Walter Briggs was smaller than Rebecca expected. Late60s perhaps with a bent left shoulder and a gray beard that looked as though scissors had not troubled it recently. You hails woman? Rebecca stopped. No.
Walter narrowed his eyes. You work for him sometimes? Same thing. No, Mr. Briggs.
It isn't. He studied her. Mercer send you? If Mercer had sent me, I doubt I'd be bringing breakfast. That earned the smallest change in his face.
Rebecca waited. Finally, Walter said, “What do you want?” The truth about the ditch. His expression closed. Don't know anything. Then tell me that after you eat.
He looked at the parcel. Rebecca left. On the third morning, Walter let her inside. The cabin smelled of wood smoke and old leather. A cot stood against one wall.
A rifle hung above it untouched. On the table were three unpaid receipts, a tobacco tin, and a letter addressed in a child's uneven handwriting. Rebecca did not ask about any of them. She unpacked breakfast. Walter poured the coffee.
Mercer's got money, he said. Rebecca buttered bread. I know. Friends, too. I expect so.
You don't understand. Then explain it. Walter stared into his cup. My boy Daniels got 80 acres south of the barm. Not much land, enough for sheep and a garden.
He rubbed one hand over the other. Mercer controls the easiest road in. Rebecca listened. He owed me two months wages when I quit. I asked for it.
He told me to forget the money unless I wanted Daniel discovering how difficult ranching gets when your wagon road suddenly closes. Rebecca set down the knife. So you left. I stayed quiet. Those aren't the same.
Walter's eyes lifted sharply. No. Rebecca did not soften it. They aren't. He stood and walked to the window.
For a long time, he watched the trees. Then he said, “The ditch wasn't there in spring.” Rebecca's breathing changed. She kept her hands still. Walter turned. Mercer ordered it in August.
Who dug it? Me. Two barm hands. Couple hired men from outside the valley. Rebecca said nothing.
Walter's face tightened. He told us to work after dark. Said it was temporary. Said the creek had shifted years ago and he was only reclaiming an old course. Did you believe him?