“Good.”
Caleb stared.
“What?”
“I wanted to kill them too.”
That surprised him.
Eleanor continued.
“But if you become the monster Vane tells everyone you are, he wins.”
Caleb looked away.
“He touched Thomas.”
“I know.”
“My brother’s boy.”
“Our boy.”
The words escaped before Eleanor could stop them.
Caleb turned.
She felt heat rise to her face.
“I mean our responsibility.”
He said nothing.
The silence became uncomfortable.
Eleanor changed direction.
“We need to stop reacting.”
“What do you suggest?”
“We make Vane come to us.”
Caleb frowned.
Eleanor smiled.
“Men who believe women are stupid can be made very careless.”
The plan began with a rumor.
Eleanor traveled to Covenant Creek for the first time since the auction.
She wore a dark green dress Sarah had altered from fabric found in Caleb’s storage chest.
It fitted her immense frame comfortably rather than trying to disguise it.
Eleanor was done apologizing for taking up space.
She entered the general store.
Conversation stopped.
People stared.
The widow had returned.
Not broken.
Not missing children.
Healthy.
Well dressed.
Calm.
Mrs. Cromwell happened to be buying tea.
Eleanor pretended surprise.
“Mrs. Cromwell.”
The woman stared.
“Mrs. Roar.”
“Hayes.”
“I understood you entered a marriage arrangement.”
“Legal paperwork is still pending.”
Cromwell smiled faintly.
“How unfortunate.”
“Perhaps.”
Eleanor selected flour.
Then sighed deliberately.
“Caleb is difficult.”
Cromwell’s attention sharpened.
“How so?”
“Distrustful.”
“Secretive.”
“I cannot even persuade him to let me examine Jonathan’s original land deed.”
Cromwell became very still.
Eleanor pretended not to notice.
“He keeps everything inside some locked iron box.”
“Men.”
She shook her head.
“Always convinced paper belongs hidden.”
Cromwell asked casually:
“Where?”
Eleanor smiled.
“Who knows?”
Then changed the subject.
By sunset, three people had heard that Caleb kept the original deed inside an iron box beneath his bed.
The actual documents were miles away in a hollow tree marked only on Eleanor’s private map.
That night, two men broke into the homestead.
Caleb was waiting.
So were the territorial marshal and a newspaper reporter Eleanor had quietly contacted.
The thieves were arrested carrying lock picks, pistols, and a written instruction signed with initials.
S.V.
Not enough to convict Vane.
Enough to start asking questions.
The reporter published the story.
LAND DISPUTE TURNS TO MIDNIGHT BURGLARY AT ROAR HOMESTEAD.
Then a second article.
WIDOW’S CHILDREN MAY HOLD VALUABLE RAILROAD CLAIM.
Vane could control Covenant Creek’s local paper.
He did not control the newspaper in Cheyenne.
Suddenly the dispute had witnesses beyond town.
Eleanor had changed the battlefield.
Caleb looked at the printed article.
“You planned that from the store?”
“Before breakfast.”
He stared.
“Jonathan married a terrifying woman.”
Eleanor smiled.