The silence after those words was heavier than any mountain storm. No one breathed. No one moved. Even Night Storm remained still, as if he too understood that something dark had just opened up before them all.
Carter looked first at Chief Atsa. Then at Nara.
She seemed to be harboring a dangerous mix of rage and pain. Her fingers were closed around the knife hanging from her waist, though she hadn’t yet drawn it.
“I’m not a prize to be handed out,” she finally said.
Atsa kept her eyes fixed on Carter.
—I’m not talking about tradition. I’m talking about survival.
Carter frowned.
-I don’t understand.
The old man breathed slowly, like someone tired of carrying too many dead.
—My son died three moons ago. They said it was a fall during the hunt. A lie. Someone cut his saddle strap before dawn.
The murmurs began around the circle.
“And you think they want to kill Nara now?” Carter asked.
—She saw something that night.
Nara stepped forward.
—I saw my cousin Tahzi leave the corrals before my brother fell.
The name fell upon the village like a stone in still water.
Some warriors lowered their gaze. Others exchanged awkward gestures.
Carter immediately understood that this was more dangerous than it seemed.
It was no ordinary dispute.
It was blood against blood.
Atsa spoke again.
—Tahzi wants to become chief. My son was the heir. Now only Nara remains.
“Then protect her with your men,” Carter said.
The old man shook his head slowly.
—I can’t trust all of them.
The wind swept across the village, raising fine dust.
Carter felt that old discomfort that arises when a man realizes he is being pushed into a different life without having sought it out.
—And why me?
Atsa pointed to the black horse.
—Because Storm accepted you.
The faces around the fire remained serious.
For the tribe, that was no small matter.
A sacred horse did not obey by force. Elegy.
And if she had chosen Carter, then some believed that the spirits had too.
Nara let out a bitter laugh.
—My father listens to ghosts too much.
But even she glanced sideways at the horse.
And Night Storm kept watching Carter as if she expected something from him.
That night, Carter didn’t sleep.
They gave him a tent near the center of fire, but the air was thick with tension. He could hear footsteps outside, low voices, and weapons being moved.
That was not a peaceful community.
It was a tribe waiting for an internal war.
Around midnight, he heard movement near the corrals.
He took his revolver and left silently.
The moon barely illuminated the silhouettes.
Then he saw Nara.
She was next to Storm, stroking her neck.
“Your father thinks that marrying you will solve something,” Carter said.
—My father believes that strong men can stop death.
—And what do you think?
Nara looked directly at him.
—I think someone is going to try to kill you before dawn.
Carter barely smiled.
—That wouldn’t be new to me.
She didn’t smile.
—I’m not joking.
The wind moved Nara’s dark hair as she gazed towards the mountains.
—Tahzi has loyal men. If he thinks you support my family, he’ll see you as an enemy.
—I only tamed one horse.
—Here that means more than you understand.
Storm snorted loudly, restlessly.
Then the horse raised its head into the darkness.
Carter felt something change.
The animal had detected something.
A second later the shot came.
The bullet passed through the post next to Carter’s head.
Nara reacted first.
He pushed Carter to the ground just as another bullet whistled past them.
The screams erupted throughout the village.
Men leaving the stores.
Weapons being raised.
Tormenta suddenly broke free and launched a brutal kick at one of the attackers hiding behind the corrals.
The man fell screaming.
Carter took cover behind a barrel and fired once into the shadows.
Everything happened quickly.
Too fast.
Three figures escaped towards the hills.
But one was left behind.
Wound.
When the warriors dragged him towards the fire, Nara turned pale.
He was one of Tahzi’s men.
Atsa closed his eyes slowly, as if a part of him had expected exactly that.
“It’s already started,” he murmured.
The prisoner spat blood before speaking.
—Tahzi says that the old man is no longer in charge… and that the woman will die before the next dawn.
The warriors began to argue among themselves.
Some were shouting for revenge.
Others demanded caution.
The tribe was splitting in two right before Carter’s eyes.
And he was caught right in the middle.
Hours later, as the sky began to clear, Atsa entered Carter’s store.
He looked ten years older.
—Now you understand.
Carter nodded slowly.
-Yeah.
The old man placed a ceremonial knife on the table.
“If you marry Nara, you will have the right to protect her under our laws. Tahzi will not be able to touch her without starting open war.”
—And what if I refuse?
Atsa held his gaze.
—Then she will die alone.
Carter felt the weight of those words hanging suspended between them.
She had spent years running away from the pain after losing Clara.
Years living far away from everyone so as not to lose anyone again.
And now that tribe was offering him exactly what he feared most:
A reason to stay.
When he left the store, the sun was beginning to paint the mountains red.
Nara was waiting next to Tormenta.
—My father pressured you, didn’t he?
-Yeah.
She crossed her arms.
—I don’t need to be saved.
Carter watched her for a few seconds.
—Maybe not.
—Then don’t accept out of pity.
Storm gently nudged Carter’s shoulder with her snout.
The cowboy sighed.
—It wouldn’t be out of pity.
Nara remained silent.
For the first time since arriving in the village, the hardness of his face seemed to barely break.
But before he could answer, a shout came from the entrance of the camp.
An explorer was arriving at full speed.
—Tahzi is coming this way!
Behind him, rising in the distance, appeared a huge cloud of dust.
Riders.
Many riders.
And at the front of them all… a man with black paint over his eyes and a rifle resting on his shoulder.
It’s hard.
Smiling like someone who already thought he owned everything