One of Win’s men was stationed at each opening. One fired a shot of warning. Another followed. Then another and another.

This is it, Win thought. The standoff he’d dreaded. But he had the high ground, and with the caprock wall’s help, he’d hold them back. He didn’t want to kill the cattle. Let the ranchers keep them below. The strong ones would survive. But, no, they wanted to get them to market without having to suffer any loss.

He studied the border, watching, waiting. Cheyenne rode at his side.

‘‘It looks like they’re spreading the herd out, planning to push them all at once.’’

‘‘If they do, several will break their legs trying to climb up rough trails. Any cow that falls will be trampled.’’ Win didn’t want to think what the sight might be like if they stampeded.

‘‘They’re hoping we don’t have enough men to cover every trail.’’

Win watched closely. ‘‘Do we?’’ he asked more to himself than Cheyenne.

A man Win recognized as one of the fellows he’d seen in the settlement the night he’d gone after Kora, rode through the pass with his hands high.

‘‘Mr. McQuillen!’’ he yelled. ‘‘I just want to talk.’’

‘‘That’s close enough!’’ Win shouted back. ‘‘Tell your boss to turn them around. They’ll not cross my land.’’

‘‘But the next crossing is a hundred miles away,’’ the man tried to reason. ‘‘If you’ll let us cross in one place, my boss is willing to pay you. He’ll even leave men to help burn the grass his cattle move over.’’

‘‘No,’’ Win answered. ‘‘I can’t take the risk!’’ He knew burning the grass would prevent the sickness from spreading. But with a herd this size, all it would take was one calf getting away from the others, and all his cattle would be infected within days. He’d be risking all he had, all he’d worked for.

‘‘Not even for money?’’ the man exclaimed. ‘‘Name your price.’’

‘‘No,’’ Win answered, knowing he wouldn’t compromise. How could he put a price on his ranch?

‘‘We could run them through. You haven’t got enough men to stop the entire herd.’’

‘‘I said no!’’ Win shouted. ‘‘And we will stop every last beef.’’

The man turned his horse around as if to leave. ‘‘How about to save your wife?’’ he queried over his shoulder.

THIRTY-ONE


THE SETTLEMENT SEEMED DESERTED AS JAMIE MOVED the team toward Rae’s shack. In daylight the place was even worse than it had been at night.

Jamie jumped out of the wagon and tied the team while Logan slowly climbed down from the back.

‘‘I’m going to talk to Wyatt.’’ Jamie smoothed down the wrinkles on her borrowed dress. ‘‘You and Logan can handle Dan.’’

‘‘But the note didn’t say where to find him. And he said this afternoon. He may not be here for an hour yet,’’ Kora answered. ‘‘Wait a few minutes and we’ll all go with you.’’

‘‘No way.’’ Jamie started moving away. ‘‘I have to go alone for the same reason I wore a dress. He might just be asking me to run away with him. So a girl’s got to look her best and a man has to ask when they’re alone.’’

Kora opened her mouth to argue, but her sister was already several yards away.

Rae came to the door as Jamie disappeared between two tents. ‘‘Mornin’,’’ she mumbled. ‘‘Where’s the girl running off to?’’

‘‘Wyatt sent a note for her to meet him here,’’ Kora answered as she moved into the cabin. ‘‘How’s Dan?’’

‘‘He’s fine. We’ve had a grand time.’’ Rae laughed, patting Dan on the arm. ‘‘We stayed up late talking.’’

‘‘You did?’’

‘‘Sure, he told me how much he loves his sisters and how grateful he is for all they do for him.’’

Kora looked shocked for a moment, then she caught Rae winking at Logan. ‘‘What else did he say?’’ she asked, enjoying the old woman’s lie.

‘‘He told me he loves you very much and that if you were the one lost inside your own head, he’d be there to take care of you.’’

Kora straightened Dan’s collar as he stared at a crack in the cabin that allowed a sliver of sunshine in. ‘‘I think he would,’’ she whispered. ‘‘During this conversation, did you tell him I loved him?’’

Rae smiled. ‘‘I didn’t have to. He knows.’’

Kora took Dan’s hand and slowly guided him from the cabin. ‘‘Did you have any trouble with Andrew after I left?’’

‘‘No.’’ Rae giggled. ‘‘I was handling drunks before he could grow chest hair. I sent him on his way.’’

When they reached the wagon, Rae glanced in the direction Jamie had gone. ‘‘Your sister’s gonna have a problem finding that gambler, Wyatt. Him and all his kind left out of here as soon as the storm broke, and I haven’t heard none come back.’’

As Kora helped Logan lift Dan into the wagon, she glanced at the old man and saw worry in his eyes.

‘‘You’re sure Wyatt isn’t here?’’

Rae scratched her tumbleweed hair. ‘‘I ain’t seen nobody but those two drifters who found Win in the snake pit. They asked when you was coming to get your brother, and I told them it ain’t none of their concern and they’d better be in the next state before you see them.’’

While Logan helped Kora down from the wagon, a scream shattered the morning air from just beyond the trees.

‘‘Stay with Dan!’’ Logan shouted as he pulled his gun. ‘‘I’ll go see about Jamie.’’

Kora covered Dan with a blanket as he lay down in the wagon bed filled with hay. She reached for the rifle beneath the seat and waited.

Rae grabbed a knife from her cabin and stood beside her.

Silence. Nothing but silence. Logan and Jamie were both gone, leaving Kora alone with an old woman and Dan. Alone and in the open, for she’d not put her rifle down to help Dan back inside. Alone with the feeling that someone was moving slowly through the brush toward her.

Win narrowed his gaze and lowered his hat against the afternoon sun as rays bounced off the barrel of his Winchester.

All the years of burying his emotions, of hiding his tears, of refusing to allow any feelings to surface exploded into one eruption of anger. He drew his rifle and took aim at the man in the center of the pass.

Cheyenne was at his side. ‘‘Wait!’’ he whispered. ‘‘Let’s hear what he has to say. They’re bluffing. You and I both know Kora is safe with both Logan and Jamie watching over her.’’

‘‘I’m not so sure. After all, that drunk Adams didn’t have any trouble stealing her from under our noses.’’ Win didn’t take his attention from the stranger in the pass. ‘‘I’ll kill them all if they try to use Kora as bait.’’

‘‘I’ll help you,’’ Cheyenne agreed. ‘‘But my guess is they’re lying.’’

Nodding slowly, Win turned and yelled down at the man in the pass. ‘‘Leave my wife out of this!’’

‘‘I’d like to, Mr. McQuillen. We don’t want to hurt her. All we want to do is get our cattle to market. But the boss has given orders to move north no matter what we have to do.’’

‘‘Not across my land!’’ Win answered.

‘‘We’ll give you an hour to think about it. Then we’ll show you that wife of yours for the last time unless the cattle start moving through this pass.’’

Win watched the man disappear below the caprock. Reason told him that they couldn’t have Kora. But his heart argued, what if they did? He pulled back out of sight and signaled his men to move closer.

They formed a campsite far enough away to be safe and rotated guard. In a few hours it would be dark and not a man would ride for home. Win climbed down from his horse and began to pace. There wasn’t time to send someone to check on Kora, so he had to accept the possibility that they had her. But these weren’t murderers. They were ranchers. Running cattle was one thing; killing a woman seemed quite another. Something beyond profits from the herds must be driving them.

‘‘Rider coming in!’’ one of Win’s hands yelled as a rider galloped in from the west.

Win looked up as a stranger, traveling fast, kicked his horse toward them. For a moment he looked familiar. All he needed was a dark duster.

But as he rode closer, Win recognized the gambler. He’d shed his black suit and string tie in favor of chaps and cotton.

‘‘Wyatt,’’ he whispered to Cheyenne. Both men rested their hands on the handle of their Colts.

Wyatt jumped from his mount without slowing. ‘‘Wait!’’ he shouted. ‘‘Don’t start shooting. They’ve got your wife!’’

‘‘What?’’ Win grabbed Wyatt by the collar. ‘‘How do you know?’’

The gambler knocked Win’s hand away with surprising strength. ‘‘I know because I’ve been watching them for weeks now.’’ He straightened before them, looking far less of a dandy than he had before. ‘‘An hour ago I saw two men riding near the settlement with your wife across one man’s saddle. She was screaming and kicking, but alive.’’

‘‘Are you sure?’’

‘‘She had on that same blue dress she wore the last time I visited your place.’’

Win studied him closely. The pieces had never fit with Wyatt. He rode too well to be a man who spent his days at a gaming table. He disappeared and reappeared whenever trouble boiled. ‘‘The only reason you’re alive is because of what you did to help my wife at the settlement. But don’t bank too heavy on one action. You’ve got some explaining to do.’’