Sofia knew how to climb.
Caleb realized something.
Each sister possessed a skill the others did not.
Together, they were stronger than any single fighter.
They entered the records room.
Inside they found land deeds.
Payment records.
Forged signatures.
Bribes.
And finally, a ledger connecting Vane to the railroad company.
Caleb opened it.
His face changed.
There were payments to judges.
Sheriffs.
Surveyors.
Even ranchers.
The final page contained a note about Samuel Rourke.
“Remove resistance permanently.”
Caleb's hands shook.
His father had not died in an accident.
Vane had arranged his death.
Elena touched his shoulder.
“Caleb.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“We know.”
“I should have found this years ago.”
“You were a boy.”
He looked at her.
“You can't blame yourself for what you couldn't know.”
Caleb closed the ledger.
“We're taking this.”
They were halfway out of the courthouse when Vane appeared.
“You've always been your father's son.”
Caleb raised his revolver.
Vane smiled.
“Go ahead.”
Caleb stopped.
“You killed him.”
“I gave an order.”
“That is killing.”
“Yes.”
The word was cold.
Without remorse.
Then Sofia stepped forward.
“You're finished.”
Vane laughed.
“You?”
Sofia raised her rifle.
“No.”
She pointed toward the doorway.
“All of us.”
Tomas entered.
Then Elena.
Then Mara.
Then the riders behind them.
Vane's expression finally changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
He surrendered.
But the war was not over.
Because Vane had already ordered forty armed men to seize Dry River.
The group rode through the night.
They reached the valley at dawn.
Smoke covered the horizon.
The company had arrived.
Caleb counted the riders.
Thirty-seven.
Tomas had eleven.
Caleb had five.
The sisters looked at one another.
Nobody spoke.
Then Elena smiled.
“We've survived worse.”
Mara laughed.
“I don't remember surviving anything this bad.”
Sofia mounted her horse.
“Then today will be memorable.”
Caleb looked at the three women.
He realized something.
They had never needed him to save them.
They had chosen to fight beside him.
That mattered more.
“Ready?”
Elena nodded.
Mara raised her rifle.
Sofia grinned.
Tomas lifted his hand.
The riders moved.
The first wave of company men charged.
Caleb and Tomas waited until the last possible moment.
Then the valley erupted.
Rifles cracked from the ridges.
Horses thundered across the open ground.
Smoke rose behind the hills.
The company riders hesitated.
They believed they were facing a much larger force.
They were wrong.
But fear did the work numbers could not.
Elena led a charge along the northern ridge.
Sofia struck the eastern flank.
Mara remained near the wounded and kept the defenders alive.
Caleb rode directly toward the spring.
Three company riders were already there.
He dismounted behind a rock.
“Drop your rifles!”
One fired.
Caleb returned fire and knocked the weapon from his hands.
Another raised both arms.
The third looked around.
“There's nowhere to go.”
Caleb lowered his gun.
“You can surrender.”
The man hesitated.
Then dropped his rifle.
One by one, the others followed.
The battle ended before noon.
The spring remained untouched.
The valley remained standing.
And the people who had lived there could finally breathe.
Months later, the territorial investigation exposed the entire scheme.