Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Bishop
“You gonna tell me the reason you brought me all the way out here?” Levi looks at me from the porch of Fool’s Gold Homestead. The sweeping view of the barn and the mine in the distance, the steep slope of the mountain beyond the pond, and my family’s ranch stretches out across the horizon.
It’s been forever since I’ve stood here, but every memory on this plot of land feels like it’s imprinted on me.
The good and the bad. There’d been so much good, but that night so many years ago stains the good memories, and I’m desperate to finally scrub it out.
I don’t get nervous. You can’t in the line of work I used to do, but as I stand here, ready to confess to my part in this, I feel the slight shiver that runs down my back.
I’ve gotten a glimpse at what having the Stocktons back in my life would mean. How much more my life could be.
Now I’ve got to take the risk of losing it all in the hopes of finally burying the past where it belongs.
“I think I know where your relic is.”
Levi’s head swivels, and he looks at me over the rim of his glasses before he tilts his head.
“Yeah?” he asks, a look of curiosity brewing on his face. “Where?”
“Down in the valley. On my family’s ranch.” I gesture to the swath of land beyond us, grimacing when I see the way the wildfires have carved a path straight through it.
“And why do you think that?” Levi gives me a skeptical look.
“Because I buried it there.”
He turns to me then, his brow furrowed and a serious look marring his otherwise serene state.
“You’re gonna have to take me through that step by step.”
“As long as you let me finish telling you before you say anything.”
“All right.” I can tell by the uncharacteristic tone in his voice that I’m not the only one feeling anxious about this conversation now.
“That winter when your sister was home from school, your dad and your uncle got into a fight one night. They were arguing at the ranch house, and then your uncle took off on horseback through the snow. Your dad nearly crashed into me in the stables on his way to chase after him. He yelled at me to saddle up and go with him. I don’t know why he wanted me with him—maybe to watch the horses.
I followed him out though. All the way up here through the snow and the cold.
“When we got here, Creighton was already inside the homestead. He was rifling through the things stored inside. Looking for something. Kip went storming in after him. They were arguing again while I tied the horses up, and before I could even finish, there was a loud shout. Creighton came busting out of the door with what looked like a massive knife in his hand. I can’t forget the way it gleamed in the moonlight.
Between the bright moon and the bounce of light off the snow, it practically glowed. Minus the blood dripping down it.
“Kip came stumbling out, holding his arm, and yelled at me to go after Creighton and get the sword back. Creighton was already jumping on the back of his horse and taking off like a bat out of hell. I could barely believe my fucking eyes. I still question, every time I think about it… whether I really saw what I saw that night or if it was all a nightmare.” I take a deep breath, looking at Levi to make sure he’s still listening.
His gaze is riveted, and his shoulders are squared as he waits for me to continue.
“Seeing Kip bleeding like that, the sword bloody.
I assumed Creighton had tried to kill him.
So I did what Kip asked. I chased him down.
Downhill through the snow. There were huge banks of it where the snow had created massive drift walls, and he was trying to dodge them.
But he kept looking back at me, watching me gain on him, and he took his eye off the path too long.
He jerked the reins in a panicked moment, and the horse lost its footing.
He threw Creighton, and both of them came crashing down into the snow.
“I held my breath the whole rest of the ride down. Praying that neither of them had gotten seriously hurt. Hoping that the snow had broken the worst of the fall, but…” I shake my head and close my eyes.
I can still see the blood seeping out onto the snow that night, spreading like a warm red river and melting into the surface.
The stark splash of it across the fresh white powder from the night before.
“Creighton had hit his head on a large boulder that was jutting out from one of the drifts. Cracked his skull open. When I got down on my knees to see what I could do to help, I saw his eyes were wide open. Pupils blown. Jaw slack. Not even a wisp of breath came from his mouth…
“The sword was lying there in the snow with him, and miraculously, the horse was fine. More than a little unnerved but otherwise fine. Your dad made it down to me a few minutes later. His arm was wrapped, and he was riding one-handed. I warned him off. Told him he didn’t want to see, but he wouldn’t listen.
I’ll never forget the way he sobbed when he saw his brother.
I’d never seen Kip so much as drop a tear, and this was just heart-wrenching.
“After a few minutes, he pulled himself together though. It was like a switch flipped, and he realized that we had bigger problems. He had me take the sword. Told me to find a place to hide it, and to go straight home after. Not to come back through this way. He was gonna ride for help for Creighton after I got a head start. But he swore me to secrecy. He told me I was never there. I never went out to the homestead with him. Never saw Creighton. That instead, I went out for a nighttime ride, saw the two horses were gone, and assumed they’d done the same.
“It wasn’t implausible. We’d all done it.
Even in the winter. Your dad, especially when he was restless over something.
But I hated lying. I argued with him that we could just get help and tell the truth.
We could explain that Creighton was the one who stabbed him.
That it was all just a freak accident and a misunderstanding.
“He was furious with me. He told me to never mention it. Said it was life or death for all of us, and I needed to never speak a word about the sword or being there that night to anyone. I worried about his wound, and he brushed me off. Told me it was just a flesh wound, and I’d better keep my mouth shut.
“I was fucking shell-shocked. Your dad never talked like that. He never even raised his voice around me, let alone with threats like those. I figured if he was this undone by it, it must be serious. I didn’t know what else to do but listen to him.
So I took the sword and my horse, and I took off.
I knew a place I’d hidden things as a kid when I was trying to get away from my dad.
Money from my grandmother and mom, and other stuff I knew he’d steal if he had the chance.
I buried the sword there. Under the snow and dirt.
It took me a while to get it buried and then put back to rights.
I remember scraping snow and dirt for what felt like forever, cursing the fact that I didn’t even have a proper shovel and, instead, was using a makeshift set of fence repair tools I had in my bag.
“Once I got it covered as well as I could manage, I rode back. Put the horse back in its stall and got into the bunkhouse shower. When I was changed, that’s when all hell was breaking loose.
Your dad had called in the accident to the authorities.
He told you all that they’d just been out for a late-night ride and the horse had gotten spooked and thrown him.
There was plenty of blood in the snow, and the scene was a mess, but it was dark, and they didn’t take many pictures or do much documentation.
They believed him. They had no reason not to, I guess.
It wasn’t like Creighton or your dad had bad blood between them otherwise.
They’d just been celebrating the holidays together, happy as ever.
” I turn to look back at Levi, still lost in my memories, and see his hand over his mouth before he runs it through his hair, letting out a long, low breath as he considers my story.
“Holy fuck” is all he manages to say when he finally speaks. “Did he ever say why they were fighting? Give you any sort of insight?”
“Not much. He said the sword was an heirloom. It belonged to your grandfather. That Creighton wanted to sell it, and Kip didn’t. That’s what they were arguing over that night.”
“Fuck. He never mentioned any of this to Grant or me.”
“I don’t suppose he would. Given the threats he made, it seemed pretty clear he didn’t want any of you finding out. I think he was worried I’d tell you or Aspen someday. I wanted to. I might have if I’d stuck around.”
“And that’s why you left.” Levi puts the puzzle pieces together.
I nod.
“I couldn’t live with it. The lie was eating away at me.
Not telling you the truth. Not telling Aspen.
I was so fucking in love with your sister that I couldn’t see straight for wanting her.
And that winter… I thought we had something real.
I thought there was a real chance for us since she and Ethan seemed like they were done.
I was hoping she would choose me. It wasn’t going to be the life she had planned, but I would have done my best to make her happy.