But this tunnel has to end somewhere. We kept going. Minutes blurred together. Maybe hours. Then suddenly something appeared ahead of us.
A faint glow. Light. There was light at the end of the tunnel. We ran toward it. Moments later, we stepped out into a hidden valley completely surrounded by mountains.
From the outside, no man would ever have guessed such a place existed. And there, standing in the center of the valley, was an ancient stone structure. Small, weathered, almost like a forgotten temple. Seiya stared at it. "There," she whispered.
Her voice was barely audible. "The treasure is inside." We ran toward the stone building. Its doorway stood wide open, almost as if it had been waiting for us for generations. We stepped it inside and what we saw stopped us cold. Gold was everywhere.
Piles of coins covered the floor. Heavy bars were stacked against the walls. There were jewels, precious stones, and old wooden chests overflowing with riches beyond anything I had ever imagined. Everywhere I looked, treasure glittered beneath the thin shafts of sunlight spilling through cracks in the roof. "Good Lord," I whispered.
Seiya stood completely still beside me, staring at the fortune with wide, unbelieving eyes. "We found it," she breathed. "Cade, we actually found it." I looked at her. "Then you're free now. Even a small part of this could buy you the life no man could control.
You could go anywhere you wanted and become whoever you chose to be. Seiya turned toward me. And you? What will you do? I don't know.
I suppose I'll go back to the ranch, try to put things back together, and return to that quiet life I had before all this started without me. My heart gave a hard beat. That depends on you. Seiata took a step closer. Cade, I don't want to.
She never finished. Voices suddenly echoed from outside. A lot of voices. We spun toward the entrance. Boon Voss stood there and behind him were the Voss riders, nearly 20 armed men.
"Well, well," Boon said, wearing a smile cold enough to freeze desert water. "Looks like we finally made it." I immediately stepped in front of Seiya. How did you find us? Boon laughed. I followed you, fool.
Ever since Three Rocks, I've let the two of you do the hard work. He glanced around at the mountains of gold. And now I'm here to collect my reward. The treasure belongs to Seiya. Boon threw his head back and laughed.
Treasure belongs to whoever has the strength to take it, cowboy. His eyes hardened. And that man is going to be me. The Voss riders spread through the temple, surrounding us from every side. Boon looked past me towards Seiya.
And I'm taking the woman, too. That map of hers may come in handy again someday. You'll have to walk over my dead body first. Boon drew his revolver. That can be arranged.