Chapter 11 - Fire Before Dawn
Wyatt was gone.
His bed was empty.
The window beside it stood open.
Josiah looked from the knife to the darkness outside.
"No."
Clementine grabbed his sleeve.
"Wait."
"He has my son."
"We don't know that."
"We know enough."
Josiah went for his rifle.
Clementine stepped in front of the cabinet.
"No."
"Move."
"No."
"Clementine."
"Virgil wants you angry."
"He took Wyatt!"
"He wants us to believe that."
"You think Wyatt left his knife for entertainment?"
"No."
"Move."
She did.
But when Josiah reached for the rifle, Clementine said quietly, "If you carry that into wherever Virgil is waiting, you may give him exactly what he wants."
Josiah froze.
"What does he want?"
"A criminal instead of a victim."
He hated that she was right.
The note contained no location.
Only come alone.
Clementine examined it.
Back.
Edges.
Paper.
Nothing.
Then Pearl spoke from the stairs.
"Wyatt went to the barn."
Everyone turned.
"When?"
"Before I slept."
"Why?"
"He said he heard something."
Clementine crouched.
"Did he say where?"
Pearl thought.
"He told Jasper not to follow."
Jasper appeared behind her.
"I followed."
Josiah's eyes widened.
"Where?"
"Only to the fence."
"What did you see?"
"Wyatt talking to a man."
"Who?"
"Don't know."
"What did he look like?"
Jasper swallowed.
"Gray hat."
Clementine exchanged looks with Josiah.
Virgil wore black.
Red-neckerchief rider wore brown.
Nathan gray.
But Nathan would not take Wyatt.
"Anything else?"
"Man said something about the old line cabin."
Josiah knew immediately.
"Rail survey shack."
"Where?"
"Six miles northwest."
Clementine stood.
"Get Mr. Miller."
Josiah shook his head.
"Too long."
"Then send Cole."
Cole straightened.
"What do I do?"
"Ride to Miller Farm. Tell him Wyatt may be at the survey cabin. Tell him notify Sheriff Pike."
Cole ran.
Clementine turned to Sadi.
"Lock the doors. No one leaves."
Sadi nodded.
Josiah looked at Clementine.
"The note says alone."
"It doesn't say how many people can follow at a distance."
Despite terror, he almost smiled.
They rode.
Clementine ahead.
Josiah several hundred yards behind.
Dawn had not yet arrived.
The plains looked silver beneath moonlight.
When the old survey cabin appeared, Clementine saw one lamp.
She dismounted.
Approached.
No sound.
The door opened before she touched it.
Wyatt stood there.
"Clementine?"
She nearly collapsed from relief.
"Are you hurt?"
"What?"
She grabbed his shoulders.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Where is Virgil?"
Wyatt looked confused.
"Virgil?"
Josiah ran from darkness.
"Boy!"
Wyatt's confusion increased.
"What are you doing?"
Inside the cabin sat Nathan Pierce.
Clementine stopped.
Nathan looked terrible.
"What happened?"
"I sent Wyatt."
"You sent—"
"Had to."
Josiah's anger returned.
"You bring my son six miles from home in the middle of the night?"
Nathan raised both hands.
"I couldn't go there."
"Where?"
Nathan reached beneath the table.
Pulled out a box.
Virgil's office records.
Original ledgers.
Stamped documents.
Letters.
Everything.
"I knew he'd run," Nathan said. "So I took these before he could destroy them."
Clementine stared.
"Why not bring them to the ranch?"
"His men watch it."
"Then why Wyatt?"
"Because nobody watches boys."
Josiah was about to explain exactly why that logic was unacceptable when hoofbeats sounded.
Multiple.
Nathan went pale.
"Too late."
Clementine extinguished the lamp.
They looked through cracks.
Three riders.
Virgil.
Gray-hat man.
Red-neckerchief man.
Wyatt whispered, "That gray one came to the barn."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"He works for Virgil."
The man had lied to Wyatt, saying Nathan needed help moving evidence.
Wyatt had followed because he believed he was helping.
"Virgil knew," Nathan whispered.
Clementine looked at the box.
"He wants this."
No one spoke.
Virgil dismounted outside.
"Clementine!"
Josiah's hand moved toward his holster.
Clementine shook her head.
"Everyone stay."
She opened the door.
Virgil smiled.
"I knew you'd come."
"Of course."
"Bring the box."
"No."
His smile faded.
"You have no idea what happens if those records reach Denver."
"I have an excellent idea."
"You think I'm finished?"
"Yes."
He laughed.
"No. Finished men are dangerous."
"That may be the first honest thing you've said."
Virgil stepped closer.
Behind him, his riders waited.
"No court now."
Clementine stood in the doorway.
"True."
"No newspaper."
"True."
"No crowd."
"You're wrong."
Virgil frowned.
Then from the darkness came more hoofbeats.
Sheriff Pike.
Mr. Miller.
Three ranch hands.
Cole had ridden faster than anyone expected.
Virgil turned.
Sheriff Pike dismounted.
"Virgil."
"What is this?"
"Investigator wants those records."
"They're stolen property."
Nathan stepped outside.
"They document fraud."
Virgil reached suddenly toward his coat.
Several men tensed.
Clementine shouted, "Don't."
Virgil stopped.
Not because she commanded him.
Because he realized every witness was watching.
If he drew a weapon, he lost whatever story remained.
Slowly, his hand dropped.
Sheriff Pike approached.
"You need to come with me."
Virgil stared at him.
"I own your debt."
Pike swallowed.
"Not anymore."
Something almost tragic crossed Virgil's face.
A man discovering power only exists while others agree to fear it.
The sheriff placed him under arrest pending investigation.
No gunfire.
No heroic duel.
No blood.
Clementine preferred it that way.
Virgil's two men surrendered once they saw odds.
The records entered official custody.
By sunrise, it was over.
Or nearly.
Back home, Josiah confronted Wyatt.
"Never."
"I thought Nathan—"
"Never leave without telling someone."
"I was helping."
"You nearly got—"
He stopped.
Fear overwhelmed anger.
Josiah pulled Wyatt into his arms.
The boy stiffened.
Then held his father.
Clementine turned away to give them privacy.
Sadi appeared beside her.
"You were scared."
"Very."
"I thought you don't get scared."
Clementine looked at her.
"Only fools don't get scared."
"What do brave people do?"
Clementine considered.
"They decide what matters more."
Sadi took her hand.
Later that morning, while everyone slept from exhaustion, Clementine sat alone in the kitchen.
The stove was cold.
Sunlight moved across the table.
She had spent weeks fighting for this place.
Suddenly she realized why.
It was no longer Josiah's ranch.
Not emotionally.
Not in her heart.
It had become theirs.
That realization frightened her more than Virgil ever had.
Because things you love can be lost.
Josiah entered quietly.
He sat beside her.
"He's safe."
"I know."
"You saved him."
"Cole did."
"Everyone did."
She smiled faintly.
He took her hand.
"Clementine."
She looked at him.
"I know our marriage started as business."
Her heart began beating too quickly.
He continued.
"But I don't want it to remain that."
She pulled her hand away.
Josiah's expression fell.
"I can't."
He blinked.
"Why?"
"Not now."
"Did I—"
"No."
She stood.
"Clementine?"
She walked outside.
Because Josiah Caldwell had just offered the one thing she wanted most.
And wanting it made her vulnerable in a way she had spent half her life avoiding.
The ranch was no longer in danger of being taken.
But Clementine Dawson was.
Not by Virgil Tatum.
May you like
By hope.
---
