It was the early morning; the cowboys were awake, ate breakfast, and began working in the Tunstall Ranch. Emiliano was helping Juan and the Coe Brothers feed the animals and clean the horse stables. Ygnicio entered the horse stables. "Emiliano, Tunstall wants to talk with you."

"Thanks." Emiliano ran toward Tunstall's house, where Richard was awaiting him outside. The men entered, seeing Tunstall sitting by a table, having breakfast and reading a newspaper. "Ah, Emiliano." He put the newspaper down. "I asked ya to come here because I am gonna give ya yer mission. I learned from some of my cowboys that Sheriff Brady and his family are attending the Bixby Ranch tonight. I want ya to go and hear what they have to say."

Emiliano raised an eyebrow; he didn't tell Tunstall he had met Luke last night. What surprised him even more was that he refrained from telling his employers. There was something about Luke that caught his interest. Luke was a ranch owner and had to find out if he knew anything about his maternal family. "Really? I don't know where his ranch is."

Richard stepped forward and handed him a map. "His ranch is here. Follow it and make sure you're not seen."

The young man looked at the map. "The ranch is far from the county; Luke Bixby seems to be an outsider."

"Naw, the ranch he owns belonged to some rich Mexican family. Good crops grow there because of the soil and access to some river," answered Richard.

"Really?" Emiliano's heart skipped a beat. "Would you have happened to know the family?"

Tunstall shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. Anyway, ya will  go tonight and tell us what ya hear."

"Will do. I'll go back to work."

"Naw, rest up, study the map, and think of yer plan to spy on Luke. It ain't gonna be easy; try not to get caught."

Emiliano nodded, left, and went to the cowboy house where the cowboys slept. He went inside one of the rooms where six wooden beds were layered with hay covered in sheets. He went to bed in the far right corner and knelt under to get his backpack. Once the backpack was opened and the bag with Laureana's ashes was taken out, Emiliano opened the bag and saw his Mother's ashes. "Mamá, necesito tu guía y tu protección (Mom, I need your guidance and protection)." The bag was closed. "I hope this goes well."

The day turned to mid-afternoon; the servants of the Bixby household prepared dinner for the Bixby Family's guests. Luke was in his study, alone, wearing a long black suit over a dark blue buttoned shirt with a gray vest underneath it. He also wore long, clean black pants and clean black shoes. His black hair was combed and smelled fresh. Luke could not stop thinking about Emiliano; he had the surname Laureana. "What if Isaac is right? Many people have the same last names." He let out a tired sigh. " Luke didn't want to have dinner with Sheriff Brady and his family, but it would look bad on him. 

Isaac knocked on the door and opened it. "Sir, Sheriff Brady and his family are here."

"Let's get this over with." Luke walked out of his study and into the living room. Netty and Charles were waiting for him with their guests.

William J. Brady stood, fixing his suit, and extended his hand to Luke. "Ah, Luke Bixby! It's good to see you!"

The two men shook hands.

Luke smiled. "Same here; it has been forever. I know you have been busy keeping this county safe."

"I do try! This is my wife, Maria Bonifacia Chavez." A middle-aged woman walked forward and extended her hand; Luke got a hold of it and gave it a peck. Then, William motioned a young woman forward. She had light beige skin with dark brown eyes; her hair was medium brown, put in a nice bun. She had an average figure; her face had faint freckles, which gave her a child-like appearance."This is my daughter, Madeline."

Madeline smiled and did a slight bow. Like her Mother, she extended her hand; Luke gave her hand a small peck. "Nice to meet you. You're quite a beauty."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Bixby. It is nice to meet ya finally."

Netty clapped her hands. "Since we all met one another! Let us go to the dinin' room! The food is ready to be served!" She motioned everyone to follow her. Luke and Isaac eyed one another; Luke shook his head as he followed. Once everyone was in the dining room and sat on their seats, servants entered, bringing plates and bowls of food. Everyone at the table was also served cider. Isaac and the other servants stood apart from the families and awaited their orders.

"It is so nice to have all of ya'll here. We don't have man guests in the house!" giggled Netty.

"Really now? Since all of ya are well known, I thought ya would have more visitors," said Brady.

"I know, but my husband is away sometimes, and he don't like when people come by." Luke glared at his wife; Netty cleared her throat. "A-Anyway, we were happy to hear that yer pretty daughter and our son are gettin' hitched."

Maria smiled. "We're happy too! We wanted our oldest daughter to marry into a good family. We are happy that your son chose our daughter."

Charles swallowed a piece of chicken. "Yer daughter was always the perfect choice for me. I admired her for a long time. I'm happy that ya gave me yer blessing."

Luke ate silently and noticed that Madeline was quiet as well. "She doesn't look too happy," he thought to himself. "How about you, Miss. Madeline? Aren't you happy that you'll marry Charles?" 

Madeline flinched as everyone looked at her. "Why, yes, of course." She took a sip from her glass of cider.

"Now don't ya worry, yer Mother and I will plan everythin'! It will be a great weddin'!" Netty and the women spoke to one another.

Brady, Charles, and Luke looked at one another. "My wife has been talkin' nothin' but the weddin'. However, there somethin' I wanna talk to ya about."

Luke took a sip of his whiskey. "I'm not interested if you want to talk about Dolan and Murphey. You know I don't like to involve myself with their problems."

Charles cleared his throat. "But Pa, we can have more business if we work with Dolan and Murphey."

"Charles." Luke gave him a warning glare, and Charles felt a chill go through his body. He motioned himself closer to the sheriff and spoke in a whisper-like tone. "I don't know what Charles told you, but I will remain neutral. I will pick no side, even if our children marry." At the corner of his eye, Luke noticed something moving outside the dining room window. "Excuse me." He motioned Isaac, and Isaac came forward and bent close to him."Someone's outside; you know where to take him if you find him." 

Isaac's expression became serious. "Of course, sir." He then smiled at Brady and Charles. "Excuse me." He left the dining room, went to his room, and got his gun. Isaac then went to the other side of the house and walked outside.

Meanwhile, Emiliano kept his breathing to a minimum as he arrived at the ranch an hour ago. He almost got lost finding the Bixby Ranch. "I thought I would never make it," he told himself. Once arriving, Emiliano snuck through the cowboys, keeping guard. It amazed him how big the ranch was; it was bigger than Tunstall's. When getting to the main house, Emiliano sat by a window leading to the dining room and tried to clarify the conversation. He brought his backpack, which carried his knives, just in case they needed it. It was challenging to make sense of what the occupants were conversing.

Emiliano suddenly heard a click and felt something on his head.

"Put yer hands up, and face me." The young man noticed Isaac with six cowboys with rifles pointed at him. "Now quietly, crawl toward us, leave yer bag behind." Emiliano didn't want to leave his backpack behind; his Mother's ashes were inside. "Please, let me take my bag with me. I only have knives with me. I promise to turn myself in willingly."

"Crawl."

The young man did as he was told. Once far from the house, three cowboys took his backpack away, tied his hands, and gagged his mouth. Emiliano tried to scream for his backpack but was put on a wagon. Isaac was given the backpack. "Take him to the cabin; Luke will deal with him." He watched as the cowboys took off with Emiliano. "Kids these days, they never learn."