Page 12 of Harnessed in Gold

“Probably. Why?”

“Because we think that might be where Browne’s settlement was. The one he started when he came inland.”

Leo leans back to get a better view of me around Aaron. “Dr. Logan had a Jamestown bride’s journal that confirmed Henry Browne settled here. She wrote a whole entry about meetinga blue-eyed Cherokee man who said he was the son of Henry Browne of the Roanoke Colony. He told her he’d been raised on the settlement started by his father on the banks of the Zillicoah.”

“The French Broad?”

“Yes. This particular section of it.”

Avery comes out of the kitchen carrying a pitcher of what looks like sweet tea. “Aaron and I went down there this weekend.” She sets the tea and a tower of Solo cups on the coffee table. “Heheardsome stuff, but I didn’tseeanything.”

I ask Aaron, “What did you hear?”

“Gunfire.”

“Gunfire?!”

“Yep. Musket fire, to be specific.”

“How do you know it was a musket?”

“Higher pitch. And they were single shots, with a long time in between.”

Leo tells me, “There’s no archeological evidence for a settlement, but that area is where the river would’ve been shallowest and narrowest in Browne’s time.”

Hence putting thefordin Alderford?

Aaron takes a cup off the top of the stack and pours himself some tea. “The gunfire doesn’t prove anything. I’m sure they hunted all over this area. But it’s a start.”

Leo explains, “We’re trying to pinpoint the settlement with the hope that Browne’s Hill is close by.”

“So you want me to go down there and see if I feel anything?” I ask.

“Anything at all,” Rime says. “Signs there was a settlement, a reason for the gunfire?—”

I cut him off, “The weapon?”

Leo drags in a breath and licks his lips. “Possibly.”

Rime’s hopeful eyes flick to me. “So you’ll go?”

I hop off the sofa arm to pour myself some tea, stalling for amoment to think. Memories of the mill-workers’ accident have me hesitating. And shuddering. Am I going to end up collapsing again?

“By myself?” I ask. If I’m gonna go down, I need someone there to catch me.

“Absolutely not,” Leo blurts.

“Absolutely is right,” Rime asserts with a glare and a decisive nod. “She’s going with me.”

Leo freezes, and for a moment no one breathes.

I clear my throat. “Okay, yeah. That’s fine.” I don’t know that it is, but I’ll say anything to ease the tension.

“So, Leo—” Avery tries to hide her amusement. “Did you show Betts the necklace?”

“Necklace?” I ask. “What necklace?”

When Leo shakes his head, Avery frowns at him. “Seriously? Why wouldn’t you show her?”