"Down!" Jonah shouted.
Mara dropped behind a fallen tree as another shot tore through the branches overhead. Isabel Navarro stumbled backward, clutching the satchel containing the ledgers.
Caleb caught her before she fell.
"Are you hit?"
"No."
"Stay low."
Beyond the orchard, Silas Rook's voice rang through the darkness.
"Mercer! Both of you! Come out where we can see you!"
Jonah gave a bitter laugh.
"He's never been especially creative."
Caleb glanced at his younger brother.
"You know him?"
"Better than I'd like."
"How well?"
"Well enough to know he'll shoot us whether we surrender or not."
Another bullet struck the tree.
Mara looked between them.
"Then perhaps we should stop discussing his personality."
Jonah smiled despite the danger.
"She's got a point."
Caleb studied the orchard.
The mission stood behind them, its ruined tower silhouetted against the stars. To the north, a low stone wall separated the orchard from a narrow trail descending into the valley.
Their horses were tied beyond that wall.
But reaching them meant crossing forty yards of open ground.
Rook had at least three men.
Possibly more.
Caleb counted the flashes from their rifles.
One near the chapel.
One behind the well.
Another at the orchard gate.
"They're spread too far apart," he murmured.
Jonah nodded.
"Trying to keep us from reaching the horses."
"Then we give them something else to watch."
Caleb reached into his coat and removed a small pouch of cartridges.
Jonah looked at him.
"Still carrying more ammunition than common sense?"
"Still talking when you should be listening?"
For a moment, they were boys again.
Two brothers arguing in the barn while their mother called them to supper.
Then another bullet struck the wall, and the memory vanished.
Caleb pointed toward the chapel.
"There's a dry trough beside the well. Can you reach it?"
Jonah studied the distance.
"Probably."
"Take two shots toward the orchard gate, then move."
"What are you going to do?"
"Make Rook think we're heading east."
Jonah frowned.
"That's not much of a plan."
"It's the best one we've got."
Mara interrupted.
"No."
Both men turned.
She was crouching beside Isabel, her face pale but determined.
"We're not splitting up."
Caleb opened his mouth.
She raised a hand.
"You told me we would leave together."
"I remember."
"Then keep your word."
Jonah looked from one to the other.
Something knowing flickered across his face.
Caleb ignored him.
"Mara, we have to—"
"There's another way."
She pointed toward the mission's outer wall.
"My grandfather used to bring us here during the summer. There was an irrigation channel running beneath the orchard."
Isabel looked up.
"She's right."
Caleb turned.
"Where?"
"Behind the old olive press," Isabel said. "It connects to the northern wash."
Jonah's expression brightened.
"That would put us below the ridge."
"And behind their horses," Mara added.
Caleb considered it.
Then nodded.
"All right."
Jonah grinned.
"Seems somebody else is making the plans now."
Caleb gave him a look.
"Get moving."
They crawled along the wall toward the abandoned olive press.
Behind them, Rook continued shouting threats.
But the gunfire slowed.
The men were waiting.
Watching the wrong places.
Mara found the channel beneath a tangle of dead vines.
The opening was narrow, partially filled with sand, but still passable.
She entered first.
Isabel followed.
Jonah went next.
Caleb remained behind long enough to fire twice toward the orchard gate.
The answering gunfire was immediate.
Then he disappeared into the channel.
They crawled through darkness, their clothes scraping against rough stone.
The passage smelled of damp earth and old roots.
At one point, Isabel stopped to catch her breath.
Mara reached back and took her hand.
"Almost there."
The old woman nodded.
"Your grandmother would have been proud of you."
Mara swallowed.
"She might have preferred that I stayed out of trouble."
Isabel smiled faintly.
"Rosa never stayed out of trouble herself."
They emerged beneath a low ridge north of the mission.
Above them, the gunmen were still watching the orchard.
Caleb helped Isabel to her feet.
"Where are your horses?" he asked Jonah.
"Beyond the rocks."
"How many?"
"Three."
Caleb looked at the group.
"Four people."
Jonah shrugged.
"I wasn't expecting a reunion."
Mara glanced at Isabel.
"She can ride with me."
The old woman shook her head.
"No."
Mara frowned.
"Isabel—"
"I'm not leaving Saint Agnes."
Caleb stared at her.
"They'll come back."
"I know."
"They may kill you."
"They may."
Her expression remained calm.
"But someone has to keep this place alive."
Jonah stepped forward.
"You don't owe the mission your life."
Isabel looked at him.
"Perhaps not. But there are graves here that deserve someone to remember their names."
Caleb understood.
He had seen his mother's grave.
He knew what it meant to Isabel.
Still, he could not leave her unprotected.
"Then come with us until the danger passes."
She shook her head again.
"There is a supply trail south of the mission. I can reach the settlement at San Rafael before dawn."
Jonah frowned.
"Alone?"
"I have traveled this country longer than any of you."
Mara embraced her.
"Thank you."
Isabel held her tightly.
"Your grandmother trusted you to finish what she began."
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know if I can."
"You already have."
The old woman stepped back.
Then she looked at Caleb.
"Don't let grief turn you into the men you're fighting."
He nodded.
"I'll try."
"Trying is where good men begin."
Isabel disappeared along the southern trail.
The others mounted.
Caleb and Mara shared the black gelding.
Jonah rode a gray mare.
They traveled north until the mission vanished behind the hills.
Only then did Caleb speak.
"Tell me about Harrow."
Jonah looked over.
"Edward Harrow?"
"Yes."
"He's coming to Red Hollow tomorrow morning."
"You said he has the original testimony."
"He does."
"Why would he bring evidence that could destroy him?"
Jonah's expression darkened.
"Because he doesn't know I have a copy of the agreement that explains what it means."
Mara leaned forward.
"What agreement?"
Jonah reached inside his coat and removed a folded sheet.
He handed it to Caleb.
The document bore the seal of the Red Hollow Development Company.
It was dated October 20, 1870.
Two days after Black Mesa.