"Warriors?"
"Forty who can fight."
Cody shook his head.
"Against fifteen bandits?"
"There will be more."
"How many?"
"At least thirty by tomorrow."
Cody looked at her.
"Then we need your horses back tonight."
Elena stared.
"You cannot do that alone."
"I'm not alone."
She looked toward Sombra.
"Your horse?"
"My horse is smarter than most men."
For the first time, Elena laughed.
It was quiet.
But genuine.
Cody smiled faintly.
They spent the night planning.
The bandits had divided the horses into three groups.
Cody would create a disturbance at the eastern end.
Elena would open the main gate.
Once the horses were released, they would stampede north.
But there was one problem.
The bandits had built a fence around the valley.
Cody studied the map.
"We need to cut through here."
"That is where the guards are."
"Exactly."
Elena looked at him.
"You really are crazy."
"I've been called worse."
She smiled.
"Then tomorrow we ride."
The Stampede
They attacked before dawn.
Cody slipped through the darkness and reached the eastern fence.
He cut the first rope.
Then the second.
A guard appeared.
Cody struck him before he could shout.
Another guard turned.
Elena threw a knife.
The man fell.
Cody looked at her.
"You said you weren't a fighter."
"I said I wasn't a warrior."
They continued.
When the final rope broke, Elena whistled.
The horses moved.
At first, slowly.
Then one animal bolted.
Another followed.
Within seconds, the valley became thunder.
Two hundred horses surged through the broken fence.
Bandits shouted.
Men ran for rifles.
But the horses were already moving.
Cody mounted Sombra.
"Go!"
Elena mounted another horse.
Together they drove the herd north.
Gunfire erupted behind them.
Cody looked back.
The bandits were chasing.
Then a larger explosion shook the valley.
The wooden barn had caught fire.
Cody realized what the wagons contained.
Dynamite.
"Hale isn't just stealing land," he said.
Elena looked at him.
"What?"
"He's going to blow up the mountain."
The Red Mountain Mine
The stolen horses reached the Apache village by sunrise.
The sight of them brought people running.
Children cried with relief.
Elders raised their hands toward the sky.
For a moment, Cody felt something he had not felt in years.
Belonging.
Then Elena's father approached.
He was tall, with silver in his black hair.
His name was Chief Tomas.
He looked at Cody for a long moment.
"You returned what was stolen."
Cody nodded.
"I only helped."
Tomas glanced at Elena.
"You saved my daughter."
Cody looked away.
"She saved me too."
Tomas smiled.
But the celebration ended quickly.
A scout arrived.
"Hale's men are moving toward the mine."
Cody asked, "How many?"
"More than thirty."
Tomas looked toward the mountains.
"If they destroy the mine, the explosion will collapse the northern valley."
"And your people?"
"Buried."
Cody stood.
"We need to stop them."
Tomas studied him.
"Why?"
Cody hesitated.
Because his father had once told him what a man should do.
Because nobody else would.
Because Elena was standing beside him.
Finally, he said:
"Because someone has to."
Tomas nodded.
"Then you will not go alone."
The Man Behind the Robbery
They rode toward the mine with twenty Apache warriors.
Cody led them through a narrow canyon.
They reached the mine by afternoon.
Hale's men were already there.
But Victor Hale was not.
Cody found tracks leading deeper into the mountain.
"He is inside."
Elena looked worried.
"Why would he go in?"
Cody examined the ground.
"To place the charges."