Chapter 8

"We go out together," Aiyana said.

Ethan pushed open the heavy oak door of the lodge, stepping out onto the snow-covered porch. Aiyana walked right beside him, her spine straight, her dark braids dusting against her buckskin sleeves.Behind them came Elder Tahna, his long wool blanket wrapped tightly around his narrow shoulders, his face like a piece of carved granite in the flashing lantern light.The twelve railroad riders instantly swung their rifle barrels toward the lodge porch, the metallic clicks of their weapons echoing loudly across the quiet clearing.Silas Vance reined his heavy bay horse forward, lowering his brass lantern to illuminate Ethan's face.Vance’s eyebrows raised in sharp surprise. "Well, now," Vance sneered, a dark, mocking smile spreading through his gray beard. "What’s a white rancher doing hiding in an Indian tent during a blizzard? You're Ethan Cole, aren't you? Diego Cole's boy from the south fork.""I am," Ethan said, taking two slow steps down the porch stairs onto the frozen snow, keeping his Winchester held low at his side."You're on the wrong side of the fence, Cole," Vance said, his voice dropping into a stern, warning register. "Your father was a company surveyor. He took the company's coin for ten years. You ought to know better than to stand with squatters against the territorial rail line.""My father was an honest surveyor, Vance," Ethan replied, his voice calm, clear, and carrying across the entire clearing. "And these people aren't squatters. They are legal landowners holding prior water covenants under the 1870 Territorial Treaty."Vance let out a short, bitter bark of laughter. "Treaty rights? Those old papers were canceled by the land commission three months ago! This band has no legal standing in any court in New Mexico!""They do now," Aiyana said, her voice ringing out like a silver bell across the snowy yard.She took a step forward, standing right beside Ethan, her dark eyes locking onto Vance's face with cold defiance."Under Section Four of the 1870 Treaty," Aiyana declared, her English flawless and cutting, "a married woman of native lineage holding a joint land covenant with a territorial citizen retains exclusive water rights to all headwater springs on her property. You cannot evict her, nor can you alter the water flow, without a federal hearing in Santa Fe."Vance’s smile vanished completely. His dark eyes darted from Aiyana’s proud face to Ethan Cole’s steady stance, a sudden, dangerous shadow crossing his features."Married?" Vance spat. "You expect me to believe a white rancher took an Indian girl to wife in the middle of a November blizzard?"Elder Tahna stepped to the edge of the porch, raising his ancient, weathered hand toward the sky."The hearth fire has burned," Tahna declared, his voice booming with absolute, spiritual authority. "The covenant is spoken. The water belongs to the hearth."

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