"They already think you're failing. At least this way, you'd be failing honestly."
Thomas spoke up.
"Then what if they don't help? What if we ask and they say no?"
"Then we're no worse off than we are now," Norah said. "But if they say yes, if even one person says yes, we've got more than we had before."
The room went quiet again.
But this time it felt different.
Not hostile.
Not resigned.
Just thoughtful.
Ru, who'd been silent the whole time, spoke up in his small voice.
"I don't want Eli to leave."
Eli looked at his youngest brother.
"I know, buddy. But if it helps, maybe it's okay."
Ru's eyes filled with tears.
"I just don't want anyone else to die."
The words landed like a punch.
Harlon sat back down heavily.
Thomas's jaw clenched.
Even Cade looked away.
Norah reached over and squeezed Ru's small hand.
"No one's dying. We're figuring out how to live. There's a difference."
They talked for another hour.
Not about solutions.
Those would take time.
But about truth.
About fear.
About the fact that staying silent was killing them faster than any drought or disease ever could.
By the time everyone stumbled off to bed, nothing was fixed.
But something had shifted.
The next morning, Harlon did something he hadn't done in two years.
He rode into town.
Not to buy supplies.
Not to avoid his family.
Not to drink away problems at the saloon.
He went to talk to other ranchers.
Norah watched him go from the porch, Ru beside her.
"Think it'll work?" the little boy asked.
"I don't know," Norah admitted. "But at least he's trying."
Three days later, rancher Willis Mercer showed up at the Greer Ranch with two of his sons and lumber for fence repairs.
"Heard you could use a hand," he said gruffly to Harlon.
Harlon looked like he'd been hit.
"I didn't ask for charity."
"Good. I'm not offering any. You help me with my harvest next month, we're even."
It was a small thing.
One neighbor helping another.
But it was the first crack in the wall of isolation that had surrounded the Greer family for years.
That night, after the fence was repaired and Mercer had gone home, Harlon found Norah in the kitchen.
"You were right," he said.
"About what?"
"Asking for help. I should have done it sooner."
Norah didn't say anything.
She just kept washing dishes.
Harlon moved closer.
"The marriage is legal now. Reverend came by yesterday while you were busy with the boys. Papers are filed."
"All right."