Elias answered quietly.
"I don't like leaving work unfinished."
The Man Beneath the Coat
For the next three days, Elias became part of the homestead without anyone deciding that was what had happened.
He repaired the barn door.
He replaced a broken wheel on the wagon.
He cleaned the well.
He taught Ruth how to read tracks.
And every morning, he rode the property line with Ranger.
The danger was there.
He could feel it.
Someone was watching.
On the fourth morning, he found a boot print beside the creek.
Then another.
Then three more.
He followed them into the trees.
There he discovered something that changed everything.
A hidden camp.
Empty.
But recently used.
There were coffee grounds in the ashes and a torn piece of paper beneath a stone.
Elias picked it up.
A map.
The Bell property was marked in red.
So was the creek.
And beneath it was written:
Friday night. Burn them out.
Elias folded the paper.
When he returned, Mara was waiting.
"You found something."
He handed her the map.
Her face went pale.
Ruth read it over her shoulder.
"We need to leave."
Mara shook her head.
"This is our home."
"They'll burn it."
"Then we'll put out the fire."
Elias stared at her.
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
"No. You don't."
His voice was sharper than he intended.
Mara stepped closer.
"You think because you've been alone longer than we have, you know more about surviving?"
Elias looked away.
"I know what happens when you stay too long."
"What happened to you?"
Silence.
Ruth looked at him.
For the first time, Elias couldn't escape the question.
He sat on the porch.
"My brother."
Mara waited.
"He was younger."
Elias's eyes remained on the horizon.
"We rode together. Worked together. We had a small place once."
"What happened?"
"Men came."
He swallowed.
"They wanted the land."
Mara understood immediately.
"Did you fight?"
"Yes."
"Did you win?"
Elias shook his head.
"My brother died."
Ruth sat beside him.
"And you left."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because every tree reminded me of him."
Ruth's voice softened.
"So you ran."
Elias nodded.
"I kept riding."
Mara sat across from him.
"Until now."
He looked at her.
"Until now."
That night, they prepared for Vane's attack.
They moved water barrels near the cabin.
They hid rifles.
They extinguished unnecessary lanterns.
Ruth asked Elias whether he was afraid.
"Yes."
She looked surprised.
"You are?"
"Anyone who says he isn't is either stupid or lying."
"What are you afraid of?"
Elias looked at her.
"Losing someone again."
Ruth's eyes softened.
Then she said something he would remember for the rest of his life.
"Then maybe you should stop deciding that losing people is worse than never having them."
Elias had no answer.
At midnight, Ranger suddenly whinnied.
Elias grabbed his revolver.
A match flared in the distance.
Then another.
"They're here."
Mara raised her rifle.
"Positions."
The first shot cracked across the darkness.
Then the night exploded.