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

Chapter 12

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Vance froze. He looked up at the high ledge, recognizing the broad, crooked-shouldered white man standing against the blue sky holding a loaded rifle aimed at his heart."Mercer?" Vance spat, his face turning pale with disbelief and anger. "What the hell are you doing up there, Daniel? You siding with these Indians against your own neighbors?""I'm siding with honest people against horse thieves, Vance!" Daniel shouted back, his voice cold and unyielding as granite. "These people hold legal territorial grazing rights to this basin! I know 'em, and I know their record!"Vance looked at the rifle aimed at his chest, looked at the two men he had already lost to the drifts, and then looked at Chief Tahan and Ayana standing ready at the lodge door.He knew he had lost the element of surprise. He was trapped in a narrow rock basin with a deadly rifleman holding the high ground and a desperate family fighting for their lives below."This ain't over, Mercer!" Vance sneered, his teeth grinding in rage as he slowly uncocked his shotgun. "You can't stay up on that rock forever!""Try me," Daniel replied flatly. "I've got fourteen rounds left in this Winchester and three days of beef in my pack. Move your men out before I start picking saddle cinch buckles."Vance swore a bitter, ugly oath, turned his bay horse around in the deep snow, and waved a furious hand to his remaining men."Pull out!" Vance barked. "Move!"The eight remaining cattlemen gathered their wounded riders and galloped out of the rock basin as fast as their horses could plunge through the snow, their dark trail disappearing down the canyon toward the south.

Silence descended back over the white basin.The heavy blue smoke from the black powder drifted slowly through the towering ponderosa pines, smelling sharply of sulfur and burnt wool.Daniel slowly lowered his Winchester rifle. He checked the magazine, uncocked the hammer, and began his descent down the steep, snow-covered granite slope toward the camp.When his boots hit the flat floor of the basin, the entire camp was waiting for him.Ayana stood beside her father, her dark eyes shining with a radiant, tearful joy. Beside them stood her sister Nita—now a young woman of twenty-four—and three elders who had stepped out from the canvas lodges.Chief Tahan walked forward slowly, his long wool blanket wrapped tightly around his narrow shoulders. His bronze face was carved into deep lines by eighty winters, but his dark eyes were bright, sharp, and clear as he looked at the white man standing before him.Tahan looked at Daniel's gray eyes, at his line-carved face, and at the old silver crescent moon pendant hanging from Ayana's hand.Slowly, Tahan’s jaw began to tremble."The boy..." Tahan whispered, his voice raspy with ancient memory. "The boy from the white storm..."Daniel took off his felt hat, holding it in his hands, his head bowed slightly in deep respect."My name is Daniel Mercer, sir," Daniel said softly. "Twenty years ago, your wife Leona carried me out of a wash on the north trail. You wrapped my frozen feet beside your fire."Tahan stepped closer, his trembling, calloused hands reaching out to touch Daniel's broad shoulders. He looked into Daniel's face, searching for the scared, thirteen-year-old boy he had carried six miles through a blizzard two decades ago.Tears filled the old chief's eyes, spilling down his weathered cheeks."You lived," Tahan whispered, his voice thick with a father's profound, sacred joy. "You lived, my son.""I lived because of you," Daniel said, his own voice cracking with emotion. "And two days ago, the storm brought your daughter to my fence."Tahan looked at Ayana, then back at Daniel, and let out a long, shuddering breath that sounded like a prayer offered to the cold mountain wind.
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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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