They used it to travel toward the nearest town. Their goal was simple. They needed to place the documents somewhere safe before the men could catch them. But the town was controlled by many of the same families whose names appeared in the records. Cole knew they could not simply walk into the courthouse.
They needed someone they could trust. Tomas remembered an old county clerk who had once helped his people preserve historical records. The clerk lived near the edge of town. The group reached his house after midnight. Cole knocked.
An elderly man opened the door. The moment he saw the symbol on the medallion, his expression changed. He immediately invited them inside. The clerk examined the documents and recognized the old seal. He told Cole that if the records were genuine, they could prove that several current land claims were based on false documents.
But before he could explain further, a loud knock came from the front door. Everyone froze. The clerk looked through the window. Several armed men stood outside. The leader stepped forward.
He knew they had the documents, and this time he was not asking politely. The elderly clerk quickly motioned for everyone to move away from the windows. He told Cole that the men outside had been searching for the records for years. If they entered the house, the documents might never be seen again. Cole asked whether there was another way out.
The clerk nodded. Behind a wooden cabinet was a narrow passage leading into an old storage building behind the house. He opened it and told Cole to take the documents while he stayed behind. Cole refused to leave him. The clerk insisted that protecting the records was more important than protecting one person.
Before they could argue, the front door shook under a heavy blow. The group moved through the hidden passage. Cole, Tomas, and Saurin reached the storage building and slipped outside through a rear door. Behind them, the attackers entered the clerk's house. The group hurried toward the courthouse.
Cole realized that hiding the documents was no longer enough. They needed witnesses. At the courthouse, the sheriff was still awake. Cole placed the original documents on his desk. The sheriff examined the old seal and immediately recognized several names connected to the largest ranches in the county.
He asked where Cole had found them. Cole told him everything. The Apache strangers, the hidden tunnel, the old agreement, and his father's signature. The sheriff remained silent for several moments. Then he admitted that his own grandfather's name appeared in the records.
But he also said something unexpected. His grandfather had left behind a letter claiming that the land had been taken through false records. The sheriff had always believed the story was nothing more than an old family rumor. Now the evidence was sitting directly in front of him. The sheriff called several trusted officials to the courthouse.
The documents were copied and placed into separate records. By sunrise, the secret could no longer be destroyed by attacking one person. The evidence existed in several places. The men who had followed Cole arrived at the courthouse shortly afterward. Their leader demanded that the documents be returned.