The Rancher’s Dog Laid Flowers in Her Lap… He Said, “I Think God Is Trying to Tell Me Something”
Chapter 4
The next morning, Margaret told Thomas.
He removed two floorboards.
Beneath them was nothing except packed earth.
Thomas frowned.
“Old house,” he said.
Gideon sniffed the opening.
Margaret knelt.
“There.”
She pointed.
A small piece of faded blue cloth was caught beneath the timber.
Thomas pulled it free.
Margaret recognized the fabric immediately.
Her mother’s dress.
Her fingers trembled.
“How could this be here?”
Thomas stared at the cloth.
“Did your mother ever come to this ranch?”
“Once.”
“When?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I was seven.”
Thomas waited.
“She argued with my father that day.”
“About what?”
“I don’t remember.”
Gideon whined softly.
Margaret touched the blue cloth.
Then something came back to her.
A sentence.
One sentence her mother had spoken years ago.
“If anything happens to us, never trust your uncle.”
Margaret opened her eyes.
Thomas was watching her.
“What did you remember?”
She told him.
He stood slowly.
“We’re going to town.”
“Why?”
“To see the land registrar.”
“He’ll never tell us anything.”
“Maybe.”
Thomas picked up his coat.
“But we need to know why your uncle is so interested in that property.”
Margaret followed him outside.
Gideon ran ahead.
The road to town took nearly two hours by horse.
At the registrar’s office, Thomas presented the papers Margaret had brought from her uncle.
The registrar looked at them.
His face changed.
“What?”
Margaret asked.
He cleared his throat.
“These were filed twelve years ago.”
“That is impossible,” Margaret said.
“My father was alive then.”
The registrar shook his head.
“According to these documents, your father transferred ownership before his death.”
Margaret stared at the page.
“That’s not his signature.”
The registrar looked uncomfortable.
“Mrs. Bell—”
“Miss Bell.”
He swallowed.
“Miss Bell, I wouldn’t say that aloud.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Why?”
The registrar lowered his voice.
“Because the man who handled those documents is still alive.”
“Who?”
“Silas Mercer.”
Thomas’s face became still.
Margaret recognized the name.
Mercer was the wealthiest land dealer in three counties.
The registrar continued.
“And your uncle is his partner.”
