"Why?"
"Because I thought I was protecting her."
"Did it work?"
"No."
Aayoka folded the letter.
"Then perhaps we should promise each other something."
"What?"
"No secrets meant to protect the other person."
Elias nodded.
"Agreed."
She held out her hand.
He took it.
"Agreed."
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Elias noticed something.
"There's another page."
Aayoka looked down.
A second sheet was folded behind the first.
She opened it.
This one contained only a few lines.
Tomas had written a name.
Nathaniel Grey.
Elias recognized it.
"The surveyor?"
Aayoka nodded.
"Who died two years ago."
"Yes."
"Why would Tomas mention him?"
"I don't know."
Elias took the paper.
Below the name was a location.
A small settlement several days east.
And one sentence.
He kept the original map.
Elias looked up.
"What map?"
Aayoka shook her head.
"I don't know."
They spent the rest of the morning searching the cabin.
They opened drawers.
Moved furniture.
Checked beneath floorboards.
Nothing.
Finally, Elias noticed an old painting hanging crookedly on the wall.
He removed it.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside was a rolled map.
Aayoka stared.
"That's it."
Elias opened it carefully.
It was a survey of the valley.
But something was marked in red.
A narrow section of land beyond the eastern ridge.
A place neither of them had ever explored.
"Why would Tomas mark this?"
"I don't know."
"Then we find out."
They packed supplies.
The next morning, they left.
The journey took them through forests and rocky hills.
For two days, nothing happened.
On the third morning, they found an abandoned cabin.
The door was broken.
The windows were gone.
Inside, the walls were covered with faded writing.
Aayoka walked slowly through the room.
Then she stopped.
"Look."
On the wall was the name Nathaniel Grey.
Beneath it was a date.
And beneath that, another name.
Caleb Rourke.
Elias's expression hardened.
"He came here."
"Why?"
They searched the cabin.
Under a loose floorboard, Elias found a metal box.
Inside were documents.
Receipts.
Names.
Land transfers.
Payments.
And a ledger.
The ledger showed that Rourke had been buying properties under false claims for years.
But there was more.
Several payments had been made to local officials.
Including the sheriff.
Aayoka stared at the pages.
"The sheriff."
Elias nodded.
"This explains why he never helped you."
They returned to Red Mesa with the evidence.
But before they could reach town, they were ambushed.
Three riders appeared on the ridge.
Elias pulled Aayoka behind a rock.
Gunshots cracked through the valley.
"Stay down."
"I'm not a child."
"I know."
Another shot.
The horse beside them panicked.
Aayoka grabbed its reins.
"Elias!"
He looked up.
One rider was circling behind them.
Aayoka picked up a fallen branch and struck the horse's leg.
The animal reared.
The rider fell.
Elias fired.
The other two fled.
Silence returned.
Aayoka looked at him.
"You were right."
"About what?"
"Rourke would not stop."
Elias checked her for injuries.
"I'm fine."
She smiled.
"You always say that."
He stared at her.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't make me laugh right now."
"Why?"
"Because I was terrified."
She touched his face.
"I know."
That night they slept in the forest.
Neither slept much.
They sat beside the fire.
Aayoka looked at the flames.
"Do you regret it?"
"What?"
"Choosing me."
Elias looked at her.
"No."
"Even now?"
"Especially now."
She smiled.
"Why?"
"Because before you, I was surviving."
"And now?"
"Now I am living."
She leaned against him.
"I think I am too."
The next day, they returned to Red Mesa.
The sheriff tried to deny everything.
But the ledger was undeniable.
The territorial authorities were called.
The sheriff was arrested.
Several officials were investigated.
Rourke disappeared.
For weeks, no one knew where he had gone.
Then, one morning, a letter arrived.
It was addressed to Elias.
There was no signature.
Only one sentence.
This is not over.
Elias burned it.
Aayoka watched.
"You aren't worried?"
"I am."
"But?"
"I refuse to spend the rest of my life waiting for someone to hurt me."
She nodded.
"Good."
Summer arrived.
The ranch flourished.
Aayoka's garden became the largest in the valley.
Elias rebuilt the barn.
Together they repaired the fence between their properties.
Then one evening, Elias walked to the creek.
Aayoka was there.
She was sitting beneath an old cottonwood.
He sat beside her.
"I have something for you."
She looked at him.
"What?"
He reached into his pocket.
It was not a ring.
Not yet.
Instead, it was a small wooden pendant.
He had carved it himself.
A mountain.
A river.
And two trees standing beside each other.
Aayoka held it.
"You made this?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted something that meant home."
Her eyes filled.
"You are becoming sentimental."
"I blame you."
She laughed.
Then she looked at the pendant.
"What does this mean?"
"The mountain is what we've survived."
"The river?"
"Everything that keeps moving."
"The trees?"
Elias looked at her.
"Two lives that grew beside each other."
Aayoka closed her hand around it.
"I love it."
He smiled.
"Good."
She leaned closer.
"Now I have something for you."
"What?"
She kissed him.
"That's unfair."
"Why?"
"Because I cannot wear it."
She laughed.
"Then perhaps you should give me another gift."
"What kind?"