Ruth recovered.
Nathaniel did not recover nearly as well from discovering that his wife had sheltered the Russell family beneath his roof.
By the time Charlene and Jeb prepared to leave Bitter Creek, half the town knew about the confrontation.
Gossip traveled faster than disease.
Charlene stood outside the mercantile while Jeb loaded supplies.
Several women approached.
Women who once looked away from her.
Mrs. Higgins held a folded order sheet.
"Mrs. Russell?"
Charlene turned.
"We'd like six of your lined cloaks."
Charlene stared.
"We?"
"Church ladies."
The irony nearly made her laugh.
Mrs. Higgins looked uncomfortable.
"And perhaps four children's coats."
Charlene accepted the paper.
"Payment in advance."
Mrs. Higgins blinked.
"Certainly."
Charlene smiled.
Three years earlier, she would have accepted any condition simply to feel included.
Not anymore.
Jeb watched from the wagon.
"What?"
she asked.
"Nothing."
"You're staring."
"I like watching you scare people."
She laughed.
Caleb climbed onto the wagon.
"Can we go home now?"
Home.
Charlene felt the word settle warmly inside her.
"Yes."
But first they traveled to the county seat.
The attorney, Edwin Clarke, studied Abigail's documents for nearly two hours.
Finally he removed his spectacles.
"This deed is valid."
Jeb exhaled.
Charlene gripped his arm.
Clarke continued.
"More importantly, the water rights were transferred to Abigail Russell and her heirs independent of any mortgage."
"So Nathaniel can't take them."
"No."
Clarke frowned.
"But there's another issue."
Charlene's relief faded.
"What?"
"The original filing should exist in county records."
"And?"
"It doesn't."
Jeb leaned forward.
"What are you saying?"
"Someone removed it."
Silence.
Charlene thought of Nathaniel.
Clarke raised a hand.
"We cannot accuse anyone without proof."
"Who had access?" Charlene asked.
"County clerks. Attorneys. Bank representatives under certain circumstances."
"Nathaniel's bank?"
"Possibly."
The attorney examined Abigail's copy.
"Fortunately, this bears the original recorder's seal. It's evidence."
"But Nathaniel will challenge it."
"Almost certainly."
"When?"
"The foreclosure hearing."
Jeb's jaw tightened.
Charlene asked, "Can we stop the foreclosure?"
"If you pay."
"We can't."
"Then we prove the water rights reduce the collateral value substantially enough to renegotiate."
Jeb looked frustrated.
"So we're still fighting."
Clarke smiled faintly.
"Mr. Russell, most worthwhile property matters involve fighting."
Charlene leaned over the map.
"Suppose we generate the payment."
"Within three weeks?"
"Suppose."
"Then the bank has no claim."
Charlene looked at Jeb.
He knew that expression now.
"No."
She blinked.
"I didn't say anything."
"You got the look."
"What look?"
"The one right before you decide the impossible is just inconvenient."
Clarke laughed.
Charlene smiled.
"Three weeks, Mr. Russell."
They returned to Wolverine Ridge with a plan bordering on madness.
Charlene would fulfill every pending clothing order.
Jeb would sell part of his stored fur inventory.
Caleb suggested selling two young horses.
Jeb rejected it.
Caleb insisted.
"They're mine."
"You're twelve."
"They came from Daisy."
"Still no."
Charlene listened until both males became ridiculous.
Finally she said, "Lease them."
Both turned.
"Lease?" Jeb asked.
"Ranchers need pack horses for spring work. Caleb keeps ownership. We earn money."
Caleb smiled.
Jeb muttered something about being surrounded by schemers.
Everyone worked.
The cabin became a hive of needles, hide, leather, thread, ledgers, and exhaustion.
Then something unexpected happened.
Help arrived.
Bethany sent fabric from Bitter Creek.
No note.
Just fabric.
Mrs. Bell sent buttons.
Reverend Dawson sent two sacks of flour so they would not have to spend cash on food.
A miner paid double for his coat.
Then returned the next day with orders from six others.
Charlene stared at the growing pile of coins.
"Why?"
Jeb knew.
"You helped people."
"So?"
"So maybe some remembered."
Not everyone did.
Someone cut the fence around their leased horses.
Two escaped.
Caleb tracked them for half a day.
Then their shipment of finished garments vanished from Higgins Mercantile before buyers collected it.
Mr. Higgins swore he knew nothing.
Jeb's suspicion pointed in one direction.
Nathaniel.
Charlene refused to accuse without proof.
Then Samuel found it.
A scrap of cloth caught on a nail behind Nathaniel's warehouse.
It matched one of Charlene's missing cloaks.
Jeb wanted to break down the door.
Charlene stopped him.
"You'll go to jail."
"Then I'll be warm while doing it."
"We need proof."
They went to Sheriff Colton.
He reluctantly searched the warehouse.
The garments were there.
Nathaniel claimed ignorance.
One of his employees confessed that the banker had ordered him to store them after "finding them abandoned."
No arrest followed.
Nathaniel had too much influence.
But Bitter Creek heard.
This time gossip worked in Charlene's favor.
Orders doubled.
Nathaniel became furious.
Then tragedy struck his own house.
Bethany went into labor early.
Charlene was working in the mercantile storeroom when a boy burst through the door.
"Mrs. Russell!"
She turned.
"It's Mrs. Reed. Something's wrong."
Charlene's blood went cold.
Doctor Hale was present this time.
But the birth had become dangerous.
The baby was turned incorrectly.
Bethany had been laboring sixteen hours.
Charlene had no medical training.
Yet she went.
Not for Nathaniel.
For Bethany.
The Reed house was chaos.
Nathaniel paced the hallway.
His face had lost all color.
When he saw Charlene, pride and desperation fought across his features.
"What are you doing here?"
"Someone sent for me."
"I didn't."
A scream came from upstairs.
Nathaniel flinched.
Charlene looked at him.
"Do you want me to leave?"
Another scream.
He lowered his eyes.
"No."
Upstairs, Bethany was exhausted and terrified.
"Charlene."
She reached for her.
Charlene took her hand.
"I'm here."
"I can't do it."
"Yes, you can."
"What if he dies?"
"He?"
Bethany cried through a weak smile.
"Doctor says it's a boy."
Charlene swallowed.
Nathaniel's heir.
The child Charlene had supposedly failed to give him.
Yet in that room, none of it mattered.
There was only a frightened young woman trying to bring her baby safely into the world.
Charlene wiped Bethany's forehead.
"Listen to Doctor Hale."
Hours passed.
Finally a baby's cry filled the room.
Bethany sobbed.
Charlene did too.
Doctor Hale wrapped the infant and placed him against his mother's chest.
"He is small," the doctor said, "but strong."
Nathaniel entered slowly.
His composure shattered at the sight of his son.
He knelt beside Bethany.
Then his eyes moved to Charlene.
For one moment, shame crossed his face.
Charlene left quietly.
Jeb waited outside.
He had arrived with the children.
"You all right?"
Charlene nodded.
"Boy."
Jeb studied her carefully.
"That hurt?"
She considered lying.
Instead she said, "A little."
He reached for her.
Charlene leaned into him.
Nathaniel appeared at the door.
"Charlene."
Jeb stiffened.
Charlene turned.
Nathaniel descended the steps.
"I..."
He stopped.
The banker who always possessed the right words suddenly had none.
"Thank you."
Charlene nodded.
"Bethany was brave."
Nathaniel looked toward his home.
Then at Charlene.
"I was wrong about you."
The sentence came quietly.
She had imagined hearing it for three years.
In her imagination, it always brought triumph.
Instead it brought sadness.
"You were cruel to me."
Nathaniel looked down.
"Yes."
"You made my inability to conceive into a public crime."
"I know."
"No. You know now."
She glanced toward Jeb and the five children.
"Back then, you knew only that you wanted someone to blame."
Nathaniel swallowed.
"I'm sorry."
Charlene believed he meant it.
That did not erase what happened.
"Thank you for saying it."
She started toward the wagon.
Nathaniel called again.
"The loan."
Jeb stopped.
Nathaniel looked at him.
"Come to the bank tomorrow."
"Why?"
"I'll restore the original payment terms."
Jeb's eyes narrowed.
"Out of guilt?"
Nathaniel's face tightened.
"Take the offer."
Charlene stepped between them emotionally if not physically.
"No."
Both men looked at her.
Nathaniel stared.
"Excuse me?"
"We'll pay what we legally owe under the original note."
"That's what I'm offering."
"But you'll also file Abigail's water deed."
Nathaniel became still.
Charlene knew.
"You knew about it."
His silence answered.
Jeb moved toward him.
Charlene caught his sleeve.
Nathaniel looked ashamed.
"I found reference to it after buying the note."
"Did you remove the county copy?"
"No."
"Do you know who did?"
He hesitated.
"Nathaniel."
"My former attorney."
Jeb's voice became dangerous.
"Name."
"Silas Mercer."
Charlene knew Mercer.
He handled land speculation for several mining companies.
Nathaniel continued.
"He told me the deed could complicate acquisition of the meadow. I told him to investigate."
"And he removed it."
"I didn't order that."
"But when you learned?"
Nathaniel looked away.
"You stayed quiet."
"Yes."
Jeb lunged.
Charlene and Caleb both grabbed him.
"Pa!"
Nathaniel did not retreat.
Perhaps he believed he deserved the blow.
Charlene stood between them.
"We do this legally."
Jeb's breathing was heavy.
Charlene looked at Nathaniel.
"You will testify?"
His face changed.
"Against Mercer?"
"Under oath."
"That could destroy the bank."
"You nearly destroyed our home."
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Then he looked toward the upstairs window where Bethany rested with their newborn son.
When he opened his eyes again, something had changed.
"Yes."
The foreclosure hearing took place five days later.
The courthouse was packed.
Nathaniel testified.
So did the county clerk.
So did Silas Mercer's former assistant.
The truth emerged.
Mercer had removed Abigail's deed because a mining consortium wanted Wolverine Ridge's water access.
Nathaniel had not ordered the removal.
But he had discovered enough afterward to know the bank's claim was questionable.
He continued anyway.
The judge restored the deed.
Voided the accelerated payment.
Ordered an investigation into Mercer.
And gave Jeb sixty additional days to satisfy the original note.
Outside the courthouse, Bitter Creek waited.
Charlene stepped into sunlight.
For years, she had walked those streets with her head down.
Not today.
Jeb came beside her.
Caleb carried Tommy on his shoulders.
Ruth held Charlene's hand.
Samuel and Henry raced toward the wagon.
Nathaniel remained on the courthouse steps.
Their eyes met.
Charlene nodded once.
He returned it.
The chapter of her life defined by him finally closed.
Jeb bent toward her.
"You realize we're still poor."
Charlene smiled.
"I married you knowing that."
"I may have undersold myself."
"You proposed in muddy boots while holding a screaming toddler."
"Worked, didn't it?"
She laughed.
Then Jeb kissed her.
Right there in front of Bitter Creek.
It was not a dramatic kiss.
It was gentle.
Almost hesitant.
His first true invitation rather than assumption.
Charlene kissed him back.
Somewhere behind them, Mrs. Higgins gasped.
Jeb murmured, "Think we offended her?"
"I sincerely hope so."