A wiry woman stepped in front of Eliza. “Did I hear you were going out to the Meyer ranch?”
“Yes.” Eliza held out her hand. “Miss Eliza Mills.”
The woman studied her and then took the offered hand. “Melissa Friedman.” She pulled something out of her drawstring purse. “I was going to mail this. Would you mind delivering it for me?”
“Not at all.”
“Thank you, Miss Mills. It was a pleasure to meet you.” The woman walked to the counter, and Devin escorted his two companions out to their horses.
Eliza sent him a questioning glance and then looked to Mrs. Hawkins.
Once they were on their way, Deborah brought her horse closer. “That was Mr. Meyer’s sister.”
“Sister?” Devin tugged his hat down a bit lower. “When Eliza told me the story about how the ranch is haunted, no one said anything about a sister. Just the two brothers.”
Deborah sighed and her shoulders slumped. “That’s because she was disowned by their father.”
“Whatever for?” Eliza looked ready to pounce. “She seemed like such a mouse of a woman. Why would any good and decent father do that?”
“It’s a long story.” Deborah lifted her canteen and took a sip. “Ford Meyer came out here decades ago when there was nothin’ but rocks and dirt... oh, and the river. He built himself the ranch and worked it, adding to it for years. His two sons, Jasper and Lucas, were as different as night and day. Jasper loved the ranch. Lucas didn’t. Now Ford and his wife—I’ve forgotten her name—had a hard life out here. They lost nine babies before Jasper survived. They were going through the alphabet naming their children. Lost another baby after Jasper, and then Lucas survived, then Melissa. Since Jasper wanted to run the ranch, they sent Lucas off to school to do whatever it was he wanted to do. He ended up getting a job in Dallas and stayed out there in the big city. Everyone in town thought of him as the black sheep.
“Then there was Melissa.” Deborah paused and licked her lips. “Her family was the wealthiest around, so she couldn’t marry just any old ranch hand. There was a large dowry, I’ve heard as well. But then she had to go and fall in love with Horris Friedman. She begged her parents to allow her to court and marry Horris. But her father said he was nothing but a gold-digger and a bum. The fighting went on for over a year. But her parents wouldn’t budge.
“One day, she rode out to the ranch with Horris and informed her parents that they were legally married. It was clear Horris thought that was his ticket. He was married to the daughter of the wealthiest family in all of Utah. But Ford Meyer wasn’t about to be swindled. He cut them both off. Disowned his own daughter.”
Devin swiped a hand across his jaw. How did people treat their own flesh and blood with such hatred? He glanced at Eliza. She was leaning close to Deborah, her hand on the other woman’s arm, completely engaged with this topsy-turvy tale. He had to admit it had captivated him as well.
“Wow.” Eliza shook her head. “I can’t even imagine.”
“Now, I don’t know all sides of the story, but I know that every time I see Mrs. Friedman, she looks miserable. She had been so in love that she was willing to go against her parents’ wishes, just thinking they would eventually come to love the man too. But he must have put up an awfully good charade for her because her father was correct. He was out for the family’s money. Rumor has it that he doesn’t allow Melissa to spend any money, but he gambles and carouses all over the place.”
Devin puzzled to fit all the pieces together. “So what happened to the family?”
“They just up and disappeared. Vanished into thin air. The senior Mr. Meyer and his wife. Jasper and his wife and all eight of their children. The sheriff and solicitor had to track down Lucas because the will said that he would inherit. Lucas never loved the ranch, but he seemed so devastated once he arrived that he took it over in honor of his family. It hasn’t been easy either.”
“They never found any trace of the family?” Devin couldn’t fathom how all those people could simply disappear.
“Not a one.”
“Louise Adams told me that everyone thinks the ranch is haunted—that’s why the family disappeared, and why bad things seem to happen out there.”
Deborah scratched her nose and weighed her head from side to side. “There are a lot of rumors, but that’s the most popular one.”
“Do you think the rumor about them finding dinosaur bones is real?” Devin had been raring to ask that.
“I think so. I remember Jasper being so excited about it. It was all he talked about for weeks. But not long after, they all disappeared. That was ... 1908, I believe? Then Earl found the bones out where the monument is now, and no one said anything else about the Meyer ranch. But plenty of peoplebelieve the other rumor that Ford came out here with a load of gold. Some of the mishaps out at the ranch have really been just hands that hired on so they could search for hidden treasure.” Deborah rolled her eyes.
“What about Melissa? She seems so ... lost.” Eliza stopped her horse and Deborah and Devin did the same.
“The only way she inherits anything is if her brother sells. Horris has hounded the man for years to sell it since he doesn’t even like ranching. But Lucas refuses. Honestly, Lucas doesn’t look any less miserable than Melissa, but most people believe that he feels he’s paying penance for not being here for his family.” Deborah placed a hand on her hip. “If you ask me, I don’t think Melissa cares much about the ranch or the money. But she regrets marrying that man, I can tell you that much.”
THURSDAY, JULY13, 1916•MEYERRANCH
The morning had passed in the slow and tedious work of surveying every inch of the creek bed. At places, it was only a yard or two wide. Others, it was almost ten yards wide. Those were the places that took a lot more time.
It hadn’t been quite ten years since Jasper Meyer had the excitement of finding fossils. A lot could happen in that timeframe, but Eliza had checked and there hadn’t been any flash floods that would have greatly changed the landscape. Still, they hadn’t found anything yet and it was discouraging.
Devin rode back toward her from the quadrant she’d assigned him to search. He shook his head as he came near. “I double-checked the whole area and don’t see anything.”
