Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow Read Free Book Online Page A

Act,” the blanks filled in by the same hand than the application. “ ‘We, Peter Everard Heiman’ ”—
    “Hey,” Kate said, “must be Pete Heiman’s dad.”
    “Or his grandfather, more like. ‘We, Peter Everard Heiman and Chester Arthur Wheeler, do solemnly swear that we have known Samuel Leviticus Dementieff for over five years last past; that he is the head of a family…’ ” Dan looked at Kate. “I never heard Old Sam was married.”
    “Me, either,” Kate said.
    “ ‘… that he is the head of a family’—okay, wife and number of children left blank—‘and is a citizen of the United States, and that is an inhabitant of,’ yeah, yeah, we know the numbers, ‘and that no other person resided on the said land entitled to the right of Homestead or Pre-Emption.’ ”
    “I love the idea that anyone could pre-empt the federal government’s ownership of land.”
    “You would. ‘That the said Samuel Leviticus Dementieff entered upon and made settlement on said land March 31, 1938, and has built a house thereon.’ ”
    A description of the house followed. Kate stared at it, trying to reconcile “part log, part frame, two doors, two windows, shingle roof” with the near ruins she remembered from the previous winter, when she and Mutt had apprehended three Kanuyaq River highwaymen at Canyon Hot Springs. “I never knew Canyon Hot Springs belonged to Old Sam. And nobody said, not the aunties, Emaa, Old Sam himself—no one. Why the hell not?”
    Dan kept reading. “ ‘… and has lived in said house and made it his exclusive home from March 30, 1938, to the present day.’ ” He looked up. “No way, Kate, did these guys go all that way, with no road—hell, no trail—through all that brush and muck to check that Old Sam had built his house.”
    But the witnesses had signed the document of proof, with flourishes, as did Frederick Cyril McQueen, Register. “Present day” for the second document was October 3, 1945.
    “When he got home from the war,” Kate said.
    “Which war? World War Two?”
    Kate nodded. “He was in the Aleutians. One of Castner’s Cutthroats.”
    “Wow.” In spite of himself, Dan was impressed. “I bet he could tell some stories.”
    “I bet he could have, but he never did. What’s next?”
    The third document was Old Sam’s certificate and patent, signed the same day as his Proof of Improvements. This, too, was a printed form. “ ‘Now, therefore, let it be known, that on presentation of this Certificate to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the said Samuel Leviticus Dementieff shall be entitled to a Patent for the Tract of Land above described.’ ”
    It was signed, again, by Frederick Cyril McQueen, Register.
    Kate and Dan stood staring down at the three documents until a low “Woof” made them both look up. Mutt was standing in the doorway, head cocked, a quizzical eyebrow raised.
    Kate looked at Dan. “May I have copies of these?”
    Dan hesitated a little before answering, an unreadable expression on his face. “He should have had the originals,” he said at last.
    “I haven’t found them,” Kate said. “At least not yet.” Her brows drew together. “That is odd. You’d think he would have kept them in the file box with his will and the rest of his papers.” She shook her head. “They’re probably tucked into a book on one of his shelves. So, may I have copies for the meantime, until I find them?”
    He hesitated a little longer before he said, “Sure.” As if making up his mind, he scooped the documents back into the file. “Sure you can have copies. But they won’t be official documents, you understand. There could be problems if they were all you had to establish title.”
    She looked at him, a little puzzled. “Let’s hope I find the originals, then. What’s the problem, Dan?”
    He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “May I make a suggestion?”
    “Who’s ever been able to stop you?” she said, even