"Understand what?"
"The debt is not yours."
The Night of the Burning Sky
Mercer returned in midsummer.
This time he came with nine men.
The attack began shortly after midnight.
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Then another.
Thomas woke instantly.
Boone barked.
Thomas rolled from bed and grabbed his rifle.
Outside, flames rose near the barn.
"They're here," he whispered.
Men shouted in the darkness.
Horses screamed.
Thomas ran outside.
Two riders were approaching.
He fired once.
One rider fell.
The other turned.
Thomas moved toward the barn.
The cattle were panicking.
Smoke filled the air.
He opened the gate.
"Come on!"
The animals rushed into the open field.
Thomas turned toward the house.
A bullet struck the wall beside his head.
He dropped behind a water trough.
Mercer's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Thomas!"
Thomas said nothing.
"You should've left!"
Thomas fired toward the voice.
Mercer cursed.
"Burn it!"
A torch flew toward the porch.
The roof caught fire.
Thomas felt something inside him break.
This was not about cattle anymore.
This was about everything his parents had built.
His memories.
His home.
His life.
He crawled toward the porch.
Then he heard something else.
Hooves.
Many hooves.
From the hills.
Mercer's men heard them too.
One rider shouted.
"Apache!"
Another shouted.
"How many?"
No one answered.
The desert seemed to move.
Apache warriors emerged from the darkness on every side.
They did not charge wildly.
They moved with terrifying discipline.
Mercer's gang found themselves surrounded.
Thomas watched from behind the trough.
The Apache leader raised his hand.
Silence fell.
Then he pointed toward the road.
Leave.
Mercer looked around.
He knew.
The fight was over.
He shouted at his men.
"Fall back!"
The gang retreated.
One man tried to fire.
The Apache leader stepped forward.
The man lowered his weapon.
Within minutes, Mercer and his gang vanished into the night.
The Apache warriors remained until the fire was extinguished.
Thomas stood among the smoking ruins of his barn.
The older leader approached.
Thomas looked at him.
"Why?"
The old man shook his head.
"Because you gave water."
Thomas stared at him.
"That can't be enough."
The leader smiled.
"To you, perhaps."
He placed a hand against Thomas's shoulder.
"Not to us."
The Last Ride of Silas Mercer
Mercer did not surrender.
Men like him rarely did.
He fled toward the mountains and gathered what remained of his gang.
For three days, he planned revenge.
He wanted Thomas dead.
He wanted the ranch burned.
And he wanted to prove that no farmer, no sheriff, and no Apache warrior could stop him.
But Mercer made one mistake.
He believed fear was stronger than loyalty.
His men did not.
One abandoned him.
Then another.
By the fifth day, Mercer had only three men left.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Morris had organized a posse.
Thomas joined them.
Not because he wanted revenge.
Because he wanted the raids to end.
The posse followed Mercer's trail into the mountains.
They found the gang near an abandoned mining camp.