Chapter Twelve—Is a Cliffhanger

          From a small knoll, barely a quarter mile away, I shouted, “Tolliver!” And Ol’ Paint was at full gallop in less than three seconds. Allie and Ranger were on our heels.
          It’s amazing the reaction sometimes that one word can get. Trent was obviously stunned to see us. Well, actually, so was everybody else in that group. It took them a few seconds to react…

          …and the first to do so was Kelly. She heard the familiar voice, turned, and tears came into her eyes as she shouted, “Rob!” From the pit of hell to the pearly gates in less than a second is quite a trip.
          But Trent Tolliver was no fool and he recovered. “Scatter!” he ordered his men. “Into the trees!” And Terrell, Hank, and Ed jumped off their horses and headed for the relative safety of the thick foliage to the east.
          Trent quickly sized up his options. He could go ahead and shoot Kelly, but then, he thought “hostage” again. On his own horse, he wasn’t going to outrun Ol’ Paint or Ranger, especially since he would still be dragging Kelly. So, he took the next option. He hurriedly dismounted, freed Kelly, grabbed her by the wrist and began pulling her towards the ridge directly in front of them. Kelly, having new-found hope and energy, struggled, but Trent said, “You come with me, or I’ll put a bullet in your head.” He did fire his gun, but aimed at the approaching Rob Conners. It was only a warning shot, it came nowhere hitting anybody.
         Tolliver had halted his men right at the bend in the road that Allie had noticed which meant Trent and Kelly would go up the boulder-strewn ridge to whatever was behind it. The hill was about 300 feet high and he began the upward trek, holding a pulling Kelly Atkins by the arm…

          When Allie and I reached the Tolliver horses, we both leaped off ours. “You get Kelly and Trent,” Allie said to me. “I’ll take care of the other three.”
          “Right,” I said and made a beeline for the hill. I was maybe 100 yards behind Tolliver and Kelly. I fleetingly noticed that, when Allie disappeared into the forest, she was carrying her bow and arrows and a rope…

          Allie Summer was in her environment now. She knew the forest, she knew how to move in it, she knew natural from unnatural sounds and movements, and as far as she was concerned, it was only a matter of time until she caught her prey. There were few creatures on earth more deadly in this ecosystem than the lady Ranger.
          She could already hear some stomping deeper into the woods. The terrain initially sloped gently upwards, but then, after about 150 yards, began to rise rather severely. A deep gorge ran between the ridge Trent Tolliver was climbing and this area of forest. Terrell, Hank, and Monger couldn’t go that way. To get to their horses, they’d have to get past Allie. And she wasn’t about to let that happen.
          That meant the only way they could go was up.
          Allie immediately went into a crouch when she entered the trees. About 25 yards in, she stopped behind a bush and moved nothing but her eyes. Searching. Her finely-tuned ears were also listening for anything that didn’t belong in that forest. One…two…three… She looked from one location in the forest…to another…to another…one in front of her and a little to the left…another directly before her…the third in front and to the right…Allie saw…Allie heard…and Allie moved.
          Her ankle was bothering her so she couldn’t get quite as close to the ground as she would have liked, but like a silent hunter, she stepped only where she would make no sound and used cover expertly. She always dressed in dark clothes just for this sort of eventuality. Silently, almost invisibly, Allie moved from tree to tree to bush, always stopping, listening, locating.  She even smiled.  Amateurs…this is almost too easy…
          The incredibly stupid Hank Frobisher made it even easier for her. “Hey, Terrell,” he whispered, loud enough to raise the dead, “where we goin’?”
          “Shut up, you fool,” Terrell hissed at him. “That Ranger will be after us for sure.” Allie could tell they weren’t more than 30-35 yards apart.
          “Aw, she can’t find us in this mess. I can’t see nuthin’,” Hank replied. Terrell didn’t answer.
          Hank was to her left angle, Terrell in front, so that meant Monger was to her right. Allie cocked her head. She couldn’t hear him any more, so she figured he must have stopped. She stared in that direction, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Her plan now was to go after Hank first. He’d be the simplest.
          And indeed, he proved to be just that. He actually stopped to relieve himself against a tree. Allie crept to a bush 25 yards away from him. His left side was turned to her and he finished his business. Allie didn’t wait. She rose up quickly. The movement attracted Hank’s eye, which is exactly what the Ranger had intended. He saw her and his eyes got big.
          “Terrell! She’s over…uuuuuhhhnnn….”
          An arrow from Allie’s bow went straight into his side and pierced his heart.
          And he had done exactly what Allie had hoped he would—cried out for help, but let it be known that he was no longer a player in the game. Before Hank even hit the ground, Allie was circling back around to her right…

          Terrell Tolliver had indeed heard Hank’s shout and the final groan which signaled the big man’s death. Terrell cursed under his breath. He started to go to the location of Hank’s voice, but stopped. There was nothing he could do for Hank now. He himself was crouched down behind a bush, a little bit panicked, knowing that he was no match for Allie Summer in the forest, probably no match for Allie Summer period. But running was not an option. He’d have to think of something…

          Ed Monger had indeed stopped and he, too, was crouched behind some shrubbery, but not to where he couldn’t see a panorama around him. He had heard Hank’s death cry, thus knew the general direction the Ranger would be coming from. He also knew that Terrell was between Hank and himself, and that Allie had been behind him. But he didn’t trust her not to come around from the other direction, so very slowly and carefully he looked around him, trying to spot some movement, something that would give away the location of his pursuer.
          And then he smiled…

          Allie was aware that Monger had apparently stopped, so she moved slowly, carefully, between bushes and behind trees. There was sunlight filtering in through the treetops, but Allie knew how to use that to her advantage as well—she stayed in the shadows. She circled back far enough that she was confident Monger couldn’t see her, then, as stealthily as a panther, she crept forward, stopping, creeping, her eyes ever scanning, ever searching. A lengthy pause behind some chokeberry, nothing moving but those terrifying eyes…focusing in on a spot not far ahead of her…a quick movement with her hands between her legs…then down to her belly, slithering like a snake—or an Indian—about 20 yards to her right…

          Monger was a dead shot with a revolver, but handguns had a limited range and he never took chances. So he had a rifle with him. His eyes had been moving and his ears had been listening, and finally he was rewarded. About 30 yards ahead of him—a little too far to trust in the accuracy of his .45 but perfect for a rifle—he saw some movement in the brush. He paused a few moments to make sure it wasn’t an animal, but nothing furry appeared. It wasn’t the wind…it wasn’t an animal…that meant it could be only one thing…
          Ed Monger stood up, aimed his rifle, and fired five shots into that swaying bush…

          About 50 feet away, in front of Monger and to his left, Allie Summer stood up. “Bad shot, Ed,” she said, and dropped the rope she had tied to the bush Monger had shot at, and that she had used to cause its movement.
          The outlaw’s eyes got big when he saw the Ranger and he quickly tried to swing the rifle in her direction.
          He wasn’t even close.

          Allie walked over to Monger’s body, just to make sure. Or maybe just to see how accurate her shot had been. There was a small, red hole right where she intended for it to be—in his forehead. She then spit on his body.
          “That’s what I think of you,” she said, dismissed him, and began thinking of the third kill she intended to make in that forest…

          Terrell Tolliver heard the shooting, of course, five rifle shots and then a small caliber revolver. Then…silence. He could only hope that Ed Monger had gotten Allie, but he wasn’t terribly confident. And then all hope was shattered.
          “Tolliver! It’s just you and me now. And soon it will be just me.”
          Allie’s voice seemed to bounce from tree to tree and Terrell couldn’t really tell where it came from. But he knew the direction of the shots he had just heard, so he assumed that the Ranger would approach from thence. Where to go?...where to go?..where to go?... This wasn’t the kind of game Terrell Tolliver was used to playing and he didn’t like it—hunter and hunted, and he was being hunted by the best. He looked around, searching for an advantage…
          “I know right where you are, Tolliver…come on, don’t make it too easy for me…”
          Terrell was getting seriously unnerved. That voice sounded as icy as the Ranger’s eyes. Maybe if I can get back to my horse… In a low crouch, he ran back the direction he had come from, moving from tree to tree and bush to bush.
          “Wrong way, Tolliver, you won’t get anywhere near the edge of the forest.”
          Terrell cursed and stopped. Looking around for…what? A phantom? How does she know where I am? Where is she? If she can see me, I ought to be able to see her… So he skimmed his eyes around, searching for some sign of that invisible woman. Curse her…where is she?...
          “I’m fixing to crawl up your back, Tolliver…”
          God, she can even read my mind…
          “My knife is just itching to get acquainted with the inside of your throat…”
          Terrell still couldn’t detect from what direction Allie’s voice came. He looked around frantically.
          “Why don’t you ask that preacher you murdered at the stage holdup to intercede for you? Maybe he can talk God into letting your death be quick and painless…”
          Terrell gritted his teeth. “Shut up, Ranger, just shut up! Come out and fight! You’re nothing but a coward.”
          “You’re boring me, Tolliver…”
          “Coward! A skulking, slithering, gutless coward! I bet you wouldn’t even fight your own shadow.”
          No response this time.
          “Show yourself!” Terrell shouted. “Let’s see how good you really are!”
          Silence.
          “What’s the matter, Ranger! You can dish it out but you can’t take it. Is that it?”
          Echo answered back.
          Terrell hoped—against hope—that he could provoke Allie into showing herself. His eyes continued to search, trying to spot some movement.
          Nothing.
          And no further word from the Ranger.
          The silence was more unnerving than her mockery.
          Terrell, in desperation, looked around…
          And then he looked up…

          Allie wasn’t taking anything for granted; she never did, even when she thought she had an advantage. Terrell Tolliver was an intelligent, dangerous man and she had no intention of underestimating him. So, while she was taunting him, her movements in his direction were calculated, precise, purposed, and hidden, with frequent pauses to move nothing but her eyes—and listen with her ears. So intent was her concentration that she never even noticed the snake that slid across her left moccasin; the snake might not have even noticed her. The eyes of Allie Summer missed nothing…nothing…
          She nodded when he finally gave himself away…

          Terrell Tolliver had climbed the green ash tree he had been hiding behind. There were enough leaves for good cover and he found a solid branch about 15 feet above ground that he could use for support. He actually smiled. I’ll just sit here and wait for her…eventually she’ll come close enough…and I’ll drill her…good-bye, Allie Summer….

          Five minutes later, Terrell Tolliver heard a voice behind him. “I like dogwoods better than ash. Prettier, I think, don’t you?”
          Tolliver turned. Through the leaves and limbs he could see Allie Summer sitting on a branch of a dogwood tree, barely 30 feet away. She almost looked like a child because she was swinging her legs back and forth. And she was smiling, but her eyes…were ice.
          And those eyes turned Terrell Tolliver very cold. A she-devil’s eyes… He literally shivered. He figured he had only one chance…
          “Well, you found me, Ranger,” he said. “I thought I had a pretty good hiding place.” If he could distract her by talking… “I’d really like to know something,” he added.
          “What’s that?” Allie replied.
          She doesn’t even have a gun in her hand…Terrell did and unhurriedly he turned towards her. “How did you survive that fall from the cliff?”
          Once again, Allie smiled. “I’m a witch, don’t you know that?”
          Terrell slowly nodded his head. “Always knew there was something strange about you. But you can stop a bullet just like anybody else…” And he jerked his gun up to fire.
          He never saw Allie move.  And he certainly didn't see the bullet that went right between his eyes.
          Terrell’s body hit the ground below with a solid thump. Allie sat on the tree limb watching, still swinging her legs, with a smoking .36 in her hand. “I never did like that guy,” she muttered. “He looks a lot better with a bullet hole in his head.” Then she turned her gaze towards heaven. “Preacher, that one was for you.” Looking back down at Terrell Tolliver’s dead body, she said, “And a few dozen other people….”
          Then she hopped down onto the ground. “I wonder if Rob has taken care of that other Tolliver rodent yet…”

          “Rob,” aka me, was living a nightmare. The hill. A man holding Kelly, pulling her up that incline, she shouting my name…it was a reincarnation of my dream of the past two nights. I had never believed in foresight or prescience or whatever you call it, but this was eerie. And frightening. And real.
          I followed them up that rocky wrinkle in the earth. It wasn’t an easy hill to climb and it took us all several minutes to do it. Tolliver dodged from rock to rock, throwing an occasional shot at me, none of which ever came close. Because he was having to pull a disinclined Kelly along with him, I was gaining, also bouncing among the boulders. I had my gun in my hand, but I couldn’t risk a shot for fear of hitting Kelly. She called my name again…
          Just like in my dream…
          I was barely 25 yards behind them when they crested the hill and disappeared from sight. I charged up after them and when I topped the rise, there they were, 20 feet in front of me.
          Standing at the edge of a cliff, a cliff with a very long and deadly fall behind it.
          Trent Tolliver—a wild demon in his eyes—was holding Kelly in front of him, a gun to her temple. Her eyes, looking at me, panicked, hoping, and pleading. A nightmare, even if I hadn’t had one just like it.
          “I’ll kill her, Conners, I swear to God I’ll kill her,” he shouted, maniacally.
          I had my gun pointed at his head. It would have been an easy shot, but perched on the edge of that precipice as they were, Tolliver could draw Kelly over the side with him. I answered, “Not with that gun, you won’t. You’ve shot six times, Tolliver. I counted. Your gun is empty.” I wasn’t lying. I had counted his shots and his gun was empty. I continued. “Just lower the gun and let her go. We’ll take you in and see that you get a fair trial.”
          He sneered at that. “You’ll never take me in alive, Conners, you know that. I’ll go over this cliff before I’ll go anywhere with you. And I’ll take this woman with me. A 500 foot free fall to boulders and a raging river. Not even Allie Summer could survive this one. Now, back up. Go. Get out of my sight, or in five seconds I hurl this woman into oblivion.”
          “You’ll follow her, Tolliver. You’ll be dead before she gets halfway down.”
          Another sneer. “Yeah, maybe so. But I’ll laugh all the way to hell, knowing the misery I’ll have brought to you for the rest of your life.”
          He had that figured right.
          I kept my gun pointed at him, not moving. As a last resort, I’d shoot and hope that he’d turn Kelly loose enough that she could get away from him.
          “Four seconds, Conners,” Tolliver said. Kelly closed her eyes, a painful grimace on her beautiful face.
          “Three…” I didn’t move. I was going to fire at “one.”
          “Two…” Kelly opened her eyes, as if to say “good-bye.”
          “O—“ But before he could finish the word and I could squeeze the trigger…a dream happened…Trent Tolliver grunted. I then heard the rifle shot. His head snapped back and I could see blood spurt from a bullet that had struck his temple. I had no idea who had fired that shot, but Tolliver fell back, toppled, and vanished over the lip of the cliff.
          That living nightmare for all of the territory—Trent Tolliver—was now over.
          But another one—mine—had yet to see its final act. Tolliver had indeed loosened his grip on Kelly, but his left arm was still around her throat. And his grip hadn’t loosened enough for her to totally become free. Almost in slow motion, she fell back towards the edge of the abyss.
          “Roooobbbbb!” Kelly screamed, as she tried to keep her balance on the edge of the abyss. But she stumbled and fell over the side.
          I was already moving and, with all my soul within me burning, I dove for her, the fear and dread of my nightmare searing my brain and generating an almost unendurable agony. But her arms were outstretched, and I was able to grasp her right wrist. She was dangling, in mid-air, 500 feet above that raging, rock-infested river, whimpering, held only by my grip. “Hang on, Kelly,” I breathed. “I’ll get you up.”
          But that wasn’t going to be so easy, because I was bent at the waist, hanging halfway off the cliff myself.
          Desperately, she reached up for me and I took hold of her other wrist. But I couldn’t get any leverage to pull us both back up to safe ground. I could lift Kelly towards me—but when I did that, her weight dragged me down. Quarter-inch, by half-inch, bit by bit, little by little, I slid towards the edge of the cliff.
          “Kelly! See if you can find a foothold somewhere! I can’t back up!”
          She nodded, and kicked her legs towards the cliff face—in vain. “Rob! It’s too far away…I can’t get a footing anywhere.”
          I looked frantically around, trying to find something she—or I—could hold onto so I could wiggle back onto safe ground. There was nothing but crumbling dirt.
          I slipped a little farther, the top of my pants and belt now at the edge of the cliff. I looked into Kelly’s eyes, and saw fear and despair. Now, after all we’d been through, I couldn’t lose her, I had to find a way to save her. Come on, Conners, think of something…don’t give up…for Kelly…
          But I just…couldn’t…back up. Kelly wasn’t huge by any means, but she still topped the scales at over 100 pounds. I could hold her up—for a little longer—but as much as I wiggled my backside, I kept going the wrong way. Her weight was simply too much and I slipped further and further towards oblivion. I looked down, past the woman I loved. I saw Trent Tolliver’s broken body on a huge boulder—and then it was swept into the river by a torrid wave. That was the fate that awaited Kelly and me if I didn’t find some way to draw us to safety.
          But I couldn’t figure a way get the leverage I needed. And it was getting late.
          Kelly knew it now; she understood. “Rob,” she said, almost calmly. She had quit moving. I could hear the raging river below us, yelling at us, mocking us, waiting for us. “Rob, please let me go,” Kelly said. “Save yourself. I don’t want you to die, too.” I could have done that, of course, dropped her and saved myself. But there was absolutely no way I was going to do that. I’d never, never be able to live with myself if I did.
          I slid a little more. With a couple of more inches, I’d go over the side. And there was nothing I could do.
          “Kelly…” I said. She looked at me. I saw fear in her eyes. Then I saw resignation. Then I saw something else…
          “I love you, Kelly.”
          “I love you, too, Rob.”
          There was one thing I could do. When I started to fall, I could pull her up to me and wrap my arms around her. And hold onto her tightly as we both entered whatever eternity awaited us.
          But then, eternity had to wait a little longer because a lightening bolt streaked through my brain.
          Allie Summer’s knife!
          “Kelly!” I said, urgently. “Take hold of my right arm! Quickly!”
          I guided her left wrist and she grabbed my right wrist. I held onto her with my right hand, but with my left, I reached back to the Bowie I carried in a left hip scabbard. I clutched the knife and leaning back, I rammed it as hard as I could into the ground beside me.
          The recent rain had helped—as had the dryness of the past few days. The earth was soft enough for the knife to penetrate to the hilt, but hard enough not to create slippage. The Bowie held fast and stopped my downward slide.
          For the moment—only for the moment—I had cheated our fate. I still had to figure out a way to get both Kelly and I back onto that shelf. Kelly held onto me—and I to her, lest she get some suicidal idea about letting go to save me—but her legs were still dangling in mid-air, a strong wind now gusting and blowing her back and forth. I gritted my teeth and pulled on the knife, trying to lever us back to safety. At the same time, I tried to dig into the ground with the toes of my boots, hoping that would help.
          I felt a little movement backwards. I also felt the knife slicing through the earth—towards the brink of the cliff.
          I gritted my teeth. The strain on my right arm incredible; it felt like my shoulder was coming out of its socket. I pulled again on the knife—all that did was twist my body a little to the side. I took a deep breath, holding on to knife and Kelly. I looked down at her again, and saw hope in her eyes. I smiled at her.
          “You picked an awfully lousy place to go for a swim, you know that, woman?”
          She couldn’t help but laugh. “Rob, it’s not funny. Please….”
          I jerked mightily on the knife—but at the same time, I felt two hands jerking my right leg. “Hang on, Rob,” a tense, strained voice said.
          Somebody had hold of my ankle and was trying to pull me back.
          I renewed my effort with the knife because whoever it was just didn’t have the strength to pull both Kelly and I up. With my hand on the knife, tugging, and our attempted savior heaving on my leg we moved a little. But not much.
          “Rob!” Kelly cried. “I can’t…hold on…much longer…”
          I still had a grip on her wrist. But I couldn’t hold her much longer, either. “Hang on, angel,” I said to her. “Just a little longer. Somebody is behind me, helping pull us back.”
          And then there were two somebodies. I felt another pair of hands on my left leg, and then a third, and that was sufficient. Slowly, inexorably, I was dragged backwards away from the edge of the precipice. My waist, my stomach—I was in good shape, so I let go of the knife and reached down with my left hand and gripped Kelly with it. I pulled her up and the three people behind me pulled me—and her—to complete safely.
          When she crawled over the edge, whimpering, I grabbed her, wrapping my arms around her, never wanting to let her go. She held onto me and started weeping tears of uncontrollable joy and relief.
          After a few seconds, I pulled her back a little and turned to find out who had saved Kelly’s and my life.
          I was mildly puzzled to see a man I did not know.
          I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see a smiling Allie Summer.
          But I was immeasurably shocked to see a rather embarrassed Kelly Kramer.
          And it was Kelly K who spoke first. “I’m sorry. I…I shot Trent Tolliver. He had shot me…I was…I thought he would let Kelly go. I never thought he would pull her over with him…”
          I stared at her for a few seconds, still in disbelief that she was even there. After I digested what she said, I had to admit, it was a pretty stupid play on Kelly’s part. But, frankly, one that was wholly understandable. She was no doubt extremely angry at seeing the man who had almost killed her. It was natural that she would feel the way she did. I might decide to paddle her backside before we got home, but everything did come out all right, so we couldn’t be too mad at her.
          But I was still nonplussed at her presence. “You followed us from River Bend?”
          More embarrassment. “Yeah. I almost lost you a couple of times.”
          “Why didn’t you join us?”
          “I couldn’t catch you.”
          I looked at Allie. She just shrugged. There wasn’t a whole lot that disturbed that woman. “She’s obviously one of the people we spotted tailing us,” she said.
          I nodded and shifted my gaze to the man I didn’t know. “Kelly and I owe you a tremendous thanks and possibly our lives. Who are you?”
          He threw a glance at Allie, who was looking quizzically at him as well. She didn’t know him, either. “My name is Gus Ferrara.”
          I saw a light go on in Allie’s head. “You ride with Tolliver.”
          “Rode,” he corrected. “I was…with him up until he concocted this idea of capturing these two ladies”—the two Kellys. “That was enough for me. I pulled out early.” He made a face. “I didn’t really know what to do so I sort of traipsed along behind to see what would happen.” He looked a little sheepish himself.
          Allie was looking at him thoughtfully. “You’ve got some Indian in you.”
          He nodded. “A quarter Crow. Father was a breed. He learned a lot from his father, passed some of it on to me.”
          Allie glanced at me. “That’s why we had a hard time spotting him.”
          I nodded. “If you’ve been riding with Tolliver, well, I’m sorry, but that doesn’t speak very highly of you. Why did you help save Kelly and me?”
          He grinned, and it was pleasant. “I didn’t care anything about you, Conners, I just didn’t want the lady to die.”
          I laughed. “Thanks a lot,” I said, with some jovial sarcasm.
          Kelly said with a smile, “Well, I do thank you, whether Rob means it or not.”
         Allie was still analyzing Gus. “There’s a price on your head, Ferrara. A price on any of the Tolliver gang.”
          Before he spoke, I said to Allie, “I guess you got the other three.”
          “I invited them to come back with me, but they declined. So I left them where they wanted to be.”
          I was rather skeptical about that “invited them to come back” comment.
          She turned her attention to Ferrara, obviously expecting an answer to her “price on his head” comment. He nodded and said, “I know. And I’ll go back with you, though I hope you’ll ask the judge not to try me on murder charges.”
          Kelly was understandably empathetic. She spoke to Allie. “Does he have to stand trial? I mean, he helped saved Rob’s and my life. Doesn’t that count for something?”
          Allie shrugged. “Well, I’ll ask the judge to take that into consideration.”
          “Who’s going to press charges against him?” I asked her.
          “He’s been riding with the Tolliver gang, Rob,” Allie replied.
          “Can you prove that?”
          Yes, she could have. He had been seen with some Tollivers in several places, including River Bend. But Allie said, “All right, Conners, what are you driving at?”
          I looked at Gus. “You ever done anything decent in your life? Like work cattle?”
          He nodded. “Yeah. We had a small ranch when I was growing up, but the locals didn’t like my mother being married to a breed. They burnt us out, killed my folks…Tolliver was the only one who would take me in.”
          I could tell that story jolted Allie. It was eerily similar to what she had happened in her early life. The difference was, of course, she went with the Rangers and Ferrara latched on with the Tollivers. She looked at me and sighed. “I’ll let you make the call, Rob.”
          I said to Gus, “Head back to River Bend with us. We’ll talk. You may end up behind bars yet, but…”
          He hesitated, then nodded. “All right, fair enough. I’d really like a chance to go straight, but I understand the way the system works.” He looked at Allie. “Terrell’s dead?”
          She nodded. “And Frobisher and Monger.”
          He studied her closely. “I guess your reputation is well deserved. Where’s the rest of the gang?”
          “They split up and headed east. Marshal Ben Baker is after them with a posse.”
          Gus replied, “I wouldn’t especially want him on my tail, either.” Then, he added, “Well, with Trent and Terrell dead, that’s the lot of them.”
          I smiled. “Yeah. Allie got two of them, I got one, and these two Kellys finished the job.”
          Kelly Kramer walked over to Kelly Atkins. “Kelly, I’m really, really sorry. I never would have forgiven myself if something…had happened to you and Rob.”
          Kelly A smiled at her friend. Rather than blubbering over the whole thing, she asked, “Where did you learn to shoot like that?”
          “She always aims for the head,” I said, remembering a mountain lion whose pate had had the misfortune of getting in the way of one of her bullets.
          “My father taught me to shoot,” Kelly K replied. Then, with a coy smile, she added, “Among other things.”
          I stared at her for a few moments through narrowed eyes. There was a lot more to that woman than just a waitress at a backwoods dump like Upton. But I wasn’t going to pursue it right then.
          It was windy and a bit chilly on this hilltop, and I think everyone had said most of what they intended to say for the moment. Allie walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. “Are you sure Tolliver is dead?” she asked.
          “Allie,” I responded, “he had a bullet in his brain, he fell off a 500 foot cliff, and landed on those boulders down there. While I was trying to get Kelly up, I saw a wave grab him and pull him into those rapids. I don’t think even you could have survived that.”
         She smiled. “Maybe I’ll try it someday.” After one more glance down at the river, she said, “Let’s get out of here.”
          I heard not one word of dissent to that suggestion.