“The black tree seal belonged to Blackwood Consolidated.”
“The mine?”
Clara asked.
He nodded.
“Before the collapse.”
“What collapse?”
The old man stared at her.
Clara knew about a mine accident when she was a child.
Everybody did.
A shaft explosion west of town.
Several dead.
Mine closed.
But people rarely discussed details.
The blacksmith continued.
“Company stamped that mark onto copper cattle tags too.”
“Cattle?”
“They ran stock near the powder sheds.”
“Everything owned by the company carried that tree.”
He held up the piece.
“This looks like part of a livestock ear tag.”
Clara went cold.
Elias’s face turned gray.
The blacksmith saw.
“What happened?”
Clara did not answer.
The old man looked closer at Elias.
Then his blind eye widened slightly.
“You’re Thorne’s boy.”
Elias stiffened.
The blacksmith stepped back.
“My God.”
Clara moved between them.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
The answer came too quickly.
“You know something.”
“No.”
Elias watched.
His face hardened.
The old blacksmith looked toward the road.
Then lowered his voice.
“Go home.”
Clara did not move.
“Why?”
“Because Blackwood buried that business twenty years ago.”
“What business?”
The old man’s good eye moved toward Elias’s ears.
Then the copper.
His face drained.
“God forgive us.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Who put this in him?”
The blacksmith shook his head.
“I didn’t see.”
“Who?”
“I said I didn’t see.”
Elias suddenly grabbed the notepad.
Wrote.
Held it up.
WHO HAD BLACK TREE BARN?
The old man read.
His mouth opened.
Closed.
Then:
“The company stable.”
Elias stared.
Memory moved across his face.
He signed something Clara did not understand.
Then wrote:
River road?
The blacksmith nodded.
Elias’s breathing changed.
Clara touched his sleeve.
He did not flinch this time.
The old man looked afraid.
“The stable burned the winter after the mine closed.”
“Accident?”
Clara asked.
The blacksmith gave her a tired look.
“In Blackwood, accidents were useful things.”
That night Elias dreamed for the first time in years.
Clara knew because she heard him strike the loft wall.
She climbed.
Found him sitting upright.
Sweat covered his face.
His hands moved rapidly.
She could not follow all the signs.
MAN.
BARN.
FATHER.
BLOOD.
TREE.
She sat beside him.
Not touching.
Elias grabbed the notepad.
I heard them.
Clara’s heart stopped.
Before deaf.
He wrote faster.
Father shouting. Three men. Money. Papers. Mine.
Then:
They saw me.
His pencil broke.
Clara picked up another.
Elias did not take it.
He stared at his hands.
Clara signed slowly:
SAFE.
He shook his head.
She repeated:
NOW.
SAFE.
Elias looked toward her.
Then wrote:
They held me.
Clara’s chest tightened.
He touched both ears.
He did not need to write the rest.