Chapter 6 - THE TWO ACCIDENTS
Eleanor's husband, Dr. James Whitfield, had been a respected physician and amateur geologist.
He loved maps.
Collected rock samples.
And believed the territory's mining companies were poisoning local streams.
Two years earlier, he began investigating Henry Voss.
He discovered that several landowners had mysteriously signed away mineral rights shortly before dying.
James gathered documents.
Prepared a report.
And promised Eleanor he would bring the evidence to federal authorities.
Three days later, his horse returned without him.
His body was found beneath a cliff.
The sheriff ruled it an accident.
Eleanor had never believed it.
Samuel listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he looked toward the garden.
Laya was playing with the cloth doll.
He swallowed.
“Voss killed your husband.”
Eleanor's eyes filled.
“I can't prove it.”
“Not yet.”
She looked at him.
Samuel continued.
“But we can.”
Over the next week, they worked together.
Samuel searched old property records.
Eleanor examined her husband's notebooks.
Martha watched Laya.
And Joseph Finch quietly supplied copies of documents before they could disappear.
They discovered a pattern.
Seven landowners.
Seven suspicious deaths.
Seven parcels transferred to companies connected to Henry Voss.
Elijah Morrison's property was the largest.
And unlike the others, the title had never been legally transferred.
Because Elijah's daughter was alive.
Samuel realized something else.
If Voss could obtain guardianship of Laya, he could control her inheritance.
That explained the auction.
Mrs. Peton had been instructed to make the child appear undesirable.
Then someone connected to Voss could acquire her cheaply.
But Samuel had interfered.
One evening, Eleanor found Samuel sitting alone on the porch.
He held Abigail's old wedding ring.
She sat beside him.
“Thinking about your wife?”
He nodded.
“She wanted children.”
Eleanor looked toward the stars.
“I'm sorry.”
Samuel swallowed.
“I spent years believing I had nothing left to give.”
Eleanor smiled gently.
“And now?”
He looked toward the house.
Inside, Laya was laughing softly at something Martha said.
The sound was faint.
Almost fragile.
But real.
Samuel's eyes filled.
“Now I'm afraid of losing her.”
Eleanor placed her hand over his.
“Then we'll protect her together.”
Samuel looked at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Something warm passed between them.
Something neither had expected.
The next morning, a telegram arrived.
It was addressed to Eleanor.
The message contained only one sentence.
STOP INVESTIGATING VOSS OR THE CHILD WILL DIE.
Eleanor read it twice.
Then looked at Samuel.
He was already reaching for his hat.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
May you like
Samuel's expression hardened.
“To find the man who thinks he can threaten my daughter.”
