Elara opened another part of the coat lining and removed a small brass key.
“Cassian caught me copying the letter. He locked me in the west rooms and told everyone I was suffering from nervous confusion.”
Gideon understood now.
A wealthy husband could describe his wife as unstable, and society would accept his word before listening to hers.
“Why didn’t he destroy the records?” Gideon asked.
“He did not know exactly where they were hidden. The letter mentioned a map, but his father had given the map to a seamstress named Hester Vale.”
Gideon recognized the name.
“Hester lives near Willow Crossing.”
“She served Cassian’s mother for thirty years. She placed the map inside my coat when she helped me escape.”
“Why trust you?”
“Because her two sons disappeared after challenging one of Cassian’s false debts.”
Gideon looked again at the cloth map.
One name had been stitched along its lower edge.
Anna Hale.
The letters were small and almost hidden beneath a line representing the river.
“Who is Anna Hale?”
Elara’s expression changed.
“I hoped you could tell me.”
Gideon’s breathing slowed.
June Marsh had sometimes used the name Anna when traveling. It had belonged to their grandmother, and June once joked that she would use it if she ever needed to disappear.
“Where did you hear that name?” he asked.
“In Briarwood’s private ledger. Anna Hale received food, medicine, and clothing for six years. Everything was delivered to a property called Cypress House.”
“Where is it?”
“I never found out. The page listing its location had been removed.”
Gideon folded the map.
“Then we begin with the chapel.”
They could not leave immediately.
Bram Cutter’s men remained in the forest throughout the day. Gideon saw smoke from a small camp beyond the northern ridge. By evening, a fourth rider had joined them.
The sheriff would arrive next.
Gideon waited until darkness, led Solomon from the stable, and tied blankets across the mule’s back.
“We cannot take the road,” he told Elara. “They will expect that.”
She wore one of Gideon’s heavy coats over her dress.
“What other path is there?”
“A creek bed running west.”
“In this weather?”
“It will be miserable.”
“That still makes it better than Briarwood.”
They left through the rear of the cabin and descended into the frozen creek.
For three hours, they moved through water, snow, and thick forest. Gideon avoided every settlement until they reached a small inn near Willow Crossing shortly before dawn.
The inn was owned by Amos and Ruth Reed, an older couple who had known Gideon since childhood.
Ruth opened the door, saw Elara, and immediately brought them inside.
“You look like death took one glance and decided you were too troublesome,” she told Gideon.
“Good morning to you too.”
Amos barred the door behind them.
“Cutter’s men passed here yesterday,” he said. “They offered fifty dollars for information.”
Ruth set bread and coffee on the table.
“And I offered to introduce them to my skillet.”
Elara almost smiled.
Gideon placed the cloth map before Amos.
“We need to reach the old chapel.”
Amos studied the markings.
“That building has been abandoned for twenty years.”
“Which makes it a useful place to hide records.”
Ruth touched one of the black knots.
“This is not only a map.”
Elara looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“My mother used stitching like this during the war with Mexico. Knots could represent letters or numbers.”
Ruth turned the cloth.
The black knots formed a sequence.
Three, one, seven, four.
“A combination,” Gideon said.
“For a lock,” Elara added.
Amos stood.
“The chapel doors were removed years ago. But there is an iron gate beneath the altar.”
Gideon folded the map.
“We leave after sunrise.”
Ruth blocked his path.
“You will do no such thing. Cutter has riders on every road.”
“Then we wait until they leave?”
“They will not leave.”
Elara looked toward the window.
“We need a distraction.”
Ruth smiled.
“I have been waiting thirty years for someone to say that.”
At noon, Amos drove his wagon south along the main road. Several empty trunks were tied beneath a canvas cover. Ruth sat beside him wearing Elara’s green coat and a wide hat that concealed her face.
Cutter’s riders followed immediately.
Meanwhile, Gideon and Elara crossed the frozen fields on foot.
The abandoned chapel stood behind a cemetery overgrown with vines. Half the roof had collapsed, and the bell tower leaned toward the east. Snow had drifted through the missing doors.
They entered cautiously.
The altar was cracked, but still standing.
Elara found a carved rose along its base and pressed it. A stone panel shifted, revealing narrow steps descending into darkness.
Gideon lit his lantern.
At the bottom stood an iron gate with four turning wheels.
He entered the numbers from Ruth’s interpretation.