At the bottom were three signatures: Samuel Langston, Thomas Harrow, and William Cross.
“Thomas Harrow was my grandfather,” Olivia said quietly. “And according to this contract, my family owns one-third of the land you’ve been living on your entire life. We’ve been honoring the agreement to stay hidden, but the contract expires next month. After that, we reclaim our portion of this property.”
Derek stared at the aged paper, his entire world tilting off its axis. “This is impossible. I have the deed to this land. It’s been in my family for decades.”
“You have one deed, Derek. But there are two others, hidden in places your grandfather never told you about. And the families who hold those deeds are coming to collect what’s rightfully theirs.”
Just then, the sound of approaching horses echoed across the valley, growing steadily louder.
Derek looked from the contract to Olivia’s face, searching for any sign of a lie. “You’re telling me someone else has been living in that tunnel, and it wasn’t you.”
“I’ve never been down there in my life,” Olivia said firmly. “I only knew about the tunnel because my grandfather left detailed maps in his papers. But if someone has been using it…” she paused, her confident expression suddenly shifting to one of concern. “Show me what you found.”
Derek led her back down into the darkness, striking a fresh match. Olivia moved quickly, examining the fresh candle wax, the damp cup, and the neatly arranged belongings with a look of growing alarm.
“This changes everything,” she whispered, picking up one of the books from the stack. “These belong to your grandfather, but someone has been caring for them. Reading them. Someone who knows about the agreement.”
“What agreement, exactly?” Derek demanded. “What did our grandfathers do that was so important it had to be hidden underground?”
Olivia’s face grew pale in the flickering matchlight. “They found something on this land in 1852. Something valuable enough that three families agreed to share it secretly, rather than let the territorial government claim it. My grandfather’s papers called it ‘the discovery that would change everything,’ but he never wrote down what it actually was.”
The sound of the horses grew closer, now joined by the distinct creak of wagon wheels and the sound of men’s voices calling out commands. Derek could count at least four different speakers, maybe more.
“Those aren’t my people,” Olivia said, her voice dropping. “I came alone.”
Derek quickly grabbed the metal box containing his grandfather’s documents. “Then who are they?”
“The third family,” Olivia breathed. “It has to be. William Cross signed that contract alongside our grandfathers. If his descendants know about the tunnel, if they’ve been watching this place…”
The footsteps above them multiplied as several people entered the barn at once. A man’s voice boomed through the floorboards, deep and authoritative. “Miss Harrow, we know you’re here. Your horse is tied outside. And Mr. Langston, we know you found the entrance. There’s no point hiding now.”
Derek and Olivia locked eyes. Someone had been watching them both, waiting for this exact moment to unfold.
“We need to see what’s in that tunnel,” the voice continued. “All of it. Not just the living space, but the back chambers your grandfathers sealed off. The contract expires in three weeks, and we intend to collect what our family is owed.”
“Back chambers?” Derek whispered to Olivia. “There are more rooms down here?”
Olivia pointed toward the far end of the tunnel, where Derek’s match light barely penetrated the gloom. “According to my grandfather’s maps, this tunnel extends much further. There should be at least three more chambers, all connected. But they were supposed to be permanently sealed.”
A new sound echoed from above, metal scraping hard against wood, as if someone was prying up more floorboards in a completely different part of the barn.
“They’re opening another entrance,” Olivia breathed, her eyes wide. “They know about access points that we don’t.”
The scraping sounds grew louder, followed by the heavy thud of boots descending wooden steps, but this time from a different direction. Derek realized with a growing sense of dread that his grandfather had built multiple entrances to this underground system, and the Cross family knew about all of them…
