line. Let’s see if we’ll swallow the hook on this, too.”
Spring wondered what Matt had shared with Jarvis that led him to believe this land buy would be an easy sell. Everyone acknowledged the benefits the railroads offered, but the companies were wholly hated. The trains killed livestock, the coal ash fouled streams, and more than a few landowners had been forced into foreclosure by the railroads’ shady practices of selling bonds that weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. She didn’t see this going well for Jarvis if he couldn’t prove this was an offer to be trusted.
Randolph Nelson asked, “So what are you selling, Mr. Jarvis?”
“Bonds in exchange for the land. The more profit the railroad makes, the higher the return on your bonds. You can cash them in once that profit is on the ledgers. I have brochures here that further explain the details.”
Spring shook her head in response. Back when the railroad first began laying tracks, people were willing to offer up their farmland and everything else they owned for a shot at the promised profits. Now, after numerous scandals tied to fraud, government waste, and outright theft, people were now less gullible.
Nelson stood and said, “Thank you, Mr. Jarvis. Not interested.” He started to the door. A few others followed. Spring watched Jarvis’s eyes widen in shock and fright.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“Home,” Nelson replied.
“But I’m offering you the opportunity to reap a grand profit.”
“Fleecing is for sheep and that’s what this is going to be.”
Jarvis said angrily, “What I’m offering is better than what you’ll get if I sue you for the theft of Ketchum land. Once I’m done, you’ll have nothing.”
Nelson turned back. “What did you say?”
“Matt Ketchum is retaining my services to have the sale of his family acreage declared illegal and the land returned to him.”
By then, every eye in the place was trained on Matt, who said defiantly, “My pa’s land was stolen—”
“Wait one damn minute!” Arnold Cale interrupted angrily. “I conducted that sale. It was legal in every way. I did my best to get word to you when the land reverted to the bank, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“You obviously didn’t look hard enough.”
“I didn’t look under rocks if that’s your meaning.”
Nelson added, “I paid for that land fair and square, as did everyone else that day. If you’re willing to believe Ketchum over the banker who conducted the sale, you truly are ignorant.”
“And you’ll be eating crow when he wins.”
Randolph laughed. “Bring your suit and I’ll tie you up in court so long my grandsons will be representing my estate before it’s over.”
Although the matter was a serious one, Spring thought this was better entertainment than the traveling stage shows that came through town every now and again. She glanced at Odell. He whispered, “They should’ve sold tickets.”
She agreed.
As the squabbling continued, Nelson told Jarvis, “If I were you, I’d go back to New York. There’s been nothing but trouble since you and this piece of offal—” and he glared directly at Matt “—came to town. First, McCray gets backshot, and then the mill burns down. Coincidence? Maybe. Either way, you need to leave.”
Jarvis snapped, “Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m telling you to go sell your snake oil somewhere else. We’ll build our own mill without your help.” And with that, he exited.
Cale said, “Your meeting’s over, Jarvis. Get the hell out of my bank.”
“I’ll see you in court.”
“I can’t wait.”
Jarvis glanced around at all the angry faces and apparently realized he had no support. Grim, he and Swan packed up the easel and map along with the stack of brochures, and he and his party left.
Arnold Cale was still fuming when Spring, Odell, and everyone who’d remained exited. Outside, Jarvis and his group could be seen walking swiftly back to Dovie’s. Randolph Nelson, watching the retreat angrily, asked Odell and Spring, “Do you believe this?”
“I do,” Odell said. “But only because Spring told me Jarvis approached her about selling her land.”
“He did?” Randolph asked, sounding surprised. “When was this?”
Spring told him about the visit.
Randolph replied, “So he tried pressuring you first. Did he think you’d quake because you’re a woman?”
“I got that impression.”
“Then he doesn’t know you, does he?”
“No.” He wasn’t the first man to think her gender was synonymous with weakness.
Nelson asked, “Matt doesn’t actually believe that land was stolen from him, does he?”
Spring shrugged.
By then some of the others who’d been at the meeting drifted over and gave their opinions on