Yara hated that he was right.
He continued.
“You organize patrols while I’m gone.”
“Giving orders already?”
“I thought we were partners.”
She stared.
He grinned.
“Partners use whichever person fits the job.”
Her expression softened.
“Fine.”
Then she pointed a finger at him.
“If you disappear toward California, I will find you.”
“That sounds almost romantic.”
“It was a threat.”
“Still flattering.”
She rolled her eyes.
Red Rock sat six hours southwest of the valley.
Eli rode a dun mare named Copperwind into town near sunset. He left her at a stable, bought a room above the general store, and spent two days listening more than talking.
Lucien Voss was known everywhere.
Nobody liked him.
Nobody challenged him.
The sheriff drank in the same saloon where Voss’s men spent money.
That told Eli enough.
A horse broker confirmed Voss had a buyer waiting in Sonora for “thirty desert-bred animals.” A blacksmith mentioned extra ammunition being purchased by men riding north. An old freight driver said Voss had been asking about Red Mesa’s hidden valley.
The worst information came from a gambler who had worked briefly with the gang.
“They’re not stealing a few horses next time.”
Eli bought him whiskey.
“What are they doing?”
“Taking the whole herd.”
“How?”
The man laughed.
“Can’t keep coming back if the owners are still alive.”
Eli stopped smiling.
“They plan to attack the settlement.”
The gambler shrugged.
“That’s what I heard.”
Eli returned to Red Mesa the next morning.
Yara was waiting near the entrance.
She tried to look indifferent.
Failed.
“You came back.”
“I said I would.”
“Men say many things.”
“Apparently I’m unusual.”
She almost smiled.
Then she saw his face.
“What happened?”
“Call your father.”
The council gathered within the hour.
Eli laid everything out plainly.
Voss had at least sixteen armed men.
Possibly more.
He had a buyer.
He intended to eliminate resistance.
A direct fight would be dangerous.
Tahoma’s warriors were skilled but outgunned.
“So what do we do?” Naya asked.
Eli looked toward the horse corrals.
“We let Voss steal the herd.”
The entire circle erupted.
Yara stared at him.
“You have finally lost your mind.”
“Probably.”
Tahoma raised a hand.
“Let him explain.”
Eli spread the map.
“Voss believes greed makes him smart.”
He pointed toward the northern canyon.
“We move most of the real herd tonight.”
“Where?”
“A hidden basin Yara showed me yesterday.”
Yara leaned closer.
“There isn’t enough water.”
“For two days there is.”
She understood first.
“We leave a smaller group here.”
“Exactly.”
“Then what?”
“We make it look poorly guarded.”
Yara’s eyes narrowed.
“You want him inside the valley.”
“I want him committed.”
Tahoma listened.
Eli continued.
“Once Voss thinks he has the horses, he drives them through the narrow western canyon.”
White Cedar frowned.
“That canyon closes between two walls.”
“Yes.”
Yara smiled slowly.
“And we control the ridge above it.”
“Now you’re thinking like a horse thief.”
“Careful.”
The plan took shape.
Red Mesa would appear vulnerable.
Several corrals would remain visibly occupied.
Families would move quietly toward safer caves before the attack.
Warriors would withdraw from obvious defensive positions.
Then Voss would be allowed to enter far enough that retreat became difficult.
Nobody liked it.
That was probably why it had a chance.
For three days, Eli and Yara worked side by side.
They moved horses at night.
Prepared ropes and barriers.
Positioned scouts.
Marked escape routes.
Practiced signals.
Somewhere during those hours, they stopped thinking about Moon Promise.
They simply worked.
One evening, Yara handed Eli a bowl beside the fire.
“You were supposed to be a disaster.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint.”
“I didn’t say you stopped being one.”
He smiled.
She sat beside him.
“Tomorrow is the ceremony.”
Eli looked toward her.
Tahoma had left the final choice to them.
“You still want to do it?”
Yara watched the fire.
“A week ago, no.”
“And now?”
“I still hate the idea that a river chose anything for me.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“You agree?”
“I’d rather you choose.”
Something shifted in her expression.
“So would I.”
Eli waited.
Yara took a slow breath.
“I choose to see what happens.”
He smiled.
“That sounds dangerously close to yes.”
“It is the most yes you are getting tonight.”
He laughed.
The wedding took place the following morning.
Not because the elders demanded it.
Because two stubborn people who met under ridiculous circumstances decided they had built enough trust to try.
Yara wore white buckskin decorated with turquoise and shellwork. Eli wore a new dark vest over a linen shirt, with a woven sash gifted by one of the elders.
Tahoma spoke about two roads meeting without either disappearing.
White Cedar blessed them.
Children sang.
Then came the gifts.
Yara gave Eli a knife that had belonged to her grandfather.
“For someone who gets lost often.”
He smiled.
“Very thoughtful.”
Then Eli unfolded a document.
Tahoma frowned.
“What is that?”
“Something I arranged in Red Rock.”
He spread a hand-drawn map beside it.
Two days northwest of Red Mesa lay a narrow valley surrounded by cliffs. Eli had passed it while traveling west and remembered year-round seep water along one wall.
He had asked questions in town.
The land had recently become available under a territorial claim.
Eli used nearly every dollar he had intended for California to secure the filing.
He placed the paper before Tahoma.
“The claim is registered to Red Mesa Horse Cooperative.”
Nobody spoke.
Yara stared at him.
Eli continued.
“The valley has grass.”
“Water.”
“Two narrow entrances.”
“And enough land to keep the breeding herd somewhere Voss does not know.”
Tahoma looked at the map.
“This was your California money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eli glanced toward Yara.
“California was a place.”
He looked around the settlement.
“This is becoming something else.”
Yara’s eyes filled.
She did not hug him dramatically.
She simply took his hand.
That was enough.
Lucien Voss attacked two nights later.
His men entered exactly where Eli predicted.
They saw reduced patrols.
They saw horses.
They saw opportunity.
Greed did the rest.
The thieves cut through the outer corral fence and drove the decoy herd west.
Eli waited from the ridge with Yara.
“Not yet,” she whispered.
He watched the last riders enter the canyon.
“Now.”
A signal fire appeared above the eastern wall.
Red Mesa warriors closed behind Voss.
Others blocked the western exit with fallen timber prepared days earlier.
The canyon became a trap.
Gunfire erupted.
But the Red Mesa fighters had height, cover, and preparation.
Voss had confusion.