"Caleb."
"What happened?"
"The judge is gone."
Caleb stood.
"Where?"
"South."
"Why?"
Samuel looked terrified.
"Rourke came to town."
Caleb's expression hardened.
"What did he do?"
"He bought the sheriff."
"Of course."
"Then he took the courthouse records."
Caleb looked at Awan.
"How much?"
"Everything."
"Everything?"
"Almost."
Samuel reached inside his coat.
He pulled out a small book.
"I kept this."
Caleb opened it.
A list.
Payments.
Names.
Dates.
Rourke's network.
Judges.
Deputies.
Officials.
Ranchers.
Businessmen.
The list went on for pages.
Caleb looked at Samuel.
"Where did you get this?"
"I copied it."
"Why?"
Samuel looked at the women.
"Because I decided I was tired of being afraid."
Caleb smiled.
"Good."
Then Samuel said:
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Rourke isn't just trying to take the valley."
Caleb waited.
"He's planning to control every major water source between here and Dry Creek."
Silence.
Caleb looked at the map.
That meant the valley was only the beginning.
Rourke wasn't fighting over one spring.
He was building a monopoly.
Water stations.
Ranches.
Wells.
Transport routes.
Anyone who needed water would eventually need him.
Caleb understood why Rourke was willing to kill.
If the plan succeeded, he would control the entire region.
Awan stared at the map.
"How do we stop him?"
Caleb looked at the twenty-two women.
Then at Samuel.
Then at Taza.
"We expose everything."
"To whom?"
"Everyone."
Caleb pointed toward Dry Creek.
"The newspaper."
Nokan shook his head.
"Rourke owns the newspaper."
"Then another."
"There isn't another."
Caleb smiled.
"There will be."
Mara looked at him.
"What are you thinking?"
Caleb folded the list.
"We don't need one judge."
He looked toward the road.
"We need a town."
The group rode toward Dry Creek.
But before they reached it, they saw smoke.
Not campfire smoke.
Building smoke.
Black.
Thick.
Rising from the town.
Caleb stopped.
Samuel's face went white.
"No."
They rode faster.
When they reached the hill above Dry Creek, they saw the courthouse burning.
The newspaper office was burning too.
The bank.
The records building.
Three warehouses.
Rourke had set the town on fire.
And beside the burning courthouse stood six men.
One of them was Crowley.
Another was Silas Rourke.
Rourke looked up.
He saw Caleb.
And smiled.
He raised one hand.
Then pointed toward the valley.
It was not a gesture of surrender.
It was a promise.
The fight was no longer about evidence.
It was about survival.
By the time Caleb and the others reached Dry Creek, half the town was burning.
People ran through the streets carrying buckets.
Children cried.
Horses broke loose from the livery.
The church bell rang continuously.
The sound made the whole town feel like it was collapsing.
Caleb dismounted.
"Stay together."
Awan looked at him.
"Where are you going?"
"The courthouse."
"It is burning."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because something may still be inside."
Caleb ran.
Taza followed.
Nokan followed Taza.
Mara shouted after them.
"Caleb!"
He didn't stop.
The heat hit him before he reached the building.
Smoke poured from the windows.
The roof had already begun to collapse.
Caleb covered his mouth.
"We have minutes."
Taza looked at him.
"Minutes for what?"
"The archive."
They entered through the side door.
The basement stairs were covered in smoke.
Caleb descended.
The shelves were burning.
Records had been thrown everywhere.
Some had already turned to ash.
Caleb searched quickly.
The original survey was gone.
But he wasn't looking for it anymore.
He was looking for something else.
A metal box.
Samuel had told him about it.
A box containing county seals, old signatures and registration records.
If Rourke had forged documents, the box could prove it.
Caleb found it beneath a fallen shelf.
He pulled it free.
A beam crashed behind him.
Taza grabbed his coat.
"Out!"
They ran.
The building collapsed seconds after they escaped.
Caleb placed the box on the ground.
Samuel opened it.
Inside were official seals.
Old registration forms.
And something else.
A handwritten ledger.
Samuel stared.
"What's that?"
Caleb opened it.
Payments.
More names.
More dates.
But the most important entry was near the end.
A payment to Crowley.
Then another to the sheriff.
Then another to a judge.
And finally:
Silas Rourke — acquisition of eastern water corridor.
Caleb looked up.
"This is enough."
Samuel shook his head.
"Enough for what?"
"To bring him down."
A gunshot sounded.
Everyone ducked.
Rourke's men were firing from the western street.
Caleb looked around.
The twenty-two women had formed a line behind overturned wagons.
They were protecting townspeople.
Mara was handing water to children.
Sani was shouting instructions.
Awan stood in the middle of the street.
He looked like a man who had been waiting for this moment his entire life.
Caleb ran toward him.
"We have the ledger."
Awan nodded.
"Good."
"Rourke has men everywhere."
"Then we have people everywhere."
Caleb smiled.
The townspeople were beginning to resist.
The blacksmith had armed three men.
The baker had brought water.
The church had opened its doors.
The schoolmaster was organizing children.
People who had spent years afraid of Rourke were finally moving.
Not because they suddenly became brave.
Because they realized everyone else was afraid too.
That was the strange thing about courage.
Sometimes it appeared when people discovered they weren't alone.
Rourke watched from the far end of the street.
He saw the crowd growing.
His men were losing control.
He turned toward Crowley.
"Get the ledger."
Crowley nodded.
He led four men forward.
Caleb saw them.
"Here they come."
Taza raised his rifle.
Caleb shook his head.
"Wait."
Crowley approached.
He shouted:
"By order of the county, surrender!"
The blacksmith laughed.
"The county burned an hour ago."
Crowley pointed his rifle.
"Move!"
Nobody moved.
Sani stepped forward.
She carried her wooden cup.
Crowley looked at her.
"What do you want?"
She held up the cup.
"Water."
"What?"
"You burned our town."
She pointed toward the spring road.
"But you can't burn water."
Crowley stared.
Then she smiled.
"That's why your master is afraid."
Crowley raised his rifle.
Caleb stepped between them.
"Don't."
Crowley looked at him.
"You should have died in that canyon."
Caleb smiled.
"People keep telling me that."
Crowley fired.
Caleb moved.
The bullet missed.
Taza fired.
Crowley dropped behind a wagon.
The street erupted.
But Caleb didn't fire again.
He shouted:
"STOP!"
Nobody listened.
Then Awan fired a shot into the air.
Silence.
Everyone froze.
Awan shouted:
"Look!"
He pointed toward the hill.
A group of riders was approaching.
Not Rourke's men.
The territorial marshals.
At least twenty.
At their front rode the judge.
The judge had survived.
And he had brought help.
Rourke saw them.
His face changed.
The judge dismounted.
"Silas Rourke."
Rourke stepped forward.
"Judge."
"You have burned a county building."
"It was an accident."
"You destroyed public records."
"Your people did."
"You threatened witnesses."
"I have witnesses who say otherwise."
The judge looked at the twenty-two women.
Then at Samuel.
Then at Caleb.
"I have twenty-two witnesses."
Rourke smiled.
"I have more money."
The judge answered:
"Not today."
The marshals surrounded him.
Rourke reached for his gun.
Three rifles immediately aimed at his chest.
He stopped.
Crowley tried to run.
Taza caught him.
The town became silent.
Rourke looked around.
The fire was still burning.
His men were disarmed.
His lawyers were gone.
His influence was collapsing.
Then he looked at Caleb.
"You think you've won."
Caleb shook his head.
"No."
Rourke frowned.
Caleb pointed toward the burning buildings.
"People lost homes tonight."
He pointed toward the women.
"Families lost everything."
Then toward the valley.
"But the water is still there."
Rourke stared at him.
Caleb continued:
"That's the thing you never understood."
"What?"
"You can own buildings."
"You can buy men."
"You can forge papers."
"You can burn records."
"But you can't own what people are willing to protect together."
Rourke said nothing.
The judge ordered him arrested.
Crowley was taken away separately.
The twenty-two women stood together as the sun rose.
None of them celebrated.
They had won something.
But they had also lost something.
Dry Creek would need rebuilding.
Families needed homes.
The valley needed protection.
The spring needed to be secured permanently.
Caleb looked at the women.
Then at Awan.
"We aren't finished."
Awan nodded.
"No."
Mara looked at the burning town.
"What happens now?"