He had brought twenty men.
Most wore civilian clothing, but their rifles were military issue, and several carried the blue coats of the United States Cavalry. Behind them rolled a wagon with iron-rimmed wheels, its canvas cover flapping in the morning wind.
Bell surveyed the Apache warriors.
For a moment, even he appeared surprised.
Then he smiled.
“Well, Mercer. Seems you've had a busy morning.”
Chato moved between Daniel and the approaching men.
Bell's gaze settled on the chief.
“Chato.”
The chief's expression remained cold.
“Bell.”
“You're a long way from your reservation.”
“This is our land.”
“Not according to the treaty.”
“Your treaty was written by men who never asked us.”
Bell chuckled.
“Always the same argument.”
He turned toward Daniel.
“I'm here to retrieve a stolen military document and a fugitive accused of attacking a government courier.”
Daniel leaned against the porch railing.
“You told me she was dangerous. Now you say she stole a document. Which is it?”
“Both.”
“And who shot her?”
Bell's smile faded.
“That's none of your concern.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Funny. That's what you said last night.”
The deputy marshal's eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what you're involved in.”
“Then explain it.”
Bell glanced at the Apache formation.
He seemed to consider his options.
Finally, he raised his voice.
“Naya, daughter of Chato, you are hereby ordered to surrender yourself to the lawful authority of the United States. You are charged with theft of government property, assault upon a military courier, and conspiracy against the territorial government.”
Naya stepped forward.
“You know those charges are lies.”
Bell shrugged.
“That's for a judge to decide.”
“You killed Elias.”
A murmur passed through the Apache riders.
Bell's face hardened.
“Elias was a traitor.”
“He was a translator.”
“He was a thief.”
“He was my brother.”
The words struck the air like a gunshot.
Daniel looked at Naya.
He had not known she had a brother.
Bell shifted in his saddle.
“Your brother was caught selling military information to hostile parties. He was given a chance to cooperate. He refused.”
Naya's hands trembled.
“You killed him because he discovered what you were doing.”
Bell did not answer.
Chato stepped forward.
“You will leave this place.”
Bell laughed.
“Three hundred warriors against twenty soldiers? You think I'm afraid of numbers?”
“No,” Chato replied. “I think you are afraid of what they will learn.”
Bell's eyes flickered toward the leather pouch in the chief's hand.
And Daniel understood.
The map.
Whatever it showed, Bell wanted it badly enough to ride into a valley surrounded by three hundred armed warriors.
He had not come to arrest Naya.
He had come to retrieve the map.
Bell raised his hand.
One of the soldiers stepped forward with a folded paper.
“By authority of the territorial government, this property is subject to immediate seizure for the purpose of establishing a military supply station.”
Daniel stared at him.
“My ranch?”
“Your ranch, the surrounding pasture, and all water rights within five miles.”
“That's a remarkable amount of land to seize in one morning.”
“Refusal to comply will be treated as resistance to federal authority.”
Daniel looked at the men behind Bell.
Then at the Apache warriors.
He knew what would happen if someone fired the first shot.
The valley would become a battlefield.
And everyone in it would pay.
He stepped down from the porch.
“Deputy Marshal, you have a warrant?”
Bell held up the paper.
Daniel took it.
He read it slowly.
The document was signed by a territorial official he had never heard of. It described the land as unoccupied government property, despite the fact that Daniel had lived on the ranch for three years and paid taxes on it.
The paper was dated six months earlier.
Daniel looked up.
“You've been planning this for a while.”
Bell snatched the warrant back.
“Stand aside.”
“No.”
The word came out before Daniel had time to think.
Bell stared at him.
“What did you say?”
Daniel stood still.
“I said no.”
The deputy marshal's hand moved toward his revolver.
Chato raised one hand.
Three hundred Apache rifles lifted in perfect silence.
The soldiers froze.
Bell looked around the valley.
For the first time that morning, the smile disappeared from his face completely.
Then a gunshot cracked from the hills.
A soldier near the wagon fell from his horse.
Chaos erupted.
Horses reared. Men shouted. Apache warriors scattered toward cover as bullets struck the ground around them.
Daniel hit the dirt.
“Get inside!”
He grabbed Naya's arm and pulled her toward the house.
Another shot shattered the window.
The first battle of the morning had begun.
And neither Daniel nor Chato knew who had fired the first bullet.
Daniel dragged Naya through the doorway just as a second volley tore across the porch.
Glass burst inward. A bullet struck the kitchen wall, throwing splinters across the table.
“Down!” he shouted.
Naya collapsed beside the bed, clutching her wounded side.
Outside, the valley had become a confusion of smoke and movement. Apache riders galloped toward the rocks while others dismounted and returned fire. Bell's men scattered behind the wagon, using its wheels as cover.
Daniel crawled to the window.
He saw Chato's black horse running riderless across the pasture.
The chief was nowhere in sight.
“Your father!” Daniel shouted.
Naya tried to rise.
Daniel caught her shoulder.
“You can't go out there.”
“He'll be killed!”
“He knows what he's doing.”
“You don't know him!”
“No,” Daniel snapped. “But I know a bullet doesn't care how brave a person is.”
She stared at him.
Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.
It was a short, breathless sound that turned into a wince of pain.
“You are a strange man, Daniel Mercer.”
“So I've been told.”
He grabbed his rifle from the corner.
“Stay here.”
Naya seized his sleeve.
“Wait.”
She pulled the leather pouch from beneath her dress and pressed it into his hand.
“If Bell gets this, everything is lost.”
Daniel looked at the parchment.
“What's on it?”
“The location of the springs. All of them.”
“How many?”
“Seven.”
He frowned.
“Seven springs?”
“Seven underground reservoirs connected by a river beneath the mountains. My grandfather discovered them when he was young. Our people have protected them for generations.”
Daniel looked toward the hills.
In a land where water meant survival, seven hidden springs could change the fate of every rancher, soldier, and Apache family in the territory.
“Why would the Army want them?”
“Because whoever controls the water controls the land.”
A bullet struck the wall above them.
Daniel slipped the map into his shirt.
“Then we're not giving it to Bell.”
He ran outside.
The smell of gunpowder hung over the yard. Horses screamed. A wounded soldier crawled toward the wagon, leaving a dark trail in the dust.
Daniel moved between the barn and the house, firing only when he saw a clear target. He had no intention of shooting a man merely because he wore a uniform.
Near the northern fence, he found Chato crouched behind a boulder.
The chief was bleeding from his arm.
“Where is Bell?” Daniel shouted.
Chato pointed toward the wagon.
“He is not there.”
Daniel looked across the field.
The deputy marshal had disappeared.
Then he saw movement near the house.
Bell was heading toward the bedroom window.
Toward Naya.
Daniel ran.
He reached the porch just as Bell kicked open the door.
Inside, Naya had managed to reach the table. She held Daniel's revolver in both hands, pointing it at the deputy marshal.
Bell stopped.
“Well,” he said. “This is inconvenient.”