“I Thought Nobody Would Come,” She Said. The Cowboy Had Ridden All Night to Find Her
Chapter 9
They barricaded the farmhouse.
Samuel moved furniture against the doors.
Clara loaded powder and shot.
She had never fired a weapon at a person.
Samuel taught her quickly.
“Keep the stock tight against your shoulder.”
She nodded.
“Don’t close your eyes.”
“I won’t.”
Outside, the sun disappeared.
The first riders appeared after dark.
Ten men.
Maybe twelve.
Lanterns moved through the fields.
A voice called:
“Miss Whitmore!”
Clara stood beside the window.
“Edmund Harrow!”
He stepped forward.
“You cannot win.”
Clara opened the window.
“You have no right to my land.”
“I have papers.”
“Forged papers.”
“Prove it.”
Samuel stood beside her.
“You won’t leave this farm.”
Harrow laughed.
“You have a pistol and two horses.”
Samuel looked toward the fields.
“We have something else.”
“What?”
“The truth.”
Harrow’s expression changed.
Then Samuel held up the ledger.
“You are named in it.”
Silence.
Harrow looked toward Thomas.
Thomas had been tied inside the barn.
“You should have burned that book.”
Thomas looked down.
Harrow understood.
The ledger contained payments.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Proof that Harrow had financed the false debt.
He turned to his men.
“Take the house.”
The attack began.
Gunfire echoed across the farm.
Samuel fired from the window.
Clara loaded the pistol.
A horse screamed outside.
Someone shouted.
Smoke filled the room.
Samuel coughed.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
Another shot struck the wall.
Clara fired back.
The attackers retreated.
Then silence.
Samuel looked at her.
“You did well.”
“I nearly missed.”
“You didn’t.”
They waited.
Minutes passed.
Then a sound came from the barn.
Thomas shouting.
Clara looked toward Samuel.
“We can’t leave him.”
“He deserves whatever comes.”
“He is still my uncle.”
Samuel nodded.
They ran outside.
The barn door was open.
Thomas was gone.
A trail of blood led toward the forest.
Harrow had taken him.
Samuel knelt.
“He was wounded.”
Clara looked at the dark trees.
“We have to follow.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because they want us to chase them.”
He looked at the sky.
“Tomorrow we ride to the magistrate.”
Clara nodded.
But neither knew that Harrow had taken Thomas because Thomas had one final secret.
A secret that could destroy Harrow.
