She Asked the Gunsmith to Wed Her Before Her Uncle Sold Her Land — “I’ll Want to Court You After,” the Gunsmith Said
Chapter 7
The door burst open.
Samuel fired.
The attacker ducked.
Margaret grabbed the lamp.
Three men entered.
The room filled with smoke.
Samuel struck one man with the butt of his pistol.
Margaret threw the lamp toward the doorway.
The flame went out.
Darkness.
Someone shouted.
Samuel seized Margaret’s hand.
“Window.”
They climbed onto the roof.
Rain began falling.
Below them, men searched the room.
Samuel led her across the roof toward the neighboring building.
Margaret slipped.
He caught her.
For one second, they were face to face in the rain.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.”
They jumped to the next roof.
Then down into an alley.
They ran until the shouts faded.
They hid inside an abandoned cooper’s shed.
Margaret’s hair was soaked.
Samuel’s cheek was bleeding.
She touched the cut.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Sit.”
He obeyed.
She tore a strip from the edge of her petticoat and wrapped his cheek.
Samuel watched her.
“What?”
“You’re very calm.”
“I am terrified.”
“You don’t look it.”
“I learned not to.”
Samuel gently caught her wrist.
“You don’t have to be strong every second.”
She looked at him.
“Neither do you.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Samuel kissed her.
It was brief.
Almost uncertain.
But Margaret did not pull away.
When they separated, she whispered:
“Was that part of the courtship?”
“Perhaps.”
“You should do better.”
He smiled.
“I’ll try.”
They returned to the magistrate before dawn.
Bell had discovered something.
The forged deed carried a seal from a county office that had not existed when the document was supposedly signed.
Crowe had made a mistake.
A very large one.
But there was another discovery.
Thomas Vale had disappeared.
Margaret stared at Bell.
“Why?”
Bell handed her a letter.
Thomas had written it.
He claimed he was leaving the country.
But he also named the person who had helped him forge the deed.
A clerk.
A man named Robert Pike.
Samuel looked at Bell.
“Where is Pike?”
“Gone.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Samuel sighed.
“They knew we had the original.”
Margaret looked at the letter.
Her uncle had betrayed them.
But perhaps, without realizing it, he had also given them the key to destroying Crowe.
