Series: If you stay in this broken wagon, girl, the night frost will claim you and that unborn child before moonrise.

Part 1 My late father’s brother, Uncle Silas Gable, had abandoned eighteen-year-old me on the wind-scoured alkali trail of the Wyoming Territory after my young [more…]

The air in the abandoned blacksmith shed hung heavy with the scent of cooled ash and damp earth. A single lantern, its wick barely trimmed, [more…]

Two nights later, the blacksmith shed was plunged into an even deeper quiet. Leo and I sat by the small, smoldering fire pit, discussing our [more…]

The South Pass City broadsheet office hummed with the quiet industry of the late night. Kerosene lamps cast pools of amber light across stacks of [more…]

The very next morning, Silas Gable was a man of solemn, public duty. He stood in Judge Thaddeus O’Rourke’s small office, clutching a sheaf of [more…]

The territorial land registry office was usually bustling, but tonight it was dark and deserted. A sliver of moonlight filtered through the dusty window, painting [more…]

The November blizzard struck with a vengeance. The wind howled like a banshee, tearing through the mountain pines around Leo’s remote cabin. Snow piled against [more…]

The wind howled outside Silas Gable’s ranch house, rattling the windowpanes. Ephraim Finch lay awake in his cot in the bunkhouse, shivering not from cold, [more…]

Judge Thaddeus O’Rourke’s private residence was not a courtroom, but the tension in the parlor was as thick as any legal proceeding. A fire crackled [more…]

The weight of Jonas Albright’s confession still hung in the air of Judge O’Rourke’s parlor. Silas Gable’s face was a thundercloud, but he remained silent, [more…]