"With what money?"
"With your strong back and my stubbornness."
He smiled.
She kissed his cheek.
"And perhaps with a better stove."
Samuel laughed.
Then he pulled her gently into his arms.
She rested against him.
For a long time, they sat beside the fire, holding each other.
At last, Samuel whispered, "What if I can't give you the life you deserve?"
Clara raised her head.
"You already have."
He shook his head.
"No."
"Samuel."
She placed one hand over his heart.
"You gave me a life where I am loved without being made ashamed of myself."
His expression softened.
"That's worth more than this mountain."
He closed his eyes.
Then kissed her forehead.
"I don't know what I did to deserve you."
Clara smiled.
"Neither do I."
He laughed.
She kissed him.
And they remained together until the fire burned low.
On the fifth morning, the snow finally stopped.
A pale sun rose above the eastern ridge.
The sky cleared.
And the mountains emerged from the storm like enormous white cathedrals.
Samuel prepared the horse and wagon.
Daniel packed the documents in a leather satchel.
Edgar wrapped himself in his thick black coat.
Clara brought bread, dried apples, and a flask of hot coffee.
Before leaving, Samuel walked through the cabin one last time.
He touched the kitchen table.
The fireplace.
The doorframe he had repaired the previous summer.
Then he stopped beside the cold pantry.
The strange rack of ribs still lay in a covered container.
They had not eaten it.
Clara had insisted they preserve it as evidence of how someone entered their home.
Samuel looked at the meat.
Then shook his head.
"What a ridiculous way for all of this to begin."
Clara approached.
She smiled.
"With supper?"
"With a second supper."
She laughed softly.
Samuel looked at her.
"If Daniel wanted our attention, he certainly got it."
Clara reached for his hand.
"Perhaps next time he can simply knock."
Samuel laughed.
Then he grew quiet.
He looked at the pantry wall.
At the place where his father had hidden the passage.
At the house that had sheltered both love and terrible secrets.
Clara followed his gaze.
"What are you thinking?"
He took a breath.
"That a house can hold more than one kind of truth."
She nodded.
Samuel looked at her.
"And that I want whatever happens next to be something we don't have to hide."
Clara smiled.
"Then we'll tell it honestly."
He kissed her hand.
"Together?"
She looked up at him.
"Always."
The journey to Blackwood took most of the day.
Snowdrifts slowed the wagon.
The horse struggled on steep sections of the trail.
Twice, Samuel had to climb down and clear fallen branches.
But by late afternoon, they reached the valley.
Smoke rose from chimneys.