It was afternoon when Crow, returning home, smelled wood smoke. He saw the black spiral of smoke twisting its way into the sky. At the top of the hill, he could see by the amount of smoke the fire was big, and it was coming from where he lived. Kicking Joker with his heels, Crow sent him into a hard run. It was as if the horse knew there was something wrong and he put his heart into it.
Crow"s concern grew the closer he got to the hacienda. He began seeing the bodies. His vaqueros had been slaughtered. He saw that most of the dead vaqueros had weapons in their hands. The hacienda, or what was left of it, had been burned, burned to the ground. There were bodies near the house, most were Crow"s men, but some were of men he had never seen before.
Near the river, he found her; Francisca. She
