By the time of the third fire, Jennifer Dutton knew that her brother William was lying about having found the 10th coin. She also knew he was lying about renewing his dysfunctional relationship with Justin Medford. While there wasn’t any evidence other than good, old-fashioned common sense, she knew that the two of them had to be behind the fires somehow. They were the only people in town capable of something so fundamentally heartless. If something bore the traces of both arrogance and violence, it was almost certain to be their co-creation, with William bringing the arrogance and Justin bringing the violence. Justin was the only person she knew who would burn down his own parent’s house, and William was the only person she knew who would egg him on to do it. If William had found the 10th coin, or had the barest clue of where it was, Jennifer was certain that not a single flame would have flickered this month, and that the Wilsons, Sanfords, and Medfords would still be whole.

The 10th coin had been created as a release valve, something to be used in extraordinary circumstances only, not just for spite, and certainly not for the pleasure of ruining a perfectly good thing. The Dutton lands supplied enough garnet, quartz, granite, pine, and oak⏤not to mention other natural resources, like clean water and arable land⏤to bless every single branch of the Dutton family with a modest income for generations to come. There was no more reason to disturb the equilibrium of old Wedderburn’s wishes than there was to knock down a bird’s nest in the spring. Jennifer knew all too well that William was a difficult person who enjoyed difficult situations, and that if they didn’t exist, he would create them. While it didn’t make sense to most people why William and Justin were friends, it made perfect sense to her. Just as good recognizes good, and kind recognizes kind, deviant recognizes deviant. William may have been a Dutton, but he might as well have been a Medford. 

When it came to creating chaos, William⏤educated, articulate, smart⏤threw the words, and Justin⏤tawny, brawny, and bold⏤threw the punches. It didn’t always go according to plan, of course. You never really know how someone is going to react until it happens. Harry had no way of knowing it, but Jennifer picked him for a reason. If the 10th coin either was, or someday would be, in William’s hands, she was sure that Harry was the right person to stand up to him. He had done it before, with one of the most extraordinary beat-downs in West Vernal history.

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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