He told me to change the numbers. Henry stammered. The timber from the federal land. We marked it as private stock. Thousands of logs and the payments to the sheriff.
We listed them as security expenses. The ledger Jonah had pulled from the wall was entered into evidence. It was passed to the jury. They saw the dates. They saw the amounts.
They saw the theft of their own county's resources laid out in black ink. But the final nail was the letter from Etienne. The judge read it aloud. The dead man's voice filled the room. Warning of the silver.
Warning of the murder. Pointing a finger from the grave. Pritchard stood up. His face was purple. This is a lie, he shouted.
This is a conspiracy. Sit down, sir. The judge bellowed. I will not sit down for a court of fools. Pritchard roared.
He looked at the sheriff, his sheriff, but Cable was gone. Suspended and replaced by a federal marshal who stood by the door. Pritchard looked at the exits. He looked at the faces of the town's people. He saw no admiration there anymore.
He saw only the dawning realization that they had been played. He moved fast. He shoved his own lawyer into the bailiff, creating a stumble of bodies. He vaulted the railing of the gallery and bolted for the side door. "Stop him! " the marshall shouted.
Jonah was already moving. He didn't wait for the law. He vaulted the table and ran. Pritchard made it to the street. He had a horse tethered there, a fast roan.
He scrambled into the saddle and kicked the beast into a gallop, tearing through the mud, heading south toward the pass. Jonah ran to the hitching rail where his bay was waiting. He swung up, not bothering to untie the lead rope. "Just slashing it with his knife. He is heading for the gorge," someone shouted.
Jonah kicked the bay. The horse, sensing the urgency, launched forward. The mud flew in heavy clouds. The chase was not a sprint. It was a slog.
The road out of town was a quagmire of slush and runoff. Pritchard was ahead by 200 yd, whipping his horse mercilessly. Jonah rode low, urging his mount with his knees, his eyes locked on the figure ahead. The marshall and two deputies were behind him, but Jonah had the lead. They climbed the road toward the gorge.