Chapter 15 - Silas Runs
Silas had not been kidnapped.
He had left.
Dr. Mercer found a note beneath his pillow.
I know where Vane is taking the medallion. Do not follow.
Jonah tore it in half.
Naelli watched.
“That seemed unnecessary.”
“He says not to follow.”
“So?”
“We’re following.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Elias joined them.
Jonah shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“You stay.”
“Why?”
“Because if Silas dies, you’re the only surviving Reed who knows the old mineral structure.”
“You know now.”
“I know what you told me.”
Elias flinched.
Fair.
Jonah continued.
“And because Hartwell may try to arrest you again.”
Naelli’s father agreed.
Elias hated it.
Good.
Jonah and Naelli followed Silas’s trail north.
Naelli’s wound had improved enough for controlled riding, but Jonah still watched her constantly.
She noticed.
“If you look at my side once more, I will charge you money.”
“You don’t use money.”
“I will begin.”
“Fine.”
They rode three hours.
Silas’s tracks joined another horse.
Then two more.
Naelli dismounted near a creek.
“Struggle.”
Boot marks cut through snow.
Blood.
Silas had been caught.
Jonah examined tracks.
“Three riders heading north.”
“Toward old Weller mine.”
Jonah looked at her.
“You know it?”
“My father showed me.”
Jacob Weller had surveyed Cedar Pass before becoming county surveyor.
His abandoned test mine sat near the ridge.
Why would Vane take the medallion there?
Naelli answered.
“The survey marks.”
Of course.
The two medallions formed a map locating original boundary markers.
If Vane destroyed the physical markers, he could argue the map was unverifiable.
They moved faster.
At the mine, they found two horses tied outside.
One belonged to Silas.
Jonah checked rifle.
Naelli touched his arm.
“Wait.”
This time he did.
She pointed toward snow.
Only two sets of tracks entered.
Silas.
One captor.
Other horses moved onward.
“Vane split men.”
“Yes.”
They approached quietly.
Inside the tunnel, voices.
Silas.
Duncan Shaw.
Jonah recognized the second.
Shaw said, “Tell me which marker.”
Silas laughed weakly.
“You have the medallion.”
“Half.”
“The other half?”
“With people you can’t reach.”
A blow.
Jonah’s jaw tightened.
Naelli whispered, “Not yet.”
He hated waiting.
Another voice?
No.
Only Shaw.
Naelli moved along the wall.
Jonah circled opposite.
They entered.
Shaw stood over Silas with pistol.
Silas’s shoulder wound had reopened.
Jonah aimed.
“Drop it.”
Shaw spun.
Naelli already covered him from the other side.
Shaw froze.
“You two again.”
Silas looked at Jonah.
“I said don’t follow.”
Jonah replied, “You raised me badly.”
Despite pain, Silas laughed.
Shaw lowered pistol.
Naelli took it.
Jonah freed Silas.
“Where’s medallion?”
Shaw smiled.
“Vane has it.”
Jonah swore.
“Where?”
“Cedar Ridge.”
Silas stood shakily.
“He’s searching boundary stones.”
Naelli asked, “Why take you?”
Silas answered.
“Because I know which stone carries Jacob’s seal.”
Jonah frowned.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You never mentioned that.”
Silas looked at him.
“Family habit.”
Jonah almost punched him.
Naelli intervened.
“Later.”
They tied Shaw.
Then Silas explained.
The original western boundary marker contained a metal survey plate stamped by Jacob Reed and territorial surveyor Henry Cole.
The medallions’ engraved coordinates led to it.
“If Vane removes the plate,” Silas said, “the covenant still exists, but he can argue the boundary cannot be located.”
Jonah looked toward the mountains.
“How long ahead?”
“Three hours.”
They rode.
Silas should not have.
He insisted.
Jonah considered ordering him back.
Then stopped.
Silas was an adult.
Another lesson.
Near Cedar Ridge, snow deepened.
They found Vane’s camp at dusk.
Five men.
Vane.
A surveyor.
Two guards.
One laborer.
And Martin Vale.
Jonah watched from above.
The Reed medallion lay on a map.
Vane compared markings.
Naelli whispered, “We cannot fight five.”
“We don’t need to.”
Jonah pointed downhill.
A freight road crossed near the camp.
Two wagons approached.
Witnesses.
Naelli understood.
Again.
Visibility.
They waited until wagons came close.
Then Jonah rode openly down the slope.
Vane saw him.
His expression became pure hatred.
“You.”
“Evening.”
The wagon drivers slowed.
Naelli and Silas appeared behind Jonah.
Vane’s men reached for guns.
Jonah raised his voice.
“Plenty of witnesses.”
The drivers looked nervous but curious.
Vane forced calm.
“This is private land.”
“No.”
Silas said, “Mine, actually.”
Vane turned.
Silas smiled.
“Forgot that part?”
The ridge parcel belonged to Blackstone.
Vane had no right to excavate without Silas.
That mattered legally.
Vane’s attorney was absent.
Good.
Jonah said, “Give back the medallion.”
Vane stared at Silas.
“You think joining them saves you?”
“No.”
Silas sounded tired.
“I think I finally understand you were always going to take more.”
Vane laughed.
“That is business.”
“No.”
Silas looked at Jonah.
“That is what I used to call it.”
Vane’s face hardened.
He grabbed the silver medallion.
Then threw it into the open mine shaft.
Jonah lunged.
Too late.
The silver flashed once.
Gone.
Vane smiled.
“Find your boundary now.”
Naelli looked at the shaft.
Then at Jonah.
Silas unexpectedly laughed.
Vane frowned.
“What?”
Silas pointed toward the surveyor.
“You already marked it.”
Everyone looked.
Bright wooden stakes crossed the ridge.
Vane’s hired surveyor had identified the original marker using the medallion.
Jonah smiled.
“And now five witnesses saw you use it.”
Vane’s face changed.
For once, greed had documented itself.
Then Martin Vale drew his gun.
Not at Jonah.
At Vane.
“You said Finch wasn’t supposed to die.”
Vane froze.
Vale continued.
“You said we scare him.”
Vane whispered, “Put that down.”
“No.”
Vale looked at Jonah.
“Shaw stabbed Finch.”
Shaw was tied miles behind them.
“But Vane ordered us to get the papers whatever it took.”
The wagon drivers heard every word.
Vane realized.
Too many witnesses.
Too much evidence.
He turned toward his horse.
Silas stepped in front.
“Going somewhere?”
Vane struck him.
Silas fell.
Jonah moved.
He tackled Vane into snow.
For several seconds they fought brutally but without weapons.
Jonah pinned him.
Vane laughed through blood.
“You think this ends because you found one stone?”
Jonah held him.
“What else?”
Vane smiled.
“The railroad arrives next year.”
Jonah froze.
“What railroad?”
Vane’s smile widened.
“You’ve been fighting over a spring.”
He looked toward Cedar Valley.
“I’ve been buying the route.”
The mining deal was only part of it.
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If the railroad crossed Cedar Pass, the land itself would become worth a fortune.
And Jonah suddenly understood why Vane had been willing to kill for documents older than the town.
