Steele grins and waves his blow gun as he removes the white blanket that hid his position
“I guess being a vet does pay off,” Chase remarks with a smile. He moves quickly and begins to tie the man up. Steele helps knowing the tranquilizer will knock him out for a couple of hours. They carry him back, draped across the back of a horse, towards the main courtyard.
Just before they break through the cover of the trees, Chase stops him. “Wait,” he whispers.
A glint of glass flickers across the field. “I’ve got this one, you get to the main house, but keep the horse between you and that tree line.”
Chase disappears into the trees and moves quickly as his brother continues and watches in horror as the stranger trains his rifle on Steele. He will never make it to him in time to stop him! He makes his choice and bounds from trees protection and charges across the field firing his pistol at the man, hoping to draw his fire.
Frank smiles watching the desperate act of the man running at him, “Fool. You should know better.”
A crunching echoes behind him and his stomach drops.
“So should you,” Chief Nashoba says before he sinks his war ax into the top of Frank’s skull.
John and Bob hear an earsplitting scream followed by gunshots. Recognizing Frank's voice, they start to run in his direction. Bob skids to a stop, and John cusses him and pushes past to escape, only to stop. A small army of Indians appearing around them from the cover of the surrounding buildings. The two men are no match for a band of Indians this size. Yuma, the son of the Chief, has surrounded them with a group of Indians all pointing rifles at them. John and Bob drop their weapons and march to the center of the field with their hands held high.
Chase skids to a stop and falls to his knees. He is shaking and can’t believe his luck. He thought he was going to have to watch his brother die. After a few moments, the Chief signals his men and the two hundred Shoshone Indians converge on the ranch. They circle the main ranch house to wait for Dalton.
Yuma, the son of the Chief Nashoba, drops Frank's body on the ground before pulling his father's ax free. Chase walks up and watches Steele drop Cole's sleeping body on the ground beside Frank. Bob and John are shoved into the center with their comrades. “Where's Bill?” John whispers.
Yuma returns to his horse and comes back holding the scalps of the Indians they took. “Let me finish them now!” he demands with rage in his heart. He holds the scalps high for all the Indians to see and throws them on the ground at their feet.
Pierce rides up with Bill tied and dragging behind the back of his horse. He has drug him across the field from the barn. The Indians part to let him through and some cheer and smile through their rage. Bill is lucky the ground is covered in snow from the day before. He is more humiliated than hurt when he is cut free and tossed on the ground beside his gang.
Inside the house, Aiden drops the knife and starts to laugh as the door opens and two more men enter with pistols trained on him. “Where is she hiding?”
“I'm not hiding from you, Aiden,” Cassie says as Dalton removes his pistols and knife and the brothers tie his hands behind his back.
The hateful glare of Aiden burns into Cassie's eyes filling her soul with dread. He is a vile human being, and she knows what she must do, but she is dreading it. She walks towards him with her own pistol trained on him and looks at her husband. He nods in reassurance, and they move him to a chair and tie him to it.
“I am disappointed in you, Cassandra. I expected more of a fight. You know, like the one you gave my father and our men!” he says, pulling against his ropes as if to jump on her. Dalton pistol whips him while Dane puts an arm around her shoulder.
“There's no need for you to be here, Cassie. We can do the rest without you.”
“Thank you, Dane, but if I can save lives, then I will do what I must.” She whispers as Dalton walks to her side.
“Yes, poor Cassandra. Ever in need of rescue.” Looking at the cold stare of death coming from the men around her, Aiden decides to try to reason with them. “Look, I can be reasonable. I only want the mine. My father died from the wounds you inflicted on him. Give me the deed to your family's land, and I will never bother you again.”
Cassie is shocked, but not sorry to hear that. “Aiden, even if I could give you the deed, I wouldn’t. You have no right to it! It belongs to the bank now. I sold it to them in San Francisco, but surely you know that?”
Aiden looks at the ceiling and tries to calm the rage that is building inside. Even now his men should be moving through the ranch, eliminating most of the threats to them. He smiles as he looks back at her. “It seems you haven’t heard the news. The bank met with an unfortunate accident. It seems they had an accident with a nitroglycerin delivery. It blew up half of Market Street!”
Her shocked eyes look at Dalton, and she speaks to his mind, ‘Not Mr. Wells?'
“Oh, Don't worry it was a fast
