Ethan smiled.
"You sound like my father."
"You didn't answer."
"Because twenty armed men may arrive before I get back."
Mara considered that.
Then she said quietly, "You should go anyway."
Ethan stared at her.
"You want me to leave?"
"I want you to survive."
Before Ethan could answer, a rifle cracked below.
Both dropped behind the rocks.
A bullet struck stone.
Mara raised her rifle.
"Three riders."
"Where?"
"West."
Ethan peered over the ridge.
Three men were moving between the rocks.
He saw the glint of metal.
"How many?"
"Three."
Mara smiled.
"Then we have the advantage."
The fight lasted less than five minutes.
When it ended, the three scouts were gone.
Ethan did not ask what happened to them.
Instead, he looked at Mara.
"You've done this before."
"Too many times."
That night, Tomas gathered everyone around the fire.
He spoke quietly.
"The company will return tomorrow."
Lena sharpened an arrow.
Ana prepared bandages.
Mara watched the flames.
Tomas looked at Ethan.
"You must decide."
"About what?"
"Whether you ride home."
Ethan knew the question was larger than it sounded.
If he stayed, he risked his ranch.
If he left, Dry River might fall.
He looked at the three sisters.
Mara was disciplined.
Lena was restless and fearless.
Ana was compassionate but carried herself with quiet determination.
They were different.
Yet they belonged together.
Tomas suddenly said something that made Ethan laugh.
"You must choose."
"Choose what?"
"One of my daughters."
The fire went silent.
Ethan stared at him.
Lena raised an eyebrow.
Mara looked annoyed.
Ana looked embarrassed.
"Choose?" Ethan repeated.
Tomas nodded.
"A wife."
Ethan shook his head.
"Chief, I don't even know them."
"You know enough."
"No, I don't."
Mara spoke sharply.
"Father."
Tomas ignored her.
"The old agreements between our families are changing. If the valley falls, alliances will matter."
Ethan looked at the three women.
Then he shook his head.
"I won't choose one."
Tomas's eyebrows rose.
"Why?"
"Because none of them are horses."
Lena laughed.
Ana covered her mouth.
Even Mara almost smiled.
Tomas stared at Ethan for a moment.
Then the old chief began laughing.
"You are Samuel Cole's son."
Ethan sighed.
"So I've been told."
Tomas leaned forward.
"You misunderstand me."
"Then explain."
"I asked which daughter you would stand beside."
Ethan looked at Mara.
Then Lena.
Then Ana.
"All three."
Nobody spoke.
Tomas's laughter stopped.
Mara stared at Ethan.
"You would fight beside all of us?"
"If that's what you meant."
Tomas smiled.
"Then tomorrow you ride with my daughters."
Ethan nodded.
"Tomorrow we ride."
But before dawn came, another problem arrived.
A messenger reached the valley carrying a piece of paper.
The company had issued a formal notice.
The families had twelve hours to leave.
Ethan read the document.
At the bottom was a signature.
Silas Vane.
The owner of Frontier Water and Cattle Company.
Ethan knew the name.
He also knew something else.
Silas Vane had once been his father's closest business partner.
Which meant the coming war was not simply about water.
It was personal.
Ethan left before sunrise.
Mara rode beside him.
Lena and Ana followed behind.
Tomas had given him one day to reach Cedar Ridge, retrieve Samuel Cole's survey papers, and return.
"You trust him?" Ethan asked Mara.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"With my life."
"And me?"
"No."
Ethan laughed.
"Fair."
They crossed the desert quickly.
The three sisters knew how to ride silently. Ethan had never seen anything like it.
By noon they reached a narrow canyon.
Mara stopped.
"Tracks."
Ethan dismounted.
"How many?"
"Six."
"Company riders?"
"Maybe."
Lena crouched beside the trail.
"They passed recently."
Ana looked toward the hills.
"We are being followed."
Ethan glanced back.
Nothing.
Then he heard it.
A faint hoofbeat.