"Let's ask."
They contacted the suppliers.
Some refused to explain.
Others blamed commercial conditions.
One eventually admitted that a banking representative had raised concerns about Boone Ranch's ability to meet its debts.
The representative hadn't ordered the supplier to stop doing business.
But the warning had made the owner cautious.
Silas listened.
Then thanked him for being honest.
When the conversation ended, he stood in the kitchen staring at the stove.
Eleanor watched.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Silas said quietly, "Your father's reaching into my business without ever setting foot on the ranch."
She lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Silas turned.
"Eleanor."
She looked up.
He approached.
Placed both hands gently against her shoulders.
"We've talked about this."
Her lips trembled.
"He wouldn't be doing it if I'd returned."
Silas stared.
Then shook his head.
"No."
His voice was firm.
"He wouldn't be doing it if he'd learned to respect his daughter."
Eleanor began crying.
Silas drew her into his arms.
She leaned against him.
For several minutes, he simply held her.
Then she whispered, "What if he takes everything?"
Silas looked toward the window.
The snow-covered pasture stretched beyond the house.
The barn stood against the fading sky.
He had built the place through years of exhausting work.
He loved it.
But he also knew something Eleanor was only beginning to understand.
Land could be bought.
Buildings rebuilt.
Cattle replaced.
A person's dignity was harder to recover once willingly surrendered.
He lowered his face toward her hair.
"Then we'll find another way to live."
Eleanor drew back.
She stared.
"You'd lose this place?"
His expression became serious.
"I'll fight to keep it."
She nodded.
He continued.
"But I won't trade you for a deed."
The words broke her.
She pressed her face against his chest.
Silas held her.
And for the first time, Eleanor fully understood the difference between the man she had nearly married and the man she had chosen.
Edmund believed love could be used to control property.
Silas believed property existed to support the people he loved.
The missing cattle were recovered two days later.
They had been moved into a temporary holding enclosure several miles from the ranch.
Sheriff's deputies questioned a hired drover who claimed he'd been told the animals were part of an authorized transfer.