I am going to marry you, and I don't care if every white man in the territory spits on me." Ayanna's breath hitched. She placed her palm against his chest, over his heart. "And I will say yes." she promised. "Whether we are in a wikiup or a house, or sleeping under the stars, I will be your wife." She leaned in and kissed him once, hard, quick, and searing with promise. Then she pulled away, her hand lingering in his for a second before she turned and ran into the darkness to join the retreating families.
Luke stood alone by the water, touching his lips, feeling the phantom warmth of her. Then he picked up his rifle and walked back to the barricades. The attack came with the sun. The first sign was the dust, a long low cloud rolling up the valley floor, stained pink by the dawn light. Then came the rumble of hooves, a sound that vibrated in the soles of Luke's boots where he lay prone behind a cluster of boulders at the narrowest point of the pass.
Taza lay beside him, checking the action on his Winchester. "Steady." Luke whispered. "Let them come into the bottle." Morgan's men rode confidently. They expected to find sleeping victims, not a kill zone. They rode in a loose formation, rifles resting on their thighs, laughing.
At 200 yards, Luke sighted on the man in the lead, the foreman with the loud voice. "Now!" Luke yelled. 10 Rifles cracked as one. The volley was devastating. Three riders went down instantly.
Horses screamed and reared, throwing men into the dust. The foreman's horse collapsed, pinning him. Panic erupted in the valley. The cattlemen scrambled for cover, returning fire blindly at the rocks. "Hold the line!" Luke shouted, working the lever of his rifle.
For an hour, it was chaos. Bullets chipped stone fragments into their faces. The air filled with the acrid smell of black powder and blood. Taza fought like a demon, moving from rock to rock, firing, reloading, and firing again. He moved with a grace that belied his injured leg, his war cry echoing off the canyon walls.
But then the soldiers arrived. They didn't charge. They set up a position 500 yards back. Luke heard the distinctive mechanical cranking sound that chilled his blood. "Gatling!" Luke screamed.
"Get down!" The gun opened up. It sounded like a giant canvas ripping. Hundreds of rounds a minute tore into the rocks, shredding the brush, pulverizing the stone. Luke curled into a ball as rock shards rained down on him. A sudden white-hot impact spun him around.
He gasped, clutching his left shoulder. Blood oozed between his fingers. It was a flesh wound, deep, but it hadn't hit the joint. "We have to move!" Taza yelled over the roar. "They are flanking us!" Luke peered over the rock.
He saw a detachment of riders climbing the scree slope to the east, bypassing their position. They weren't trying to flank the defenders. They were heading for the ravine. "They know!" Luke realized with horror. "They found the tracks of the women!