I opened the front door before Walter reached the porch.<\/p>\n
He stopped at the bottom step.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Vance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked older up close than he had from the window. Late sixties, perhaps. Weathered face. Navy work jacket. The careful posture of a man who had spent the drive rehearsing something difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Walter Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes moved past me.<\/p>\n
Bernard stood in the kitchen doorway.<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill protecting everybody from information, Bernie?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard folded his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill appearing twenty years too late?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn looked between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m guessing introductions aren\u2019t necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me,\u201d I said, \u201cthey are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter removed his cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to be your husband\u2019s business partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence sounded absurd.<\/p>\n
Harold had worked for himself at different points in his life, but he had never mentioned a partner named Walter Hale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat business?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter reached into his jacket.<\/p>\n
Bernard immediately said, \u201cSlowly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter gave him an irritated look and removed a photograph.<\/p>\n
He handed it to me.<\/p>\n
Harold stood beside a younger Walter in front of a weather-beaten wooden sign.<\/p>\n
VANCE-HART DEVELOPMENT COMPANY.<\/p>\n
Behind them was the creek property.<\/p>\n
I recognized the line of sycamores. The rise beside the farmhouse. Even the crooked bend of the stream.<\/p>\n
The picture had been taken long before I met Harold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was Vance-Hart?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA development partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked toward the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat land.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at Bernard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the company existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not the same as telling me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter gave a humorless smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Bernard\u2019s specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard ignored him.<\/p>\n
I set the photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did Harold never mention you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter rubbed one hand over the brim of his cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we stopped being partners before you met him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat still doesn\u2019t answer me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He seemed to decide something.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold bought me out in 2006.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
His answer was quiet enough to end the question.<\/p>\n
Evelyn pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cSit down, Mr. Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did.<\/p>\n
I remained standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came here now for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked toward the northeast corner though it could not be seen from the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cCardinal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know about them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know about Harold\u2019s old surveys.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked down at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I explain that, there\u2019s something you need to understand about why we bought the land.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2004, Harold and I were looking at small industrial sites. Nothing grand. Storage yards, equipment access, places near future road improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat property isn\u2019t near anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then it was cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded more believable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy keep it after your company dissolved?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at Bernard.<\/p>\n
Bernard\u2019s face said he wanted the conversation handled differently.<\/p>\n
Walter went ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we found old records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMining records.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s coal under the property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the way you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled another photograph from the folder.<\/p>\n
It showed disturbed earth near the creek, surrounded by brush.<\/p>\n
At the center was a dark opening reinforced with old timber.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn abandoned mine entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no mine entrance there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCollapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I studied the photograph.<\/p>\n
The entrance stood precisely where Cardinal\u2019s surveyors had spent hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cNortheast corner?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter nodded.<\/p>\n
The room became quieter.<\/p>\n
Evelyn leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere the mineral rights severed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter produced copies of old county pages.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords from the original private operation weren\u2019t transferred cleanly when the surrounding properties were divided. Harold became convinced some rights remained attached to Parcel 44-118.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Bernard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cParts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep having parts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is unfortunately how complicated property histories work.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned back to Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Harold owned coal rights, why didn\u2019t he mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the coal wasn\u2019t what interested him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter took his time answering.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething in the older documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed a brittle-looking copy on the table.<\/p>\n
The handwritten language was difficult to read.<\/p>\n
Evelyn took it first.<\/p>\n
Her eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
She traced a line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWater access and underground storage rights reserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStorage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter nodded.<\/p>\n
I looked at Evelyn.<\/p>\n
\u201cStorage of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDepends on the geology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter answered more directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural gas.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
The pipeline.<\/p>\n
Compression expansion.<\/p>\n
The creek crossing.<\/p>\n
The tie-in.<\/p>\n
A company eager to secure permanent rights to ten acres containing an old underground structure.<\/p>\n
I looked at Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cCardinal knows about this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Harold and I discussed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo months before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody had told me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s gaze dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaid his time was short.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phrase cut deeper than I expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make sure somebody besides Bernard knew enough to find the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t what he told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold told people what they needed to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nearly laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat much I\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter reached into an inside pocket and removed a brass key.<\/p>\n
The number 17 had been stamped into its head.<\/p>\n
He placed it on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that open?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cA storage locker at the old Elk River rail depot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold rented a locker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOld surveys. Agreements. Geological reports. Records from Vance-Hart.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Bernard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about the locker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
For once, his answer came fast enough to satisfy me.<\/p>\n
Walter continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold never trusted keeping important records in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated before taking out another photograph.<\/p>\n
This one made my breath catch.<\/p>\n
Harold was standing beside Todd.<\/p>\n
Todd looked much younger. Twenty-five, maybe thirty.<\/p>\n
Between them, on the hood of a pickup, lay several documents.<\/p>\n
On the back, Harold had written a sentence.<\/p>\n
Todd doesn\u2019t know I kept copies.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does this mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter rubbed his jaw.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the problem with Cardinal started before Cardinal ever contacted Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago, Todd found papers connected to the land.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of papers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOld route studies. Mineral records. The first geological references.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do with them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe copied them.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold caught him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Todd want old surveys?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d I held up a hand. \u201cHe gets to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cTodd had debts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough that he started looking for anything Harold owned that somebody might buy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boat.<\/p>\n
The brokerage account.<\/p>\n
His immediate offer to find a buyer for my land.<\/p>\n
Suddenly those things no longer looked like separate details.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did he sell the information to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried several people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCardinal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
The air seemed to leave the room.<\/p>\n
I thought about Todd standing in my kitchen only hours earlier.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get attached.<\/p>\n
He had known.<\/p>\n
Maybe not how much.<\/p>\n
Maybe not everything.<\/p>\n
But he had known enough to watch the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Harold know Todd contacted them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Bernard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew this too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Harold suspected information had left his possession.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard met my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me Todd might be responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he stop him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did what he could.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe removed Todd from access to several accounts. Changed files. Collected documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not confront him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had confronted each other plenty.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pushed back from the table.<\/p>\n
My chair legs scraped the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Harold spends his last year knowing his son is leaking information to a company interested in his land, and everybody decides the safest person not to tell is his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one thought of it that way,\u201d Bernard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise you I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked onto the porch.<\/p>\n
Cold air hit my face.<\/p>\n
The creek property was miles away, but in my mind I could see it as clearly as the yard in front of me.<\/p>\n
The old field.<\/p>\n
The bend.<\/p>\n
Harold slowing whenever we drove past the northeast corner.<\/p>\n
Once I had asked what he was looking at.<\/p>\n
\u201cWater,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s water everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled. \u201cNot where somebody needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time I rolled my eyes.<\/p>\n
Now I gripped the porch railing until my fingers hurt.<\/p>\n
Bernard came outside.<\/p>\n
He stayed several feet away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor which part?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
He accepted that.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Harold trust me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why keep making decisions around me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard took a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It\u2019s a flaw.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
He continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold spent his life fixing things before other people noticed they were broken. Machines. Contracts. roofs. His children\u2019s mistakes. Mine, occasionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost snapped at him.<\/p>\n
Then I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtecting me became another thing he thought he could fix.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
Not because it changed anything.<\/p>\n
Because Bernard finally stopped explaining Harold and simply let my anger be correct.<\/p>\n
After a while, I asked, \u201cHow much could underground storage rights be worth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter said Harold calculated something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard looked toward the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should hear it from Walter and Evelyn together.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf either of you says keep reading, I\u2019m leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back inside, Evelyn had spread the old records across the table.<\/p>\n
Walter looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
I sat opposite him.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me the number.\u201d<\/p>\n
He glanced at Evelyn.<\/p>\n
She shook her head slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me Harold\u2019s number,\u201d I corrected. \u201cNot your opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold believed the parcel could eventually support value between thirty and forty million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kitchen went absolutely still.<\/p>\n
I felt as if I had misunderstood the words.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillion?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThirty to forty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Evelyn.<\/p>\n
She spoke immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn estimate is not an appraisal. Geological suitability, regulatory approval, engineering access, ownership rights, environmental limitations, development timing\u2014any one of those could change the result dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the possibility is real.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about Melissa\u2019s laugh.<\/p>\n
Todd\u2019s twenty-thousand-dollar buyer.<\/p>\n
The movers carrying the obvious things from Harold\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
Thirty to forty million dollars.<\/p>\n
The number should have made me feel rich.<\/p>\n
Instead it frightened me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Cardinal know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know enough to want access.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo they know about the storage rights?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they know exactly what Harold had documented.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were their surveyors studying the old mine area?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at the photograph of Todd.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause somebody gave them an old survey.\u201d<\/p>\n
I followed his gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cTodd.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter nodded.<\/p>\n
The betrayal felt worse when no one dramatized it.<\/p>\n
My husband\u2019s son had not merely mocked an inheritance.<\/p>\n
He had helped outsiders discover why it mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn closed the county file.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, nobody signs anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat part I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond, I notify Cardinal that all communications go through counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThird, we confirm the chain of title and subsurface rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords. Surveys. Geological testing if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter pushed the brass key toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Locker 17.\u201d<\/p>\n
I picked it up.<\/p>\n
The metal felt cold and heavier than it looked.<\/p>\n
Bernard said, \u201cDoreen, there is another decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we keep digging, you may learn things about Harold and Todd you would rather not know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph of them beside the truck.<\/p>\n
Harold\u2019s handwriting crossed the back.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t know I kept copies.<\/p>\n
Harold had left me land.<\/p>\n
Then letters.<\/p>\n
Then warnings.<\/p>\n
Now a key.<\/p>\n
Whatever he had been building toward was not merely a negotiation.<\/p>\n
It was an accounting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if I walk away?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Walter answered first.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could probably sell the parcel for more money than you\u2019ve ever had and never learn the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard added, \u201cThat is a legitimate choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn looked toward the documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we find out what you actually own.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my hand around the key.<\/p>\n
For fourteen years, I had kept peace by yielding small things. Seats at dinners. Family photographs. Holidays. Names. I had told myself none of it mattered because Harold and I knew what our marriage was.<\/p>\n
Then he died.<\/p>\n
His children took the things they could identify.<\/p>\n
A corporation came for the thing they could not.<\/p>\n
And everybody seemed to expect the widow to be grateful for whatever remained.<\/p>\n
I looked at Bernard.<\/p>\n
Then Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Then Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo more partial explanations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo more protecting me by keeping me uninformed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded again.<\/p>\n
I placed the key beside Harold\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go to Locker 17.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
Not relief.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
That was when I knew the thirty-eight-million-dollar possibility was not the secret that worried him most.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cWhat haven\u2019t you told me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked toward the darkening windows.<\/p>\n
Then at the northeast corner marked on the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tunnel collapsed before Harold and I could examine the entire formation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went back later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears after our partnership ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he find something?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n
When he finally spoke, his voice had dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found enough to make sure nobody could understand that land from the public records alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause once Todd started stealing information, Harold stopped trying to prove what the property was worth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter pushed the old photograph closer to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started trying to prove who could be trusted with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the front door before Walter reached the porch. He stopped at the bottom step. \u201cMrs. Vance?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d He looked older up close than he had from the window. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3282,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3266\/revisions\/3282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}