changed.
Victor Hale believed he had captured the only dangerous person at Elias Ror’s ranch.
He was wrong.
Clara returned home before dark.
Jonah met her on the porch.
Samuel looked behind her.
“Where’s Elias?”
Clara held the crushed brown hat in both hands.
Then she looked at Jonah.
May you like
“Show me every road into Blackwater Crossing.”
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