The Town Laughed at Her Empty Market Stall. One Lonely Cowboy Bought Everything
Chapter 10
The confrontation began beneath a darkening sky.
Crowe himself arrived.
“You’ve become a nuisance, Hale.”
Thomas looked at the stakes.
“This land isn’t yours.”
“It will be.”
Anna stepped forward.
“No.”
Crowe laughed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
He drew a document.
“Your father signed this.”
Anna took it.
The signature looked genuine.
But she noticed something.
The ink.
Her father’s signature was faded brown.
This one was black.
Fresh.
She smiled.
“You forged it.”
Crowe’s face changed.
“You cannot prove that.”
Anna held up the original ledger.
“We can.”
Crowe signaled his men.
Thomas drew his pistol.
The men drew theirs.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the chapel bell rang in the distance.
Farmers appeared on the road.
Dozens of them.
They had followed Anna’s message.
Each carried proof of ownership.
Each had lost land to Crowe.
Crowe looked around.
His confidence disappeared.
The people of Bellford had finally come together.
The magistrate arrived.
He saw the crowd.
Then the papers.
He immediately changed sides.
“Mr. Crowe,” he said, “you will come with me.”
Crowe stared.
“You promised.”
The magistrate looked away.
“I promised nothing.”
Crowe reached for his pistol.
Thomas moved.
The weapon fell into the mud.
Crowe was arrested.
The crowd erupted.
Anna stood silently.
Thomas looked at her.
“You did it.”
She shook her head.
“We did.”
