Flames appeared along the north fence.
Ruth ran with a bucket.
Mara fired from the porch.
Elias moved through the darkness like a shadow.
One attacker fired from behind a tree.
Elias dropped behind the well.
Another bullet struck the cabin wall.
"Ruth!" Mara shouted.
"I'm here!"
A horse screamed.
Then the barn caught fire.
Elias ran toward it.
Inside were four horses.
He kicked the door open.
Smoke rolled over him.
Ranger charged forward.
Elias grabbed the nearest reins.
"Come on!"
He led the horses out one by one.
Behind him, the barn roof groaned.
He reached the last stall just as a burning beam collapsed.
Ranger screamed.
Elias pulled him free.
The beam struck the ground where Elias had stood seconds earlier.
Outside, Mara was fighting one of Vane's men.
The man knocked her rifle away.
He raised his gun.
Elias fired.
The man's weapon flew from his hand.
Elias crossed the yard.
"Leave."
The man stared at him.
"You killed—"
"I didn't."
Elias pointed toward the road.
"Next time I won't miss."
The man ran.
By dawn, the attackers were gone.
The barn was badly damaged.
Part of the fence had burned.
The cabin wall was blackened.
But everyone was alive.
Ruth stood in the yard covered in soot.
She looked at Elias.
"You came back for the horses."
"Of course."
"You could have died."
"So could you."
Mara approached.
"We can't stay."
Elias looked at her.
"Not here."
She shook her head.
"No. We stay."
"Why?"
"Because if we leave, Vane wins."
Elias understood.
That morning, they rode into town to find the sheriff.
But the sheriff was not interested.
Silas Vane was his largest customer.
"I can't arrest a man because someone burned a barn," he said.
Mara slammed the map onto his desk.
"This proves it."
The sheriff glanced at it.
"Could be anybody's writing."
Elias leaned forward.
"Then investigate."
The sheriff looked at him.
"Who are you?"
Elias said nothing.
Vane's voice came from behind them.
"He's nobody."
Elias turned.
Silas Vane stood in the doorway.
Three men were with him.
The sheriff smiled nervously.
"Mr. Vane."
Vane looked at Elias.
"You should have kept riding."
Elias stepped toward him.
"I should have."
"Then do it."
Elias shook his head.
"Not anymore."
Vane smiled.
"You think these women changed you?"
Elias looked at Mara.
Then Ruth.
Then back at Vane.
"No."
He paused.
"They reminded me who I was."
The Hidden Ledger
The turning point came from an unexpected place.
Ruth discovered it.
She had gone to the general store for flour when she overheard two men arguing behind the building.
They mentioned Vane.
They mentioned the creek.
And they mentioned a ledger.
Ruth returned immediately.
Elias, Mara, and Ruth searched the old barn.
Nothing.
Then Elias remembered something.
The barn floor had been repaired recently.
He lifted one plank.
Beneath it was a metal box.
Inside were property deeds, receipts, and letters.
At the bottom was a ledger.
Vane had been buying land through false claims.
Worse, he had paid men to destroy fences and drive cattle onto neighboring property.