Then the old man reached for Caleb's hand.
“Tell me something.”
Caleb nodded.
“Anything.”
Samuel's eyes filled.
“Did Nathaniel know I hadn't betrayed him?”
Caleb stopped breathing.
For a long moment, he couldn't answer.
Then he remembered his father's journals.
The letters.
The words Nathaniel wrote whenever he mentioned Samuel.
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
The old man's face softened.
Caleb continued.
“He believed you were an honest man.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
Tears slipped down his cheeks.
For several seconds, he remained silent.
Then whispered, “Good.”
He rested.
And Caleb sat beside the bed holding the hand of a man his father had mourned for almost two decades.
The legal process did not become easy simply because Samuel Harrow was alive.
Martin Pierce and the other attorneys understood that the documents were old, the witnesses elderly, and the relevant property transactions complicated. Records from the territorial period had to be reconciled with later filings, and allegations concerning the mining disaster required a separate, careful inquiry.
Solomon Whitmore possessed substantial resources.
He could hire experienced lawyers.
Challenge the authenticity of evidence.
Question the reliability of witnesses.
And argue that the disputed property had been transferred through later transactions.
The couple also faced a more immediate problem.
Solomon had filed a petition seeking control over certain aspects of Eleanor's affairs.
The petition described her as vulnerable and unable to manage complicated financial matters.
It relied heavily upon her unusual size, limited mobility, and years of dependence during her marriage to Henry.
Eleanor was furious when she read it.
She sat beside Martin Pierce in his office, holding the document with both hands.
“He's written as though I can't think.”
Martin nodded.
“The assertions are serious.”
She looked toward Caleb.
He stood near the window, his jaw clenched.
For a moment, Eleanor saw the anger in his eyes.
Then she looked back at the attorney.
“What do we do?”
Martin took a breath.
“We respond with evidence. Your ability to understand your affairs and express your decisions matters. Your physical needs don't by themselves establish incapacity.”
Eleanor nodded.
He continued.
“We'll also challenge the factual basis for the alleged debts and ask the court to examine whether Solomon has a conflict of interest.”
She looked toward the papers.
For several seconds, she was silent.
Then asked, “Will I have to speak?”
Martin nodded.
“Most likely.”
Eleanor swallowed.
She had never spoken publicly in a courtroom.