"Caleb Morgan!"
Caleb stepped into view.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Daniel Ward."
Caleb's stomach tightened.
Daniel smiled.
"My father left me unfinished business."
Elena raised her rifle.
Daniel laughed.
"You don't want to shoot me."
"Why?"
"Because I brought something your friend wants."
He held up a folded document.
Caleb looked at White Elk.
The chief's expression changed.
"What is it?"
Daniel answered.
"The original land deed."
Silence.
Daniel continued.
"It proves this valley belongs to my family."
Caleb looked at the spring.
Then at the map.
Then at the men on the ridge.
Daniel smiled.
"Give me the map."
Caleb understood.
The map and the deed together were the key.
Without both, neither side could prove anything.
He folded the map.
"No."
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
"You are your father's son."
Caleb shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Elena.
"I'm not."
The Test
That night, the village prepared for an attack.
Women moved children toward the caves.
Men checked rifles and bows.
Caleb wanted to help.
White Elk stopped him.
"You are not one of us."
"I know."
"Then why stay?"
Caleb looked at the village.
"Because I brought the trouble."
White Elk studied him.
"You could leave."
Caleb nodded.
"I could."
"And yet?"
Caleb looked at the cottonwood.
"My father ran."
White Elk said nothing.
"I won't."
The chief finally handed Caleb a rifle.
"Then stand with us."
It was the first time anyone had treated Caleb as something other than a stranger.
Before dawn, Daniel Ward attacked.
Gunfire shattered the valley.
Caleb fired from behind a rock.
Elena fought beside him.
The battle lasted less than twenty minutes.
Ward's men were driven back.
But one Apache warrior fell.
A young man named Tomas.
Caleb rushed toward him.
Tomas had been shot in the shoulder.
"I'm fine," he insisted.
"You are bleeding."
"I noticed."
Caleb laughed despite himself.
The young warrior smiled.
"Now you are beginning to sound like family."
The word stopped Caleb.
Family.
He looked toward White Elk.
The old chief had heard it too.
The Price of Trust
After the battle, suspicion spread.
Someone had betrayed the village.
Daniel Ward had known exactly where the guards were stationed.
He had known which trail led into the valley.
He had known where the children were hidden.
Caleb became the obvious suspect.
Some men wanted him expelled.
Others wanted him questioned.
Elena defended him.
"He fought beside us."
One elder shook his head.
"That proves nothing."
Caleb stepped forward.
"He's right."
Elena stared at him.
Caleb placed his revolver on the ground.
"Search my belongings."
They did.
Nothing was found.
Then White Elk spoke.
"The betrayal did not come from Caleb."
He pointed toward one of the horses.
A saddle had been disturbed.
Underneath it was a small piece of paper.
Daniel Ward's handwriting.
The traitor was not Apache.
He was a trader who had been visiting the village for months.
His name was Samuel Pike.
When confronted, Pike broke.
He admitted selling information to Daniel.
"Why?" Caleb asked.
Pike looked ashamed.
"Money."
Caleb shook his head.
"You sold people for money."
Pike lowered his eyes.
"I didn't think anyone would die."
White Elk's expression was hard.
"That is what every coward says after the blood appears."
Pike was sent away.
Caleb watched him disappear into the desert.
Elena came beside him.
"You were right."
"About what?"
"Trust."
Caleb smiled faintly.
"I wasn't."
She looked confused.
"I thought trust meant believing someone."
Caleb looked at the horizon.
"Maybe it means giving them a chance to prove who they are."
The Second Map
White Elk gave Caleb another map.
This one was much older.
It was drawn on animal hide.
Caleb studied the markings.