Chapter 5 - The Mine Beneath the RanchGunfire erupted.
Samuel threw himself over the children.
Eleanor grabbed Emma.
Olivia pulled James and Joseph behind a table.
Bullets tore through the walls.
“Back door!” Eleanor shouted.
Samuel fired twice.
A man collapsed outside.
They ran.
Eleanor led them through the ravine.
Samuel was getting weaker.
Olivia noticed.
“You need the doctor.”
“I need to keep moving.”
“You'll collapse.”
He grabbed the saddle horn.
“Then I'll crawl.”
She looked at him.
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
They reached the ranch before sunrise.
Samuel hadn't planned to return.
But the map had changed everything.
If Edward wanted the land, he would come.
They needed to find the mine first.
Inside the barn, Samuel spread the map across a workbench.
Olivia stood beside him.
“The markings lead beneath the old well.”
Samuel looked outside.
“That well's been dry for twenty years.”
“Exactly.”
They removed the wooden cover.
Beneath it was a stone staircase.
Samuel stared.
“I never knew this existed.”
Eleanor came up behind them.
“My grandfather used to say the ranch had a secret.”
They descended.
The tunnel smelled of wet earth and iron.
After twenty yards, the walls changed.
Stone became timber.
Then metal.
Finally, they reached a massive steel door.
There was no handle.
Only a handprint carved into the center.
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
“He needs to touch it.”
Samuel held his baby.
“Absolutely not.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Samuel.”
“No.”
“If Edward comes here first, he'll take Daniel.”
“And if the door is trapped?”
“Then we find out without him.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No one uses my child as a key.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“That is exactly why I knew you were still yourself.”
Then footsteps echoed behind them.
Edward.
His voice traveled through the tunnel.
“You should have opened it already.”
Samuel turned.
Edward stood at the top of the stairs with six armed men.
Olivia stepped in front of Samuel.
Edward smiled.
“You've made this much harder than it needed to be.”
“You murdered my father.”
“Yes.”
Olivia went pale.
Edward continued.
“He was stubborn.”
Samuel raised his rifle.
“You killed Eleanor too.”
Edward laughed.
“No. She was nearly dead when I found her.”
Eleanor stared.
“You poisoned me.”
“I did.”
Samuel fired.
Edward ducked.
The tunnel erupted into chaos.
Samuel shot one man.
Olivia kicked another down the stairs.
Eleanor grabbed an iron rod.
A bullet struck Samuel's shoulder.
He fell.
“Samuel!”
Olivia ran toward him.
“Go!” he shouted.
She didn't.
Instead, she dragged him behind the steel door.
Edward's men closed in.
Daniel cried.
Olivia looked at the carved handprint.
Then at Samuel.
Then at the baby.
“We have no choice.”
She put Daniel's tiny hand against the stone.
Nothing happened.
Edward laughed.
“Of course.”
Then Samuel noticed the birthmark.
The crescent.
He pressed Daniel's shoulder against the symbol.
The steel door shook.
A deep metallic sound rolled through the mine.
The door opened.
Everyone froze.
Inside was a chamber.
Gold coins.
Silver bars.
Old documents.
And an enormous wooden chest.
Edward stared.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
“No.”
Eleanor walked inside.
“What is it?”
Samuel opened the chest.
Inside were deeds.
Thousands of dollars in mining shares.
And one letter.
Edward rushed toward it.
Samuel grabbed him.
They struggled.
The letter fell open.
Olivia picked it up.
She read aloud.
“By order of the territorial court, the Dawson family is the lawful owner of all mineral rights beneath the southern ridge.”
Edward went pale.
“But that's impossible.”
Olivia turned the page.
“It gets worse.”
She looked directly at Edward.
“The document names the legal heir.”
Samuel asked:
“Who?”
Olivia whispered:
“Daniel Dawson.”
Edward's expression became monstrous.
May you like
He drew his pistol.
And aimed it directly at the baby.
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