Caleb stepped forward.
Let her talk.
Clara breathed hard.
Thomas died ten months ago. His will said that if I had a child of his, the land would pass to the baby.
Caleb began to understand.
What if there was no son?
Clara looked at her father.
“Part of the property could be purchased by Silas through a settlement he had negotiated with Thomas before his death.
Silas hit a column with his fist.
You don’t know what you’re talking about!
But Clara did know.
For months he had kept his father’s accounts.
I had seen letters.
Contracts.
Telegrams.
And three weeks earlier I had found something worse.
A request prepared to declare that the pregnancy had ended months ago.
“I wanted to register the land before my baby was born,” Clara said. If no one knew I was still pregnant, I could say that Thomas died without an heir.
Caleb felt a chill.
That’s why the people thought Clara was in Nebraska.
That’s why they fired the midwife.
That’s why no one could leave the ranch.
