saw Steele loosing his footing; clutching his leg with one hand and trying to aim his pistol with the other.

Flint seized his chance and dove at Steele, pinning one arm behind his back as they fought for control of the pistol. For an instant, Flint had the trigger, and he put a round into each of Amos’ legs. Eli knocked Amos over and wrestled the gun from him just as Steele elbowed Flint in the ribs. He stumbled back as Steele spun around, but before his could aim his gun Flint was on him again, mad with rage. As they thrashed about on the canyon floor, the pistol clattered across the ground, far beyond their reach. Just as he was gaining the upper hand, Flint saw Steele pull a knife from his pocket. He was sliced twice in the face before he managed to restrain Steele’s hand with his own. Between Steele’s bloody fingers, Flint saw the letters B J M carved into the knife’s handle.

“Nice knife,” he grunted, “Hope the deceased won’t mind my using it against you.”

“I think he’s past caring,” Steele snarled, pressing down on the knife with all his strength.

Flint seized Steele around the throat and squeezed. Steele backed off, giving Flint just enough room to knee him square between the legs. Steele fell, winded, to his knees, and Flint twisted the knife from his hands and held it against his throat.

“Get up,” he demanded, “Slowly…”

He hauled Steele to his feet and kept the knife against his throat. He glanced around and spotted Eli and Amos. Eli had just relieved Amos of his pistol. Amos was in no position to resist, being tied hand and foot and likely unconscious. Flint called Eli over and in a matter of moments they had Steele bound. No sooner had this been done than Flint turned and sprinted back to where Jenna lay. She smiled weakly at him and coughed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t kill him for you,” she said softly, “But I couldn’t lift the gun high enough.”

Flint took his sister’s hand and brushed the blood away from her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Jenna,” he replied soothingly, “We’ve got them. Balto’s murderers will hang from the gallows; that I promise you.” He felt a pang of guilt that he had been hunting Jenna and her love. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, blinking back tears.

“It’s alright,” she said faintly, “I knew…you’d never…hurt us…”

Her hand slipped from his grasp and her head slumped back against her makeshift pillow. Flint put his head on his arm and cried.

Jenna opened her eyes and sat up as if waking from a dream. She neither noticed nor cared that she was no longer wounded. She looked around in disbelief at the clouds around her. All white and fluffy, but the ones beneath her feet seemed solid as rock. She wandered through the clouds until she came upon a small group of white-robed figures. Just behind them was a flight of stairs leading up to a set of glimmering gates. Where am I? she thought. Just then, one of the figures looked up, saw her, and motioned to the others. They all turned and walked swiftly up to her. Jenna noticed that all seven of them were of Latin descent; almost like the many Mexicans that visited Texas, but slightly darker skin.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” said a young female among them.

“And someone’s expecting you,” a mid-aged male, motioning up the stairs.

The seven turned and started up the stairs. Jenna, finding no reason not to, followed them. At the top, the gates swung open and she faced a white light brighter than a hundred suns, but strangely, she didn’t even squint. Over come by awe, she stepped into the light. Almost immediately, a figure began to take shape in front of her, dark against the light behind. She walked towards it, and it took the shape of a male, and she suddenly recognized him. She let out a cry of joy and ran forward into Balto’s waiting arms.

They embraced warmly and kissed with a love unheard of beneath the heavenly clouds. As they looked into each other’s eyes, neither wanted to ever let go, so they embraced again, this time crying; but these were tears of the purest joy. For now, they danced among the clouds, free from all pain and suffering forever.

Epilogue

Two days later, Steele and Amos were tried and convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and falsification of evidence with Flint and Eli’s testimony. They were met with the same sentence the helped place on Balto. Flint breathed a sigh of relief knowing he’d kept his promise to Jenna. At the same time, the judge repealed all charges on Balto and publicly declared his innocence, saying that Balto had been quickly and wrongly accused without due process of law, and that Applegate had lost a noble soul. He also spoke publicly of Jenna, asking forgiveness for his unwillingness to listen. Nearly all of the town’s residents attended the couple’s funeral.

But now, Applegate was without a chief lawman.

The townspeople responded by making Flint sheriff.

He stayed sheriff for twenty years before retiring of age, but every year he performed a silent rite. Each year, two days before the anniversary of his appointment as sheriff, he journeyed to Sierra Valley and placed flowers on the graves of two outlaws who were never really outlaws at all.

The End