“My Father Sent Me In My Sister’s Place,” She Said… “Get In The Wagon,” Was His Reply

Chapter 6

That night, Eliza finally told him.

Twelve years earlier, her mother had been accused of stealing money from the Whitlock family.

A young ranch hand named Henry Hayes had defended her.

Samuel’s father.

Henry had claimed the accusation was false.

Then Henry disappeared.

He returned months later.

He refused to discuss it.

Eliza’s mother gave birth shortly afterward.

Eliza.

Samuel stared at her.

“You’re saying our fathers knew each other.”

“Yes.”

“And our mothers?”

“I don’t know.”

Samuel sat down.

The pendant suddenly made sense.

His father had not disappeared.

He had been helping Eliza’s mother.

But why?

Eliza reached into her bundle.

“There is something else.”

She pulled out a folded letter.

“My mother gave me this before she died.”

Samuel opened it.

The handwriting was old.

The letter mentioned a hidden box.

A box buried beneath the old Hart family chapel.

Inside were documents proving that Whitlock had stolen the Hart land.

But the letter contained one more sentence.

Henry Hayes knows the truth.

Samuel’s heart stopped.

“My father knew.”

Eliza nodded.

“And he took the truth to his grave.”

Samuel looked at her.

“Maybe not.”