The 12-year-old fighting to be 16 suddenly looked for just a moment like a 12-year-old who was allowed to be relieved. Okay, he said. Clare stood. Wash up for supper, she said. And Jacob, he looked up.
What Robert Emory said, leave it at school. Don't bring it inside these walls. Your brothers and sisters don't need to carry it. He nodded once. She left him to wash up.
Going down the stairs, she ran through what she knew about Richard Whitmore, which was not much, but getting more specific by the day. Bank owner connected interested in the Walkerland for reasons that went beyond a defaulted mortgage note. Willing to use a 13-year-old boy as a vehicle to demoralize a 12-year-old. She did not like this man. She had not yet met him.
She already did not like him. The ledger told a story. Clare sat with Jacob at the kitchen table at 6:00 in the morning before Thomas was back from the barn and before the other children needed getting up and they went through the numbers column by column. Jacob walked her through everything with the precision of someone who had built this system himself and knew every number by memory. Feed costs, livestock values, the note terms with Whitmore's bank, the interest rate, the payment schedule, the penalty clauses.
Clare read the penalty clauses twice. Jacob, she said carefully. This clause here, the acceleration clause. Do you know what that means? Jacob looked where she was pointing.
It means if P misses a payment, the whole balance comes due at once. Yes, Clare said. And this clause here, the inspection clause, it says Whitmore's bank has the right to inspect the property and assess its viability if there's any question about the borrower's ability to service the debt. She looked at Jacob. Do you know what viability means in this context?
Jacob's face was very still. It means if Whitmore decides the ranch can't make its payments, he can call everything in, even if P hasn't missed one without notice. Clare said 30 days maximum. A silence. P signed this.
Jacob said two years ago. Clare said right after your mother passed. People make different decisions when they're grieving. Whitmore's bank offered terms when nobody else would and your father took them because he had five children and a ranch to keep running. Jacob stared at the paper.
So Whitmore doesn't even need P to default. He said he just needs to decide to use the clause. That's what this says. Clare confirmed. Then why hasn't he?
Jacob said, "If he wanted the land, why wait?" Clare looked at the boy. This 12-year-old asking exactly the right question. Because using that clause publicly without cause would look predatory, she said. "Even in a small town, even with a bank, people talk.