Nora pointed to a location north of town.
"Blackwater Canyon."
Reed shook his head.
"No one goes there."
Cole smiled faintly.
"Then that's probably where we'll find what we're looking for."
Blackwater Canyon
They left before dawn.
Cole, Nora, Evelyn, Clara, Reed, and Abigail rode north.
The canyon was twelve miles away.
The trail was narrow.
Twice, they found signs of riders following them.
Cole finally stopped.
"They know where we are."
Reed looked behind them.
"How?"
Cole pointed toward a ridge.
A man was watching them.
He disappeared before Reed could draw.
"We're being pushed toward the canyon," Cole said.
Nora frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Rourke wants us there."
"Trap?"
"Almost certainly."
Abigail sighed.
"Wonderful."
They continued anyway.
At the canyon, they found the stolen cattle.
Hundreds of them.
Each brand had been burned over with a new mark.
Evelyn dismounted.
"My father's cattle."
Clara walked among them.
"So many."
Nora found a wooden box beneath a wagon.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Land deeds.
Bank records.
Payment receipts.
Names.
Rourke's entire operation.
Then came the gunshots.
Bullets struck the rocks.
"Take cover!" Cole shouted.
Men appeared along the canyon walls.
Rourke's men.
Reed fired back.
Abigail fired the rifle.
Clara and Evelyn hid behind the wagon.
Nora loaded her pistol.
Cole moved through the rocks.
He shot one man.
Then another.
But there were too many.
A bullet struck Reed in the shoulder.
Nora dragged him behind cover.
"You're bleeding."
"I noticed."
Cole looked up.
At the top of the canyon stood Silas Rourke.
He raised his pistol.
"Cole Walker!"
Cole looked up.
Rourke shouted:
"You've got until sunset!"
"Until sunset for what?"
"To leave."
Rourke smiled.
"Or Mercy Creek burns."
Then he disappeared.
The Fire
They returned to Mercy Creek under cover of darkness.
The town was silent.
Too silent.
Cole rode into the main street.
Then he smelled smoke.
The church was burning.
People were running.
Rourke's men had set fire to three buildings.
Cole jumped from his horse.
"Get the women out!"
He ran toward the church.
A child was trapped inside.
Cole kicked the door open.
Smoke blinded him.
He heard crying.
He crawled across the floor.
Found the child.
Carried her outside.
Nora was waiting.
"Are you all right?"
Cole nodded.
Then he saw her face.
"What?"
She looked toward the burning street.
"They took Abigail."
Cole froze.
Rourke had taken Abigail.
Again.
A message waited on the sheriff's desk.
Cole opened it.
COME TO THE OLD COURTHOUSE.
ALONE.
Cole folded the paper.
Nora grabbed his arm.
"You're not going alone."
"You can't come."
"Why?"
"Because if this is a trap, I need you outside it."
She looked at him.
"You don't get to decide that."
Cole smiled.
"You're stubborn."
"So are you."
He nodded.
"Fine."
They rode together.
At the old courthouse, Rourke was waiting.
Abigail sat tied to a chair.
Rourke stood behind her.
"You came."
Cole dismounted.
"Let her go."
Rourke laughed.
"You still think this is about her?"
"No."
Cole looked at the courthouse.
"It's about you."
Rourke's smile disappeared.
"You know what I like about men like you?"
"What?"
"They believe they're different."
Cole drew his pistol.
Rourke drew his.
The room went silent.
Then Abigail shouted:
"Behind you!"
Cole turned.
A gunman fired.
Cole dropped.
Nora screamed.
Rourke smiled.
But Cole rolled behind the desk and fired twice.
The gunman fell.
Rourke escaped through the rear door.
Cole stood.
A bullet had grazed his shoulder.
Nora ran to him.
"You're bleeding."
"Again."
She tore fabric from her dress and wrapped his wound.
"One day," she whispered, "you might actually admit you're not invincible."
Cole looked at her.
"I never said I was."
She smiled.
"Good."
Their eyes met.
For a moment, the fire outside seemed far away.
Then Cole said:
"We finish this tomorrow."
The Man Cole Used to Be
That night, Cole told Nora about his past.
They sat beside a small fire outside town.
"I used to be a marshal."
Nora looked at him.
"Used to?"
"Seven years."
"What happened?"
Cole stared into the flames.
"I arrested a man named Jonah Pike."
"Rourke?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"My partner."
Nora said nothing.
Cole continued.
"He was taking bribes."
"I found out."
"He threatened my wife."
Nora's expression softened.
"Your wife?"
Cole nodded.
"Her name was Anna."
"What happened?"
"She died."
Nora waited.
"Was she killed by him?"
Cole looked at the fire.
"No."
"Then how?"
"She was caught in a gunfight meant for me."
Silence.
Cole swallowed.
"I spent years blaming myself."
Nora reached toward him.
She stopped before touching his hand.
"You can't save everyone."
"I know."
"Do you?"
Cole looked at her.
"No."
Nora placed her hand over his.
"Then maybe that's what you need to learn."
Cole looked down at their hands.
It was the first time in years someone had touched him without wanting something.
He didn't move.
Neither did she.
Across the fire, Abigail watched them.
She smiled.
Then she looked toward Mercy Creek.
Her smile disappeared.
Because she knew something Cole did not.
Rourke wasn't planning to attack the town.
He was planning to leave.
And he had one final destination.
The courthouse records.
The place where every stolen deed could be destroyed.
The Courthouse
At sunrise, they gathered everyone who was willing to fight.