When sunlight entered the cabin, he opened his eyes slowly.
For several seconds, he didn't understand where he was.
Then he realized something even stranger.
His hand was lying open beside him.
His revolver was untouched.
He stared at his palm.
He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.
Aiona stood near the stove.
She handed him a cup of coffee.
"You slept."
Elias took it.
"Apparently."
"All night."
He looked toward the window.
"That's new."
Aiona smiled faintly.
"Maybe your body finally realized you're not alone."
Elias didn't answer.
Because the words frightened him more than any gunshot.
Not alone.
He had spent ten years making sure that was true.
Outside, Nielli was feeding the horses.
Elias stepped onto the porch.
The homestead looked different in daylight.
He noticed details he hadn't allowed himself to notice before.
The crooked shelf beside the barn.
The vegetable patch.
The small pile of firewood.
The blue cloth hanging near the kitchen window.
The repaired fence.
The place wasn't simply land.
It was a life.
And somehow, without realizing it, he had begun to see himself standing inside it.
That morning, he finished repairing the fence.
By afternoon, he had fixed a broken gate, strengthened the corral, and replaced several loose roof boards.
Nielli followed him around with tools.
Aiona kept bringing him coffee.
It became routine.
And routine was dangerous.
Because Elias had learned that routine created attachment.
Three days later, he found the tracks.
Four horses.
Fresh.
The marks came from the north and stopped near the creek.
Elias crouched beside them.
Aiona approached.
"What's wrong?"
He didn't answer immediately.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
"Riders?"
"Four."
"Do you know them?"
"No."
"Are they dangerous?"
Elias stood.
"Not yet."
Nielli arrived carrying a basket.
She saw their expressions.
"What happened?"
Aiona looked at Elias.
He answered.
"Someone's been watching the property."
Nielli's face tightened.
"Why?"
Elias looked toward the ridge.
"Because you have something they want."
"What?"
"Water. Land. A working homestead."
Aiona's voice was quiet.
"They've tried before."
Elias turned toward her.
"You knew?"
"Men have come through here twice since our family died."
Nielli lowered her head.
"They asked us to leave."
"And?"
"We didn't."
Elias studied the two women.
"How long have you been alone?"
Aiona answered.
"Almost a year."
That changed something inside him.
He had thought he was helping two women who simply needed a fence repaired.