The Seminole farm held a disturbing silence that didn’t sit well with Josiah. The family’s bodies had been buried, but he still felt a troubling presence.

Bass rode up beside him, his dark gaze never resting as it moved from building to building. “You feel it, too?”

Josiah nodded.

“It’s why I do this job. I feel the souls crying out for justice.” With a slight tug on the reins, Bass’s horse turned back to the road. “We need to keep pushin’ on, lest they get too far ahead of us.”

Josiah wondered if Bass ever got tired. The man seemed to have a bottomless pit of energy. He dressed better than most men Josiah knew, his clothes always fashionable and his black boots polished to a bright shine. One other unusual thing was how Bass wore the two Colts strapped on each hip—butt forward for a faster draw. And the few times he’d witnessed Bass draw, he was lightning quick.

Josiah patted his horse’s neck and followed the posse, bringing up the rear and staying to the outside so he could pick up any unnoticed tracks. His father taught him to track from the time he could walk, and he was good at it. But, he was, after all, Indian.

They heard the Canadian River before they saw it, the sound of rushing water flowing over rocks. The road turned and dead ended. The five men sat on their horses, staring at the dense brush separating them from the river.

Bass scrubbed his face with his hand, pushing his hat high on his forehead. He stared thoughtfully at the rushing water. “Let’s search for tracks systematically. That’s gonna be the only way we find them. We know they came this way, so we’ll just have to discover which way they went from here.” He pointed to the two men on his right. “I want the two of you to spread out from that hill yonder and cover the next couple of miles west.”

He glanced at the two men between him and Josiah. “The two of you go back to the farm and make sure we didn’t miss anything. Josiah and I will check here and across the river.”

“Sure thing, Boss.” The men divided and rode off in the directions they’d been told.

“They didn’t just disappear,” Bass said thoughtfully. He turned his gaze on Josiah. “What are your thoughts?”

“If it were me and I was trying to erase my tracks, I’d use the river. Oldest trick in the book.”

Bass smiled, one side of his long mustache rose higher than the other. “Just what I was thinking. These boys aren’t stupid, but they aren’t smart, either. Rather than wastin’ our time here, let’s cross and see what we can find.”

Josiah led the way, his horse high stepping as he chose the safest way across the fast-moving water. On the other side, the brush opened, allowing them to see more of the ground near the riverbank than they could on the other side. It wasn’t long before Josiah picked up a partial hoof print then another. Soon, a trail emerged and Bass whistled for the men to join them.

The tracks led them away from the Canadian several miles them circled back again. For whatever reason, they had avoided a few farms and again headed west again, back to the river. About a mile away, they saw a black man leaning against a tree, his eyes closed.

“You there!” Bass hollered, but the man didn’t move.

They stopped a few feet away, and Bass climbed down from his saddle and walked up to the man. He squatted facing him, his arms draped on his knees. After about a minute of staring at the man, he swiped a hand across his mustache then reached forward and with a finger, moved the man’s coat jacket aside to reveal the blood-covered spot on his shirt front.

“Teague, ride back and check those last two farms we passed. Make sure the people there are still alive.” Bass ordered. “Josiah, do you know him?”

Josiah shook his head. “Never seen him before, but that doesn’t mean much. There are a lot of people out here who don’t want to be seen.”

Bass nodded. “I understand that. Lots of upset still riding high about the Union and the Confederacy. Memories run long and some families will never be the same.” He pointed toward the westward branch of the river. “You ride out that way and see if you can find any trace of tracks, and I’ll go back toward the farms on this side. Hopefully, we’ll come across something.”

Josiah nodded. “It’s as good a plan as any. If we don’t find anything, we can circle back north and begin searching on the other side of the northernmost farm and move toward Muskogee. From their past movements, they seem to keep going back to that area, so there’s something they’re returning to. We just need to figure out what it is.”

Bass nodded. “I think you’re right.” He cocked his head to one side, his narrowed gaze on Josiah. “You might make one helluva marshal yet.”

Josiah only smiled and turned his horse’s head, his gaze moving to the nearby brush, looking for broken leaves, branches, out-of-place rocks, anything to give away the passage of horses. However, the further west he moved, the denser the underbrush grew, and he knew nothing had passed through the area where he searched. A carpet of small white flowers covered the ground, and further in, throughout the gently waving grasses, were the beautiful blends of oranges, purples and blues of wildflowers spreading out from the riverbank like the flow of water. The area was pristine. A few times, he had to back his horse out and find another, less dense path through the thick vegetation. In some places, the brambles and briars threading through the wildflowers were impassible.

The sound of shouting and galloping horses grabbed his attention. With no prompting, the buckskin turned and, moving alongside Bass’s white mount, hurried across the river to meet Teague and his partner. He noticed a third horse behind the two deputies but couldn’t tell who the rider was until he heard his name called.

“Josiah!” Summer’s small voice came from behind the men.

He dismounted and ran around the deputies’ horses. Summer’s face was pale and her bottom lip and chin quivered as she glanced down at him. He held out his arms, and without hesitation, she fell into his embrace, wrapping her thin arms around his neck and sobbing so hard he couldn’t understand a word she said.

The fact that she was crying concerned him the most. Summer didn’t show emotion. She was one of the toughest girls he had ever known, so this was completely out of character for her and didn’t bode well. His first thought was that something happened to Billy and Mia had sent her to fetch him home.

He tried to gently pull her away so he could calm her down, but she didn’t budge and only cried harder. “Summer, honey, I know you are really upset, but I need you to take a few breaths so you can talk to me.” He continued to rub her back, not liking how thin she still was. He was able to feel her ribs through her dress. Mia would be so much better at this than he.

Finally, her sobs slowed and with a final hiccough, her arms slid down to her sides and she stepped back. Josiah pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped her eyes then made her blow her nose. He wadded the dirty linen and held it out for her to take, which she reluctantly did.

“Now, tell me what has you so upset. Did something happen to Billy?”

Summer drew in a shaky breath and nodded. “After you left, Mia decided we needed to make something special for our supper, dishes from our childhood, so we would all get to taste something from each culture. She thinks it’s important we all learn about one another.”

“I agree. That’s a wonderful idea. Go on. What happened next?”

“We drove to town and bought what we needed at the mercantile then returned home.” Summer pulled in another shaky breath, and Josiah noticed how she clutched the handkerchief, her knuckles white. His chest tightened, a queasiness filling his stomach. “Mia asked me to check how well Billy and Elias cleaned and cared for the horses, so we unhitched the horse from the wagon and the boys took the food into the house.

“I was almost done when I heard Billy holler Johnny’s name. I snuck outside into the trees and around to the back of the house. I could see two more men by the river, holding two more horses. They didn’t see me as I snuck up to the back window just as Johnny shoved Billy down. Another man I’d never seen before held Mia and said they were gonna take them with them to draw you and Bass out.” She met Josiah’s gaze. “That’s when I ran back to the barn and jumped on the horse and took off after you.”

Fury settled deep inside him. How could he have been so ignorant to think the outlaws wouldn’t circle back to his own house? He knew they were in the area. Why had neither he nor Bass considered that?

“How did you find us?” Bass asked.

Summer’s dark gaze met the marshal’s. “I tracked you, sir. I’m half Creek and half Seminole. I’ve lived on my own since I was six years old and have taken care of my younger cousin for the last two years. I am very good at certain things and tracking is one of those.”

Bass’s brow rose. “Yes, I do believe you may be right, young lady. How long ago was this?”

With a quick glance at the sun’s position in the sky, Summer answered. “Three hours.”

Bass glanced at Josiah. “If we hurry, we might catch up to them.” Bass made a circling motion with his finger pointing up above his head. “Saddle up!”

Both Summer and Josiah mounted their horses and raced after the posse. It seemed as if time dragged and nothing he could do made the horse run faster. Long before the buckskin’s hooves hit the road to his house, he knew something horrible had happened. Grey smoke billowed high above the tree line, and his heart beat hard in his chest until he felt lightheaded and sick to his stomach.

He raced ahead of Bass, who sat tall on his white horse. Hearing Summer’s gasp and harsh scream of her cousin’s name, he galloped past her into the yard. Before the buckskin stopped, Josiah dropped to the ground on numb legs and took a few steps toward the smoldering ruins of the house. From where he stood, there was nothing left but the charred remnants of the ceiling beams and piles of black ashes.

“Billy!” Summer’s long legs almost had her past him before Josiah could grab her by her shoulders, dragging her back against him. She struggled, her arms and legs hitting and kicking as she tried to break free, but Josiah’s grip only tightened.

“It’s too late, Summer,” Josiah’s voice broke, not wanting to admit to himself that his new family might be gone. He jerked to a stop, as if his boots were mired in deep mud. He couldn’t go any closer. Finding them lifeless amidst the ashes would be too much to bear, too final. He could barely breathe now as it was and he needed to stay strong if he was to help find the monsters who’d done this.

“They aren’t there!” Summer screamed. “The men said they were taking them somewhere else!” She sobbed. “They were supposed to take them somewhere else…” She turned around and buried her face in his stomach. “This is all my fault. I should have tried to stop them.”

Josiah couldn’t form a coherent thought beyond his anger and desire for revenge, much less begin to accept what his life would be now, without them. Still, he forced the words out of his mouth to try to comfort the young girl. “If you had, Summer, you would have…been with them.”

What little hope her previous words had wrought died a cruel death inside him. Why would these outlaws take Mia and the boys somewhere else? They hadn’t taken anyone else hostage. They had simply killed them outright and left their bodies for the posse to find. He knew without looking that’s what he would find buried deep in the smoldering ruins of his home. But he couldn’t force his feet closer to look. All the pain he’d suffered when he lost his parents came rushing back until his body no longer felt like his own.

Something cold moved through him, taking all feeling away until there was nothing left but emptiness and rage. The anger he’d buried so long ago after the murder of his parents resurfaced, mingling with this new agony, and all he saw was red.

He felt Bass’s presence next to him, but the lawman didn’t say a word. “With or without you, Bass, I’m hunting them down for what they did to my family. Eye for an eye. Scream for scream. I will kill them all.”

Bass nodded. “I always get my man…or men, dead or alive. Now, that bein’ said, whether you kill ’em or I do, I don’t care. As long as they’re dead.” They turned as two men rode into the yard. Josiah noticed the glint of light on the men’s badges. “Zeke, Jonathan! Glad you could make it. I need you both to stay here and guard this place in case any of the outlaws return.” Bass gave Josiah a quick glance, before turning his gaze back to Zeke’s expressionless face.

Josiah noticed the man’s dark skin was badly scarred on one side of his face, the puckered skin bringing to mind the links of a chain. The severe scars pulled the outside corner of his eye down in a permanent droop.

“This is Josiah’s home,” Bass said. “We believe Red burned the house down with his family inside. Go through what’s left of the house and look for them.” The only hint of emotion Zeke showed was the clenching of his jaws before giving Bass a quick nod. Bass glanced down at Summer’s wan face, her eyes bloodshot and swollen. “You think you can keep up with us?”

She nodded. “Yes, sir. I can. I’ll help track, too. I noticed one of the horses had a nick in his front shoe and another favored his back left leg.”

Bass gave her an appraising nod. “Did you hear anything else about where they may be headed? Anything at all?”

Summer’s face scrunched in thought as she chewed on her bottom lip but finally shook her head. “No, sir. The leader never mentioned anything about where they were going, just that he knew you would follow him.”

“Damn right, I’m gonna follow.” He turned, grabbing his horse’s reins from Teague and climbed back into the saddle.

Without a word, Josiah followed suit, but as his horse started to walk around to the back of the house, Summer let out a small cry, ran toward the tree line and picked up something. Turning, she held out a large book to Josiah.

“It’s a sign, Josiah. It’s a sign!”

Josiah frowned and moved closer, finally seeing what she held. Elias’s family Bible. His scowl deepened. “Why wouldn’t his Bible have been in his room? I saw him reading it yesterday with Mia—inside.”

Summer’s head bobbed up and down. “That’s my point! He wouldn’t have laid it on the ground unprotected unless he wanted us to find it. I’m telling you, Josiah, it’s a sign.”

Josiah knew from his own past how fickle life could be. He also knew the unbearable pain Summer would feel when she realized her cousin wouldn’t be coming home. He didn’t know what to do. Should he let her continue believing everything was going to be fine when it probably wouldn’t? Or should he do what Clay had done to him and tore out his heart like ripping the scab off a wound when he’d told him his parents were dead?

No one could have survived that fire, and there was no reasonable explanation for the outlaws to have taken his family with them. The Bible was nothing more than a ruse, but he didn’t want to tell Summer that.

He pulled the reins to the right, and the horse moved toward the tree line and the narrow path leading toward the river. He would begin the search there.

Bass and Summer trailed behind him, and they were followed by the rest of the posse. No one talked. They searched, finding the outlaws’ tracks where the horses milled. The ground was soft and tilled up next to the water, but they were able to follow them to an abandoned shack where the tracks showed that another rider had joined them. They were now chasing five outlaws.

They crisscrossed the river, and Bass had them split up, each group searching both the banks for any hint they’d passed that way. Josiah was fed up and ready to ride. He was tired of doing nothing while those men got away with killing his family. Just that thought alone ignited his fury all over again. The rage had never really gone away but had simmered deep inside him. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so out-of-control angry.

After losing his parents, he’d been consumed by grief, not anger, but then he’d only been a ten-year-old boy. Now, he was a grown man and had lost the one thing most precious to him. Too late, he’d realized just how much he’d come to care for Mia. Too late, he’d realized he loved her but had never told her.

Losing the house didn't matter, as it was just wood and paint. Only Mia and the boys mattered. They had filled Josiah's heart and soul in ways he didn't even know was possible and now they were gone. Glancing up at the darkening sky, he gave the roiling clouds a grim smile of satisfaction as if they reflected his own pain. Soon, everyone around him would know what he felt as the storm unleashed its power.

Another frustrating hour passed before Josiah found what he’d been looking for as he searched along the water’s edge. Beyond the sandbank, a rotting tree’s long branches reached out into the deeper water where silvery catfish darted among the lower limbs. There, on a wide rock sticking above the waterline, he spotted a long, white scratch. A little further down, he glimpsed another where the horses had used the rocks to cross the river.

He followed the North Canadian until it branched and continued moving along the southern river route until he found where the men exited the South Canadian. “Bass, you know this area better than I do. Is there a hideout nearby or somewhere they would hole up?”

Bass glanced at Teague, who gave him a quick nod. “From the direction you’re headin’ in—they seem to be movin’ toward Pleasant Ridge. There’s a large cave down that away where outlaws like to lay low. Not many know about it. I’ve gotten in once disguised as a runaway slave.” He chuckled. “Course, at the time, most people livin’ out here didn’t recognize that the war was over and Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. To them I was a slave, so it wasn’t stretching the truth too awful much.” His grin widened. “Let’s just say I made it work in my favor and got my man and my bounty. Guess I can do it again if I have to. Think you can pick up their trail from here?”

Josiah didn’t bother answering. His horse moved forward while he scanned along the ground, not missing even the tiniest detail. He found the outlaws' trail without difficulty and followed as their horses traveled behind one another in a single line. Mile after mile passed, the men and their mounts drooping with weariness.

“Josiah, we’ve covered enough miles today and will make the cave by midday tomorrow. No use killing the horses,” Bass hollered above the increasing wind.

The storm had nipped at their heels for the last couple of hours and finally caught up with them, the wind driving the rain in torrents as they made camp. No one talked as they all hunkered beneath their long canvas coats and wide-brimmed hats, the rain pouring off in sheets.

Josiah lay apart from everyone, the storm fueling his fury, or maybe it was the other way around. He could no longer tell anymore. His only thought was the driving need to make the men pay for taking Mia and the boys from him.

Lightning forked across the night sky and was quickly answered by the thunder’s booming voice. The horses tossed their heads, pawing the ground around their tight circle in agitation. The men’s low murmurs as they calmed down their mounts drifted to him, but he ignored them, instead focusing more on Bass’s voice as he talked with Summer nearby.

“What do you make of his attitude?”

Summer shrugged, and Josiah waited, holding his breath as he strained to hear Summer’s quiet answer. She glanced at the sky, the water pouring off the back of her hat.

“I think he is doing this—the storm. There are many Creek stories of how things came to be. How people and animals appeared, how the Breath Giver or the Creator gives us our soul, and many other things I’ve forgotten. One thing I do remember is a story about the Weather Controller—special ones who are able to manipulate the rain and wind. If Josiah is one of these special people and loses control of his emotions because of Mia…”

Bass nodded. “I’ve lived among the Creek for several years and have heard the creation stories. I’ve also seen things I can’t explain and wouldn’t want to even begin. If he is one of the Weather Controllers like you think, we may be in for a very wet and dangerous time tomorrow.”

“We won’t be,” Summer said, her dark gaze meeting Josiah’s as another brilliant burst of lightning lit the sky, turning it almost as bright as daylight. “But the outlaws will.”