PART 2 — THE SECRET JACK HAD BEEN CARRYING FOR TWELVE YEARS

“Emily, I need you to stay calm,” Jack said, his voice low but firm. “I don’t believe the baby is coming yet. But something isn’t right.”

Emily stared at him, struggling to breathe through the pain.

“What did you feel?”

Jack hesitated. Then he gently moved his hand away from her abdomen.

“The baby’s position is unusual. I felt a movement, but not where I expected it. And your pain isn’t following the pattern of ordinary labor.”

“Is my child going to die?”

“No.” He answered too quickly, then softened his voice. “I won’t pretend I know what’s happening. But I’m going to get you help.”

Outside, the storm hammered the rocky overhang. Water rushed across the trail, carrying branches and loose stones downstream. The nearest town was still many miles away, and the road had become impᴀssable.

Jack pulled a lantern closer and spread a blanket beneath Emily.

“There’s an old mining settlement less than two miles north,” he said. “A woman named Martha Bell lives there. She knows more about childbirth than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Can we reach her?”

“We have to try.”

He secured the horses beneath the overhang, then returned to Emily. Before leaving, he placed a small leather pouch beside her.

“If the pain gets worse, open this. There’s a little bell inside. Ring it, and I’ll hear you.”

“Where are you going?”

“To bring Martha.”

Emily caught his sleeve.

“Jack, don’t leave me.”

For the first time, his stern expression changed. He looked at her with a tenderness that seemed almost painful.

“I’ll come back, Emily. That’s a promise.”

Then he disappeared into the rain.

The minutes crawled by.

Emily tried to think of Daniel. She remembered the way he used to place his hand over her stomach and whisper to their unborn child. He had dreamed of teaching the baby to ride, building a small house near the river, and planting apple trees.

Now she wondered whether those dreams would ever have a chance.

Another wave of pain forced her to grip the blanket.

She reached for the pouch and found a tiny silver bell. Beneath it lay a folded piece of paper.

The handwriting was unfamiliar.

If you are reading this, Jack has finally found someone he is willing to protect again.

Emily frowned.

Why would Jack carry such a message?

Before she could examine it further, she heard voices outside.

Jack returned, soaked from head to toe, accompanied by a gray-haired woman carrying a medical bag.

“This is Martha,” he said.

Martha immediately knelt beside Emily and began asking questions. She checked her pulse, listened carefully, and examined her condition with the calm concentration of someone who had spent decades helping families through difficult births.

After several minutes, she looked toward Jack.

“I need better light. And I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

Jack explained what he had noticed.

Martha’s expression grew serious.

“Jack, you should have told me sooner.”

Emily turned toward them.

“Told her what?”

Martha exchanged a glance with him.

“Your husband, Daniel, did he ever mention anything unusual about your pregnancy?”

“No. He was worried because I had been feeling tired, but he said that was normal.”

“Did he ever tell you whether he had a family history of difficult pregnancies?”

Emily shook her head.

Martha studied her face.

“Then there’s something you need to understand. I cannot tell what is happening from one examination, especially in these conditions. But your pain is concerning. We need to get you to a proper doctor as soon as the road allows.”

Jack nodded.

“I know a physician in Fort Laramie.”

“Then we go there at first light,” Martha said. “If her condition changes before then, we cannot wait.”

Emily looked between them.

“You both know something you’re not telling me.”

Jack lowered his eyes.

Martha sighed.

“Daniel came to see me shortly before he died.”

The world seemed to stop.

“What?”

“He was worried about you. He asked me to keep an eye on your pregnancy if anything happened to him.”

Emily’s eyes filled with tears.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he made me promise not to frighten you unless there was a reason.”

Jack turned away, his hands clenched.

Martha continued.

“He also brought me a letter. He said it was meant for you, but only if you ever found yourself traveling with a man named Jack Dawson.”

Emily stared at Jack.

“You knew my husband?”

Jack didn’t answer.

Martha reached into her bag and produced a small envelope, worn at the corners. Emily recognized Daniel’s handwriting immediately.

Her fingers trembled as she opened it.

My dearest Emily,

If you are reading this, then I was unable to keep the promise I made to you. There is something about my past I should have told you, and I am sorry I waited.

Jack Dawson once saved my life. But that is not the only reason I trust him.

If he has brought you this far, listen to him. He knows the truth about the land near the North Platte, and he knows why I wanted our child to be born safely.

There is something I discovered before my death. Something that may put our child in danger if the wrong people find it.

Forgive me for leaving you with so many unanswered questions.

Daniel.

Emily read the letter twice.

“What land?” she whispered. “What people?”

Jack stood motionless.

Martha looked at him.

“It’s time you told her.”

Jack slowly removed his hat.

“Twelve years ago, Daniel and I worked together on a survey crew. We were hired to map a stretch of land near the river. We discovered that several families had been forced off their property through forged deeds.”

“Daniel never told me.”

“He wanted to expose the people responsible. I wanted him to leave it alone. We argued, and he went ahead without me.”

Jack paused.

“Then someone attacked our camp. Daniel escaped with the original survey records. I thought he had disappeared for good.”

Emily felt a chill unrelated to the storm.

“Who attacked you?”

Jack looked toward the dark entrance of the shelter.

“Men who had enough money to make people disappear from the records. Men who believed the land belonged to them.”

“And Daniel found proof?”

“Yes.”

Emily pressed the letter against her chest.

“Then why did he die?”

Jack’s face hardened.

“I don’t know. But a week before he died, I received a message from him. He said he had found the missing deed.”

“Where is it?”

Jack looked at the canvas bundle tied beneath Emily’s seat.

“I believe he hid it in your belongings.”

Emily stared at the wagon.

For four days, she had been traveling with everything she and Daniel owned.

And she had never known that one of those belongings might contain the secret someone had been willing to kill for.

Then Martha suddenly looked up.

“Jack.”

He turned.

“What?”

Martha pointed toward the trail.

Through the rain, a lantern was moving between the trees.

Someone was approaching.

And whoever it was had not come to ask whether Emily was safe.