Nahkai nodded.
"Yes."
Caleb waited.
"But that was not the whole story."
The old chief reached into his coat and pulled out a small object wrapped in cloth.
He placed it beside the fire.
Caleb recognized the leather immediately.
His father's saddlebag.
He stared.
"Where did you get that?"
"From Isaac."
Caleb's breath caught.
"When?"
"The night he died."
Taya looked at her father.
"You never told me."
"There are things a father keeps until the right time."
Caleb reached toward the bundle.
Nahkai stopped him.
"Not yet."
Caleb withdrew his hand.
"What happened to him?"
Nahkai looked into the fire.
"Your father came here after the soldiers left."
"Why?"
"To apologize."
Caleb's throat tightened.
"Did you forgive him?"
"No."
Nahkai's honesty was almost cruel.
"What did he say?"
"He told me he had been ordered to guide the soldiers."
Caleb frowned.
"Ordered?"
"He had a wife and a young son."
Caleb stared at him.
"Me."
Nahkai nodded.
"He said men threatened his family."
Caleb looked down.
His mother had always been afraid of the government.
Afraid of soldiers.
Afraid of men arriving at the door.
Caleb had thought it was simply the fear of a woman who had lost her husband.
Now he wondered how much she had known.
"What happened after he guided them?"
Nahkai's voice became quiet.
"Isaac realized the officers intended to kill everyone they found."
Caleb closed his eyes.
"He tried to stop them."
"How?"
"He led several families through a second trail."
Taya looked at Caleb.
"He saved some."
"Not all," Nahkai said.
Silence settled around the fire.
Caleb felt something break inside him.
His father had betrayed them.
And then tried to undo what he had done.
Neither fact erased the other.
"Why didn't he tell anyone?" Caleb asked.
"Because the men who paid him were powerful."
"Who?"
Nahkai looked toward the dark canyon.
"Men who owned land. Men who wanted this valley emptied."
Caleb thought of Pike.
"What does Pike know?"
"Enough to be dangerous."
A gunshot cracked through the night.
Everyone jumped.
A second shot followed.
Then a horse screamed.
Nahkai rose instantly.
"Pike."
Taya grabbed her bow.
Caleb stood.
"What happened?"
"They have entered the lower canyon."
Nahkai turned to his people.
"Move the children."
Warriors scattered.
Caleb looked toward the darkness.
"You said they were surrounded."
"They were."
"Then how—?"
Nahkai looked at him.
"Because men like Pike do not fight fair."
Another gunshot echoed.
Caleb instinctively moved toward the sound.
Taya caught his arm.
"You gave up your revolver."
"I know."
"Then don't pretend you're invincible."
He looked at her.
For the first time, he noticed how tired she looked.
Not frightened.
Tired.
Like someone who had been fighting the same war for years.
"I'm not trying to be invincible."
"Then what are you trying to be?"
Caleb looked into the darkness.
"Useful."
Taya released his arm.
"Then follow me."
They ran.
The Ledger
Pike's men had reached the lower settlement.
But they had not come for the people.
They came for the cave.
Caleb realized that the moment he saw them moving toward the eastern wall.
Three men carried lanterns.
Another carried a shovel.
Pike stood behind them.
"Stop!" Caleb shouted.
Pike turned.
His expression changed when he saw Caleb beside Taya.
"I was wondering how long it would take."
Caleb stepped forward.
"Where is the ledger?"
Pike smiled.
"You already know about it."
"Where?"
"Ask your father's ghost."
Caleb clenched his fists.
Pike gestured toward the cave.
"Isaac hid it in there."
Nahkai arrived behind Caleb.
"No."
Pike's smile widened.
"That's what he told me."
Nahkai's expression became unreadable.
Caleb looked at him.
"You knew?"
"I knew he came here."
"You knew about the ledger?"
Nahkai did not answer.
Pike laughed.
"There it is."
He pointed.
"That hesitation."
Then he shouted.
"Move!"
The men entered the cave.
Taya raised her bow.
Caleb stepped beside her.
"Don't shoot yet."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know what they find."
They waited.
Minutes passed.
Then a shout came from inside.
"There's something here!"
Pike rushed into the cave.
Caleb followed.
The passage narrowed quickly.
The walls were covered in ancient markings and soot from old fires.
At the end stood a stone chamber.
One of Pike's men had uncovered a wooden box.
Pike crouched.
His hands shook slightly as he opened it.