At the center of the camp stood a large lodge.
An old man waited outside.
Chief Red Elk.
Caleb had expected a giant.
Instead, the chief was thin and gray-haired.
But his eyes were sharp.
He looked at Caleb.
Then at Elena.
"You were told to stay away."
Elena dismounted.
"I couldn't."
Red Elk looked at Caleb.
"Leave."
Caleb stayed on his horse.
"Your daughter saved my life."
The chief's expression did not change.
"I said leave."
Caleb dismounted.
"I have something belonging to you."
He pulled out the paper with John Mercer's message.
Red Elk's face changed.
For the first time, Caleb saw fear.
The chief stepped forward.
"Where did you get that?"
"Your daughter."
Red Elk looked at Elena.
"You showed him?"
"I had to."
The chief took the paper.
His hands trembled.
"John Mercer."
Caleb stared at him.
"You knew my father."
"I did."
"Did Hawthorne kill him?"
Red Elk closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Caleb's anger rose.
"You knew?"
"I tried to warn him."
"And then you let him die."
The chief's face hardened.
"Your father chose his path."
"My father chose to protect your people."
"Yes."
Caleb took a step closer.
"Then tell me what happened."
Red Elk looked toward the mountains.
"Your father discovered that Hawthorne was secretly purchasing land through false names. He planned to create a war between our people and settlers."
"Why didn't you stop him?"
"Because we had no proof."
Caleb looked at Elena.
"Now we do."
Red Elk stared at the silver box.
"That box cannot save us."
"It can expose them."
The chief shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because there is another name."
Caleb waited.
Red Elk looked at his daughter.
"One name Elena does not know."
Elena stiffened.
"Father?"
The chief spoke quietly.
"The traitor is inside this camp."
Everyone became silent.
"Who?" Caleb asked.
Red Elk's gaze moved toward the council lodge.
"My brother."
The Betrayer
His name was Thomas Red Elk.
The chief's younger brother.
He had been a respected warrior once.
Now he served as an adviser.
Caleb met him that evening.
Thomas was broad-shouldered and carried himself like a man accustomed to obedience.
He smiled when he saw Caleb.
"So this is the cowboy."
Caleb said nothing.
Thomas studied him.
"You look like your father."
"I've been told."
Thomas's smile disappeared.
"Your father was a fool."
Caleb stepped forward.
"Careful."
Red Elk interrupted.
"Enough."
Thomas looked at his brother.
"You brought him into our camp?"
"He came with Elena."
"She should not have left."
Elena's face hardened.
"I am not a child."
"You are the chief's daughter."
"And that doesn't make me blind."
Thomas laughed.
"You think you understand what is happening?"
"I understand enough."
Thomas looked at Caleb.
"Your people will come."
Caleb shook his head.
"My people?"
"You are white."
"So are the men who are trying to steal your land."
Thomas became silent.
Caleb noticed.
There was fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Fear.
That night, Caleb searched the council lodge.
He found nothing.
But beneath the floorboards, he discovered a fresh boot print.
The same pattern he had seen near the wagon.
Someone from the camp had been there.
He followed the tracks.
They led toward the river.
Then disappeared.
Caleb returned before dawn.
Elena was waiting.
"Where were you?"
"Looking for your uncle."
"Did you find him?"
"No."
She looked worried.
"You don't trust him."
"No."
"Neither do I."
Caleb looked at her.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"Why?"
"Because he has been different since my mother died."
"What changed?"
"He became afraid."
"Of what?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"Of the truth."
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the camp.
People screamed.
Caleb drew his revolver.
Elena ran outside.
A warrior lay near the fire.
Dead.
A second shot came from the trees.
Caleb pulled Elena behind a tent.
"Stay here."
"No."
"Elena."
She grabbed his arm.
"I know where he is."
"Who?"
"My uncle."
They ran toward the river.
A horse stood waiting.
Thomas was mounting.
Elena shouted.
"Uncle!"
Thomas turned.
For one moment, the three stared at each other.
Then Thomas raised his rifle.
Caleb fired first.
The bullet struck the ground beside Thomas's horse.
Thomas rode away.
Elena stared after him.
"He killed that man."
Caleb nodded.
"And now he knows we know."
The Secret Elena Never Told
They followed Thomas's trail for two days.
But the man knew the country better than they did.
On the third night, Caleb found something strange.
A small wooden marker stood beside the trail.
Elena stopped.
"What is it?"
"A warning."
"For whom?"
"For us."
Caleb examined the ground.
There were no footprints.
Then he noticed the carving.
Three lines.
A circle.
And a crescent moon.
Elena's face went pale.
"My mother used that symbol."
"What does it mean?"
"Safe passage."
Caleb looked around.
"We're being watched."
A voice came from the darkness.
"Yes."
Caleb drew his revolver.
An old woman stepped into the moonlight.
Elena gasped.
"Grandmother."
The woman smiled.
"I wondered when you would finally come."
They entered a hidden cave nearby.
The old woman revealed the truth.
Elena's mother had not been merely a healer.
She had been a messenger between Red Elk and several settlers who opposed Hawthorne.
She had gathered evidence for years.
The silver box contained only part of it.
There was another document.
A treaty bearing signatures from the army and tribal leaders.
But it had been stolen.
Without it, Hawthorne could claim the original treaty had never existed.