Chapter 4 - The Man Waiting at the Canyon
They left the encampment at dawn.
Jacob rode Ranger.
Eli rode a smaller bay mare lent by Tomas.
Tomas accompanied them with two riders, Daniel Stone and Asa Reed, men who had worked as scouts and interpreters with nearby settlements and knew how quickly a rumor could become gunfire.
Jacob did not object.
Yesterday he would have.
That bothered him.
It also told him he was learning.
They took a narrow canyon trail rather than the main road.
After two hours, Daniel raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
Fresh hoofprints crossed the trail.
Four horses.
Maybe five.
Jacob dismounted.
“Following us?”
Daniel crouched.
“Waiting.”
Tomas looked toward the rocks above.
“Down.”
A rifle cracked.
Stone exploded near Jacob’s shoulder.
Everyone scattered.
Eli’s mare reared.
Jacob grabbed the bridle and pulled the boy behind a sandstone outcrop.
More shots struck the canyon wall.
Not arrows.
Rifles.
Jacob looked at Tomas.
“Your people?”
Tomas gave him a flat stare.
Jacob almost apologized.
Then caught himself.
“Right.”
Daniel pointed toward the ridge.
“Two shooters east.”
Asa said, “One west.”
Jacob checked his revolver.
“Silas’s men?”
Eli whispered:
“Maybe.”
Jacob looked at him.
“You recognize something?”
“One horse.”
“Which?”
“Gray with white socks.”
Jacob saw it briefly between the rocks.
He recognized it too.
The horse belonged to Amos Creed.
Silas’s foreman.
Jacob’s suspicion hardened into certainty.
“Silas sent them.”
Tomas said, “Or someone wants you to believe he did.”
Jacob hated that sentence because it was true.
They could not afford simple conclusions anymore.
The canyon fight lasted less than three minutes.
Nobody was hit.
Tomas’s riders used the rocks to force the gunmen back without pursuing.
Jacob found a dropped cartridge box.
Stamped with the Red Creek mercantile mark.
Common.
Useless.
Then Eli found a torn strip of blue cloth caught on thornbrush.
He stared at it.
Jacob noticed.
“What?”
Eli swallowed.
“Amos wears blue neckerchiefs.”
Jacob folded the cloth into his pocket.
They continued.
Around noon, they reached an abandoned stage station.
Tomas insisted on resting the horses.
Jacob hated the delay.
Silas had a day’s advantage in understanding whatever was happening.
Then Daniel found tracks behind the station.
One horse.
Fresh.
Someone had arrived before them.
Jacob drew his revolver.
They entered.
The room smelled of dust and old wood.
A man sat behind the counter.
Amos Creed.
His hands were visible.
No gun.
Jacob aimed anyway.
“You fired at us.”
Amos looked exhausted.
“No.”
“I saw your horse.”
“My horse was stolen last night.”
“Convenient.”
“It was.”
Jacob stepped closer.
“Who stole it?”
“Silas.”
Eli flinched.
Amos looked at him.
“Boy, I told your uncle not to involve you.”
Eli’s face tightened.
“You knew?”
“I knew he sent you.”
Jacob grabbed Amos by the collar.
“You let him send a thirteen-year-old into that valley?”
Amos did not resist.
“I thought Silas wanted the medallion.”
“He did.”
“No.”
Amos shook his head.
“He wanted the tribe to catch Eli carrying his gun.”
Jacob released him slowly.
Tomas’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because Silas planned to report the boy kidnapped.”
The room went silent.
Amos continued.
“He wanted territorial troops sent into Red Mesa.”
Jacob’s stomach turned.
“Why?”
“To clear the valley.”
“For Western Meridian.”
Amos nodded.
“Company men told him disputed land could be settled faster if the encampment was removed.”
Tomas’s face became stone.
Eli whispered:
“So I was bait?”
Amos looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Jacob wanted to hit him.
Eli beat him to the question.
“Did Uncle Silas know they might kill me?”
Amos looked at the floor.
Jacob grabbed him again.
“Answer.”
“He said they wouldn’t.”
“That’s not what he asked.”
Amos closed his eyes.
“He said if anything happened to Eli, people would be even angrier.”
Jacob stepped back as if burned.
Eli turned away.
No tears this time.
That frightened Jacob more.
“What changed?” Jacob asked.
“Why are you helping us?”
Amos reached inside his shirt slowly.
He produced a folded telegram.
Western Meridian to Silas.
DELIVERY FAILURE UNACCEPTABLE. REMOVE BOY AND MEDALLION BEFORE FEDERAL REVIEW.
Jacob read it.
“Federal review?”
Amos nodded.
“Clara mailed something before she died.”
“To whom?”
“Land Office in Santa Fe.”
Jacob’s heart quickened.
“What?”
“I don’t know. Silas has been terrified ever since.”
Tomas asked, “When does the inspector arrive?”
“Tomorrow evening.”
That changed everything.
If an independent federal land inspector arrived before Silas destroyed the evidence, the forged deed could collapse.
Jacob looked at Eli.
“We don’t need to prove murder first.”
“We prove the land fraud.”
Tomas nodded.
“Then the rest has somewhere to stand.”
Amos said, “You won’t make Red Creek openly.”
“Why?”
“Silas told everyone the tribe kidnapped Eli and shot at Jacob.”
Jacob almost laughed.
“People believed him already?”
“They want to.”
That was worse.
Fear had done half Silas’s work.
Jacob asked, “Where is Silas?”
Amos hesitated.
“Hayes ranch.”
“Who’s with him?”
“Western Meridian’s attorney.”
“Name?”
“Edwin Mercer.”
Tomas and Jacob looked at each other.
Mercer was not the name Jacob expected.
But Tomas clearly knew it.
“You recognize him?”
Tomas nodded.
“He visited Clara.”
“When?”
“The day before she died.”
Jacob stared.
“What for?”
“She called him.”
“Why would Clara call Western Meridian’s attorney?”
Tomas did not answer.
Amos did.
“Because Mercer wasn’t working for Western Meridian when this started.”
Jacob frowned.
“What was he?”
Amos looked toward Eli.
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“Clara’s lawyer.”
And with that, the simple story of Silas versus Clara became something far more dangerous.
