Chapter 13 - Return to Arroyo Seco
Arroyo Seco looked unchanged.
White earth.
Red cuts.
Heat haze.
The rock where Caden first took cover still carried a fresh bullet scar.
He stared.
Mara noticed.
“You remember?”
“Everything.”
“Good.”
“You say that like pain is useful.”
“Sometimes.”
Silas rode ahead with Bell.
Mae had stayed with Dasoda for safety.
The four approaching the survey station were Caden, Mara, Silas and Bell.
Bell pointed north.
“Old structure beyond that ridge.”
“How many guards?”
“Usually two.”
“Usually?”
“Gault may have changed it.”
“Your information improves constantly.”
Bell accepted the insult.
They dismounted behind rocks.
Mara climbed higher.
Returned minutes later.
“Three men.”
“Recognize them?”
“Mercer. Pike. One other.”
Two of the original four.
Caden checked his revolver.
Still three rounds.
Mara noticed.
“You never reload?”
“I lost my cartridge pouch.”
“When?”
“Being shot.”
“Poor planning.”
“Thank you.”
Bell handed him six cartridges.
Caden stared.
“You had ammunition this whole time?”
“Yes.”
“I might hit you again.”
“After.”
They approached from north while Bell created a diversion south.
A gunshot echoed.
Mercer and the third guard moved toward it.
Pike remained.
Silas whispered, “I know him.”
“Good?”
“No.”
They circled.
Mara tossed a stone.
Pike turned.
Caden rushed him.
They crashed into the wall.
Pike reached for his pistol.
Silas kicked it away.
Mara held a knife to his throat.
“Do not.”
Pike froze.
They tied him.
Inside the station stood shelves of rolled maps.
Survey notebooks.
Wooden boxes.
Silas opened one.
Original field notes.
Caden saw erased lines.
Altered distances.
Different inks.
Mara found a tin case.
Inside lay a brass seal.
Federal eagle.
Broken left feather.
She stared.
“This.”
Caden took it.
Small.
Heavy.
Enough to steal thousands of acres.
Outside, shots erupted.
Bell shouted.
“Move!”
Mercer appeared in the doorway.
Rifle raised.
Silas stepped between him and Mara.
“Don’t.”
Mercer laughed.
“Still playing both sides, Roark?”
“Not anymore.”
“Gault made you rich.”
“No.”
Silas’s voice was calm.
“He made me afraid of losing what I thought was mine.”
Mercer aimed.
Caden fired first.
His bullet hit the rifle stock.
The weapon spun from Mercer’s hands.
Mara tackled him.
Silas bound him beside Pike.
The third guard fled.
Bell entered.
“Gault knows.”
“How?”
“Signal mirror from the west ridge.”
Caden looked south.
Dust.
Many riders.
“Take everything,” Bell said.
They loaded maps and notebooks onto two pack horses found behind the station.
Mara kept the seal.
Caden carried the forged envelope.
They had nearly finished when Horace Gault appeared on the ridge.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
Six armed men behind him.
Cutter and Vale among them.
Gault rode lower.
“Caden.”
Caden stepped into view.
“Horace.”
“I knew you as a boy.”
“I remember.”
“You broke my window once.”
“Should’ve broken more.”
Gault smiled.
His eyes moved to Silas.
“Disappointing.”
Silas said nothing.
Then to Bell.
“Predictable.”
Bell laughed bitterly.
Gault finally looked at Mara.
“The complication.”
Mara’s expression did not change.
Caden hated the word.
“She has a name.”
Gault ignored him.
“Give me the seal and records.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what happens if those titles collapse.”
“Your railroad money disappears.”
“That is the beginning.”
Gault gestured toward the horizon.
“Ranches fail. Banks call loans. Families lose land they bought in good faith.”
Caden knew some of that was true.
Fraud spread consequences beyond the guilty.
“That doesn’t make forged claims real.”
“No.”
Gault’s tone changed.
“But it makes truth expensive.”
Silas spoke.
“That was always your argument.”
“And yours.”
Silas flinched.
Gault looked at Caden.
“You think your brother is different from me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Caden remembered Caleb’s letter.
“Because he is here.”
Gault laughed.
“Sentiment.”
“No. Choice.”
Gault’s smile disappeared.
He reached into his coat.
Caden raised his revolver.
Mara raised the rifle.
Bell drew.
Everyone froze.
Gault slowly removed a folded contract.
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
He held it up.
“Give me the records. I divide it among the three Roark heirs.”
Caden stared.
“You know about Mae.”
“Of course.”
Silas looked shocked.
Gault smiled.
“I know every weakness in Caleb Roark’s bloodline.”
Caden said, “Then you missed one.”
“What?”
“We are tired of you deciding what we are worth.”
Gault’s hand dropped.
Cutter fired from the ridge.
The bullet struck the stone near Mara.
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Gunfire erupted.
And the negotiation ended.
