Chapter 6 - THE MOUNTAIN CAME DOWN
“CALEB!”
Cora ran.
The sound above them became thunder.
Caleb looked up.
His face emptied.
Seth hung in his arms.
Too heavy.
Too injured.
Wyatt forced himself upright behind Cora.
“Rock wall!”
Caleb saw it.
A narrow stone cut twenty yards away.
He tried to move.
Fell.
Cora reached them.
“Give me Seth!”
“No!”
“Caleb!”
“I can carry him!”
She grabbed his face.
“You already did enough.”
Something in her tone reached him.
He released his brother.
Cora lifted Seth.
Pain shot through her back.
She ran.
Caleb beside her.
Snow hit the camp.
Men screamed.
Horses broke loose.
The first white wave struck the far sheds and erased them.
Wyatt staggered behind Cora.
Sheriff Dalton dragged one wounded deputy.
Jonas came from the ridge.
“Move!”
Cora reached the stone cut.
Caleb shoved her from behind.
“Go!”
They fell into the narrow space just as the avalanche roared over Devil’s Pass.
Darkness.
Noise beyond comprehension.
Seth screaming against her chest.
Cora curled around him.
Something struck her shoulder.
Then silence.
Not real silence.
Buried silence.
She opened her eyes.
Dark.
“Caleb?”
“Here.”
“Wyatt?”
Nothing.
Her heart stopped.
“Wyatt?”
A groan.
“I’m here.”
She began crying.
“Sheriff?”
“Alive.”
“Jonas?”
“Unfortunately.”
Even in darkness, Cora laughed.
Jonas coughed.
“Always comforting.”
The stone cut had protected them.
Mostly.
Snow blocked both entrances.
They were trapped.
Wyatt crawled toward Cora.
“How’s Seth?”
She touched the boy’s face.
“Awake.”
“Cold,” Seth whispered.
Wyatt removed his coat and wrapped it around him.
Cora objected.
“You’ll freeze.”
“I’m bigger.”
“That is not how cold works.”
“It helps.”
Caleb crawled close.
“Can we dig?”
“Yes,” Wyatt said.
They began with hands.
Then a broken board.
Then Jonas found a shovel beneath debris.
Air grew stale.
Cora’s fingers numbed.
Seth stopped talking.
She slapped his cheek gently.
“Stay awake.”
“Tired.”
“I don’t care.”
“Mean.”
“Yes.”
“Burnt bread.”
“Keep insulting me.”
Caleb laughed weakly.
Wyatt dug faster.
Then they heard something outside.
Voices.
Men.
Sheriff Dalton shouted.
“We’re here!”
Digging answered.
For twenty minutes both sides worked.
Then daylight appeared.
Cora almost cried at the sight of gray sky.
They emerged one by one.
The camp had vanished.
Three of Benton’s men survived.
Two were dead.
Benton Rusk was gone.
Sheriff Dalton stared at the wreckage.
“He was beside the embankment.”
Wyatt looked around.
“No body?”
“No.”
Cora’s stomach tightened.
Of course not.
Men like Benton Rusk survived consequences by disappearing before they arrived.
Seth needed a doctor.
They made a sled.
It took six hours to reach the Thornton house.
Dr. Finch reopened the wound, cleaned it, stitched it again, and cursed everyone involved.
“Another adventure and I’m charging double.”
Seth whispered, “Cora has money.”
Cora stared.
“No, I do not.”
“You married Pa.”
Wyatt looked offended.
“So apparently I’m money now.”
Dr. Finch snorted.
“Always were.”
Seth survived again.
This time, Caleb did not leave the bedside.
Cora found him asleep with his head near Seth’s arm.
She covered him with a blanket.
Wyatt stood behind her.
“You kissed me.”
She froze.
“I was hoping head injury erased that.”
“No.”
“Unfortunate.”
“You regret it?”
Cora turned.
His face was serious.
Too serious.
She looked toward the boys.
“We should not talk here.”
“Then outside.”
The porch was cold.
Stars covered the valley.
Cora folded her arms.
“I married you because I was desperate.”
“I know.”
“That matters.”
“Yes.”
“You offered safety.”
“Yes.”
She laughed once.
“We have been shot at, abducted, exploded, and buried in snow.”
Wyatt considered.
“I oversold the safety.”
She smiled despite herself.
Then grew serious.
“I don’t know when this stopped feeling like an arrangement.”
His eyes held hers.
“I do.”
“When?”
“When you made Seth eat porridge after he insulted your bread.”
She stared.
“That early?”
“You looked like you might kill him.”
“That attracted you?”
“Apparently I have problems.”
She laughed softly.
Wyatt stepped closer.
“Cora.”
Her breath changed.
“I don’t want gratitude.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want a wife because my boys need one.”
She looked at him.
“Then what do you want?”
“You.”
The answer was simple.
It frightened her more than gunfire.
“Wyatt.”
“I know what we agreed.”
“Do you?”
“I won’t touch you unless you want me to.”
Her eyes dropped to his mouth.
That was inconvenient.
“I kissed you.”
“Yes.”
“I was emotional.”
“Very.”
“You were half dead.”
“Not entirely.”
She looked away.
Wyatt touched one finger beneath her chin.
Barely.
“If it never happens again, I’ll live with that.”
She looked at him.
“But?”
“But I hope it does.”
Cora kissed him again.
Slower this time.
No blood.
No explosion.
No panic.
When they separated, Wyatt rested his forehead against hers.
Inside, a floorboard creaked.
Caleb’s voice came through the door.
“Are you two being strange?”
Cora closed her eyes.
Wyatt sighed.
“Go back to bed.”
“We need water.”
“You were spying.”
“No.”
Seth called faintly from upstairs.
“He was.”
Cora burst out laughing.
Caleb retreated.
Wyatt looked at her.
“My sons are ruined.”
“Your sons are excellent.”
His expression softened.
“Our sons?”
The same words from before.
This time Cora did not flinch.
“Our sons.”
Morning brought worse news.
A rider from town delivered a telegram.
Benton Rusk had reached Denver.
He had filed a complaint accusing Wyatt Thornton of attempted murder, theft of Black Ridge survey documents, and unlawful detention of company employees.
Worse, he claimed Cora had conspired with Wyatt to fabricate the surviving school ledger after marrying him for financial gain.
The county judge ordered Wyatt to appear in five days.
Until then, the disputed north pasture and creek were placed under temporary injunction.
No cattle.
No logging.
No removal of minerals.
Cora read the order twice.
“He’s turning everything around.”
Wyatt’s expression hardened.
“He thinks money makes the first story believable.”
Cora looked at the paper.
“No.”
A slow anger settled inside her.
“He thinks people will believe a rich man before they believe a poor teacher.”
Wyatt watched her.
“What are you thinking?”
She folded the telegram.
“I’m thinking I spent five years teaching children that facts have structure.”
“And?”
May you like
She looked toward her old schoolbooks.
“It’s time Benton Rusk sat for an examination.”
