PART 3 — THE SECRET HER FATHER BURIED IN THE MOUNTAINS

Cyrus pushed Josephine away from the broken window.

“Down!”

She dropped behind the heavy table as another sH๏τ struck the cabin wall.

Cyrus extinguished the lamp.

The room fell into darkness.

“Stay here,” he whispered.

“Who are they?”

“Men who don’t want us asking questions.”

He moved toward the back door, took his rifle, and stepped onto the narrow porch.

Josephine heard his boots disappear into the snow.

Then came a shout.

“Creed! You don’t understand what you’re interfering with!”

Cyrus’s voice answered from outside.

“Then come inside and explain it.”

Silence followed.

A horse snorted.

Then the riders disappeared into the forest.

Cyrus returned several minutes later, carrying a torn piece of paper.

“They’re gone.”

Josephine stood.

“Were they after me?”

He looked at the paper.

“They knew your name.”

He unfolded it beneath the remaining candlelight.

It was a page torn from an old ledger. On it were several names, dates, and amounts of money.

Josephine recognized one name immediately.

EDWARD WRIGHT — $2,000.

Below it was another.

ELIZABETH CREED — $500.

Her eyes widened.

“Your sister was involved in this?”

Cyrus sat heavily in his chair.

“I believe she was trying to expose it.”

He placed the letter from the wooden box on the table.

“Elizabeth worked as a bookkeeper for a mining company near Black Hollow. She discovered that the company had been stealing land from families who couldn’t afford lawyers. When she confronted the owner, she vanished.”

“When?”

“Eleven years ago.”

Josephine stared at the letter.

“My father knew her?”

“They were working together.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t know you were Edward Wright’s daughter when I brought you here.”

Josephine looked at the scar on Cyrus’s cheek.

“Did they hurt you because of your sister?”

He was silent for a moment.

“Three years ago, I went looking for her. I found the men responsible for guarding the old mine. They attacked me and left me in the snow.”

“And your scars?”

“One of the reasons I stopped asking questions.”

Josephine looked down at the ledger.

“My father died shortly after I was sent away. I was told he had fallen from a horse.”

Cyrus shook his head.

“Perhaps he didn’t.”

The words seemed to drain the warmth from the room.

Josephine sat down.

“Then what happened to him?”

“I think he discovered what Elizabeth had found. And I think Cooper knows where the evidence is.”

The following morning, Cyrus saddled both horses.

Josephine appeared at the stable door wearing her winter coat.

“I’m coming.”

“No.”

“Cyrus—”

“This isn’t a trip to town. Someone is watching the roads.”

“And my father’s name is written in that ledger. My aunt sold me, Cooper humiliated me, and now armed men are shooting at your cabin because of something I don’t understand.”

She stepped closer.

“I am finished waiting for other people to decide what I am allowed to know.”

Cyrus studied her for a long moment.

Then he handed her a pair of gloves.

“Stay close.”

They rode south toward an abandoned mining settlement called Black Hollow.

The journey took most of the morning.

The settlement was little more than a row of empty buildings and a collapsed wooden mill. Snow had buried the old tracks, and the mine entrance was hidden behind a wall of fallen timber.

Cyrus dismounted.

“This is where Elizabeth worked.”

Josephine looked at the ruined buildings.

“How do we know we’re looking in the right place?”

Cyrus took the pH๏τograph from his coat.

On the back, Elizabeth had written:

The truth sleeps where the mountain drinks.

Josephine read it twice.

“The mountain drinks?”

She looked toward a narrow stream disappearing beneath a rocky ledge.

“Water.”

Cyrus followed her gaze.

They walked to the stream and searched the rocks until Josephine noticed a flat stone with a small carved mark.

A circle.

The same symbol appeared on the corner of her father’s old family Bible.

She knelt and pushed aside the snow.

Beneath the stone was a rusted metal ring.

Cyrus helped her lift a concealed wooden cover.

Inside was a narrow compartment.

It contained a leather journal, several folded deeds, and a small envelope.

Josephine reached for the envelope.

Her name was written across it.

She opened it carefully.

My dearest daughter,

If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally found you.

I need you to understand something. The scars you carry are not the reason people rejected you. They are the reason someone tried to make you disappear.

Josephine’s eyes filled with tears.

She continued.

When you were six years old, I witnessed a secret meeting at Black Hollow. A group of men had arranged to steal the land of several families, including ours. I copied their records and hid them.

They discovered what I had done. During the fire at our house, you were injured while I tried to get you out. I believed I had lost you when your aunt took you away.

Josephine stopped reading.

The fire.

Her father had always told her it was an accident caused by a fallen lantern.

Now she understood that it had been no accident.

Cyrus took the journal and opened it.

Inside were records of payments made to officials, forged property transfers, and the names of men who had profited from the scheme.

One name appeared repeatedly.

THADDEUS COOPER.

But there was something worse.

A final entry had been written in a different hand.

The girl survived. Her aunt has taken custody. Keep her away from Black Hollow until the papers are recovered.

Josephine felt sick.

“My aunt knew.”

Cyrus closed the journal.

“Looks that way.”

A sound came from behind them.

A twig snapped.

Cyrus turned.

A woman stood between the trees.

She wore a dark traveling coat and held a walking stick. Her hair was silver beneath her wool hat.

Josephine stared at her.

The woman took one hesitant step forward.

“Josephine?”

The voice was familiar.

So familiar that Josephine could barely breathe.

“Who are you?”

The woman removed her hat.

“My name is Elizabeth Creed.”

Cyrus went completely still.

“Elizabeth?”

His sister’s eyes filled with tears.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Elizabeth looked at Josephine.

“Your father saved my life. I promised him I would find you.”

Josephine stepped forward.

“Where have you been?”

“Hidden. I escaped from Black Hollow, but I couldn’t return to the town without putting you in danger.”

She glanced at the journal in Cyrus’s hands.

“Did you find the original records?”

Josephine nodded.

Elizabeth’s expression changed.

“Then we must leave immediately.”

“Why?” Cyrus asked.

Elizabeth looked toward the ridge.

“Because Cooper isn’t the man in charge.”

She took a folded document from her coat.

“The real owner of Black Hollow is the man who signed your marriage arrangement.”

Josephine frowned.

“My intended husband?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No. The man who rejected you.”

Josephine remembered Jeremiah Higgins, the wealthy stranger who had refused to marry her after seeing her face.

Elizabeth unfolded the document.

His signature was at the bottom.

JEREMIAH HIGGINS — OWNER, BLACK HOLLOW MINING COMPANY.

Josephine stared at it.

“But he never wanted me.”

Elizabeth looked at her sadly.

“He didn’t want a wife, Josephine. He wanted the papers your father hid. He believed marrying you would give him access to everything Edward Wright left behind.”

Cyrus’s expression hardened.

“And Cooper?”

“He was supposed to deliver her to Higgins and make certain she never reached the truth.”

Josephine looked down at the letter in her hands.

All her humiliation, the sack, the public auction, the rejected wedding—it had been arranged.

Someone had wanted her frightened, isolated, and powerless.

But why had Higgins rejected her so publicly?

Elizabeth answered before she could ask.

“Because he recognized something on your face.”

Josephine touched the scar near her temple.

“What?”

Elizabeth reached toward her cheek but stopped before touching it.

“Your father hid a tiny mark beneath the scar. A mark that identifies the rightful owner of the Black Hollow land.”

Cyrus looked sharply at Elizabeth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I only discovered it last week.”

A distant whistle echoed through the trees.

Elizabeth turned pale.

“They’ve found us.”

Cyrus mounted his horse.

“Get Josephine out of here.”

But Elizabeth shook her head.

“It’s too late.”

Through the trees, several riders appeared.

At their head sat Jeremiah Higgins.

He removed his hat and smiled.

“Miss Wright,” he called. “I believe we have unfinished business.”

Then he lifted a folded paper.

“And I have something that belongs to you.”

Josephine’s heart stopped when she recognized the handwriting.

It was her father’s.

But the signature at the bottom was dated three days after the night he supposedly died.

Her father might have been alive long after everyone told her he was ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.

And Higgins knew exactly where he had gone.

TO BE CONTINUED…