She Came to Claim Her Grandfather’s Ranch With Two Children — The Poor Rancher Offered Them a Home
Chapter 2
Anna woke before dawn.
The cabin was cold.
She pulled the blanket over her children and looked around the tiny room.
It was nothing like the home her grandfather had once promised her.
But it was dry.
Safe.
And there was food.
A sack of flour sat beside the stove.
She hadn’t seen it the night before.
When she stepped outside, Elias was splitting wood.
“You left flour.”
He kept chopping.
“There’s beans too.”
“I can’t accept charity.”
“Then work for it.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
“Cook.”
Anna almost smiled.
“I know how to cook.”
“Good.”
He pointed toward the kitchen garden.
“There’s still some turnips in the ground.”
Anna nodded.
That was how their strange arrangement began.
She cooked.
Elias provided food.
The children slowly recovered.
The little girl, Rose, stopped coughing after several days.
The boy, Matthew, followed Elias everywhere.
He watched him mend fences.
Brush horses.
Repair wagons.
One afternoon, Matthew asked:
“Are you poor?”
Elias looked at him.
“What?”
“Mother says you’re poor.”
Elias laughed.
“Your mother says that?”
“She said you don’t have servants.”
Elias glanced at Anna, who was hanging clothes outside.
“She isn’t wrong.”
Matthew studied the ranch.
“How many cows do you have?”
“Not enough.”
“How many?”
“Forty-three.”
Matthew’s eyes widened.
“That’s a lot.”
“Not compared to my grandfather.”
“Your grandfather had cows too?”
Elias stopped.
“Many.”
Matthew looked toward Anna.
“Is that why Mother came?”
“Yes.”
The boy frowned.
“Are you going to make us leave?”
Elias crouched.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother has a claim to this land.”
“But you said it was yours.”
Elias was quiet.
“I said that because I believed it was.”
That evening, Elias showed Anna the old deed.
She examined the signature beneath her grandfather’s.
“You recognize this?”
“My father’s.”
“Then why is it here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could he have sold the ranch?”
“He might have.”
“But you don’t believe it.”
Elias looked toward the window.
“My father died angry.”
“About what?”
“He never said.”
Anna folded the paper.
“Then perhaps we’re both looking for the same answer.”
Elias looked at her.
“What answer?”
“Why my grandfather’s land became yours.”
He nodded.
“Tomorrow, we go to town.”
But before morning came, a rider appeared at the cabin.
He wore a black coat and carried a silver-handled walking stick.
He introduced himself as Silas Crowe.
He represented the wealthy landowner who claimed ownership of several properties around the valley.
He looked at Anna.
“Miss Whitaker, you need to leave.”
Anna stood straight.
“This is my grandfather’s land.”
Crowe smiled.
“No.”
He looked toward Elias.
“It’s Boone land.”
Elias stepped forward.
“You’re not welcome here.”
Crowe’s smile vanished.
“I would reconsider.”
He handed Anna a paper.
It was an eviction notice.
“You have seven days.”
Anna’s hand trembled.
Elias took the paper.
His face hardened.
“Who authorized this?”
Crowe smiled.
“People with better records than yours.”
Then he rode away.
Elias watched him disappear.
Anna whispered:
“What do we do?”
Elias looked at the deed.
“We find the records.”
