Only 06 - Winter Fire

has something that money can’t buy. You can have the silver.”
    I don’t want it , Sarah thought bleakly. Like you, I only want the land .
    Yet half of the ranch she loved belonged to Conner.
    And all too soon the other half would belong to a man who didn’t believe in laughter, hope, or love.

11
    A cold, clean wind blew down the canyon. The riverbed Sarah and Case were using as a trail lacked water except for occasional shallow pools. Despite that, grass and shrubs flourished at the margins of the dry wash and on up the steep slope to the point where the sheer stone cliffs began.
    â€œThat’s good graze for cattle,” he said. “Surprising, without running water.”
    She smiled slightly.
    â€œThe land is full of surprises like that,” she said. “There are a handful of springs and countless seeps where water trickles out of cracks in the stone.”
    Through narrowed eyes, he scanned the rugged sides of the canyon. There were indeed places where the brush grew thickly. In fact, isolated pine trees were tucked into some of the most protected and well-watered creases.
    Like money in the bank , he thought. Little caches of water and feed hidden away .
    No wonder there’s so much sign of game .
    â€œIn West Texas,” he said, “when it was dry, it was generally dry all the way to the bone.”
    â€œThat’s the way it is farther down Lost River Canyon,” she said. “The mouth of the canyon opens onto a wide valley. The river flows for a while, the land drops down,and finally it all unravels into a maze of slickrock and barren red canyons.”
    â€œWhere does Lost River go?”
    â€œAccording to Ute, it doesn’t go anywhere. It just gets smaller and smaller until it dries up completely.”
    Case looked thoughtful, as though he were rearranging the land in his mind.
    â€œLost River doesn’t flow into other water?” he asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDoes it end in a lake?”
    Sarah shook her head. Her next words confirmed what he already suspected.
    â€œDuring the dry season,” she said, “Lost River is the only sizable water for a long way in all directions.”
    â€œHas the river ever dried up before it gets to the ranch?”
    â€œNot in the six seasons I’ve been here.”
    â€œWhat does Ute say?”
    â€œHe’s never heard of it going dry in Lost River Canyon,” she said.
    â€œChancy thing, just the same.”
    â€œI’d feel better if I had the time and skill to build a few simple spreader dams and maybe a pond for the worst times,” she admitted. “A well would be nice, too.”
    â€œWe’ll work on that after you get the silver out of your system.”
    Her eyelids flickered.
    She wouldn’t be on the ranch after she found the silver.
    Saying nothing, she turned away from him and watched the flight of an eagle. The bird was first black against the sky, then a radiant bronze as it turned and caught the sun at a different angle.
    Case waited, but Sarah still didn’t say anything about the time when he would own half of Lost River ranch.
    â€œOr did you plan on dividing the land and have me take one side of the river and you the other?” he asked.
    It was a moment before she answered.
    And even then, she looked at the eagle’s flight instead of him.
    â€œNo,” she said huskily. “I think it would be better to keep the ranch intact. Unless you want it divided…?”
    He shook his head, but she didn’t see.
    â€œI’m not much of a hand with gardens and spinning and weaving,” he said, “but I know ranching. I think we all would do better if we kept on pooling our talents the way you and Ute and Lola have.”
    For Sarah, speaking was impossible without revealing the sorrow that was strangling her. She simply nodded and longed with all her soul for the freedom of an eagle riding the wind.
    Silently Case looked from one side of the rapidly narrowing canyon to the other. The land was pitching up more and more steeply beneath his stallion’s hooves. Timber that had been washed down from higher up the canyon was lodged in crevices six feet above his head.
    â€œI’d hate to be here when a flood comes,” he said after a time.
    â€œIt’s…frightening.”
    Caught by the raw edge of terror in her voice, he turned and looked at her. Only then did he remember how her family had