Caleb looked at him.
"What does it mean?"
Takoda turned toward the eastern mountains.
"It means someone who has been silent for eighteen years wants you to come home."
"Home?"
Caleb pointed west.
"My home is outside Tucson."
The chief shook his head.
"No."
Then he looked directly at Caleb.
"Not the first one."
That night Caleb did not sleep.
He sat beside the fire while most of the village rested.
Nayeli sat across from him.
For a long time neither spoke.
Finally Caleb held up the three-legged horse.
"My mother told me he died underground."
"Perhaps she believed it."
"Your father doesn't."
"No."
"You know something."
Nayeli looked toward Chief Takoda's shelter.
"I know my father had a friend when he was young."
"A white man?"
"Yes."
Caleb waited.
"My father rarely spoke of him. He said the man saved his life."
"Jonathan?"
"I never knew his name."
Caleb stared into the fire.
"Why would my father fake his death?"
"I don't know."
"Why would your father help him?"
"I don't know."
Caleb smiled bitterly.
"For a woman who chose me three hours ago, you know remarkably little about my life."
Nayeli smiled.
"I chose your character. Not your history."
"You saw me for thirty seconds."
"Long enough."
"That's either very wise or completely insane."
"We will find out."
Before sunrise, Chief Takoda announced that he would ride with Caleb to Red Mesa.
Nayeli insisted on going.
So did four trusted warriors.
They traveled east through increasingly rough country.
During the ride, Takoda finally explained part of the story.
Twenty years earlier, Jonathan Morgan had worked as a scout and freight guide.
He knew the Arizona territory better than most soldiers, ranchers, or surveyors.
Unlike many outsiders, Jonathan had learned enough Apache to speak with several communities.
During one winter, he found Takoda injured beside a dry riverbed after a skirmish.
Jonathan could have left him.
Instead, he hid Takoda inside an abandoned shepherd's shelter and brought water for three days.
"You trusted him after that?" Caleb asked.
"No."
Caleb looked surprised.
Takoda almost smiled.
"Trust takes longer than three days."
Eventually the two men became friends.
Jonathan began warning Takoda whenever armed groups planned to cross into areas where families were living.
Takoda, in return, helped Jonathan pass safely through Apache territory.
For several years the arrangement prevented bloodshed.
Then something changed.
"Your father discovered people were using both sides," Takoda said.
Caleb looked at him.
"Using us how?"
"Stealing cattle from ranchers and leaving signs suggesting Apache raiders."
Nayeli continued.
"Then attacking Apache camps and leaving equipment belonging to settlers."