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THE COWBOY FOUND A FROZEN APACHE WOMAN IN THE BLIZZARD—THEN SHE SAW THE PHOTOGRAPH ON HIS WALL

Chapter 11

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Ayana let out a desperate, strangled gasp—BOOM!A sharp, deafening rifle report shattered the air above the basin!It was not the rider's gun. It was Daniel's Winchester firing from the high granite ledge!The lead slug struck the rider's Winchester right at the receiver, shattering the wooden stock and knocking the gun cleanly out of the man's hands!

"Riders on the cliff!" Vance screamed, his horse rearing up wildly in the snow as the bullet struck!The ten cattlemen spun around in their saddles, their rifles swinging up toward the high granite ledge!Daniel didn't give them time to line up their sights. He levered his Winchester with lightning speed—CRACK-SLIDE, BOOM!—sending a second round tearing through the hat brim of a rider who was aiming at Tahan!"Ayana!" Daniel shouted over his shoulder. "Get down to your father! Keep the women inside the lodge!"Ayana didn't hesitate. She scrambled down the steep, snow-covered rock face like a mountain cat, sliding through the drifts until her boots hit the flat floor of the basin!"Father!" she cried out in her native tongue!Chief Tahan’s eyes went wide as saucers as he saw his daughter burst out of the snowdrifts alive and unhurt. "Ayana! My daughter!""Get inside!" she screamed, grabbing her mother's sister and two crying children, shoving them through the canvas flap of the main lodge just as a volley of rifle fire from Vance's men chopped splinters from the lodge poles!Up on the ledge, Daniel was working his Winchester with smooth, terrifying precision.He was a man who had lived twenty years on the frontier; he knew how to use the high ground. He fired, levered, and shifted his position behind the granite boulders, making it sound as if three men were shooting from the ridge.BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!His rounds struck the snow right at the hooves of the cattlemen's horses, scaring the mounts into a frantic, bucking frenzy that broke Vance's line!"There's only one shooter up there!" Vance roared, wiping snow from his eyes, aiming his double-barrel shotgun up at Daniel's ledge! "Flank him through the trees!"Two cattlemen spurred their horses toward the narrow trail leading up to the ridge.Before they could reach the slope, Ayana stepped out from behind the lodge holding her father's heavy single-shot Springfield rifle!She brought the heavy stock to her shoulder, took a steady breath, and pulled the trigger!BOOM!The heavy lead bullet struck the lead horse's saddle horn, shattering the leather and throwing the rider headlong into a six-foot snowdrift!The second rider pulled his horse up sharp, staring down the wide iron barrel of the Springfield as Ayana calmly pulled a fresh heavy cartridge from her belt and reloaded in plain view.Up on the ridge, Daniel raised his Winchester, aiming his sights squarely at the silver badge on Vance's leather vest."Vance!" Daniel’s voice boomed down from the granite ledge like thunder. "Take your hands off that shotgun and call off your men!"
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THE COWBOY FOUND A FROZEN APACHE WOMAN IN THE BLIZZARD—THEN SHE SAW THE PHOTOGRAPH ON HIS WALL

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