He walked up the porch steps. "They were trying to move the marker," Cora said, her voice finally trembling. "If they move it, they take the water." Josiah nodded. "I know."
"The railroad sent their final surveyor to town yesterday. He files his official report tomorrow morning at the courthouse. Gable needed the marker moved before sunrise." Cora looked at him. "What happens now?"
Josiah looked back toward town. "Now the sun comes up," Josiah said. "And we go see the banker." Morning broke clear and bright. The sky was a hard, pale blue.
The mercantile was already busy. The townspeople were buying their morning coffee and fresh bread. Mrs. Gable and Mrs. Croft were there again, standing near the stove, gossiping about the upcoming winter social. They did not know what had happened in the dark. Down the street, the bank opened its doors.
Arthur Gable sat at his desk, drinking hot tea. He looked nervous. He kept glancing out the front window, waiting for his hired men to return with the news that the marker had been moved. Instead, he saw a heavy wagon rolling down Main Street. Josiah Langden was driving.
Beside him sat Cora Thornton. Behind them, riding two abreast, were six cowboys from the Broken Ridge Ranch. They looked hard, tired, and completely uncompromising. The wagon stopped in front of the bank. The town grew quiet.
People stepped out of the mercantile. The blacksmith stopped hammering. Something was happening, and everybody knew it. Josiah climbed down. He helped Cora step off the wagon.
Then, from the back of the wagon, Nelly stood up. Josiah reached up and gently lifted the little girl to the ground. A murmur rippled through the gathered crowd. Nelly was not wearing the frayed, oversized gray wool. She was wearing a brand-new dress of deep, brilliant red flannel.
The velvet cuffs caught the morning sun. The high collar made her sit perfectly straight. The dress fit her perfectly. She looked warm. She looked proud.
She looked like a little girl who belonged exactly where she stood. Mrs. Gable, standing on the boardwalk outside the store, dropped her purse. She recognized the fabric immediately. Nelly held her mother's hand. She did not look at the ground anymore.
She looked straight ahead. Josiah stood beside them. "Are you ready, Mrs. Thornton?" Josiah asked. "Yes," Cora said. They walked up the steps and pushed open the heavy oak doors of the bank.
Arthur Gable stood up from his desk. His face was the color of old parchment. He looked at the six hardened ranch hands standing just inside his doors. He looked at Cora's steady gaze. Finally, he looked at Josiah Langden.
"Mr. Langden," Gable said. His voice was thin. It squeaked slightly on the second syllable. "What is the meaning of this? You cannot bring armed men into a bank."