She tapped the place. Then she said several words in Apache and looked at him. Ran did not understand the words. He did understand the question in her eyes. "That's outside my land," he said.
Aina gave him a small deliberate gesture that seemed to say that's exactly why. The next morning, Ran saddled up and rode toward the place she had marked. He did not have to search long. Two more oversized iron traps lay concealed beside a deer trail that cut through a narrow hollow. They were buried carefully enough that a man on horseback might never have noticed them.
Ran did. He dug both traps out, hauled them back, and added them to the pile with the others. As he stacked the heavy iron against the pine, one thought stayed with him. Whoever had put them there knew what they were doing. And somewhere in those mountains, those men had to be camped.
Ran got his answer sooner than he expected. It was the 12th day. That afternoon, he was repairing a broken stretch of fence along the upper pasture when movement at the edge of the timber caught his eye. Three shapes were coming through the pines. Two men rode in front.
A third horse, loaded with gear, followed behind them. They were not traveling fast. That bothered Ran more than if they had been galloping. The riders kept studying the ground, the treeline, and the distant buildings with the kind of attention men gave a place when they were hunting for something specific. They were not passing through.
They were searching. Ran dropped what he was doing and headed straight back to the cabin. Aina sat beside the table working once again on the old harness leather. The moment Ran entered, she looked up and set the tool down. He told her about the riders.
She already knew. She had heard the horses from inside the cabin long before Ran returned. Her few belongings were already rolled tightly beside the wall. "They're coming here," Ran said. "They've probably seen the chimney smoke." Aina did not move.
Ran thought for a moment, then spoke in a tone that left no room for doubt. I want you in the back room. Stay there until this is over. Aina slowly shook her head. Ran knew that look by now.
It was the same refusal she had given him before. Only this time there was something harder beneath it, something final. She stood. Only then did Ran see the short ash bow hidden among her belongings. It was a compact recurve bow, well-made, tightly strung, and ready to use.