Mara smiled sadly.
“That is why you must let her live.”
Meanwhile, Ethan sat beside a small fire outside the camp.
Serena brought him food.
“Thank you.”
She sat down.
“You are different tonight.”
“How?”
“You are quiet.”
“I've been thinking.”
“About leaving?”
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“Then what?”
“You.”
Serena lowered her eyes.
“That is dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Because I might start believing you.”
Ethan smiled.
“I hope you do.”
She looked at him.
“You don't even know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know I cannot give you children.”
“I know.”
“You know my father is difficult.”
“I noticed.”
She laughed.
“You know my people may never accept you.”
“That worries me less.”
“What does?”
Ethan's expression became serious.
“Being accepted by you.”
Serena's breath caught.
He hadn't said he loved her.
Neither of them was ready for that.
But something had shifted.
Something neither could undo.
Then a rifle shot shattered the night.
The camp exploded into motion.
Warriors grabbed weapons.
Children were pulled into shelters.
Horses screamed.
Ethan stood.
Another shot came from the ridge.
A warrior fell.
“Down!” Ethan shouted.
Serena ducked behind him.
Chief Keona roared commands.
Ethan grabbed his rifle.
He saw movement among the trees.
Men.
Several of them.
Not Apache.
“Who are they?” Serena asked.
“I don't know.”
A bullet struck the ground near them.
Ethan fired toward the ridge.
One attacker disappeared behind a tree.
Keona joined him.
“Crowe,” the chief said.
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
“Silas Crowe.”
“You know him?”
“He has been trying to take this valley for two years.”
Another shot.
Ethan crouched.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
The attack lasted nearly twenty minutes.
Then the gunmen withdrew.
They had not come to conquer the camp.
They had come to send a message.
By sunrise, one warrior was dead and two were wounded.
Serena helped treat the injured.
Ethan watched her hands.
They did not tremble.
Not once.
The frightened woman from the previous night seemed to have disappeared.
In her place was someone focused and capable.
“You're good at this,” Ethan said.
She didn't look up.
“People are easier to treat than grief.”
“What?”
She finally looked at him.
“You can stop blood.”
“You can't stop grief?”
“No.”
She returned to the wounded warrior.
Ethan stood silently.
Then Chief Keona approached him.
“Crowe will come again.”
“Why?”
“He wants the valley.”
“Why?”
“There is gold in the mountains.”
Ethan looked toward the peaks.
“Gold?”
“Some.”
“Enough for a war?”
Keona's expression was grim.
“For a man like Crowe, there is always enough.”
Ethan looked at Serena.
Then at the wounded.
Then at the mountains.
He had intended to leave Montana.
Now he wasn't sure.
Because the valley had become more than a place.
It had become a home for people who had no choice but to defend it.
And Serena had become more than the woman he was supposed to marry.
She had become someone Ethan wanted to protect.
Not because she was weak.
Because she mattered.
The Price of Freedom
The following morning, Ethan confronted Chief Keona.
“Tell me everything about Crowe.”
Keona was sitting outside his lodge.
“He came two years ago with twenty men.”
“What did he want?”
“The land.”
“Why?”
“Gold was discovered in the northern hills.”
Ethan nodded.
“Who owns the land?”
Keona gave him a hard look.
“The people who have lived here for generations.”
“Crowe doesn't care.”
“No.”
Ethan sat across from him.
“How many men does he have now?”
“Forty. Perhaps more.”
“That's a lot.”
Keona nodded.
“He has been buying guns, horses, and supplies in town.”
“Why hasn't the army stopped him?”
“Because Crowe claims the land is unclaimed.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Of course he does.”
Keona studied him.
“You could leave.”
“I know.”
“You have no obligation to fight for us.”
“I know.”
“Then why remain?”
Ethan thought about it.
“Because leaving feels wrong.”
Keona's eyes narrowed.
“Is that because of my daughter?”
“Partly.”
The chief looked away.
“She is not a reason to die.”
“No.”
“Then don't die.”
Ethan smiled.
“I'll try.”
Later that day, Serena found Ethan near the river.
“You spoke with my father.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He thinks I'm a fool.”
She smiled.
“He says that about everyone.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Serena, I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“If Crowe takes this valley, what happens to you?”
She became quiet.
“We leave.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere else.”
“Would you leave with me?”
Serena looked surprised.
“You said you wanted to know me first.”
“I still do.”
“And then?”
Ethan took a breath.
“Then I might ask you to come with me.”
Her eyes filled with emotion.
“But you don't know what you are promising.”
“I know.”
“I cannot have children.”
“I know.”
“I may never be accepted where you come from.”
“I know.”
“My father will never make this easy.”
“I know.”
She smiled through tears.
“You say 'I know' too much.”
“Because I've been listening.”
She looked at the river.
“I've never had anyone listen.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You deserve that.”
She looked up.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Serena reached for his hand.
It was the smallest gesture.
But Ethan felt it like a thunderclap.
He closed his fingers around hers.
“I don't want to be your father's choice,” she whispered.
“I don't want you to be.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
She looked at him.
“Not a wife. Not a mother. Not a bargain.”
He gently squeezed her hand.
“Just Serena.”
She smiled.
“I think I could love a man who says things like that.”
Ethan's heart stopped for a second.
“Could?”
“I'm not finished.”
He laughed.
“I'll wait.”
“I think I'm already starting to.”
Before he could answer, a horse galloped toward them.