But the barn was burning.
Ranger screamed.
Elias ran inside.
The smoke was thick.
He found the stallion trapped by a fallen beam.
He lifted it with both hands.
"Come on, boy."
Ranger struggled free.
Elias stumbled outside.
Clara grabbed his arm.
"You all right?"
He nodded.
Then he looked at the burning barn.
His face was strangely calm.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"What are you thinking?"
Elias watched the flames.
"That I've spent ten years believing I had nothing to lose."
Clara looked at him.
"And now?"
He looked at her.
"Now I know I was wrong."
The Man in the Grave
The next morning, they found a dead rider.
He had been shot during the attack.
Inside his coat was a military identification card.
Silas Rusk.
Clara stared.
"But Caleb said his brother was dead."
Elias crouched beside the body.
The man's face was badly scarred.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Elias whispered:
"Captain Rusk."
The dead man opened his eyes.
Clara gasped.
Elias drew his revolver.
The man smiled weakly.
"I knew you'd recognize me."
He was alive.
Barely.
He told them everything.
The robbery had been planned by Caleb and Silas.
The soldiers had been murdered because they knew too much.
The money had been invested in land.
Land around the Bennett spring.
But Thomas Bennett had discovered the scheme.
He had hidden the evidence.
And Silas had spent ten years searching for it.
"Where is the rest?" Elias asked.
Silas laughed.
"Your friend knows."
"Who?"
"The sheriff."
Elias understood.
Amos Bell had been part of the investigation.
Before Silas could say more, a gunshot came from the road.
Silas died instantly.
Elias looked toward Mercy Crossing.
"They know we found him."
Clara tightened her grip on her rifle.
"Then what do we do?"
Elias mounted Ranger.
"We stop running."
The Sheriff's Secret
Sheriff Bell confessed.
He had known about the stolen money.
He had helped Thomas Bennett hide the evidence.
But he had also taken part of the money.
Not much.
Enough to ruin him.
Enough to haunt him.
"I was afraid," Bell said.
Elias looked at him.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Bell nodded.
"Because it's true."
He handed Elias a map.
"The money was hidden in an abandoned mine north of the valley."
Clara studied it.
"Why didn't Rusk find it?"
"Because the entrance was sealed."
Elias folded the map.
"We go tonight."
Bell shook his head.
"You won't make it."
"We have to."
"Rusk will expect you."
Elias smiled faintly.
"Good."
They rode north beneath a moonless sky.
At the mine, Elias discovered a hidden tunnel.
Inside were crates.
Government bonds.
Land deeds.
Gold.
And dozens of names.
The names of ranchers who had been cheated.
The names of men Rusk had threatened.
Evidence enough to destroy him.
Clara looked at Elias.
"We can end this."
Elias nodded.
"For everyone."
But behind them, a voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Not quite."
Caleb Rusk stepped into the lantern light.
His revolver was already drawn.
No More Running
Rusk had twenty men.
Elias had three bullets.
Clara had a rifle.
Bell had a shotgun.
The odds were terrible.
Rusk smiled.
"You always were stubborn, Ward."
Elias stepped forward.
"Let them go."
Rusk laughed.
"You think you're in a position to negotiate?"
"No."
Elias looked at Clara.
Then Bell.
Then the tunnel.
"I'm buying time."
Rusk fired.
Elias dove behind a rock.
Clara shot one of Rusk's men.
Bell fired both barrels.
The mine erupted into chaos.
Elias moved through the darkness.
He knew the tunnels better than Rusk.
He had discovered a second entrance.