Neither spoke for a long time.
When they finally separated, Caleb touched the scar beneath her jaw.
“Who did this?”
Anna looked toward the mountains.
“The man who killed our father.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Your uncle.”
Caleb froze.
“I don't have an uncle.”
Anna looked at him.
“You do.”
She reached into her coat and removed an old photograph.
Caleb stared at it.
Three men stood beside a wagon.
His father.
Raven.
And another man.
Caleb recognized the third face.
His father's older brother.
Samuel Mercer.
The uncle everyone had told Caleb died before he was born.
But beneath the photograph was a handwritten sentence:
Samuel Mercer is the seventh man.
Caleb looked at Anna.
“Where is he?”
Anna's voice trembled.
“Coming back.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
She looked toward the valley.
“He has been waiting twenty years for the ledger.”
Caleb slowly stood.
“Then tomorrow he gets it.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow he is coming for us.”
The wind swept across the mountains.
And far beyond the valley, a rider appeared on the ridge.
He stopped.
He looked down toward them.
Then raised one hand.
Even from that distance, Caleb recognized him.
Samuel Mercer.
His uncle.
The man who was supposed to have been dead for twenty years.
Samuel Mercer arrived at Moon Valley just after sunrise.
He did not come alone.
Twenty riders followed him.
They wore gray coats and carried rifles.
Raven's people gathered along the ridge.
Caleb stood beside Anna.
For the first time in twenty years, brother and sister stood together.
Samuel removed his hat.
He looked older than Caleb had imagined.
His hair was almost entirely white.
But his eyes were exactly as Caleb remembered from the photograph in his mother's house.
Cold.
Calculating.
Without regret.
“Caleb,” Samuel called.
Caleb stepped forward.
“You know my name.”
“I've known your name since the day you were born.”
“You killed my father.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
“You ordered his death.”
“I gave him a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Join us or die.”
Caleb raised his rifle.
“You should have chosen death.”
Samuel smiled.
“That is why your father was a fool.”
Anna stepped forward.
“You killed Mother.”
Samuel looked at her.
“No.”
“You were there.”
“I was there because she stole something from us.”
“The ledger?”
“Yes.”
Anna's face hardened.
“She was trying to expose you.”
Samuel laughed.
“Expose me to whom? The government? The newspapers? The courts?”
He spread his arms.
“Those men belonged to us.”
Caleb understood.
“The Seven.”
Samuel nodded.
“Seven men who controlled everything between the mountains and the railroad.”
“Why?”
“Because someone had to.”
Caleb stared at him.
“You murdered innocent people for land.”
Samuel's expression became colder.
“No. We removed obstacles.”
Anna stepped closer.
“And my mother?”
“She became an obstacle.”
Caleb fired.
Samuel moved behind his horse.
The bullet struck the saddle.
“Shoot them!” someone shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
The valley became chaos.
Raven's people returned fire from the ridge.
Caleb grabbed Anna and pulled her behind a stone wall.
“We can't stay here.”
“I know.”
“Where?”
“The old church.”
They ran.
Behind them, Raven fired from the ridge.
Cole appeared beside Caleb.
“You're going to need this.”
He handed Caleb a rifle.
“What about Raven?”
“Still alive.”
“Good.”
Cole nodded.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“I found the ledger.”
Caleb stared at him.
“Where?”
“Inside the church.”
They reached the building.
Cole locked the door.
Inside, the church was dark.
He moved a wooden bench aside.
Beneath it was a trapdoor.
Caleb opened it.
A narrow staircase descended underground.
At the bottom stood an iron box.
Cole unlocked it.
Inside was the ledger.
Caleb opened the first page.
Seven names.
Samuel Mercer.
Jonah Raven.
Two senators.
A judge.
A railroad owner.
And one final name.
Caleb stared.
“Who is this?”
Cole looked at the page.
“I don't know.”
Anna took the book.
Her face changed.
“I do.”
“Who?”
She pointed to the final name.
“Father.”
Caleb looked at Raven's name.
“You said he wasn't one of them.”
“He wasn't.”
“Then why is he here?”
Anna turned another page.
There were notes.
Payments.
Dates.
Meetings.
Then they saw the truth.
Raven had infiltrated the Seven.
He had pretended to join them so he could gather evidence.
Caleb looked at Anna.
“Your father sacrificed everything.”
She nodded.
“He saved me.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he didn't know whether you could be trusted.”
Caleb felt a strange pain in his chest.
For twenty years, he had thought his family had abandoned him.
Now he understood.
They had been trying to protect him.
A gunshot struck the church door.
Cole looked up.
“They found us.”
Caleb closed the ledger.
“Then we finish this.”
They escaped through a tunnel beneath the church.
The tunnel led to Raven's house.
When they emerged, the settlement was burning.
Samuel's men had set fire to the outer cabins.
Children were being carried toward the river.
Women were shouting.
Raven stood in the center of the chaos.
His rifle was empty.
Caleb ran toward him.
“Where's Samuel?”
“Looking for you.”
“Why?”
“He knows you have the ledger.”
Caleb held it up.
Raven's eyes widened.
“You found it.”
“Cole did.”
Raven looked at Cole.
Then at Anna.
For the first time, his expression broke.
“My daughter.”
Anna stepped toward him.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted you to have a life.”
“You made me live behind a veil.”
“I made you live.”
Anna looked away.
Raven lowered his head.
“I would make the same choice again.”
A rifle shot rang out.
Raven staggered.
Caleb caught him.
Blood spread across his coat.
“Father!”
Anna dropped beside him.
Raven looked at Caleb.
“Take her.”
“Where?”
“West.”
“We're not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
Another shot struck the ground.
Raven gripped Caleb's arm.
“Samuel doesn't want the valley.”
“What does he want?”
“The railroad.”
Caleb frowned.
“There is no railroad here.”
“Not yet.”
Raven coughed.
“The company plans to build one through the mountains.”
“And?”
“The valley contains the only safe pass.”
Caleb understood.
“If Samuel controls the pass, he controls the railroad.”
“And the water.”
Raven nodded.
“They will turn this land into a fortune.”
Anna looked at him.
“Then why did you make me the key?”
Raven closed his eyes.
“Because the ledger alone isn't enough.”
Caleb stared.
“What else is there?”
“The original land deeds.”
“Where?”
Raven whispered:
“Beneath the graveyard.”
Then he lost consciousness.