His hand tightened around his rifle.
"Get into your wagon."
Abigail stared at him.
"What?"
"Get inside. Now."
She obeyed.
Elias mounted Ranger.
He did not draw his rifle.
Not yet.
Instead, he looked toward the rocks above the trail.
"I know you're up there," he called.
No answer.
Elias smiled faintly.
"You boys picked a poor day to become greedy."
A rifle cracked.
The bullet struck the wagon post inches from Abigail's head.
She screamed.
Elias kicked Ranger forward.
Two more shots exploded across the canyon.
Ranger surged sideways as Elias drew his revolver.
He fired once.
A man cried out from the rocks.
Then the entire mountain came alive.
Rifles thundered.
Bullets struck dirt, wood, and stone.
Elias rode straight toward the ambush.
The robbers had expected panic.
They had not expected a man willing to ride toward them.
Ranger climbed the slope with astonishing speed.
Elias fired twice.
One rifle disappeared behind a rock.
Another man rolled onto his back.
"Stay down!" Elias shouted toward Abigail.
She curled beneath the wagon seat.
Elias reached the first rocks.
A robber sprang from behind them with a knife.
Elias blocked the blade with his forearm, struck the man's wrist, and sent the knife spinning into the dirt.
The robber swung again.
Elias caught him by the coat.
"Who sent you?"
The man spat in his face.
Elias shoved him against the rock.
"I asked you a question."
Before the robber could answer, a shot came from farther up the ridge.
The man suddenly went limp.
Elias looked at the blood spreading across his shirt.
Someone had killed their own man.
That meant this was more than ordinary robbery.
There was another shooter.
And whoever commanded these men wanted Abigail Mercer dead.
Elias looked back toward the wagon.
"Abigail!"
"I'm here!"
"Can you drive?"
"I can try."
"Do it."
He fired toward the ridge.
"Follow me!"
The wagon lurched forward.
The wounded mule stumbled.
Elias rode alongside it, shooting whenever a rifle appeared between the rocks.
Slowly, painfully, they broke through the pass.
Behind them, the shooting faded.
Elias didn't stop until the trail disappeared beneath thick pine trees.
Only then did he turn.
Abigail climbed down from the wagon, shaking.
"You saved my life."
Elias looked back toward the mountains.
"No."
He holstered his revolver.
"I think somebody just made sure I became part of your trouble."
The Cabin Above Eagle Ridge
By sunset, Elias had brought Abigail to his cabin.
It stood high above Eagle Ridge, surrounded by pine forest and overlooking miles of rugged country.
The cabin was small but sturdy.
There was a stone fireplace, two beds, a wooden table, a stove, and shelves filled with supplies. Everything had its place.
Abigail noticed immediately that there were no unnecessary possessions.
No photographs.
No decorations.
No signs that another person had ever lived there.
"You live alone?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Always?"
"Mostly."
She looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Elias placed a kettle over the fire.
"It means I don't answer questions I don't need to answer."
Abigail almost smiled.
"You certainly have a way of making a person feel welcome."
"I saved your life."
"That doesn't make you pleasant."
Elias looked at her.
For the first time, the corner of his mouth moved.
"Fair enough."
Abigail sat near the fire.
The warmth felt wonderful.
She had spent weeks sleeping beneath wagon canvas, waking to cold mornings and colder memories.
Her husband, Thomas, had been dead for twenty-three days.
They had married only eleven months earlier.
Thomas had inherited a small parcel of land near Eagle Ridge from his father. He had dreamed of building a ranch there.
Then, on their journey west, fever took him.
Abigail had buried him beneath a cluster of cottonwoods beside a river.
Three days later, she continued alone.
She had believed the worst was behind her.
She had been wrong.
Elias brought her a bowl of stew.
"Eat."
"I don't think I can."
"Eat anyway."
She took the bowl.
After a few bites, she realized she was starving.
Elias watched without commenting.
When she finished, he handed her coffee.
Abigail stared at the cup.
"You're kind."
"Don't spread that around."
She smiled.
Then her expression became serious.