Tobias sighed.
“She was born here.”
Silence.
“No.”
“She left when she was seventeen.”
Clara’s mind raced.
Her mother rarely spoke about childhood.
Said only that her parents died young.
That she was raised by relatives.
Clara had believed Virginia.
Perhaps relatives were there.
Tobias continued:
“This cabin belonged to her family.”
Clara looked around the underground cellar.
“What?”
“The Whitmore tract.”
Samuel stepped between Tobias and Clara slightly.
“Explain from the beginning.”
Tobias leaned against the stone wall.
His hands remained visible.
“Forty-seven years ago, Jeremiah Whitmore received an original grant covering six hundred and twenty acres.”
Clara whispered:
“My grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“He died when Elizabeth was a child.”
“Your grandmother too.”
“The land was placed under guardianship.”
“The guardian sold portions.”
“Legally?”
Tobias looked away.
“There is disagreement.”
Samuel gave a humorless laugh.
“That means no.”
Tobias continued.
“By the time Elizabeth became an adult, records showed only forty-one acres remained attached to her name.”
Clara stared.
“Exactly what we bought.”
“Yes.”
“But the original grant was never properly extinguished.”
Samuel frowned.
“So?”
“So technically—”
Tobias hesitated.
Clara’s voice became sharp.
“Technically what?”
“The later transfers may all be defective.”
Silence.
Six hundred acres.
The land north of them included valuable timber.
Two farms.
Part of a creek.
And recently, survey crews had been seen west of the ridge.
Samuel knew why.
A wagon road was proposed.
Land value would increase.
Clara looked at Tobias.
“You knew when you sold us the cabin.”
“I knew there was a discrepancy.”
“You sold me my own family’s property?”
“I handled the transfer.”
“That is not an answer.”
Tobias looked ashamed.
“No.”
Samuel’s voice lowered.
“What were you searching for?”
“Original deed.”
“Where?”
“We believe Jeremiah hid documents before he died.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered his guardian partner intended to take the land.”
Clara looked around.
“The root cellar.”
Tobias nodded.
“There were rumors.”
“Hidden compartments.”
“Storage chutes.”
“The cabin was built with several.”
Samuel looked toward the cabbage.
“And you’ve been searching at night.”
“Yes.”
Clara stared.
“Why leave vegetables?”
Tobias’s expression became almost embarrassed.
“I brought provisions.”
“I stayed down here for hours.”
“The first cabbage…”
He paused.
“I set it on the pantry shelf while moving the panel because I needed both hands.”
Clara blinked.
“You accidentally left it.”
“Yes.”
Samuel stared at Tobias.
“All this because you forgot a cabbage.”
Tobias looked miserable.
“Yes.”
Clara began laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because after two nights of fear, a vegetable had exposed a land conspiracy.
Samuel tried not to laugh.
Failed.
Tobias looked offended.
Then Clara’s amusement vanished.
“Who else knows?”
Tobias went quiet.
Samuel raised the rifle slightly.
“Tobias.”
“Alden Voss.”
Samuel’s expression changed.