It echoed against the cliffs and returned like the cry of some enormous animal trapped between the peaks.
Caleb stood on the ridge above Moon Valley with a rifle resting across his forearms.
Beside him stood Anna.
Neither spoke.
Below them, the town was beginning to wake.
People stepped out of their homes and looked toward the eastern pass. Farmers stopped beside their fences. Children stood in doorways. Even the horses seemed restless.
Then the first plume of black smoke appeared.
A minute later, the locomotive came into view.
It was enormous.
Black iron.
Steel wheels.
A tall chimney pouring smoke into the pale morning sky.
Behind it stretched nearly a dozen freight and passenger cars.
On the side of the first carriage were painted the words:
WESTERN PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
Anna stared at it.
“So this is what Samuel wanted.”
Caleb nodded.
“He didn't come for the valley because he wanted cattle or farmland.”
“He wanted the railroad.”
“He wanted the land beneath the railroad.”
Anna looked at him.
“And the silver.”
Caleb's expression hardened.
Neither of them had forgotten the final revelation hidden in the documents.
Moon Valley was worth far more than anyone in town had understood.
The mountains contained silver.
The railroad company knew.
Samuel knew.
The Seven knew.
And now Caleb knew.
If Samuel succeeded, the people who had lived in the valley for generations would be driven from their homes.
Their houses would become company property.
Their water would become company property.
Their graves would become company property.
Even the mountains would be renamed.
Caleb looked at Anna.
“How many men?”
“Too many.”
She pointed toward the train.
Armed guards stood on the roofs of several cars.
More waited beside the tracks.
Government officials were traveling with the company representatives.
Samuel had not merely brought soldiers.
He had brought legitimacy.
That was the most dangerous weapon of all.
A man with a rifle could be stopped.
A man carrying a government contract was harder to fight.
Anna adjusted the rifle on her shoulder.
“What do we do?”
Caleb pulled the ledger from inside his coat.
“We make sure everyone sees this.”
Anna looked at the book.
“And if they refuse to believe it?”
“They won't have a choice.”
“How?”
Caleb pointed toward the train.
“The telegraph car.”
Anna understood.
The railroad train carried its own communication equipment.
If they could reach the telegraph operator and transmit copies of the ledger to newspapers, federal offices, and every town along the railway line, Samuel's carefully constructed empire would collapse.
The evidence would no longer belong to one person.
It would belong to the entire country.
But getting onto the train was another matter.
Anna looked down at the valley.
“Do you really think we can do this?”
Caleb smiled faintly.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You're joking.”
“Not really.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because I've noticed that the worst plans I've ever made usually work.”
Anna laughed despite herself.
“You're impossible.”
“Probably.”
A horn sounded from the valley.
The train began moving.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
Caleb mounted Dusty.
Anna climbed onto another horse.
Cole approached from behind.
His face was bruised from the fighting of the previous night.
“You ready?”
Caleb nodded.
Cole handed him a small leather pouch.
“What's this?”
“Dynamite.”
Caleb looked at him.
“You planning to blow up the train?”
“No.”
Cole pointed toward the mountains.
“The bridge ahead.”
Caleb's expression changed.
“What about it?”
“Samuel planted explosives beneath it.”
Anna looked alarmed.
“Why?”
“Because he knows the train carries the evidence.”
Caleb stared at the moving train.
“So if we don't stop it…”
“The train goes over the bridge.”
“And?”
Cole's voice became grim.
“Half the valley goes with it.”
Caleb looked toward the river below.
The railroad bridge crossed the narrowest part of the gorge.
If the explosives were detonated while the train was crossing, the bridge would collapse.
The train would fall into the canyon.
The resulting explosion would destroy the water line beneath it.
The valley would flood.
Hundreds could die.
Caleb tightened his grip on the reins.
“Then we have two problems.”
Cole nodded.
“Exactly.”
“We have to get the ledger onto the telegraph.”
“And stop the train.”
Anna looked between them.
“How?”
Caleb smiled.
“We improvise.”
They rode downhill.
The train was moving faster now.
Smoke filled the sky.
Caleb urged Dusty forward.
The horse thundered across the frozen ground.
Anna followed.
Cole stayed behind with the others.
The first gunshots came before they reached the tracks.
Bullets struck the dirt around them.
Caleb ducked.
“Keep moving!”
Anna fired back.
One guard fell from the train.
Another ducked behind the side of a carriage.
Caleb rode parallel to the locomotive.
The train was too fast.
He needed to get closer.
“Caleb!”
Anna shouted.
He looked at her.
“Jump!”
She pointed toward the rear passenger car.
Caleb nodded.
He stood in the saddle.
For one brief second, everything seemed to slow.
Then he jumped.
His hands caught the metal ladder.
His boots swung beneath him.
The train dragged him forward.
A bullet struck the carriage above his head.
Caleb climbed.
He pulled himself onto the platform.
A guard charged.
Caleb ducked the first punch.
The second struck his jaw.
He stumbled.
The guard reached for his gun.
Caleb grabbed his wrist.
They slammed against the side of the carriage.
The train rocked beneath them.
Caleb twisted.
The guard lost his balance.
He fell.
Caleb grabbed his coat.
For a moment, the man's body hung over the tracks.
Caleb pulled him back.
The guard stared at him in disbelief.
“Why?”
Caleb pushed him toward the wall.
“Because I'm not Samuel.”
Then he ran.
He moved through the passenger car.
People screamed.
Some passengers hid beneath their seats.
Others stared at him.
At the far end of the carriage stood two more armed men.
Caleb fired.
One dropped.
The other raised his rifle.
Before he could shoot, Anna appeared behind him.
She struck the man's head with the butt of her rifle.
He collapsed.
Caleb looked at her.
“You followed me.”
“I told you I wasn't leaving you.”
They continued forward.
At last they reached the telegraph car.
Caleb opened the door.
A telegraph operator sat at the machine.
He turned.
“Who are you?”
Caleb placed the ledger on the table.
“This is evidence of a conspiracy involving railroad officials, government officers, judges, and land companies.”
The operator stared at him.
“You can't be serious.”
“Read it.”
The man opened the book.
His face changed.
He read one page.
Then another.
“This is impossible.”
“No.”
Caleb pointed toward the machine.
“Send it.”
“I could lose my job.”
“You could lose your life.”
The operator swallowed.
Then he sat down.
“Where do I send it?”
Caleb gave him the list.
“Every newspaper office between here and Washington.”
The man stared.
“That's dozens of stations.”
“Then start typing.”
The telegraph began clicking.
The sound was strangely calm compared with the gunfire outside.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The truth was traveling.
Faster than horses.
Faster than men.
Faster than Samuel could stop it.
Then the door opened.
Samuel Mercer stood there.
Blood covered one side of his coat.
His rifle was raised.
“You always were your father's son.”
Caleb turned.
Samuel fired.
Caleb felt a burning pain rip across his shoulder.
He fell against the table.
Anna fired.
Samuel ducked behind the door.
The telegraph operator screamed.
“Keep sending!” Caleb shouted.
Samuel stepped inside.
“You think newspapers will save this valley?”
Caleb grabbed his rifle.
“No.”
“Then why are you fighting?”
“Because someone has to.”
Samuel smiled.
“You're still naïve.”
Caleb raised his weapon.
“And you're still afraid.”
Samuel's smile disappeared.
The two men fired at the same time.
Samuel fell backward.
His rifle clattered across the floor.
Caleb staggered.
Blood ran down his arm.
Anna rushed to him.
“Are you hurt?”
“Just a scratch.”