Martha lay upstairs.
Amos looked toward Colum.
“You should have died.”
Colum’s hand tightened on the chair arm.
“You said that already.”
Amos held the deed.
The original.
Martha had hidden it behind a loose stone near the hearth.
Amos had found it.
“How?”
Amos smiled.
“Elias used the same hiding place when we were boys.”
Colum’s stomach dropped.
Amos stepped toward the stove.
“If this burns, county copy stands.”
Colum pushed his chair forward.
Amos laughed.
“You going to stop me?”
“Yes.”
“With what legs?”
Colum moved faster.
He drove the chair directly into Amos’s knees.
Amos fell.
The deed flew.
Colum launched himself from the chair.
His body hit the floor.
He grabbed the paper.
Amos kicked him in the ribs.
Colum grunted.
Then Amos stood over him.
“Still half a man.”
Martha’s voice came from behind.
“Then you ought to be embarrassed.”
Amos turned.
Martha stood at the foot of the stairs.
In one hand was Elias’s shotgun.
Behind her were three awake townsmen.
Amos went pale.
Martha descended slowly.
“You came into my house.”
“Martha—”
“Stole my deed.”
“I was saving—”
“Don’t.”
Her voice shook.
Not with fear.
Rage.
The sheriff stepped from the hallway.
He had been sleeping there since the storm.
Amos stared.
Martha smiled without warmth.
“You picked a bad night.”
The sheriff took Amos’s revolver.
Colum remained on the floor.
Martha immediately lowered the gun and rushed to him.
“You hurt?”
“Pride.”
“Good.”
“Ribs too.”
She helped him upright.
Then something happened.
Colum’s left leg moved.
Not much.
A twitch.
Then the knee pulled inward half an inch.
Martha froze.
“Do that again.”
“I didn’t.”
“Colum.”
He stared.
Tried.
The muscle contracted.
People around them fell silent.
Colum laughed.
A broken, astonished sound.
Martha started crying.
He looked at her.
“Don’t make a scene.”
She slapped his shoulder.
Everyone laughed.
Amos did not.
By February, the roads finally reopened.
Judge Ellison came to Willow Plains.
This time, the courthouse was full.
Martha sat beside Colum.
Amos stood across the room under guard.
Witnesses testified.
The forged deed.
The altered county filing.
The stolen supply money.
Colum’s attack.
The attempted arson.
The stolen original document.