Ayanna joined them a mile out, emerging from the brush on her mare. She didn't ask what happened. She had heard enough. The return journey was a race against despair. When they reached the camp, the sun was setting, turning the sky into a bruised purple bruise.
A council was called immediately. The firelight flickered on the faces of the warriors, highlighting the fear and the anger etched there. Taza sat with his rifle across his knees, his eyes burning. "We fight." Taza roared, striking the ground with his fist. "If they want this valley, they will pay for it in blood.
We ambush them in the pass. We kill them all." "There are too many." Luke said. He stood in the center of the circle, exhausted, dust kicking his face. "Morgan has 50 men. Harlan will send 20 soldiers with a Gatling gun to support them.
If you stand and fight toe-to-toe, you will be wiped out." "Then we die like men." Taza shouted. "Better that than to be herded like sheep to the reservation." "Think of the children." Luke shot back. "Think of the women. If the warriors die, who protects them?" Silence fell over the circle. "I have a plan." Luke said.
"It is risky, but it gives us a chance." "Speak." Nantan said. "We move the women, the children, and the elders tonight." Luke explained. "There's a ravine 3 miles north, narrow and hidden. We hide them there. Then, a small group of us, maybe 10 men, we stay here.
We light the fires. We make noise. We draw them in." "And then?" Taza asked suspiciously. "We hold the pass." Luke said. "Just long enough to make them think the whole tribe is fighting.
We make them commit their force. Then, we slip away through the goat trails on the back ridge. We lead them on a chase into the badlands, away from the families." "It is a coward's way." Taza spat. "Running and hiding." "It is a survivor's way." Luke said. The warriors muttered.
It went against their instinct to run from a fight they had been waiting for. Taza shook his head, preparing to argue again. "I agree with Luke." The voice was clear and steady. Ayanna stepped into the firelight. The tribe turned to look at her.
It was rare for a woman to speak in the war council, but she was the chief's daughter, and her face was set in stone. Taza looked at his sister, shocked. "You? You who hates the white man more than any of us? You side with him?" "I hate them." Ayanna said, her eyes flashing.
"I hate them for what I heard today in their town. I hate them for trading our land for paper, but I love our people more than I hate our enemies." She looked at Taza, then at her father. "If we stand and fight, we die, all of us. My mother's line ends. Your line ends.