“Thank you for contacting us,” Captain Raleigh responded. “I’d like to get started right away. The Army is very interested in your report.”

The crowd parted as he and the mayor walked away. Mayor McKinney was the president of Rostov’s only bank. He and Raleigh remained inside the adobe building for an hour. Many people gathered on the street, curious about what the two men discussed.

When Raleigh and the mayor came out, they crossed the street to the dry-goods store that Dani’s parents owned. The couple lived in an apartment behind it, where she was convalescing.

More people gathered on the street.

A half hour later, the mayor left the store. Preceded by the sound of a rattling motor, he returned shortly with his Ford Model T.

Captain Raleigh stepped from the store and held the door open for Dani, who clutched a coat around her and walked stiffly to the car. The captain helped her onto the passenger seat and climbed into the back. The townspeople watched with growing curiosity as Mayor McKinney drove the car out of town, following the road to Loden. The winter sun had descended low enough to touch the horizon, and the scarlet glow deepened the brown of Raleigh’s leather jacket. The captain leaned forward from the back seat so that Dani could hear him over the clatter of the Model T’s engine.

“Thank you for agreeing to do this, Miss Brown. Not many women would be brave enough to return to the scene of where they were attacked.”

“I’m not sure it’s a matter of bravery, Captain Raleigh,” Dani haltingly explained. “I think perhaps it’s anger.”

“Anger?” He looked curious, and she couldn’t help noticing that he was handsome. Standing or sitting, he held his back straight, and she thought he had the makings of a great horse rider.

Dismissing such thoughts, she continued, “Someone found my horse. The skeleton of it anyway, after the coyotes had finished with it. Whatever attacked me is responsible for that.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your horse.” He sounded as if he truly meant it. “Do you have a sense of where the incident occurred?”

“I set out after dark.” As the sunset weakened, Dani continued to be short of breath. Her words tightened with pain when the vehicle jolted over bumps. “There was light from the stars. Even so, it was hard to know exactly where I was along the road.”

“What time did you leave for Loden?”

“At 7:15.”

“That’s very precise.”

“My father has a wireless radio. I was with him when he listened to a report about the gas attacks in the European war. The news began at 7.” Dani forced herself to continue. “After ten minutes, I was so up- set that I said good-bye to my parents and went out to my horse. I was on the road by 7:15.”

“The way you sit so rigidly straight, you’re obviously hurting,” he said with concern. “Are you certain you can continue?”

“I’m prepared to do what’s required,” she answered firmly. “It’s just the corset.”

“Corset?” Raleigh sounded embarrassed.

“The veterinarian told me to wear a corset to bind my ribs and protect them.”

“You went to a veterinarian?” he asked in surprise.

“This is cattle country, Captain Raleigh. It’s easier to find a vet than a doctor.”

“As soon as you return home, please take the corset off at once. It can kill you.”

Dani winced as the mayor drove over another bump. “Kill me? What are you talking about?”

“The Army’s been studying how wounds are being treated in the war. It’s common for tape to be used on broken ribs. But British doctors are discovering that pneumonia is a frequent result. Apparently the tape causes shallow breathing that allows fluid to collect in the lungs. The next thing, the patient is sick from something far worse than broken ribs. After you remove the corset, breathe as deeply as you can. That’ll hurt, but it’s the only way to stop the fluid from collecting.”

The mayor turned on the Model T’s lights. “Speaking of the war, Captain, will the U.S. join the fight?”

“Yes, we will,” Raleigh answered. “It’s only a question of when. That’s why the Army sent me here. If the Germans are testing a new weapon, we need to know about it. Miss Brown, can you estimate how long you were on this road before you saw the lights?”

“Perhaps forty minutes.”

“At what gait were you riding?”

“A moderate trot. The light from the moon and the stars was sufficient to allow for that speed.”

“Which means that you traveled approximately five miles.”

The mayor looked at him with even more respect. “I gather you used to be a cavalryman.”

“The Eighth Regiment.”

“You were in the Philippines?”

“Apparently Miss Brown isn’t the only person keeping up with the news.” Raleigh scanned the horizon. “Yes, I was in the Philippines. When I heard that the Army was training pilots, I decided it was better to fly over a jungle than ride through it.” He paused and peered into the dusk. “Would you say we’ve traveled five miles yet?”

“That’s what the milometer says.”

“Then let’s stop and enjoy the view.”

McKinney eased back on the accelerator and pulled the handbrake. Even at an idle, the vibrations of the engine made the car rattle.

“Miss Brown, you said the lights came from the south?”

“That’s correct.”

“If you turn off the engine, Mr. McKinney, will you be able to restart it, or will we be stuck out here?”

“I maintain the car in excellent condition,” the mayor said. “It will start.”

“Then let’s enjoy some peace and quiet.”

The mayor shut off the engine. The car wheezed and fell silent.

“If I keep the headlights on, the battery’ll go dead,” McKinney told Raleigh.

“Of course. Please turn them off.”

At once darkness surrounded the vehicle. Silence gave the night power.

“Beautiful,” Raleigh said as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. “In El Paso, the streetlights keep me from seeing the sky. I seldom see the heavens so bright.”

McKinney pointed with a child’s enthusiasm. “Look, a shooting star.”

It streaked across the sky like silent fireworks.

“Miss Brown, could that be what you saw?” Raleigh asked. “Per- haps a cluster of shooting stars?”

“I’ve never heard of shooting stars coming across a field and spinning around someone,” she replied. “Nor have I ever experienced any that hummed.”

“I haven’t, either.” Raleigh fixed his gaze on the murky area to the south. Somewhere over there, coyotes yipped and howled.

They’re on the hunt, he thought.

Or perhaps they’re running from something.

“I need to tell you,” Dani said, “that I don’t think the lights were torches held by German riders.”

“Perhaps not Germans. Perhaps it was Carranza’s men.”

“No. I mean I don’t think there were any riders.”

“But if there weren’t any riders, what caused the lights?”

“I don’t know. People around here often see lights,” she said. “I my- self have never seen them, so I can’t tell you what they look like, and before the other night I hadn’t thought they even existed. Now I’m not certain what I think.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Dani’s talking about the Rostov lights,” McKinney interrupted. “Indians and early settlers used to talk about them. I’ve never seen them, either, but my wife claims she has. That was after we lost a son to cholera. She believed the lights were the soul of our boy. If you ask me, my Emily was so depressed that she convinced herself she saw the lights.”

“Well, whatever’s going on, we’ll soon find out,” Raleigh replied confidently.

“You really believe that?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m seeing the lights right now.”

“What?” McKinney glanced all around.

Raleigh focused all his attention toward the southern horizon, where glowing colors slowly began to appear. They rose and fell. They drifted and floated in a languorous, captivating rhythm. Red merged into blue. Yellow blended with green.