Chapter 6 - Back to Red Creek
They traveled after the snow eased.
Gideon drove.
Maeve sat beside him.
Toby and Tess rode beneath blankets behind them.
When Red Creek appeared, Maeve felt no nostalgia.
Only determination.
People stared.
They remembered the girl Amos had traded away.
They did not recognize the young woman returning beside Gideon Reed.
Amos's house was locked.
Deputy Hollis opened it under court authority.
Maeve entered her old room.
Nothing had changed.
She found the loose floorboard.
Beneath it was an oilcloth package.
Inside lay the deed.
Her mother had owned forty acres south of Red Creek.
Maeve inherited them.
And Amos had attempted to sell them.
Hollis stared at the signature.
“He forged your name.”
Maeve felt strangely calm.
“What happens now?”
“He answers for it.”
Outside, Amos appeared across the street.
He saw the deed.
Then ran.
Gideon followed.
But Maeve shouted, “No!”
Gideon stopped.
Hollis and another deputy pursued Amos instead.
Maeve looked at Gideon.
“You could've caught him.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you stop?”
“You asked me to.”
Nobody had ever made obedience to Maeve's wishes sound so natural.
May you like
That frightened her almost as much as it moved her.
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