Not trust.
Not yet.
But respect.
She turned toward the camp.
Then she spoke in her own language.
Twenty women gathered near her.
Cody couldn't understand the words.
But he understood their faces.
Determination.
Anger.
Fear.
And something else.
Hope.
Mara turned back.
"You know where the horses are?"
"Yes."
"You know how many guards?"
"Twelve."
She nodded.
"Then we take them back."
Cody frowned.
"We?"
Mara almost smiled.
"You didn't think you were doing this alone, did you?"
Behind her, the women began preparing horses.
Cody looked at the gathering group.
There were twenty women.
Some carried rifles.
Others carried bows.
One had a long knife strapped to her leg.
Another was barely older than twenty.
Cody suddenly realized that the men in the canyon had no idea what was coming.
He mounted Sombra.
Mara mounted a chestnut mare.
The twenty women formed behind her.
Before they left, one elderly woman approached Cody.
She touched the scar on his cheek.
Cody stiffened.
She said something quietly.
Mara translated.
"She says scars mean a person survived something."
Cody looked at the old woman.
"What else did she say?"
Mara smiled faintly.
"She says you should stop looking at yours like it is a punishment."
Cody didn't know how to answer.
So he simply nodded.
Then the riders moved into the darkness.
Toward Dry Bone Canyon.
Toward two hundred stolen horses.
Toward a battle nobody in Red Creek believed would happen.
THE TWENTY WOMEN
They reached the ridge before sunrise.
Cody expected tension.
Instead, the women moved with remarkable discipline.
No shouting.
No unnecessary movement.
No panic.
Mara explained the plan.
"We don't attack the men."
Cody looked at her.
"We don't?"
"We attack their control of the horses."
She pointed toward the canyon.
"Their camp is here. Their horses are here. Their escape route is there."
She indicated the narrow southern passage.
"If we frighten the horses toward the western slope, the thieves will have to choose between chasing the herd and protecting themselves."
Cody nodded.
"Then?"
"Then we take the horses north."
"Back to your camp."
"Yes."
Cody studied the canyon.
There was a problem.
"The horses are exhausted."
Mara nodded.
"They won't run far."
"We'll need to move slowly."
"We know."
Cody smiled slightly.
"You planned this before I even arrived."
Mara looked at him.
"We have been trying to get our horses back for three days."
The first light appeared over the mountains.
The thieves began waking.
Cody whispered:
"Now."
Three women moved toward the western side.
Five disappeared into the rocks.
Mara remained beside Cody.
The rest waited.
Cody raised his rifle.
Not toward a man.
Toward the rope holding the main gate.
One shot.
The rope snapped.
The horses surged forward.
The canyon exploded into chaos.
Men shouted.
Horses screamed.
Dust rose like a wall.
Cody fired again, breaking another rope.
Mara and the women rushed down the slope.
Voss emerged from his tent with a pistol.
"What the hell—"
He never finished.
An Apache woman rode past him at full speed and knocked the weapon from his hand with a long wooden staff.
Another woman cut the tether of a group of mares.
The herd began moving.
Voss screamed.
"Stop them!"
His men fired.
Cody ducked behind a rock.
"Nobody shoot the horses!"
The women answered with arrows.
The thieves scattered.
One man attempted to reach the southern exit.
Mara rode directly across his path.
He raised his rifle.
She fired first.
His rifle fell into the dust.
"Leave," she shouted.
The man ran.
Cody saw Voss heading toward the far side of the canyon.
He pursued him.
They crossed the dry creek bed.
Voss fired.
The bullet struck the rock beside Cody's head.
Cody fired back.
Voss fell.
But he was not dead.
He crawled toward a horse.
Cody approached.
"Where are the buyers?"
Voss spat blood.
"You think this changes anything?"
"Where?"
Voss laughed.
"You'll never stop all of us."
Cody grabbed his collar.
"Maybe not."
He looked toward the herd.
"But I'll stop you."
Voss smiled.
"You're protecting them?"
Cody frowned.
"Protecting who?"
"The Indians."
Cody stared at him.
"No."
He released him.
"I'm protecting what you stole."
Behind them, the canyon was clearing.
The remaining thieves were fleeing.
The horses were being gathered.
Mara approached.
Her rifle was lowered.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
"Good."
She looked at Voss.
"Then he'll answer questions."
Voss laughed.
"You think the law will believe you?"
Mara looked toward the north.
"We don't need their belief."
She turned to Cody.
"We need our horses."
The herd was slowly being organized.
Cody walked among the animals.
He saw familiar markings.