There are caves there where they can make a stand." " You know this country well," I said. " Better than they do," Ayana replied. " Our people have lived here for generations. Every rock, every hidden spring, every safe path through the mountains, we know them all."
As the sun began to set, painting the desert in shades of red and gold, Itil suddenly raised her hand for us to stop. " Listen," she whispered. In the distance, I could hear the sound of horses and men's voices. The gang was making camp somewhere ahead of us, probably feeling secure enough to build a fire and cook a meal. " How many men are we talking about?"
I asked, "Six." When they took us, Naelli replied, "But there may be more now." They sent riders in different directions before they before they left us at the tree. Six men, possibly more, against one marshal and five women who had been tortured and left to die. The odds weren't good, but I'd faced worse.
We need to know their exact position before we make any move," I said. " And we need to know what we're really dealing with." Sidley dismounted and pressed her ear to the ground in the old Apache way. After a moment, she looked up. " Eight horses," she reported, maybe two milesles ahead in the canyon mouth. "
They're not moving." " Ayana," I said. " It's time you told me the truth about what they're after. If I'm going to risk all our lives, I need to know what we're fighting for." She was quiet for a long moment, looking at each of her sisters before turning back to me.
Our father was a chief, she began. But he was also something else. Something that made him valuable to white men and dangerous to his enemies. What kind of something? He knew the location of the hidden places, Cina said quietly.
The sacred places where our ancestors left things. I was getting tired of riddles. What kind of things? Gold, said bluntly. more gold than you've ever seen enough to buy an army.
My heart sank. Gold made men crazy. And crazy men did things that kept marshals like me busy. " Where is it?" " That's what they want to know," Ayana said.
That's what they tortured our family to learn. That's why they left us alive. They think we know the location. " Do you?" Another long silence.
Finally, Naelli spoke up. " Yes," she said simply. " We know." The implications hit me like a physical blow. If these women really knew the location of a major gold strike, then the garrison gang wasn't just a group of petty criminals. "
They were the advance scouts for something much bigger and much more dangerous." " Who else knows that, you know?" I asked. " That's the problem," Ayana said. We're not sure.
Word travels fast in Apache country and there are people on both sides who would kill to get their hands on that information. As if summoned by her words, the sound of additional horses reached us from behind. Someone else was following our trail and they were coming fast. Friends of yours? I asked.
Cina was already checking the loads and the rifle she'd taken from my saddle. No, she said grimly. Those are white men's horses and they're in a hurry. I counted the dust clouds on our back trail. At least four riders, maybe more.
We are caught between two groups. I realized the gang ahead of us and whoever's behind us. Welcome to our world, Marshal Morrison, Ayana said with bitter humor. This is what it's like to be hunted by everyone you meet. The sun was almost down now, and in the growing darkness, I had to make a choice that could get us all killed.
We go forward, I decided. Better to face known enemies than unknown ones. But as we spurred our horses toward Devil's Canyon, Ayana called out one more warning. Marshal, there's something else you need to know about the gold. " What now?"
Her voice was barely audible above the sound of hooves and wind. It's cursed. Every white man who's ever tried to take it has died violently. Our father believed that's why the ancestors hid it in the first place. Great gold, gangs, curses, and now we were riding into a canyon with enemies ahead and behind.
Just another day in the life of a territorial marshal. Devil's Canyon earned its name, honestly. The walls rose straight up from the desert floor like the ribs of some massive skeleton, and the narrow entrance was barely wide enough for two horses to ride abreast. " Whoa!" There was no way out except the way we came in, which meant that if we were wrong about the gang's position, we'd be trapped with nowhere to run. "
They're just ahead," Sidley whispered, pointing to a thin line of smoke rising from deeper in the canyon. " Maybe a quarter mile, I dismounted and checked my weapons one more time. Six shots in my Colt, 15 rounds for the Winchester, and a backup derringer in my boot. Not much against eight men, but it would have to do. " What's the plan?"
Ayana asked, sliding down from her horse with the fluid grace that all the sisters seemed to share. " You five stay here with the horses," I said. " I'll go in alone, and no." The word came from all five women simultaneously, spoken with such force that my horse actually shied away. This is not your fight alone, Cina said firmly.
These men killed our family. Apache law demands that we be the ones to balance the scales. Apache law doesn't carry weight in a federal courtroom, I pointed out. We're not in a courtroom, Il replied, her dark eyes flashing with anger. We're in Apache territory hunting Apache killers with Apache weapons.
I looked at the rifle in her hands and realized it wasn't one of mine. None of the weapons the sisters were carrying had come from my saddle. Where did you get those guns? Naelli smiled for the first time since I'd cut her down from the tree. You think we hung there helplessly for hours without planning our revenge?
We hid weapons all over this desert, Marshal. This is our land. Before I could respond, the sound of horses echoing