As he wrote Horace Kirby’s will, James Spencer understood how unusual and difficult it would be to ensure that his client’s wishes were met. The wealthy life-long bachelor’s only sister had died eight years earlier. Before her husband had died, he’d left her with a daughter who was now almost seventeen years old. The girl couldn’t inherit until she reached eighteen and the precautions that Horace had included would prevent anyone from taking advantage of her until she came of age. He expected to make the two-hundred-mile trip to Lyon soon and after he read Horace’s will, he knew that it would be a difficult year for his client’s niece. The biggest threat would be from her stepfather, who also happened to be the county sheriff.