My stock will die. Then sell, Eli. Sell me the ranch. I will give you a fair price. You can take your little bride and go somewhere easier.
California, perhaps somewhere people do not know about her history. There was a silence, a long vibrating silence. "What did you say? " Eli asked, his voice deadly quiet. "Come now," Silas laughed softly. "I have friends in New York.
A woman alone, no family, fleeing the city. Rumors follow trains. " "Eli, they say she came from the gutter. They say she is a public woman. A man like you, a deacon of the church. It does not look good.
If the bank were to foreclose, the moral character of the borrower might be taken into account. Get out. Eli snarled. Silas made a tisking sound. Emotional as always.
Think about it, Eli. The water rights or the ranch? Or I start asking louder questions about what kind of house Mrs. Mercer lived in before she came here. Maggie heard the sound of boots, the door opening, and then Silas's buggy rattling away.
She slid down the wall, burying her face in her knees. He knew he didn't just suspect. He knew how to twist the knife. She was the weakness. She was the weapon Silas would use to destroy Eli.
That evening, the sky turned a bruised purple over the western hills. The wind had died down, leaving a silence that felt heavy with unsaid words. Eli had been working on the fence since Silas left, driving staples into cedar posts with a violence that frightened the horses. He had not spoken to her. He had not looked at her.
Maggie walked out to the barn. She found him not working, but standing near the back doors, staring out at the darkening land. The gap in the boards framed a slice of the prairie, miles of gray sage, the distant specks of cattle, and the overwhelming crushing vastness of the sky. He looked small against it. His shoulders were slumped, the tension finally bleeding out of him to leave only exhaustion.
Maggie stepped up beside him. She did not touch him. She simply stood there looking out at the same emptiness. "It is beautiful," she said softly. and terrible. Eli let out a long breath.
Silus wants the water. Maggie, he wants to bleed us dry. And he is using you to do it. I hurt, she said. Eli turned to look at her, his face stricken.
You heard? I listened at the window. I am sorry. He ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. I should have protected you better.