CHAPTER 11: THE SURVEYORS OF DUST
CHAPTER 11: THE SURVEYORS OF DUST
The peace of the valley did not last.
Not because our hearts failed, but because greed has a way of tracking down honest earth.
It started on a Tuesday.
A sleek, black industrial sedan pulled up to the edge of our gravel driveway, its engine idling with a low, menacing purr. Two men in sharp charcoal suits stepped out, carrying digital surveying equipment and a leather-bound legal folder.
They didn't look at the wildflowers. They didn't listen to Maisie’s laughter.
They only looked at the ground beneath our feet like they already owned it.
I walked down the porch steps, my hand instinctively tightening around the cold metal of my phone. Chelsea stood right behind me, her eyes narrowing as the wind whipped her hair across her face.
“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice cutting through the valley breeze.
The lead surveyor didn't smile. He opened the legal folder with clinical precision.
“Evelyn Brooks?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“My name is Vance,” he said, presenting a document stamped with a fresh state court seal.
“We are here on behalf of Apex Mining Group,” he continued.
“A secondary lien was filed against this specific coordinate of the northern valley twenty-four years ago,” he explained.
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“Your father used this land as collateral for a hidden corporate loan before your grandfather passed,” he revealed.
My blood ran completely cold.
