Chapter 3 - The Fence Between Them
“Put the rifle down.”
Naira's eyes flashed.
“You don't give orders here.”
“You're right.”
Elias slowly raised his hands.
“So I'm asking.”
“Tell me what happened to Tomas.”
“I don't know.”
“You recognized his name.”
“Yes.”
“Then talk.”
Elias breathed slowly.
“I heard there was trouble at Red Mesa.”
“What trouble?”
“A patrol disappeared.”
“I know that.”
“They blamed a scout.”
“Tomas.”
“Yes.”
Her grip tightened.
“They told me it was an accident.”
“I heard differently.”
Naira went still.
“What did you hear?”
“That somebody accused the scout of deliberately misleading the patrol.”
“Tomas would never do that.”
“I didn't say he did.”
“You thought it.”
“No.”
“Your Army did.”
Elias's expression hardened.
“It hasn't been my Army for a long time.”
Naira lowered the barrel several inches.
“Why did you leave?”
“That isn't what we're talking about.”
“It is now.”
Elias looked toward the window.
“I got tired of pretending orders made wrong things right.”
The rifle lowered another inch.
“Did you kill my husband?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Naira studied him.
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“Did you know the men who were?”
“Yes.”
That hurt more.
She turned away.
Elias continued.
“I was stationed south of Red Mesa. We heard fragments afterward.”
“What fragments?”
“There had been an argument.”
“Between whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying again.”
“I don't know for certain.”
Naira faced him.
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Elias hesitated.
“There was an officer named Captain Harlan Voss.”
The name meant nothing to her.
“He led the patrol?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Find him.”
Elias stared.
“What?”
“You came here carrying ghosts.”
Her voice remained calm.
“Maybe one belongs to me.”
Elias had no answer.
The next morning he prepared to leave for Silver Creek.
Samson wasn't fully healed, so Naira offered her spare horse.
“You trust me with it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But I trust you want answers.”
That was different.
Before Elias left, Naira handed him a folded piece of paper.
Tomas's name was written on it.
Below it was a date.
And one phrase.
RED MESA PATROL.
“Bring me truth,” she said.
“Even if you hate it?”
Naira looked at him.
“Especially then.”
Silver Creek appeared near noon.
Elias hadn't been in a town like it for years.
One main road.
A church.
A blacksmith.
Two saloons.
Crawford's trading post.
The moment Elias entered, Crawford recognized him.
“You're the fellow staying with the widow.”
“I'm looking for information.”
“Information costs.”
Elias put a coin down.
“Army patrol. Red Mesa. Five years ago.”
Crawford's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Elias saw it.
“Don't know anything.”
Elias took the coin back.
“Then you don't get paid.”
Crawford leaned closer.
“You should leave old graves alone.”
“That sounds like knowing something.”
“It sounds like advice.”
Elias left.
At the saloon, he asked again.
Most men remembered nothing.
Or claimed not to.
Then an old drunk named Hollis Mercer heard the name Tomas Nantan.
His glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
“You knew him?” Elias asked.
Hollis stared.
“Shouldn't say.”
“Say what?”
“That scout wasn't killed where they said.”
Elias sat down.
“Where was he killed?”
Hollis shook his head.
“Not killed.”
Elias's pulse quickened.
“What?”
Hollis leaned close enough that Elias smelled whiskey.
“I saw him two days after Red Mesa.”
“Alive?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Army wagon heading north.”
“Who was guarding him?”
Hollis's face went pale.
“Voss.”
Elias grabbed his wrist.
“Where did they take him?”
“I don't know!”
Several men turned.
Elias released him.
Hollis whispered, “But there was another man.”
“Who?”
“Crawford.”
Elias slowly looked toward the trading post across the street.
At that exact moment, Crawford stood behind his window.
Watching him.
That evening, Elias returned to the cabin.
Naira was waiting outside.
He dismounted.
“You found something.”
“Yes.”
She approached.
“Tell me.”
Elias couldn't soften it.
“Tomas survived Red Mesa.”
Naira stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He was seen alive two days later.”
The desert seemed to become silent.
“Then where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Naira's face crumpled for only a second before control returned.
Elias stepped toward her.
She stepped back.
“No.”
“Naira—”
“Five years.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Her voice broke.
“I buried an empty box in my mind every day for five years.”
Elias said nothing.
Naira looked toward the cracked knife.
Then back at him.
“If Tomas survived Red Mesa, somebody lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“And Crawford knows why.”
Elias nodded.
Naira picked up her coat.
“Where are you going?”
“Silver Creek.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Elias caught her horse's reins.
“No.”
Her eyes burned.
“You don't give orders.”
“I remember.”
“Then move.”
“Hollis was frightened just saying Crawford's name. If Crawford helped hide what happened, walking into his store after dark isn't courage.”
“What is it?”
“Giving him warning.”
Naira stared at Elias.
Finally she released the reins.
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
But neither of them knew Crawford had already sent a rider north.
May you like
And tied beneath that rider's saddle was a message containing two words:
SHE KNOWS.
