"They're arguments between husbands and wives. Children going without shoes. Families thinking someone they love has stopped caring."
Her voice trembled.
"I didn't understand how far the harm went."
Elias listened.
Then he said quietly, "That's why the truth matters."
Loretta looked toward him.
He continued.
"Not because it lets us prove somebody wrong. Because people deserve to know what's happening to their lives."
For several seconds, she remained silent.
Then she nodded.
She closed the ledger.
And for the first time, she understood that protecting the Copper Pot was only part of the work ahead.
The next evening, Loretta found Elias sitting outside near the back steps.
He had removed his wolf-hide cloak and folded it beside him.
The moon was bright.
Snow reflected pale light across the clearing, and the distant mountains stood dark against the sky.
Loretta approached slowly.
"Can't sleep?"
Elias looked up.
He smiled.
"Not yet."
She sat on the reinforced bench Walter had placed near the doorway after making certain it was steady.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then she asked something she'd been wondering since the ribbon appeared.
"Why did you really keep searching?"
Elias looked toward her.
She continued.
"Twelve years is a long time to remember someone you barely knew."
He stared toward the mountains.
For a moment, he didn't answer.
Then he took the ribbon from inside his shirt.
He held it carefully.
"When you found me at Alder Pass, I'd been trying to reach my younger brother."
Loretta listened.
Elias continued.
"He was working at a logging camp farther north. I'd heard there'd been an accident, and I was trying to get there before the road closed."
His voice became quiet.
"I was too late."
Loretta's expression softened.
He looked toward the ribbon.
"The storm caught me before I reached the valley. I thought I was going to die beside that road."
She nodded.
She remembered.
Elias continued.
"After the doctor saved my leg, I learned my brother hadn't survived the accident. I spent months wondering why I had lived when he hadn't."
Loretta felt her chest tighten.
Elias looked toward her.
"Then I remembered what you said."
She swallowed.
He continued.
"You told me the cold didn't get to make my last decision."
Loretta looked down.
"I was only trying to keep you awake."
Elias nodded.
"I know."
He smiled sadly.
"But those words stayed with me when I needed them."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Elias continued.