And so Sisson had no illusions. If the posses, made up mostly of Mormons and Wootans, caught them, the posses would kill them. And so the pattern that the Mormons had followed became theirs. They would flee as long as they were able, because to resist could lead only to death. But that was just the first part of the pattern. Once they fled, they set in motion an inevitable stand that would be made somewhere at some time. Just as the Mormons knew they would never entirely escape persecution, Sisson and the Power brothers knew they would never escape the Mormons. The pursuit would be relentless.

He did not understand, completely, why they were headed to Mexico, though Mexico had always meant refuge for the hunted north of the border. Under normal conditions. But the Mormons would not be stopped at the border the way a usual posse would be. Mormons had colonies in Mexico and were more familiar with the country and welcome than the Power brothers would be. The legal posses would turn back at the border. The Mormons and Wootans would not.

They would continue to hunt the Powers and Sisson because political boundaries were illusions, and only the boundaries of blood and faith were real. They would be required to fight. Outcomes were always paradoxes that took you by surprise, though they were always inevitable. Only when and how it would happen were unknown.

Sisson would continue with the brothers because he had no other options. And Tom believed, in a way Sisson didn't, that there would be justice or prosperity in Mexico. They would evade the posses as long as they were able. Like the Indians before them, they had resources—an understanding of the country, a toughness shared with their pursuers, and also the will to live, the drive that gave them the tiniest of edges.

They had been in the Stronghold for two days. The swelling in Tom's eye had abated, but it still hurt like hell and didn't work at all. John's eye seemed better. It was still swollen but no longer oozed pus. Tom thought that a good thing, but he wasn't positive. Often enough things that seemed good weren't. The bridge of John's nose was completely scabbed over now, and it had not bled in two days. That was a good thing. The nose was starting to heal.