Chapter 13
Voss moved abruptly toward her.
Mason stepped forward.
Sheriff Harlan raised his revolver again.
“Everybody stay where they are!”
A tense silence followed.
Then Clara reached inside the pocket of her dress.
Voss’s eyes widened.
“Clara. Don’t.”
She withdrew a folded paper, creased and worn from repeated handling.
“I kept this hidden.”
Voss lunged.
Mason intercepted him, shoving him backward against a wooden post.
The sheriff shouted, “Callaghan!”
But Clara was already unfolding the document.
“Read it,” she told Harlan.
The sheriff hesitated.
Then he took the paper.
His expression changed as he studied it.
It was a land survey.
Not a marriage certificate.
Not a debt agreement.
A survey of a small property west of town.
Clara pointed toward the signature at the bottom.
“My father owned that land. Gideon told him it was almost worthless because the creek had dried up.”
Voss glared at her.
“Be quiet.”
“But the survey says there’s an underground spring.”
Mason looked sharply at the document.
He knew the country west of town.
Water beneath that acreage would make it extraordinarily valuable.
Clara continued.
“Gideon wanted the property. My father refused to sell, so Gideon claimed there were debts against it. Then he offered to erase them if I married him.”
The sheriff examined the paper again.
“Where did you get this?”
“From his desk. After I found the ledger showing he had already purchased the debt from the original lender for almost nothing.”
Voss’s face darkened.
“You stole my private papers.”
“I copied what you were trying to hide.”
Mason stared at him.
“You married her to get the land.”
Voss said nothing.
Clara’s voice trembled.
“He thought my father would sign it over if I asked. When I refused, Gideon threatened to send me somewhere nobody would find me.”
Rusk began edging toward the open barn doors.
Mason noticed.
“So that’s why she ended up at your auction.”
Rusk stopped.
“Wasn’t my decision.”
Voss turned toward him.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
The sheriff lowered his gun slightly.
“Did you arrange that sale, Voss?”
Voss spread his hands.
“My wife ran away. Rusk was meant to bring her home.”
“Then why was she being auctioned?”
Nobody answered.
Clara looked directly at Rusk.
“Because Gideon ordered him to frighten me into obedience.”
Rusk’s expression shifted.
Finally, he muttered, “Was supposed to be temporary. Put her up, scare her, then take her back.”
Voss swore.