Daylight makes its way through mostly cloudy skies, which generously dispense a healthy drizzle on and off. It is still cold, though it will warm up, but not by much. It's May in northeastern Montana. Phin climbed into the rented buggy, pulled the buffalo robe over his slicker, and snapped the reins. The pair of horses that would pull the buggy through the mud leaped forward in the harnesses, and they were off for the twenty-mile trip north.

Gunther had said of the pair that they were trotters. And that was exactly how they started. A nice gait, even at a trot, they would eat up the distance. Where Gunther came across this pair was a mystery. A draft horse would be far too large to pull the buggy, but a pair of smaller horses would do just fine.

All Phin hoped was that the temperature wouldn't drop and the drizzle would turn to snow. But such were the risks of spring travel in Montana.

An uninvited visit to request an interview for the local paper may well turn out to be a round trip to the office with absolutely nothing to show for it except being tossed off the front porch! Then again, as vain as Leah claims her father is, he may welcome him with open arms to brag on himself, and that possibility was worth the trip, weather and all.

The ride north, whcih people were calling 'the drive north, or almost in any direction, was still frigid to cold, but he was tucked in to his buffalo robe and gauntlets as he drove along thinking of the questions besides the obvious ones that he wanted to ask, not that he expected all of them to get answered, but he hoped enough to present a proper picture of the man no one really knew much about.

Owning the second largest ranch in their part of the state meant everyone knew the name and there were a good many who also knew the man as a business opponent as well. Some would never deal with him again, and some others couldn't if they wanted to, as they were dead or ruined outright. But his questioning would be about his feelings regarding the hospital, and most importantly, about his only daughter, Leah, and her success.

There was a secret that he held close, which she had confided to him. That would never be broached to anyone.It was not something he wanted to know, but did. Talking land and cattle was certainly one thing with a man like Elias, letting on you might know more than you should about anything, Steelgrave, might not be healthy. And there were a whole lot of things to know about, too many things one shouldn't. But there was the coming of the railroad as well.

How was Elias Steelgrave going to insert himself into the coming railroad, or was he already involved? Questions, lots of questions.

Damn few answers as he needed the trail leading into the Evergreen Ranch. He knew very little about Elias Steelgrave, the man, mostly hearsay, and he knew how that could be relied upon. The one thing he tried not to do was rely on gossip and rumors for news. And if there is a man who is chock full of rumors and gossip material, it would be, what were they calling him? Oh yes, King Steelgrave. 

Well, maybe he had those aspirations, but what he wanted to get was Steelgrave's take on several issues facing Kalispell, and no matter how well-to-do he was or how much land he controlled, the issues would affect him, one way or another.

He made the return onto Evergreen Road, as most called it, and drove through the trees until he came out to where the house stood in the distance. That was when the riders came upon him.

"Whot's yer bidness, Mister?" The man he knew to be Cal Corbet growled. There were three of them, Corbet, Ned Logan, and Jack Davis, all hard men.

"Come to see Mister Steelgrave about an interview for the Kalispell Union. 

"Got no gun, an' I know 'im alright, Mister Steelgrave'll kill 'im if he needs it." As Davis completed the circle of the buggy, they all three laughed then.

"Follow on then Mister Newspaperman!" Corbet ordered, "Tryin' anythin'd be bad fer yer health!" The problem with that was they'd kill him outright and say he tried something. His response was to snap the reins. Corbet on the right, Davis in the lead, and Logan bringing up the rear.