He read slowly.
“Where is widow?”
“Safe.”
“Pike has warrant.”
“I saw.”
“Legally?”
“Thin.”
“Judge signed.”
“Hollis’s cousin.”
Crowe sighed.
“Of course.”
Caleb handed copy of his father’s will.
Crowe adjusted spectacles.
“This is not recorded version.”
“What?”
“Recorded will gives entire ranch to you.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Crowe compared.
“This one mentions Samuel.”
“Half interest.”
Caleb stared.
“Then records were changed.”
“Or this one is false.”
“It came from my father’s trunk.”
Crowe looked at signature.
“Looks genuine.”
“Need witness.”
“Most dead.”
“Not all.”
“Who?”
Crowe pointed.
“Ephraim Bell.”
Caleb knew name.
Old ranch foreman.
Left Montana ten years ago.
“Where?”
“Wyoming, I think.”
Caleb exhaled.
Three hundred miles.
Winter.
Crowe continued:
“If girls are Samuel’s lawful issue and Samuel held half ranch, Hollis has reason to erase them.”
Caleb’s face hardened.
“Can you stop him?”
“Temporarily.”
“I can file injunction.”
“But widow must appear eventually.”
Caleb thought of Eliza.
“She will.”
“If she chooses.”
Crowe looked amused.
“You have changed.”
“No.”
“You corrected yourself.”
Caleb frowned.
Crowe smiled.
“Tell widow I need marriage proof.”
Caleb’s stomach dropped.
“What if she doesn't have?”
“Then proving babies legitimate heirs becomes harder.”
Not impossible.
Harder.
Caleb returned cabin.
Eliza watched him remove coat.
“What happened?”
“We need marriage certificate.”
Her face fell.
“It was in house.”
“Destroyed?”
“Probably taken.”
“Any witness?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“A priest.”
“Where?”
“Fort Benton.”
“Alive?”
“I think.”
Caleb nodded.
“We go when weather clears.”
Eliza stared.
“You’re taking me?”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning we travel together.”
She smiled faintly.
“You’re learning.”
“Painfully.”
Then cabin door rattled.
Caleb drew revolver.
A voice outside shouted:
“Morgan!”
Caleb recognized Martha’s husband.
He opened.
Jonas Larson stumbled in.
“Barn fire.”
“What?”
“Hollis men hit Crowe office too.”
Caleb froze.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Crowe?”
“Alive.”
“Papers?”
“Some gone.”
Caleb looked toward Eliza.
Hollis knew.
“He’s moving.”
They left next morning for Fort Benton before Hollis could close roads.
Caleb brought Eliza and twins in covered wagon.
Martha insisted her eldest son accompany them halfway.
Travel was brutal.
Cold.
Slow.
At night Caleb built campfire and slept outside wagon.
Second night Eliza woke and found him sitting near dying fire.
“You'll freeze.”
“I’m fine.”
“You always say that.”
“Usually true.”
She climbed down wrapped in blanket.
Sat beside him.
For several minutes neither spoke.