The bullet struck stone beside his hand.
June reared.
"Go!"
Ethan swung into the saddle.
Another shot.
He kicked hard.
June charged uphill.
Behind him, men shouted.
The secret of Dry River was no longer a rumor.
Someone had discovered water beneath the dead river.
And they were willing to kill to keep it hidden.
Ethan rode until the valley disappeared behind him.
But as he crossed the ridge, he looked back once.
The black smoke was still rising.
And beneath it, the river continued to flow.
For the first time in forty years, Dry River was alive.
And Ethan knew something else.
If those men had found the water, they would not be the last ones coming for it.
THE SECRET UNDER THE STONE
Ethan reached Cedar Ridge just before sunset.
He didn't tell anyone about the gunshots.
Not yet.
He told himself he needed time to think.
But the moment he entered the ranch yard, he knew something was wrong.
The front gate was open.
Ethan always closed it.
Always.
He dismounted slowly.
The ranch house stood dark against the orange sky.
"Ella?"
No answer.
Ethan reached beneath his saddle and pulled out the old revolver he carried when working remote country.
He moved toward the house.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, everything looked normal.
Too normal.
A chair had been moved.
A drawer stood open.
Nothing appeared stolen.
Then Ethan noticed the kitchen table.
A folded map lay on it.
His map.
The one he had kept locked inside his desk.
He opened it.
Dry River was marked with a red circle.
Someone had been looking for the same place.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
Behind him, floorboards creaked.
He spun.
His younger sister, Nora, stood in the hallway holding a shotgun.
She lowered it when she recognized him.
"Good Lord, Ethan."
"You scared me."
"You scared me."
Nora looked at the blood on his sleeve.
"Are you hurt?"
"Just scraped."
"That isn't what I asked."
Ethan shook his head.
"No bullet."
She lowered the shotgun.
"Where were you?"
"Dry River."
Her expression changed immediately.
"What were you doing there?"
"Finding the horses."
"You found them?"
"Yes."
"Then why are they not here?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Nora stared at him.
"What happened?"
He told her.
The smoke.
The men.
The water.
The pipes.
The gunshots.
When he finished, Nora was silent.
Then she sat down.
"Ethan..."
"What?"
"Our father used to talk about that place."
"I know."
"No. You don't."
She looked toward the window.
"When I was little, Dad told me Dry River wasn't dry."
Ethan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"He said the river had gone underground."
Ethan remembered their father.
Samuel Cole had been a hard man.
A rancher who believed in fixing things rather than discussing them.
He had died fifteen years earlier.
On the night before his death, he had said something Ethan had never understood.
"The water remembers the old path."
Ethan had assumed it was the fever talking.
Now he wasn't so sure.
Nora continued.
"After the flood, the river disappeared. But Dad believed there was still water beneath the valley."
"Why didn't he tell anyone?"
"He tried."
"Who stopped him?"
Nora looked directly at Ethan.
"Someone threatened him."
The room seemed colder.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You're sure?"
"Your father made me promise never to ask."
Ethan walked to the map.
The red circle was not the only marking.
There were notes along the valley.
Old measurements.
Dates.
Water levels.
A handwritten sentence appeared near the underground river:
THE SOURCE IS NOT THE RIVER.
Ethan stared at it.
"What does that mean?"
Nora shook her head.
"I don't know."
Before either could speak, headlights appeared outside.
A vehicle stopped at the gate.
Ethan reached for the revolver.
But it was Sheriff Daniel Mercer.
Daniel stepped inside carrying a hat in one hand.
"I heard there was trouble."
Ethan looked at Nora.
Then at the sheriff.
"Who told you?"
"One of your neighbors heard gunshots."
Ethan studied him.
"From Dry River?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Yes."
"How?"
"Sound travels."
Ethan didn't believe him.
Daniel looked at the map.
His face became serious.
"You shouldn't have gone there."
"Why?"
"Because those people aren't ordinary thieves."
"Who are they?"
Daniel sighed.
"Company men."
"What company?"
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
"Red Mesa Development."
Ethan knew the name.
Everyone did.
Red Mesa had been buying land across the county.
Ranches.
Water rights.
Mineral rights.
Anything valuable.
"They've been trying to buy Cedar Ridge for six months," Daniel said.
"I told them no."
"I know."
"Did they send those men?"
"I don't have proof."
"But you suspect it."
Daniel didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Then he added quietly:
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The county received an application yesterday for emergency water extraction rights."