Then a rifle shot cracked from the far road.
Every horse along the fence seemed to feel the sound. Heads came up. A child began to cry, then was quieted by the woman holding him. Jonah ducked instinctively behind the gatepost. Mara turned her mare in a tight circle, looking toward the road, but Chief Tomas remained where he stood.
Three mounted men appeared beyond the dry crossing. The one in front was Harlan Voss, broad-shouldered and clean-shaven, wearing a black coat too expensive for a man who claimed that everyone in the valley was suffering equally. Beside him rode Sheriff Amos Bell. The third rider was one of Voss's ranch workers, a younger man who was hastily lowering the rifle he had just fired into the air.
"That's enough," Sheriff Bell snapped at the worker. "Put that thing away."
Voss ignored him. He stared at the gathered riders, then at Corvin. "What in heaven's name have you brought onto this land?"
"Visitors," Corvin answered.
"Three hundred of them? You expect me to believe they came for coffee?"
"They came to thank me for helping a man yesterday."
Voss gave a sharp laugh. "And you believed that?"
Mara heard every word. She moved to stand beside her father and folded her hands over her reins. "We did not come to ask your permission to be grateful, Mr. Voss."
The cattleman looked startled that she knew his name. Corvin was not surprised. Harlan Voss owned the largest herd for sixty miles and made sure everyone knew it.
Sheriff Bell dismounted. He was a tired, square-faced man whose badge had lost most of its shine. He was also one of the few men in Red Wash whom Corvin had seen stop a saloon fight without firing a shot.
"Corvin," Bell said carefully, "somebody rode into town at first light saying a large group was moving toward your place. People are frightened."
"Then tell them the truth."
"I need to know it first."
Corvin explained the ravine, the injured man, the water, and the return of the relatives who had come for him. Mara supplied the details he did not know. Elias was being cared for at their community's camp, and the leg injury had been set and bound. He was weak but awake. The gathering had been discussed late into the night. Some people could not make the ride, but those who came wanted the man who had helped Elias to hear their thanks from more than one voice.
Bell listened. When Mara finished, he removed his hat and nodded to Tomas. "I see no crime in saying thank you."
Voss's face tightened. "And what about the missing water from the northern wash? Did your visitors explain that, too?"
Corvin stared at him. Voss had spoken of the missing water before anyone else had mentioned it.