Chapter 2 - Five Riders

Elias reached for his rifle.

Nia grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't."

He looked at her.

"Why?"

"They don't know you're involved."

"They're riding toward my house."

"They may leave."

Elias looked through the window again.

The riders had stopped.

Too far away to identify their faces.

Close enough to watch.

"How many?"

Nia counted silently.

"Five."

Elias frowned.

"You can tell from here?"

"I can tell."

She released his sleeve.

"You should let me go."

"You're injured."

"They'll follow me."

"They're already here."

Nia looked toward the northern pasture.

"They aren't here for me."

Elias turned.

"What?"

She hesitated.

Then she whispered:

"They're here for your land."

A cold feeling settled in Elias's stomach.

"Why would armed men want my ranch?"

Nia didn't answer.

Elias stepped closer.

"You've been lying to me since you arrived."

"I didn't know who I could trust."

"You trusted me enough to let me carry you here."

"That was desperation."

"And now?"

Nia looked directly at him.

"Now I think desperation brought me to exactly where I needed to be."

A rifle cracked outside.

The window shattered.

Elias shoved Nia to the floor.

Glass scattered across the wooden boards.

"Stay down!"

Another shot struck the wall.

Elias crawled toward the window.

The riders were moving.

Not attacking.

Positioning.

That was worse.

Nia whispered, "They want us frightened."

Elias stared at her.

"Us?"

She didn't respond.

Then a man shouted from the ridge.

"Carter!"

Elias froze.

The rider raised his voice.

"Send the Apache woman out!"

Elias looked at Nia.

The man continued.

"She stole something that belongs to us!"

Elias shouted back.

"She stole nothing from me!"

The rider laughed.

"You don't know what you've brought into your house."

Elias glanced at Nia.

She looked pale.

The rider continued.

"Give her to us, and your ranch stays untouched."

Elias's jaw tightened.

"Get off my property."

The rider's expression darkened.

"You were warned twenty-five years ago."

Elias froze.

Twenty-five years.

The exact number stopped him cold.

His father had died when Elias was nineteen.

Thomas Carter had spent his final years obsessively protecting the northern pasture.

He had forbidden Elias from digging there.

Elias had never understood why.

Now a stranger had just mentioned the same period.

Nia saw the realization cross his face.

"You understand now," she whispered.

"No."

Elias looked at her.

"But you're going to explain."

She shook her head.

"Not yet."

A bullet struck the porch railing.

Elias raised his rifle.

Then the riders turned and disappeared behind the ridge.

Elias remained motionless.

"Why did they leave?"

Nia looked toward the mountains.

"Because they know you'll find the answer."

Elias lowered his rifle.

"Find what?"

Nia met his eyes.

"Your father left something for you."

Before Elias could respond, he heard footsteps outside.

Someone was approaching the back of the house.

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Nia whispered:

"They didn't leave."