Chapter 3

Sitting on a low wooden bench on the opposite side of the hearth was the head elder.He was a man of vast age, his long silver hair falling over a worn woolen blanket draped across his narrow shoulders. His face was like a piece of ancient mahogany, carved deep by eighty winters, but his dark eyes were bright, clear, and sharp as flint as he looked up at Ethan Cole.This was Elder Tahna."You brought my grandson from the ridge," Tahna said. His English was slow, measured, and formal, carrying the weight of a man who spoke rarely but expected every word to be heard."I found him in a drift two miles north," Ethan replied, standing near the doorframe with his hat held in his hand. "He was bleeding. I couldn't leave him there."Tahna gave a single, slow nod of his head. He gestured toward the bloody coat that the old woman had just removed from Kip's shoulders. "My grandson rode south three days ago to scout the railroad camp at the river crossing. He did not return."The old woman treating Kip suddenly stopped her hands. She reached into the torn wool lining near the coat’s inner pocket, her thumb catching on a hidden seam that had been sliced open with a sharp blade.She pulled out a small, narrow strip of woven canvas cloth—no larger than a man's finger.She held the cloth out toward Elder Tahna.The room went completely silent save for the crackle of the birch logs in the hearth.Tahna took the strip of canvas, holding it close to the firelight. Printed clearly on the white cloth in dark blue ink was a stylized iron crest—a locomotive wheel crossed by two surveyor's stakes, surrounded by the bold letters: NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY.It was the mark of the land company that had spent six months pushing survey crews through the lower valley, burning homesteads, bribing territorial marshals, and forcing small ranchers and native families off their land to secure the right-of-way for the new iron rails.Tahna looked up from the strip of cloth, his dark eyes locking onto Ethan's face with a cold, terrifying intensity."This was hidden in my grandson's coat," Tahna said, his voice dropping an octave into a low, rumbling register. "A marker carried by men who buy land with blood.""I don't know anything about that cloth," Ethan said firmly, stepping forward an inch. "I'm a timber rancher from the south fork. I found him in the snow, and I brought him home."Aiyana stood up from beside her brother's bed. She walked across the room, stopping three feet from Ethan. She reached out, her hand moving with lightning speed, and unbuttoned the leather flap of the heavy canvas saddlebag Ethan had carried inside from his horse.She reached inside, pulling out a thick, leather-bound map case that had belonged to Ethan's late father.She unrolled the heavy paper against the low wooden table near the hearth."I found him like this," Ethan repeated, his voice rising slightly in frustration."And yet you carry the same company's map," Aiyana replied, her dark eyes flashing in the firelight as she pointed a slender finger at the paper.

He Saved a Wounded Man Then Was Ordered to Marry His Daughter

The Weapon Disguised as a Father

The Champion Ignored Her Tap and Kept the Choke Locked — Then a Quiet Man

The Wyoming Rancher Married a Woman From the Border to Save His Land — On Their First Night, She Asked, “What Do You Want Me to Do?”

THE COWBOY WHO FED THE STRANGER

He Bought Every Pie Before Sunset. By Dawn, She Learned Why He Had Really Come

News in the same category

He Saved a Wounded Man Then Was Ordered to Marry His Daughter