She had not entered the ranch.
She had simply left a gift.
Corvin tied the cloth around his rifle stock.
Then he heard movement behind him.
He turned.
Tazhaa stood across the dry wash.
She was mounted on a black horse.
Her wound was healing.
She looked stronger.
Two riders stood behind her.
Corvin slowly walked toward the fence.
Tazhaa dismounted.
"You came back."
She nodded.
"Why?"
She looked toward the well.
"Water."
Corvin smiled.
"The well is always open."
She studied him.
Then she said something that surprised him.
"You are in danger."
Corvin's smile disappeared.
"I know."
"No."
She stepped closer.
"You do not know."
Her English was better than he remembered.
Corvin waited.
"Vance has men in the hills."
"How many?"
"Forty."
Corvin's hand moved toward his revolver.
"When?"
"Tonight."
She pointed toward the south.
"They will burn your house."
Corvin looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"I followed them."
"Why?"
Her expression hardened.
"Because they followed me."
She explained that she had been scouting near Devil's Wash when she discovered Vance's men preparing supplies.
Barrels of oil.
Crates of ammunition.
Explosives.
The men had been talking about Cold Springs.
They planned to kill Corvin.
Then they intended to destroy the well.
Afterward, they would blame the attack on Apache raiders.
Corvin felt the old coldness of military calculation settle over him.
"They want a war."
Tazhaa nodded.
"They want your land."
"And yours."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Yes."
Corvin looked toward the hills.
"What happens now?"
Tazhaa looked at the well.
"Now you decide whether you trust me."
Corvin thought about it.
Then he opened the gate.
Tazhaa entered.
It was the first time an Apache warrior had crossed his fence.
She walked directly to the well.
Corvin filled the tin cup.
She drank.
Then she handed it back.
"We are even."
Corvin shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the dark mountains.
"We're not."
Tazhaa smiled faintly.
"Good."
That night, they waited.
And before midnight, the first gunshot echoed from the hills.
The gunshot was followed by another.
Then silence.
Corvin stood behind the stone wall beside his cabin.
Tazhaa crouched on the roof.
She had moved there without making a sound.
Corvin looked up.
"How many?"
She held up four fingers.
Then pointed west.
Four men.
A second signal.
Three.
Three more from the east.
Corvin understood.
"They're surrounding the ranch."
Tazhaa nodded.
Corvin whispered, "How many total?"
She held up both hands twice.
Forty.
Exactly as she had warned him.
Corvin felt the familiar calm that came whenever danger became unavoidable.
Fear had no practical value.
Planning did.
He moved toward the stable.
Tazhaa stopped him.
She pointed toward the well.
Corvin followed her gaze.
A man was approaching it.
He carried a wooden bucket.
Corvin understood.
"They're going to poison the spring."
Tazhaa nodded.
Corvin raised his rifle.
"Wait."
She stopped him.
She pointed toward the man's boots.
Another man was hiding behind the rocks.
Corvin saw him now.
A guard.
Then another.
They were using the well as bait.
Corvin whispered, "They expect me to shoot."
Tazhaa smiled.
"Then don't."
She slipped from the roof.
Minutes later, she disappeared into darkness.
Corvin waited.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Then he heard something.
A horse screamed.
A rifle fired.
Then another.
Men shouted.
But the sounds were not coming from the ranch.
They were coming from the western hills.
Corvin stepped outside.
He could see shadows moving against the moonlight.
Tazhaa and several Apache warriors were attacking the raiders.
Not openly.
Not with a charge.
They struck from darkness.
Then disappeared.
A horse ran loose.
Another gunshot.
A man shouted.
Then silence.
Corvin watched in disbelief.
For the next hour, the same pattern repeated.
The attackers were being driven away from the ranch.
But Tazhaa did not kill everyone.
She wanted survivors.
That mattered.
Near dawn, three of Vance's men fled into the valley.
Corvin stepped into their path.
One raised his rifle.
Corvin shot the weapon from his hand.
"Where is Vance?"
The man stared.
"Go to hell."
Corvin stepped closer.
"You came here to kill me."
The man said nothing.
"Why?"
Still nothing.
Tazhaa appeared behind him.
The man's face went pale.
She said something in Apache.