They claimed he was stealing company information.
Matthew refused to surrender the papers.
He escaped on horseback.
The men followed.
And the winter storm descended faster than anyone expected.
Near the north pass, one pursuer forced his horse toward a narrow trail.
Matthew fell.
His horse escaped.
And he struck his head against exposed rock.
When he woke, he was in a freight wagon.
His left leg was badly injured.
His head was bandaged.
He couldn't remember his full name.
He remembered only fragments.
A brother.
A ranch.
A horse.
And a silver watch.
The men told him he was Will Hart, a hired worker injured in an accident.
They said his family was dead.
And because he was confused, isolated, and dependent upon them for food and shelter, he had little ability to challenge the story.
Gideon stared in horror.
Matthew continued.
For months, his memory returned only in pieces.
He remembered his mother singing.
The smell of the ranch kitchen.
The sound of cattle near the lower pasture.
But whenever he asked about his past, Voss told him he'd suffered a severe injury and should stop troubling himself.
Eventually, he was moved north with a timber crew.
There, he worked under the name Will Hart.
He became useful.
Quiet.
And increasingly accustomed to a life he couldn't fully explain.
The years passed.
He learned to manage the permanent weakness in his left leg.
He developed friendships.
And began reconstructing his memories.
One winter, an elderly worker recognized the name Hale when Matthew mentioned it in his sleep.
The man had once worked near Cedar Hollow.
He told Matthew that Gideon Hale was alive.
That a younger brother had disappeared years earlier.
And that the family had never recovered a body.
Matthew began writing letters.
Some to Gideon.
Others to the county post office.
He received strange replies.
One claimed Gideon wanted no contact.
Another stated that the family had moved away.
A third warned him that returning to Cedar Hollow could lead to charges involving stolen cattle.
Matthew didn't know what to believe.
His memory had returned unevenly.
He was frightened.
And the people controlling his work and travel repeatedly insisted that the past would only bring him trouble.
Gideon listened with tears running down his face.
Then asked why Matthew finally returned.
The younger man looked toward the watch.
“Because I found the old ledger.”