When
Red came around he saw that someone was standing over him, but he couldn't make
out whom before he blacked out again. When he came around again, Red had a terrible
headache, but he saw that it was just Blaze standing over him. Blaze nuzzled
Red as he got up. He checked himself over and found that he had been grazed
on his left shoulder as he had jumped.
Red retrieved his gun and went back across
the river to check on the two men. One was dead with a wound on his temple,
while the other took a shot in the shoulder and the gut and had bled to death.
He was amazed at the luck of his shots. He would have to send Frank a letter
to tell him of his good fortune and to thank him for teaching him so well.
Red buried the two men and stood up. He
took a look around. He had finally made it to California and had learned a lot
along the way. He mounted up and headed into the sunset on his way back to Elisa.
He would have to face the consequences for killing her brother, as he now realized
he might have done, but he was ready. He had finally become a man like his father.
"We shot him up pretty good," said the man
standing over Red.
"Looks like he's coming around," said the
second man as he walked leading Blaze.
"He's a goner." Red opened his eyes, blinked
like he was trying to focus and then was still. "He's not breathing anymore."
"He's smiling," the second man observed
as he walked up.
"Maybe he saw something when he opened his
eyes," the first man commented.
