“Down!”
Another shot.
The horse panicked.
Elias pulled Clara behind a rock.
Samuel crawled toward the cattle.
More riders appeared on the ridge.
Five.
Then six.
Elias looked at Clara.
“Can you ride?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
They moved quickly.
The chase lasted nearly an hour.
Elias knew the land.
He took them through a narrow canyon.
Then across the creek.
Then into a grove of cottonwoods.
By nightfall, they were back at Black Creek.
Samuel was wounded.
Clara treated him.
Elias stood guard.
Before dawn, Samuel said:
“Crowe isn't stopping at the ranch.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wants the entire valley.”
Elias frowned.
“The water.”
Samuel nodded.
“If he controls the water, every ranch east of the ridge will depend on him.”
Clara looked at Elias.
“This is bigger than Black Creek.”
“Yes.”
The next morning, Elias rode for town.
Clara stayed with Samuel.
At the courthouse, Elias found Margaret Hale.
He placed the ledger on her desk.
She read it.
Her face changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“From Samuel Pike.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Margaret closed the book.
“You understand what this means?”
“Yes.”
“This could stop the auction.”
“That isn't enough.”
She looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“I want the water rights investigated.”
Margaret nodded.
“I'll need witnesses.”
“You'll have them.”
“Can you prove the records were altered?”
Clara entered the office.
She had followed him.
She placed another document on the desk.
“This should help.”
Margaret read it.
Then looked up.
“Where did you find this?”
“In the ranch accounts.”
She smiled.
“You two make a dangerous team.”
Elias looked at Clara.
She smiled.
“We're learning.”
The hearing began two days later.
Silas Crowe arrived in a black carriage.
He wore an expensive coat.
He carried himself like a man who had already won.
Elias sat beside Clara.
Samuel Pike waited outside under guard.
Margaret presented the evidence.
Crowe's attorney objected.
The judge listened.
Then Clara was called.
She walked to the witness stand.
Crowe looked at her.
“Mrs. Ward?”
Clara paused.
She had not yet changed her name legally.
The attorney smiled.
“Are you married to Mr. Ward?”
Clara looked at Elias.
Then back at the attorney.
“We are legally married.”
Crowe's smile faded.
The attorney continued.
“And you manage his financial records?”
“Yes.”
“So you have a personal interest in keeping Black Creek?”
“Yes.”
“Then why should the court trust your evidence?”
Clara answered calmly.
“Because numbers don't care who owns the ranch.”
The courtroom became quiet.
She explained every suspicious payment.
Every false invoice.
Every transfer.
She did not exaggerate.
She did not accuse without evidence.
She simply showed the records.
Then Samuel testified.
He described the altered documents.
He named the men who had been paid.
One by one, the evidence connected.
Crowe's confidence disappeared.
The judge ordered a temporary halt to the auction.
But Crowe was not finished.
That evening, fire started in the Black Creek barn.
Elias woke to shouting.
“Fire!”
He ran outside.
Flames climbed the roof.
Horses screamed inside.
Clara was already moving.
She grabbed a bucket.
Elias shouted:
“Stay back!”
“No!”
She ran toward the barn.
Elias followed.
Together they opened the stalls.
One horse escaped.
Then another.
Smoke filled the building.
Elias heard a crash.
A beam had fallen.
Clara disappeared behind it.
“Clara!”
No answer.
He ran inside.
He found her trapped beneath a wooden panel.
“Don't move.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
He lifted the beam.
She crawled free.
They stumbled outside.
The barn burned until sunrise.
Half the roof was gone.
Several tools were destroyed.
But the horses survived.
Clara sat on the ground, covered in soot.
Elias knelt beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“My arm.”
He looked.
A cut.
Nothing serious.
He exhaled.
Then he suddenly pulled her into his arms.
Clara froze.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she rested her head against his shoulder.
“You scared me,” he whispered.