She did not look at Luke. Since the moment in the ravine when she had recoiled from his touch, she had treated him like a ghost, someone who was there, but not part of the living world. They camped on a high, desolate plateau three days into the retreat. The wind howled through the rocks, drowning out the sound of the few small fires they dared to light. A council was called, not with ceremony, but out of desperation.
Taza sat by the fire, his face a mask of war paint that he had not washed off since the battle. He looked wild, his eyes feverish with a need for violence that had nowhere to go. "We go back." Taza said, his voice a rasping growl. "We leave the women here. The men ride down.
We burn Morgan's ranch to the ground. We kill his cattle. We kill his men. We kill until there is no one left to hold a rifle." A murmur of agreement went through the circle of warriors. They were hurting.
They wanted blood to pay for blood. "That is suicide." Luke said. He spoke quietly from the edge of the light. The warriors turned to him, their expressions hostile. Taza's hand dropped to the knife at his belt.
"You speak." Taza snarled. "You. Whose plan put my father in the ground?" "My plan saved the tribe from extinction." Luke said, stepping into the light. He forced himself to stand straight, ignoring the fire in his shoulder. "If you had fought in the pass, you would all be dead.
If we attack the ranch now." Luke continued, looking around the circle. "You play right into Morgan's hand. He has 50 men fortified in that house. He has the army on patrol. You ride down there, Taza, and you leave these women widows before the moon changes." "Then what?" Taza shouted, standing up.
"We sit here and starve? We wait for the snow to kill us?" "No." Luke said. "We fight, but not with bullets. Not yet." He took a breath, knowing that what he was about to say sounded insane. "Morgan is winning because he has the law." Luke said.
"He has the deeds. He has the army believing he is the victim. He is a businessman. To hurt him, you don't shoot his cows. You destroy his money.
You destroy his name." Taza spat on the ground. "White man's tricks. Paper does not stop a bullet." "It does in my world." Luke said. He looked at Ayanna. She was sitting across the fire, watching him.
Her face was unreadable in the flickering light. "Morgan is holding a meeting in town." Luke said. "I heard the men talking during the fight. He is meeting with the town council and Harlan to sign the final removal agreement. If he gets those signatures, the army will bring cannons to these mountains.