"I was unconscious."
Isaiah took his Winchester.
Clara picked up Thomas's revolver.
He looked at it.
"You know how to use that?"
"My father taught me."
"Good."
"Surprised?"
"I'm trying not to make assumptions about widows carrying evidence men kill for."
The first bullet broke the window.
Glass burst across the room.
Isaiah pushed Clara behind the adobe wall.
Another bullet punched through the wooden door.
A voice shouted from outside.
"Cole!"
Isaiah glanced toward Clara.
"Sounds like they know me."
Another voice.
"Send out the woman and the book!"
Clara's stomach tightened.
Isaiah checked the rifle.
"Back door?"
She asked.
"No."
"Cellar?"
"No."
"Then what's the plan?"
Isaiah looked toward the stove.
"Make them think there's a back door."
Before Clara could ask, he kicked over a bucket of water onto the coals.
Steam exploded through the room.
Then he fired through the wall toward the horse pen.
The animals panicked.
Wood cracked.
Hooves thundered.
Men outside shouted.
Isaiah grabbed Clara's wrist.
"Now."
They crawled through the broken window on the opposite side.
Clara landed hard.
Pain tore through her shoulder.
Isaiah pulled her upright.
They ran behind the cabin.
"There is a back door," Clara hissed.
"No."
He pointed toward a narrow gap between two rock walls.
"Better."
A rifle cracked.
Sand jumped near Clara's boots.
They entered the rocks.
The passage was barely wide enough for one person.
Isaiah knew every turn.
Within minutes, the shouting behind them faded.
They emerged above a dry wash where two horses were tied beneath cottonwoods.
Clara stared at him.
"You prepared an escape route."
"I've been wanted for four years."
"Of course."
He helped her onto a horse.
She winced.
Isaiah noticed.
"Can you ride?"
"Can you stop asking irritating questions?"
"That's a yes."
They rode west.
Not toward Santa Fe.
Clara noticed after twenty minutes.
"You're taking me the wrong way."
"Santa Fe is the first place they'll expect."
"Judge Holloway is waiting for the ledger."
"If you make it there."
"I intend to."
"So did Thomas."
The words silenced her.