Chapter 25
“What?”
“It’s Thomas.”
Her heart stopped.
The doctor looked down.
“He woke.”
She exhaled.
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief flooded her.
Then Hale continued.
“And he told me something you need to hear immediately.”
Matilda stared.
“What?”
The doctor glanced at Elias.
“Thomas Bell says Margaret Harrow isn't buried in Missouri.”
Elias went completely still.
Matilda whispered, “What are you saying?”
Hale swallowed.
“He says your mother may still be alive.”
PART 7 — THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE HOUSE
Matilda did not remember the ride back to Leadville.
She remembered only Thomas's room.
The smell of medicine.
The basin beside the bed.
The pale winter light.
And Thomas looking older than he ever had.
“You said my mother might be alive.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Elias stood behind Matilda.
His face had gone gray.
Thomas looked at him.
“You deserve to hate me for this most of all.”
Elias whispered, “Where is she?”
Thomas coughed.
“New Mexico.”
Matilda gripped the bedrail.
“My mother d/i/ed eight years ago.”
“No.”
“I buried her.”
“You buried an empty coffin.”
The world tilted.
Matilda staggered.
Jedodiah caught her.
She pulled away.
“Why?”
Thomas's eyes filled.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of Thatcher?”
“Partly.”
“Of Elias?”
“Partly.”
Matilda's voice rose.
“Then of what?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Of you finding out what she had done.”
Silence.
“What had she done?”
Thomas struggled to breathe.
“She took money.”
Elias frowned.
“From whom?”
“Thatcher.”
Matilda felt sick.
Thomas continued.
“Years after we left Leadville, Margaret contacted Abigail's father.”
“No.”
“She wanted them to leave you alone.”
“So she made a deal?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
Elias looked stunned.
In those days it was a fortune.
“What did she give them?”
Thomas looked at Matilda.
“The location of one archive.”
Matilda stepped back.
“My mother betrayed the evidence?”
“She gave them copies.”
“Why?”
“To convince them she had surrendered.”
Thomas coughed.
“She used the money to disappear.”
Matilda's anger flared.
“So she abandoned me.”
“No.”
Thomas sat up despite the pain.
“No, Mattie.”
“She let me mourn her!”
“Because Thatcher had found you again.”
Matilda froze.
“What?”
“Eight years ago, one of Voss's men followed you in Missouri.”
Elias whispered a curse.
Thomas continued.
“Margaret believed if she d/i/ed publicly, they'd stop watching the family.”
“And she left me with you.”
“Yes.”
“The man who betrayed her.”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“The man she knew would d/i/e before letting them touch you.”