“You take this back.”
“Can’t.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“I did not agree to this.”
“No.”
“You paid my mortgage?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur Gable was cheating you.”
Nellie went still.
Josiah explained.
After leaving the mercantile, he had gone directly to Clearwater Commercial Bank.
Arthur had initially refused to show the Thornton note.
Josiah had reminded him that Broken Ridge maintained almost every operating account there.
Arthur reconsidered.
The ledger revealed penalties.
Late charges.
Interest adjustments.
Some legitimate.
Some questionable.
One month, Nellie had underpaid by four dollars.
The bank assessed a twenty-five-dollar penalty.
Another payment had arrived two days late because a spring flood blocked the road.
Thirty-dollar fee.
Two charges had no clear contractual basis at all.
“You owed money,” Josiah said.
“I know.”
“But not what he claimed.”
“How much did you pay?”
He told her.
Nellie’s face changed.
“That’s nearly everything left.”
“Not anymore.”
She thrust the receipt back at him.
“I won’t take it.”
“Then pay me.”
She stopped.
“Not today.”
Josiah continued.
“Make the shirts.”
“Those won’t cover this.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Pay me over time.”
“Interest?”
“No.”
“Then that is charity.”
“Fine.”
He sighed.
“One percent.”
“Too low.”
“Two.”
“Still too low.”
“Mrs. Thornton, most borrowers argue the other direction.”
“I’m not most borrowers.”
“I noticed.”
Nellie looked down at the receipt.
“How long?”
“Five years.”
“I’ll do three.”
“You can’t.”
“Watch me.”
He almost smiled.
Then his face became serious again.
“There’s more.”
Nellie waited.
“The railroad.”
She looked toward the distant hills.
“What railroad?”
“The Northern Line.”
Rumors had circulated for a year.
Most people assumed the tracks would bypass Clearwater and follow the lower valley.
Josiah said:
“They’re coming here.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
“When?”
“Survey already started.”
Nellie looked toward the creek.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Steam locomotives need water.”
Her stomach tightened.
Josiah pointed toward the creek.
“This is the most reliable year-round source within miles of the proposed grade.”
Nellie thought of the surveyors.
Then the penalties.
Then Arthur.
“He wants the farm.”
“Yes.”
“To sell it to the railroad?”
“Possibly.”
Josiah’s expression hardened.
“Or lease the water rights.”
Nellie looked at the receipt again.
“He knew?”
“I believe so.”
“How?”
“Arthur sits on the county development committee.”
“That snake.”
“Probably unfair to snakes.”
Nellie almost laughed but couldn’t.
“You said the railroad is coming here.”
“Yes.”
“Who owns it?”
Josiah paused.
“We’ll discuss that later.”