He drew his revolver.
"Move."
They rode.
The canyon opened into a dry basin.
Six riders appeared behind them.
"Company men," Mara said.
Ethan pushed Boone forward.
The chase began.
They reached Cedar Ridge just before sunset.
The ranch looked peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Ethan dismounted and ran toward the house.
The door stood open.
Inside, drawers had been pulled from cabinets.
Papers were scattered everywhere.
His father's study had been searched.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"They were here."
Mara entered behind him.
"Looking for the survey."
"Yes."
Lena examined the floor.
"Someone came recently."
Ana found a broken wooden box.
Inside was nothing.
Ethan searched his father's desk.
Nothing.
Then he remembered something.
Samuel Cole had always kept a Bible on the highest shelf.
Ethan pulled it down.
A folded paper fell from inside.
He opened it.
The original survey.
His father's handwriting appeared along the edge.
The water belongs to the valley, not to the company.
Ethan smiled.
"We have it."
Then a gunshot shattered the window.
Mara dragged him down.
Bullets struck the walls.
"Back door!" Lena shouted.
The four ran outside.
Company riders surrounded the ranch.
Silas Vane himself sat among them.
He was a broad man with a gray beard and expensive black coat.
"Ethan!"
Ethan raised his rifle.
"Silas."
Vane smiled.
"Your father would have been disappointed."
"You searched my home."
"I needed a document."
"You found it."
"No."
Vane's smile disappeared.
"Not yet."
Mara stepped beside Ethan.
Vane looked at her.
"Apache woman."
Mara's expression hardened.
"You know my name."
"I know enough."
Ethan raised his rifle.
"Leave."
Vane laughed.
"You don't understand, boy. This valley is already mine."
"No."
Ethan held up the survey.
"This says otherwise."
Vane's eyes narrowed.
"That paper won't save you."
"Maybe not."
Ethan looked at the three sisters.
"But it might save the valley."
Vane raised his hand.
His men prepared to fire.
Then the sound of distant horses filled the canyon.
Tomas had arrived.
Dozens of riders appeared along the ridge.
Vane looked around.
For the first time, fear crossed his face.
Tomas called down:
"Leave."
Vane stared at him.
Then he smiled.
"This isn't over."
"No," Tomas replied.
"It is only beginning."
Vane withdrew.
That night, Ethan returned to Dry River with the survey secured inside his coat.
But he knew the truth.
The company would not stop.
And next time, they would come with an army.
Three days passed.
No attack came.
Instead, a letter arrived.
Silas Vane requested a meeting.
Tomas refused.
Ethan suggested they accept.
Everyone stared at him.
"You trust him?" Lena asked.
"No."
"Then why go?"
"Because men reveal more when they think they are winning."
Mara nodded.
Tomas agreed.
The meeting took place at an abandoned trading post.
Vane arrived with four men.
Ethan arrived with Mara, Lena, Ana, and Tomas.
Vane placed a document on the table.
"I will offer you a settlement."
Tomas didn't touch it.
"What settlement?"
"Money."
"For the valley?"
"For your people."
Tomas's eyes hardened.
"You cannot buy what is not yours."
Vane looked at Ethan.
"Your father understood business."
"My father understood honesty."
Vane smiled.
"Your father was murdered by the same world you now think you can change."
Ethan froze.
"My father died in an accident."
"That's what the newspapers said."
Silence.
Ethan stepped forward.
"What are you saying?"
Vane leaned back.
"Ask yourself why your father spent his final months investigating the railroad."
Tomas looked at Vane.
"What did you do?"
Vane's expression became cold.
"I did what men do when they build an empire."
"You killed him," Ethan whispered.
"No."
Vane stood.
"I gave him a choice."
"What choice?"
"Sign."
"And when he refused?"
Vane said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.