River access.
Not one man, despite the name.
An investment company backed by eastern money.
They bought ranches from widows.
Debts from banks.
Mineral rights from men too drunk to understand contracts.
Elias opened the paper.
His eyes moved quickly.
Then stopped.
“What is this?”
Halbrook exhaled.
“The original parcel description.”
Elias pointed.
“No.”
“This northern boundary is wrong.”
“That is the description on the first filing.”
“It puts the cabin outside my claim.”
“Yes.”
Martha looked from one man to the other.
“How much?”
Halbrook looked toward her.
“How much land are they claiming?”
“About one hundred eighty acres.”
Elias’s voice went flat.
“The spring.”
Halbrook nodded.
“The spring.”
Martha understood.
The cabin mattered.
The timber mattered.
But water mattered more.
Without the spring, Elias’s cattle could not remain on the upper land.
The company did not want only trees.
They wanted leverage.
Elias folded the paper carefully.
“When?”
“Petition hearing in sixteen days.”
“Where?”
“County office.”
“Who’s hearing it?”
“Judge Warren.”
Elias swore.
Halbrook nodded.
“I had the same reaction.”
Martha asked:
“What is wrong with Judge Warren?”
Elias looked at her.
“His brother owns shares in Caldwell.”
Halbrook coughed.
“Indirectly.”
“Shares are shares.”
Martha frowned.
“That cannot be allowed.”
Halbrook gave a tired smile.
“Welcome to territorial law.”
Elias walked toward the porch.
His near-kiss with Martha seemed to belong to another life already.
She watched him read the document again.
His shoulders had become rigid.
Halbrook lowered his voice.
“They offered settlement.”
Elias looked up.
“What?”
“Seven thousand dollars.”
Martha did not understand whether that was high.
Elias did.
His face said enough.
Halbrook continued.
“They’ll purchase the disputed acreage.”
“Purchase?”
Elias laughed.
“They claim they own it.”
“They call the payment a practical resolution.”
“What do you call it?”
Halbrook hesitated.
“A lot of money.”
Elias walked toward him.
Martha stepped instinctively closer.
Halbrook raised both hands.
“I am not recommending.”
“You rode up here carrying their offer.”
“I rode up here because if somebody else delivered it, you might shoot them.”
“Smart.”
Halbrook exhaled.
Martha looked at Elias.
“Would seven thousand save the rest of the property?”
“Yes.”
Halbrook answered before Elias.
Elias glared.
Martha ignored the look.
“Would he keep the cabin?”
“Yes.”
“And lower pasture?”