Chapter 7 - The Men Who Came for the WidowBriggs had brought soldiers, but Ariel discovered something even more dangerous than bullets.
The attack lasted nearly an hour.
Gerard and Ariel fired from the windows.
Ruby loaded rifles.
Men surrounded the cabin.
Too many.
Ariel understood they couldn't win.
Then she remembered the mine tunnel.
"There is another way out."
Gerard looked at her.
"The western shaft?"
She nodded.
Ruby frowned.
"That tunnel collapsed years ago."
"Not entirely."
Ariel showed Gerard the map.
"You said the valley connects to the old railroad survey."
Gerard examined it.
"You're right."
They escaped through the shaft.
But someone was waiting.
Deputy Carson.
He aimed his gun.
"End of the road."
Gerard stepped forward.
Carson grinned.
"Put the rifle down."
Ariel raised hers.
Carson laughed.
"You won't shoot."
Ariel looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you're a lady."
Ariel's finger tightened.
"I was a lady in Philadelphia."
She fired.
Carson dropped the gun.
Gerard stared at her.
"You shot him."
"His shoulder."
"You've changed."
"No."
Ariel looked at the smoking rifle.
"I've just stopped pretending I'm helpless."
They escaped into the woods.
By sunset, they reached an abandoned church.
Inside, a man waited.
Ariel recognized the coat.
The governor's marshal.
But there was no badge.
Only a knife.
Gerard raised his rifle.
The man lifted both hands.
"Easy."
"Name."
"Samuel Cross."
"What do you want?"
Cross looked at Ariel.
"I came for the truth."
He produced a sealed federal document.
"The Black Ridge claim isn't a mining claim."
Gerard's expression hardened.
"What is it?"
"A protected territorial reserve."
Ariel stared.
"What?"
Cross nodded.
"Your husband's land sits on top of a deposit the federal government doesn't want public."
"What deposit?"
"Silver."
Gerard shook his head.
"There is no silver."
Cross smiled.
"Exactly."
Ariel felt a chill.
"Then why kill people over it?"
Cross looked at her.
"Because underneath the silver is something much more valuable."
He opened the document.
Inside was an old survey.
Ariel stared.
A network of underground waterways.
And one enormous chamber.
"What's there?"
Cross lowered his voice.
"Water."
Gerard understood.
The valley wasn't valuable because of gold.
It wasn't valuable because of silver.
It controlled the largest underground freshwater reservoir in that part of the territory.
Whoever controlled Black Ridge controlled water.
Land.
Railroads.
Towns.
Everything.
Ariel whispered:
"Briggs knows."
"Briggs has known for years."
Cross pointed toward the survey.
"And he intends to sell the water rights to a railroad company."
Gerard's face became stone.
"That's why my father died."
Cross nodded.
"Your father refused to sell."
Ariel looked at Gerard.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted you to leave."
She stared.
"You wanted me to leave you?"
"I thought you would survive without me."
Ariel's voice hardened.
"I have spent my entire life surviving without anyone."
She stepped closer.
"And now I'm tired of doing it alone."
Gerard had no answer.
Then a gunshot came from outside.
Cross fell.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Ariel screamed.
He grabbed her wrist.
"Don't trust..."
His eyes closed.
"Who?"
Cross whispered his final words.
"Arthur."
Ariel froze.
Gerard looked at her.
The dead man had just repeated the same name she had been trying to forget.
Arthur Pendleton.
May you like
And suddenly Ariel wondered whether the man who supposedly sent her to Bitter Creek to save her...
had actually sent her there to die.
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