My heart began to pound. Something had happened. When we reached the hotel I tried to run inside to make sure Aidan and Lily were safe, but I was met with a wall of people streaming out through the front door.

“What’s going on?” I shouted to a young lad whose face was flushed with excitement.

“Heard it was a fight,” he answered as he ran.

“Most likely an accident,” exclaimed a dour-looking woman in an old-fashioned bonnet.

“Or a killin’,” shouted the grizzled man beside her.

The crowd was moving so fast now I feared it would turn into a stampede. Mayflower, Nora and I clutched hands as we were carried along by the throng. Ranchers, preachers, dance hall girls, roughnecks and drunks swept past like a raging river. I spotted the town schoolmistress holding on to her bonnet, and the newspaper editor behind her. It seemed as if the whole of Shotgun City was on the move.

My breath came in short spurts and sweat ran down the back of my neck. A sharp pain radiated across my chest and I thought my heart might explode. I felt Nora’s hand slip out of my grip. I tried to turn around to find her, but the pressure of the crowd made it impossible. I shouted her name, but my voice was lost in the uproar.

When we reached the end of Main Street, released from its confines, the crowd began to fan out. I was finally able to catch my breath. We were near an oil field—Aidan’s oil field. I could see the outline of the derrick poking up toward the sky. As the crowd slowed, I pushed my way through them. I had to see what was going on. I had to make sure Aidan was safe.

I reached the edge of the field. The crowd, strangely silent now, pressed in behind me. From this distance everything looked normal. The roughnecks still walked the plank and the drill bit rose and fell into well number 88. Still, something seemed out of place. A man holding a bucket was pointing to its contents, gesturing wildly to Hans.

I scanned the field for a sight of Aidan. Please let him be safe, I prayed. Then I saw him, walking hand in hand with Lily around the well, in deep conversation with the site manager. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank God,” I uttered aloud.

The newspaper editor appeared beside me. He squinted toward Aidan and then back at me. “Looks like your boy might have found oil!”

I took in a sharp breath. “What?” I choked.

“May be just a rumor,” he said. “They travel fast in these parts. From what I can see, they’re inspecting the sample right now. That’s surely a sign they’ve found something.”