Sims leaned back in his chair. But if he comes onto your property without an invitation, that's a different matter. And out here, that matter has a fairly direct resolution that doesn't require my involvement. He said it without any particular inflection. Get the trunk moved, not to somewhere clever, somewhere obvious to you, but not to a man who's been in the county for 2 weeks, and get the wire to Philadelphia today if you can.
Gideon got the wire sent from the telegraph office on his way to the general store. He kept it short. Viven had given him the attorney's name and told him what to say. VA safe Croftton County need inventory of documentation and timeline for filing in MT Wireback Care of Ashcraftoft, Harlo Creek. He paid the operator and went to get the supplies.
It was at the general store that he saw Croft. He didn't know it was Croft at first. There was a man at the counter when he came in, medium height, unremarkable in the way that men who work at being unremarkable are unremarkable, dressed in town clothes that were practical without being frontier. He was buying tobacco and talking to the storekeeper, Ben Aldrich, in the easy manner of a man who was simply passing through and had no particular angle. Gideon came in and nodded to Ben and took his list to the far end of the counter.
The man looked at him. Just a glance, ordinary, the way you look at anyone who enters a space you're in. Gideon looked back, just as ordinary, and went to his list. He was aware of the man in his peripheral vision the way he was aware of weather, not focused on it, but tracking it. Then Ben said to the man, "You said you were asking about the Ashcraftoft place.
That's Gideon Ashcraftoft right there. " Gideon kept his face level and turned. The man's expression didn't change. He was good this one. He had a good face, but he adjusted slightly. Re-calibrating.
He put out his hand. Mr. Ashcraftoft, name's Thomas Garrett. I'm passing through from Billings, and I heard you might have a parcel of land on the south side worth knowing about. I represent some interest looking to expand their cattle operation.
It was smooth. It was a smooth lie, told without hesitation, with the right kind of casual confidence. Gideon shook the hand and looked at the man and read what he could. Steady eyes, the particular kind of physical stillness that meant someone in control of themselves. Hands that had work in them, but not the specific calluses of a man who'd been doing ranch work.