“Yes.”
“That sounds suspiciously like the same thing.”
“It is.”
Harlan’s face tightened.
“I made a decision for you because I thought there wasn’t time.”
Josephine stared.
“And you believe that was right?”
“No.”
The answer stunned her.
Harlan looked toward the floor.
“I believe it was the least terrible choice I could see.”
Josephine remained silent.
“I would do some parts differently if I could.”
“Which parts?”
“I would have put a rifle on your father’s table and made him let me speak to you.”
Despite herself, Josephine laughed once.
Harlan almost smiled.
Then his expression turned serious.
“But I still would have gotten you out.”
“Even without asking?”
“If Pike’s men were already coming?”
“Yes.”
Josephine studied him.
“I don’t know whether to thank you or slap you.”
“That seems fair.”
She nearly laughed again.
Instead she reached for the deed.
“What happens now?”
“We take this to Judge Ross.”
“And then?”
“Then you decide what happens to the land.”
“You aren’t going to tell me?”
“It’s yours.”
“You married me.”
Harlan’s face hardened.
“That doesn’t make your property mine.”
“In St. Louis, plenty of men would disagree.”
“I’m not in St. Louis.”
Josephine stared at him.
Something warm moved through her chest.
They left the trapper’s shack shortly after sunrise.
The storm had weakened, but the road remained difficult.
Silver Junction was nearly thirty miles away.
They rode slowly.
At midday, they stopped beside a frozen creek.
Harlan unpacked bread, dried meat, and cheese.
Josephine ate without waiting for permission.
She noticed.
Harlan noticed her noticing.
Neither commented.
After lunch, they continued.
By afternoon, hoofprints appeared behind them.
Harlan dismounted.
Josephine’s pulse quickened.
“Pike?”
“Maybe.”
“How many?”
He crouched.
“Three.”
Josephine looked at the forest.
“What do we do?”
Harlan studied the terrain.
“We could cut south.”
“Would that delay us?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Half day.”
Josephine thought about the letter.
Judge Ross.
Silver Junction.
Trust no one connected to Pike.
“Then we don’t cut south.”
Harlan looked at her.
“They may catch us.”
“I understand.”
“This isn’t about bravery.”
“I know.”
“Josephine.”
She straightened.
“My mother died getting that deed to me.”
Harlan said nothing.
“I am not spending the first decision I truly make running in the opposite direction.”
Something shifted in his expression.
Respect.
“All right.”
He mounted.
“We keep going.”
They rode faster.
Near sunset, the trail narrowed between cliffs.
Harlan suddenly pulled the horse to a stop.
A fallen tree blocked the road.
Freshly cut.
He cursed.
Josephine heard movement behind them.
Riders.
Harlan dismounted.
“Stay on the horse.”