"Gold."
A murmur moved through the canyon.
Nahkai's face hardened.
"There is no gold."
Pike shrugged.
"Maybe not."
Caleb looked at him.
"Then what are you looking for?"
Pike's smile disappeared.
"A ledger."
The word seemed to change the air.
Caleb stared at him.
"What ledger?"
Pike looked toward Nahkai.
"The one that proves which men were paid to lead soldiers into this valley."
Caleb felt cold despite the desert heat.
Pike continued.
"Your father wasn't just a scout, Blackthorn. He was part of something much bigger."
Caleb shook his head.
"My father wouldn't—"
"You don't know what your father would do."
Taya stepped forward.
"And you do?"
Pike looked at her.
"I know what men do when money is involved."
She raised her bow again.
"Then you should know what happens to men who come here looking for it."
One of Pike's hunters laughed nervously.
Pike did not.
He looked at Caleb.
"You want the truth about your father?"
Caleb said nothing.
"I can give it to you."
Nahkai stepped forward.
"No."
Pike's eyes narrowed.
"You afraid he'll learn what kind of man his father was?"
"Truth is not yours to sell."
Caleb looked from one man to the other.
The past no longer seemed dead.
It was waiting.
Waiting in this canyon.
Waiting beneath old stones and forgotten graves.
Waiting for him.
Slowly, Caleb removed his revolver.
Taya's eyes widened.
He turned the weapon around and offered it to Nahkai.
The chief stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because if my father hurt your people, I won't stand behind his name."
Taya watched him carefully.
"But I want the truth."
Nahkai studied him.
Then he took the revolver.
"Come with me."
Pike immediately shouted.
"Blackthorn!"
Caleb stopped.
"You walk away with them," Pike said, "and you're walking away from everything you have."
Caleb looked over his shoulder.
"Maybe that's what I need."
Pike raised his rifle.
Taya's bow came up.
Twenty arrows followed.
Pike froze.
Nahkai looked at him.
"You came here with twelve men."
Pike glanced toward the ridge.
"You should have brought twelve men who understood the difference between hunting and trespassing."
The sun disappeared behind the western cliffs.
Night began settling over the canyon.
And beneath the darkness, the buried secrets of the Blackthorn family waited to be uncovered.
The Price of Blood
Nahkai led Caleb into the canyon after sunset.
Taya followed behind them.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
The path was narrow, barely wide enough for two horses. Red cliffs rose on both sides, their surfaces glowing faintly beneath the last traces of daylight.
Caleb kept thinking about his father.
Isaac Blackthorn.
The name had always carried a strange weight in town.
Men respected him.
Some feared him.
Others said he had been one of the finest scouts in the territory.
Caleb had grown up hearing those stories.
His father had been brave.
His father had been hard.
His father had been loyal.
Now every memory felt different.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Caleb asked.
Nahkai did not turn.
"You did not know enough to hear it."
Caleb frowned.
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one I have."
Taya spoke from behind them.
"My father has carried this memory for twenty years."
Caleb turned.
"So has my family."
"No," Taya said. "Your family carried a story."
Her words struck harder than she intended.
Caleb stopped walking.
Taya stopped too.
"I didn't know," he said.
She looked at him.
"I believe you."
"Then why do you look at me like I did?"
Taya's expression softened slightly.
"Because sometimes a man's name is heavier than the man himself."
Caleb looked away.
They continued.
Eventually the canyon opened into a hidden settlement.
There were small wooden structures built against the rocks, a central fire, horses tied beneath a shelter, and several families watching Caleb from a distance.
Some looked afraid.
Others looked angry.
One elderly woman whispered something to another.
Caleb could not hear the words.
He did not need to.
He knew what they meant.
Blackthorn.
Isaac Blackthorn's son.
Nahkai stopped beside a fire.
"Sit."
Caleb sat.
Taya remained standing.
Nahkai lowered himself onto a stone opposite him.
"For twenty years," he said, "I believed Isaac Blackthorn betrayed us."
Caleb looked at him.
"You said he showed the soldiers the trail."
"He did."
"Then he betrayed you."