Dan held Chloe close as he stood up. It wasn’t a struggle to carry Chloe, she was as light in death as she had been in life.
Dan rounded the small bluff and he smiled when he saw Weiser. Michael had tied the ends of Weiser’s reins to a small sapling.
Weiser raised his head from a small patch of lush grass that he had been slowly munching on and the powerful mountain horse shook his head.
Weiser’s mane flew out from his thickly muscled neck as the horse shook its head. Weiser’s front hooves scratched at the ground and he raised his head to the heavens and let forth with a long and powerful chuffing sound.
He would never speak of this moment to anyone but right then it sounded to him like Weiser was letting the world know of his grief at Chloe’s death.
‘Easy boy,’ Dan said when he reached Weiser.
Dan held Chloe tight against his chest, his left hand against her hip, his arm holding her in position.
Dan untied Weiser’s reins.
Dan reached up with his right hand and his fingers curled around the horn at the front of the saddle. Dan lifted his right leg until his foot slipped inside the leather stirrup and in one easy upward motion he pulled himself up. Dan swung his left leg up and over and he was soon settled in the seat of the saddle.
Dan leaned forwards in the saddle and his free hand found the reins.
‘Take us home Weiser,’ Dan said softly.
*****
EPILOGUE.
He buried Chloe out behind the ranch in the very spot that she had chosen for Dan two years before.
The funeral was a small affair attended by a dozen friends. Chloe’s parents were in England, where they had been for the last couple of years caring for an elderly relative. Dan had yet to tell them of their daughter’s death and he wasn’t sure when he would get around to making that call. The last thing he wanted or needed was them dropping everything and descending on Montana.
Dan didn’t speak during the funeral, he would save his words for later and he really had nothing to say that he wanted to share with those gathered to mourn Chloe’s death.
Tile did stand up to say a few words about Chloe and the old man’s words brought tears to Dan’s eyes. Dan knew just how much Tile had loved Chloe.
Dan’s mind drifted during the small service and he recalled a conversation that he had had with Archie shortly after his miraculous return from the grave.
Dan had questioned how his resurrection would be explained to those in town that had known of his death.
Archie had just chuckled.
‘With all that I am capable of, of all that I have ever done, I think I can handle a little subjective memory loss.’
Dan had laughed.
‘So, what? You’ll just wipe my death from their minds?’
‘I already have.’
Dan now looked at the gathered mourners, some were those that had attended his own funeral and he found himself wondering if any of them were suffering moments of déjà vu.
*****
Later, after the last of the mourners from town had left Michael had approached Dan. He told Dan that he had discussed it with Beth and they had agreed to stay on at the small ranch house.
‘At least until we’re all sure that there won’t be any blowback from all that has gone down. We want to be here if anyone comes to cause trouble.’
Dan thanked Michael.
‘I don’t think there will be any trouble but stay as long as you want, Grace loves Beth and it’s good for Grace to have some female companionship.’
‘I’m really sorry Dan, about everything.’
Dan simply nodded his head.
Michael shook Dan’s hand before leaving him alone.
*****
That night, after they had finished making love in the dark Michael pulled Beth close.
‘I love you Michael, I don’t know what I’d do without you, promise me that nothing bad will happen to you. Promise me that you’re not going anywhere.’
Michael squeezed Beth’s naked buttocks and he pulled her close.
‘I love you too, and I promise you that I’m not going anywhere.’
*****
Although Dan tried to hide his grief and despair (and he never revealed his hurt around Grace) Tile was the first to notice that Dan was slowly pulling away from the people around him. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when one morning Dan had asked Tile to watch over Grace.
‘Where ya goin’ son?’ Tile had asked.
‘Just out for a ride, I’ll only be gone a couple of days, I just need to catch some air.’
‘Okay, I’ll keep the little lady safe.’
‘I know you will Tile, thank you.’
‘Nothing of it,’ Tile had replied.
Dan returned three nights later.
He stayed a while but it wasn’t long before Dan left again. He was gone a week this time.
Time would pass and Tile had hoped that spending time with Grace would help to heal the wounds that scarred Dan so deeply but his hopes went unanswered.
Gradually Dan’s rides became longer and longer and then he just stayed gone.
Months passed, Dan’s whereabouts unknown and then word would eventually reach Tile that a rancher had spotted a lone rider high up in the mountains. A while would pass and then he’d hear about other such sightings. All told the same tale, a lone rider, always on the horizon.
Tile could only imagine the depths of Dan’s despair and he kept his promise to watch over Grace. In the early days Grace would ask him when her dada would be home and he would say soon but after a while she stopped asking. Grace seemed to know that her dada needed to be away and she never cried and she never complained but Tile could see the yearning in her eyes.
When a year had passed and still Dan had not returned Tile had decided enough was enough and he left Grace with Michael and Beth (they were still staying at the small ranch). They were only too happy to have Grace to stay with them.
‘It’ll be good practise,’ Beth said, her hand on the huge swell of her stomach.
Tile thanked them both, telling them to take care before he left them to do what he had always done best.
*****
It took Tile a little over two weeks to track Dan down. He’d started with the last rancher who’d reported seeing a lone stranger and from there it had been pretty straight forward. Tile moved from ranch to ranch following the reports until he’d eventually struck gold.
Dan had left a trail that even a half-gifted tracker could have followed. Tile had had to abandon the comfort of the truck after the first few days and then he was back in the saddle.
Tile’s horse was an old hand at this kind of work and within days they had made their way high in to the mountains. Three days later and he’d had his first fleeting glimpse of Dan in the distance.
Tile was cold and grumpy as shit when he eventually ended up high on a plateau ahead of Dan.
He was down to his last three packs of cigarettes. He lit a Marlboro as he sat in his saddle, his left leg crossed over the saddle horn as he waited.
Tile pulled at the collar his sheepskin coat as the wind whistled between the trees at his back.
Tile was just sparking his second cigarette when he heard hooves on the trail.
Tile took a long drag on his Marlboro and he tipped his Stetson back from his face when Dan came in to view.
‘You took your sweet fucking time,’ Tile said.
Dan brought Weiser to a stop several feet from Tile’s position.
‘Jesus Christ Almighty, you sure look like a sad sack of shit,’ Tile said.
Dan scratched at his long scraggly beard.
‘How did you find me?’ Dan eventually asked.
Tile laughed.
‘Son, I’ve been tracking men most of my life, and you left a trail that a blind man coulda followed.’
Dan cleared his throat.
‘I wasn’t exactly trying to hide myself.’
‘No shit Sherlo
ck I’da never guessed.’
Tile climbed down from his saddle and he stretched his aching muscles.
‘You about done playing Mountain Man?’ Tile asked as he slowly crossed the area between them.
Dan looked down at Tile.
‘How’s Grace?’ Dan asked. His throat hurt, he hadn’t spoken to anyone for months. He coughed and cleared his throat.
‘Gracie’s just fine. So, you done with this shit?’
Dan shook his head. His hair, which was a lot longer than it used to be blew in the wind.
‘I can’t come home Tile, I don’t deserve it.’
‘Ah horse shit!’ Tile spat. ‘You’ve had all the time I’m prepared to give you, now’s the time to be a daddy to that little girl.’
‘I said I’m not coming back Tile. I mean it.’
Tile had reached the side of Weiser and he smoothed his hand down the magnificent animal’s flank.
‘Yeah, well tough shit asshole,’ Tile said.
Dan had no idea how Tile managed to move so quickly but one second Dan was sat in the saddle, the next he was falling sideways towards Tile.
Tile stepped back as Dan slammed to the hard ground.
‘What the fuck!’ Dan gasped. Winded from his fall he got to his hands and knees.
‘You total dickless asshole!’ Tile grunted and he kicked Dan hard in the ribs.
Dan was lifted from his hands and knees and he grunted as he rolled over.
Tile swung another booted foot in to Dan’s side. The long coat that Dan was wearing diminished the force of the blow but Dan still felt one of his ribs crack.
Dan rolled away and Tile’s next swinging kick missed him. Dan scrabbled backwards.
‘I don’t wanna hurt you Tile,’ Dan grunted as he continued to back away from the older man.
Tile laughed.
‘Son, you couldn’t take me even if I had both eyes shut.’
Tile closed the distance between them and Dan was hauled to his feet.
Stars danced across Dan’s vision when Tile slammed his forehead in to his face.
Tile let go of Dan.
Dan staggered again and he swung his left fist towards Tile.
Tile ducked below the wild swing and brought his own right fist up in a powerful uppercut.
‘Lights out asshole!’ Tile said as his fist connected squarely with Dan’s chin.
Dan was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
Tile turned to Weiser.
‘What do ya think, think he’s learned his lesson?’
Weiser just stared vacantly back at Tile.
Tile laughed.
‘Must be going crazy, you’re just That Goddamn Orse.’
*****
Dan’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned in pain.
‘Where am I?’ he finally managed. He ran his tongue along his teeth and he felt two of his lower molars loose beneath the tip of his tongue.
‘Jesus Tile, did you have to hit me so goddamn hard?’
‘No,’ Tile said from across the flames of a fire. ‘But I wanted to.’
Dan managed to push himself up against the rock at his back.
‘Ow fuck!’ Dan grunted through clenched teeth. ‘You broke a rib you asshole.’
‘Yeah, yeah, quit being such a goddam cry-baby, you’ve had plenty worse.’
‘Is that coffee I can smell?’
‘Well it sure ain’t as good as the stuff Chloe used to make but it’ll get the job done.’
Dan managed a chuckle.
‘Damn I feel like shit.’
Tile’s hand came out of the darkness and Dan took the tin cup clasped in Tile’s leathery hand. The coffee smelled even stronger up close.
‘You look like shit Dan, in fact I ain’t ever seen a sorrier looking specimen in all my days.’
Dan took a sip of the coffee and he winced as the scolding liquid washed across his sore teeth.
‘I don’t know, way Michael tells it you’ve been known to look like shit, once upon a time.’
Tile chuckled.
Dan heard the sound of Tile striking his lighter’s wheel.
‘You know those things will kill ya right?’
‘Yeah, well, I shoulda been dead a long time ago.’
‘Grace loves you you know, it would tear her up if you dropped dead because of those damn things.’
‘Alright already,’ Tile grunted. ‘Goddamn bad enough that I have to listen to that daughter of yours, I don’t need you preaching to me too.’
‘She only has one Uncky Tile,’ Dan added with a chuckle.
‘Alright! Jack-Ass! I’ll give ‘em up before we get back to the homestead. Happy?’
‘Ecstatic,’ Dan replied.
‘We’ll start back at first light unless you want another ass-kicking?’
Dan laughed, it was his first real laugh since before Chloe was killed - the sound was strange to his ears but not unpleasant.
‘No, I’m done. You know, for an old bastard you pack a mean punch.’
‘You shoulda seen me at my best,’ Tile replied with a deep rumbling chuckle.
Several minutes passed in silence.
‘Thank you Tile,’ Dan finally said.
‘You’re welcome son,’ Tile replied. ‘It’s good to have ya back.’
*****
The years passed.
Michael and Beth were blessed with a beautiful girl. They named her Chloe. Michael and Beth experienced one more time of great violence but that’s their tale and now isn’t the time for its telling.
Grace and Chloe grew up together – they were inseparable all the way through school and on in to college. They both ended up back in Montana working the Constantine ranch – they made it grow in size and created a highly profitable business teaching kids and adults to ride and pretend at playing “cowboy”.
Dan and Michael taught Grace and Chloe everything that they knew about self-defence, martial arts and the use of every weapon in their underground compound. The girls had taken to their instructions with a natural gift for it. Once, when one teenage jock tried it on with Chloe it had been Grace that had sent him to the hospital with a broken leg and a fractured wrist – he never played football again and no boy ever went near the two girls again (which suited Chloe and Grace just fine).
It was clear to everyone that Grace and Chloe were more than just best friends, there had never been any boys sniffing around them during high school (they’d sure wanted to, both girls were stunning, but the two country girls also scared the shit out of every boy in the state). After they had graduated college and long after they had returned to the ranch they had announced to their gathered families that they were in love and were going to be married.
Dan remained on his own for the rest of his life. Grace had given up in her early teens trying to arrange dates for her father with any and all eligible women that she came in to contact with. He would spend his days working the ranch and at night he would sit out near Chloe’s headstone. As she got older Grace would come to sit out with him and she would listen to her dada’s tales of just how truly kick-ass and awesome her momma had been.
Dan died three weeks after walking his daughter down the aisle. He’d never been more proud or happier. He died in his sleep. Grace was the one that found him out by her momma’s grave.
Grace and Chloe buried him next to her momma. Grace knew that he was reunited with the only woman that he had ever loved. Tile spoke at the small funeral. By the time Tile had finished with his eulogy everyone gathered at the graveside were in tears of laughter. The stories he’d told of her dada and momma had filled Grace with a warmth that never left her.
Tile lived to be 102 – he died a good death. He’d lived to see Grace and Chloe grow in to adulthood. He had lived to see Dan become the father that he had always known Dan could be. At the time of his death he had been cigarette-free for going on thirty six years.
The underground compound was never needed.
The war never happen
ed.
The world kept spinning and mankind kept fucking it up.
*****
‘Are you ready to start?’
Dan turned to see the Architect standing at his back.
Dan looked down at his slumped form.
‘I guess I’m dead huh?’
‘You’d guess right, but like I once told you death is just a stage.’
‘Yeah, I remember.’
Dan turned to look back at the ranch.
‘Will Grace be okay?’
Archie smiled.
‘What do you think Dan?’
‘I think she’ll be just fine.’
‘So do I, can we go now or do you wish to linger a little longer.’
‘No, I’m ready.’
Dan followed the Architect in to the darkness.
The world he had known fell away and the darkness was all-consuming.
‘When do I start my training?’ Dan asked in the pitch black.
Archie’s radiance glowed bright and he smiled at Dan.
‘Your instruction starts in the morning. I suggest you listen to your instructor’s every word. I hear she’s a right bitch when someone fucks up.’
‘Huh?’ Dan said. ‘I thought you’d be my teacher.’
Dan stared in to the blackness but Archie’s radiance had departed.
Dan heard movement off to his right. A faint flicker of light in the darkness.
Dan started to walk towards it.
After what felt like a life-time the light finally revealed itself to be a room.
Dan stopped at the doorway to the room.
The room was depthless.
‘Are you just going to stand there looking vacant or are you going to put that massive cock of yours to use?’
Dan blinked.
The room was no longer empty.
A large gold-framed bed draped with silk sheets took centre stage.
To The Bitter End (Dan & Chloe Book 3) Page 12