And a thin white veil covered her head and face, hanging all the way to her hips.
She was facing away from him.
Raven stopped.
“My daughter.”
The woman slowly turned.
Caleb saw only one side of her face.
The veil obscured most of her features.
“Mara,” Raven said.
Mara did not speak.
She simply looked at Caleb.
There was something strange in her eyes.
Not fear.
Not curiosity.
Recognition.
As if she had known him for a very long time.
Caleb looked at Raven.
“You brought me here to meet her?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I brought you here because I have an offer.”
Caleb waited.
Raven looked directly into his eyes.
“You want land.”
“Yes.”
“I can give you land.”
“What do you want in return?”
Raven's voice was calm.
“You will marry my daughter.”
The wind suddenly seemed to disappear.
Caleb stared at him.
Then at Mara.
“You're joking.”
“I am not.”
“Why?”
Raven did not answer immediately.
Mara remained perfectly still.
Finally, Raven said:
“Because if you do not marry her, both you and she will be dead before winter ends.”
A chill moved down Caleb's spine.
He looked at the woman behind the veil.
For the first time, she raised one hand.
Her fingers touched the edge of the white fabric.
But she did not remove it.
Instead, she spoke softly.
“Don't agree.”
Caleb looked at her.
“Why?”
Mara's voice dropped even lower.
“Because once you see my face…”
She stopped.
Caleb waited.
“…you will never be able to return to the life you had before.”
Caleb felt something he had not felt in years.
Fear.
Not fear of guns.
Not fear of Raven.
Not even fear of death.
Something worse.
He suddenly realized that his journey to Moon Valley might never have been about finding land.
Someone had been waiting for him.
Someone knew his father's name.
Someone knew his family secrets.
And that someone was standing in front of him behind a white veil.
Caleb looked at Raven.
“What happens if I refuse?”
Raven's face became grim.
“Then you ride back down that mountain.”
Caleb waited.
“And?”
Raven looked toward the dark peaks surrounding the valley.
“And you will never make it past the bridge.”
Caleb's eyes narrowed.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Raven's voice was almost a whisper.
“It is a warning.”
Mara suddenly turned away.
Caleb watched her disappear into the house.
Something about the way she moved disturbed him.
She did not walk like someone waiting for rescue.
She walked like someone who already knew exactly how the story would end.
And Caleb had the uncomfortable feeling that he had just stepped into a story that had begun long before he arrived.
A story involving his father.
His missing sister.
A dead man who had left no grave.
And a mysterious woman whose face no one in Moon Valley was allowed to see.
Caleb looked at Raven one last time.
“I'll think about your offer.”
Raven nodded.
“You have until tomorrow night.”
“And if I say yes?”
Raven's expression changed.
For the first time, Caleb saw something resembling sorrow in the old chief's eyes.
“Then you will become part of this family.”
Caleb looked toward the house.
“And if I say no?”
Raven turned away.
“Then you will become part of its funeral.”
The old chief walked toward the house.
Caleb remained alone beneath the cold mountain sky.
Behind him, the valley stretched toward the horizon.
Ahead of him stood a house containing a woman whose face he had never seen.
And somewhere beyond the mountains, something was moving closer.
Something that had been waiting for Caleb Mercer to return.
The first snow of the year began to fall.
And Caleb understood that whatever decision he made tomorrow would change his life forever.
Caleb Mercer spent the night staring at the ceiling.
Sleep refused to come.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Mara standing beneath the porch, her face hidden behind white fabric.
Don't agree.
Those two words had been spoken so softly that he almost wondered whether he had imagined them.
But he had not.
The following morning, Caleb rode back toward the settlement.
Snow had covered the trail during the night. The mountains looked different beneath the white blanket. Cleaner.
More dangerous.
At the bridge, Captain Cole was waiting.
He sat on his horse with both hands resting on the saddle horn.
“You came back.”
Caleb dismounted.
“I have a meeting with Raven.”
Cole's eyes narrowed.
“You're making a mistake.”
“That seems to be a popular opinion around here.”
“You should listen to it.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“Did you leave the note outside my room?”
Cole's expression did not change.
“What note?”
“The one telling me not to marry Mara.”
For the first time, something flickered across the captain's face.
It was gone almost immediately.
But Caleb saw it.
“You don't know what you're getting into,” Cole said.
“Then tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Can't or won't?”
Cole looked toward the mountains.
“Both.”
Caleb climbed onto Dusty.
“Then move.”
Cole did not.
For several seconds, the two men stared at one another.
Finally, Cole moved his horse aside.
But as Caleb crossed the bridge, he heard him say:
“If you marry her, don't trust the veil.”
Caleb stopped.
He turned.
“What does that mean?”
Cole was already riding away.
By the time Caleb reached Raven's house, the snow had begun falling again.
Mara was standing outside.
This time, she wore a dark red shawl.
The veil was still there.
“You came back,” she said.
“I said I would think about it.”
“And?”
“I haven't decided.”
Mara lowered her eyes.
“You should leave.”
“You've said that already.”
“Because you didn't listen.”
Caleb dismounted.
“Why does everyone keep telling me to leave?”
“Because you're the first person who has arrived here without knowing what you were walking into.”
“What am I walking into?”
Mara looked toward the house.
“My father's war.”
Caleb frowned.
“Your father is fighting someone?”
“He has been fighting someone for twenty years.”
“Who?”
Mara did not answer.
Instead she asked:
“Did my father tell you about Elias Mercer?”
Caleb froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What does he have to do with yours?”
Mara looked at him through the veil.
“Everything.”
Before Caleb could ask another question, Raven appeared.
“Inside.”
They entered the house.
A large fire burned in the stone fireplace.
Raven sat at a heavy wooden table.
Mara stood beside the window.
Caleb remained near the door.
Raven poured three cups of coffee.
“You came for an answer.”
“I came for the truth.”
“You may not like it.”
“I didn't come here to like anything.”
Raven nodded.
“Twenty-three years ago, your father came to Moon Valley.”
Caleb's jaw tightened.
“What was he doing here?”
“He was looking for someone.”
“My sister?”
“No.”
Caleb waited.
“He was looking for a woman named Elena Vale.”
The name meant nothing to him.
“Who was she?”
Raven stared into the fire.
“My wife.”
Caleb's eyes widened.
Mara turned from the window.
“You never told me that,” Caleb said.
“Because there are truths that become dangerous when spoken aloud.”
“What happened to her?”
Raven's face hardened.
“She was murdered.”
“By whom?”
Raven looked directly at Caleb.
“Your father was blamed.”
Silence filled the room.
Caleb shook his head.
“No.”
“I saw him.”
“You're lying.”
“I have no reason to.”
“My father wasn't a murderer.”
“I did not say he killed her.”
Caleb stopped.
Raven continued.
“I said he was blamed.”
“What happened?”
“Your father discovered who killed Elena.”
“Who?”
Raven leaned back.
“That is what people have been killing to keep secret.”
Caleb felt the room become colder.
Mara finally spoke.
“My father believed your family was protecting the killer.”
Caleb looked at her.
“And now?”
“Now,” she said, “he knows he was wrong.”
Raven nodded.
“Your father was not Elena's killer. He was trying to expose him.”
“Then why was he killed?”
Raven's eyes darkened.
“Because he found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“A book containing the names of men who bought land illegally, bribed officials, murdered settlers, and stole water from this valley.”
Caleb's heart began pounding.
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“Who took it?”
Raven did not answer.
Caleb slammed his palm against the table.
“Who?”
Mara flinched.
Raven looked at him.
“That is why you must marry Mara.”
Caleb stared.
“What does marriage have to do with a ledger?”
“The ledger is not gone.”
Caleb stopped breathing for a moment.