He stood staring after them, his chest heaving. He closed his eyes and let out a long, shuddering breath. He had chosen strategy. He had chosen not to give Pike the excuse of a shooting war. But Clara could see the cost of it.
The restraint was eating him alive. That night, the reality of their siege settled into the house. Clara prepared for bed with a ritual that broke Eli's heart to watch. She checked the heavy bolt on the front door twice. She checked the shutters on the windows.
When she climbed into bed, she slid a small, sharp paring knife under her pillow. She did it casually, as if she were tucking away a handkerchief. Eli sat on the edge of the bed, watching her. "You should not have to sleep with a knife. " "I sleep better with it," Clara said simply. She lay back, her dark hair fanning out on the white pillowcase.
"It is not because I do not trust you, Eli. It is because I know the world. " Eli did not try to talk her out of it. He did not tell her it was foolish. He simply nodded, blew out the lamp, and lay down beside her. He reached for her hand in the dark, interlacing their fingers.
He squeezed tight, and she squeezed back. It was an acknowledgement of their shared reality. They were the only two people in the world they could trust. The days that followed were consumed by a new mission. If they could not fight Pike with guns, they would fight him with paper.
They turned the kitchen table into a war room. Clara unlocked her trunk and brought out the bundle of letters. She showed Eli the ledger pages she had managed to keep, the ones Sarah had stolen. Here, Clara pointed to a column of figures. This matches the dates when Pike was moving herds across the border.
And here, this name, Judge Halloway. He was the one who dismissed the charges against Pike's men in Tucson. It is a pattern, Eli said, tracing the lines with a callous finger. He buys the law before he breaks it. We need a witness, Clara said.
The letters are hearsay without someone to swear to them. But if we can get this to the circuit judge in Cheyenne, Judge Atherton is known to be hard, but honest, we might get an injunction. Cheyenne is 4 days ride, Eli said. And we cannot leave the ranch undefended. We cannot stay here and wait to be burned out.
Clara countered. They decided to go to the town sheriff first to test the waters. Perhaps Eli hoped. Sheriff Miller was merely incompetent, not corrupt. If they could file an official report about the fence cutting, it would be on the record for the circuit judge.
It was a mistake. Eli rode into town to file the report, leaving Clara at the ranch to guard the house. He returned 3 hours later. his face gray. "Miller would not take the report," Eli said, throwing his hat on the table. "He said without proof of who cut the wire, "It is just wear and tear. " And then Eli paused, looking sick.
Then I saw him in the back office drinking whiskey from a bottle with a distinct blue label. The same whiskey Pike imports for his private stock. "He is bought," Clara said. She did not look surprised. We have no law here.