One moment he was standing still, the next he had Thomas by the collar, yanking him half out of the saddle, a gun pressed cold against the man's temple. "Say that again," Silas whispered, his voice like winter. "I dare you." Thomas went pale. The sheriff's hand went to his own gun. "Mr.
Hawthorne, let him go. He insulted my wife. And if you kill him, you'll hang. Is that what you want? to leave her a widow twice over. Silas's hand shook.
For a terrible moment, Mara thought he might pull the trigger anyway. Then Jonah's small hand grabbed Silas's coat. "Pa, don't, please." Silas closed his eyes, took a breath, and slowly, deliberately, he released Thomas, and stepped back. Thomas scrambled to write himself, face flushed with humiliation and rage. "You'll regret that, Hawthorne." I already do," Silas said coldly.
"I regret not pulling the trigger." The sheriff moved his horse between them. "Mr. Avery, I suggest you leave now." Thomas straightened his collar, his eyes burning with hatred. "This isn't finished." "Yeah, it is," Sheriff Cutler said firmly. "You got no case, Avery.
Go home." Thomas stared at Mara one last time. "You're making a mistake." The only mistake I ever made, Mara said quietly, was believing you had a heart. Thomas rode away, the sheriff following with an apologetic nod. The moment they disappeared over the ridge, Mara's legs gave out. Silas caught her, held her while she shook.
"He's not going to stop," she whispered. "He's going to keep coming until then, let him come." Silus's voice was still. "I meant what I said, Mara. No one's taking these kids. Not him, not anyone.
Over my dead body. That's what I'm afraid of, Mara said, tears streaming down her face. Behind them, seven children watched with wide, frightened eyes, and Mara realized that marrying Silas hadn't solved their problems. It had only made them more visible. The fight was just beginning.
That night, Silas didn't sleep. Mara found him just before dawn, sitting on the porch with his rifle across his knees, watching the ridge where Thomas Avery had disappeared. The valley was still dark, the sky just beginning to lighten at the edges, and his breath made small clouds in the cold air. "You've been out here all night," she said softly, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders as she sat beside him. "Someone needs to keep watch.
Silas, he's not coming back tonight. The sheriff made it clear. The sheriff made it clear he has no legal grounds. That doesn't mean he won't try something else." Silus's voice was flat, exhausted. Men like Thomas Avery don't give up when they lose.
They just get meaner. Mara pulled the blanket tighter. What do you think he'll do? I don't know, but whatever it is, we need to be ready. He finally looked at her and she could see the weight in his eyes.
I'm sorry, Mara. I thought marrying you would protect you. Instead, I just painted a bigger target on your back. You didn't do anything wrong. I put a gun to a man's head in front of a sheriff.
That was wrong. He called me a Mara couldn't even finish the sentence. The words still burned. I know what he called you. Silus's jaw tightened.