The three Sky Marshal ships traveled back to Alterra, one following the other. They flew in perfect formation over the buildings inside the orbiting space station and touched down at the Sky Marshal hangar only a few feet apart from one another.
The first ramp lowered, and Hitch and Dale strode out. Dozens of waiting Sky Marshals greeted them with wild applause.
“News travels fast in these parts,” Hitch said.
“I suppose so.” Dale’s eyes were wide with amazement at the enthusiastic reception.
At the bottom of the ramp, Captain Fife reached out to shake Hitch’s hand.
“Well done, Marshal. We had no idea the Rivins were trying to use the Trinity again—and that Mayor Wilder was behind it all.”
Dale reached out her hand, expecting Fife to shake it, too, but the captain didn’t even look her way. She frowned, trying not to let it bother her.
The three walked to the second ship as the ramp was lowered. Two marshals escorted Mayor Wilder, in handcuffs, out of the ship. Each held one of his arms.
“Fife!” Mayor Wilder bellowed. “Tell these cowboys to let me go. I did nothing wrong. It’s Hitchcock’s word against mine.”
“Yup,” Hitch said. “My word and Deputy Sweet’s word. And the word of all the Rivins you hatched this plan with. They’ll be more than happy to tell us the truth.”
“Who are you going to believe?” the mayor called over his shoulder as the marshals pulled him away. “A bunch of villains? Or the mayor of Alterra?”
“You mean the ex-mayor of Alterra,” Fife called back.
He let out an anguished cry and was whisked off to jail.
The three then walked to the final ship, where the Camarillo Kid was being escorted down the ramp by a Sky Marshal.
“You thought you were belly through the brush, didn’t you?” Fife asked. “But you can’t dodge the law, son.”
“Not for long, anyway,” Dale added.
“You got anything to say?” Fife asked Leonard.
“I ain’t making excuses for what I done,” Leonard said. “I was wrong. And I was stupid. It all seemed like a big adventure, until it wasn’t. I’m sorry.”
“You’re going away for a while, son,” Fife said. “But you’re young. You’ve got plenty of time to turn things around.”
Leonard looked back at Hitch as the marshal led him away. “I think maybe when I get out I’ll try studying to be a marshal like you, Hitch.”
“I’ll be rootin’ for you, Leonard,” Hitch said.
“He wants to be a marshal?” cried Dale with surprise. “That rat!”
“Hopefully his rattin’ days are over,” Hitch said.
Captain Fife turned to Hitch and Dale. “This all came out fine in the end, but there’s a problem.”
“What’s that?” Hitch asked.
“You disobeyed my orders when you took that ship down to Rivindale.”
“But like you said, it all turned out fine in the end,” Hitch said. “So it’s no big deal, right?”
Fife shook his head in exasperation. Hitch was both his best and most frustrating marshal. Would he ever follow directions?
“No big deal. This time.” Fife handed Hitch a small leather pouch, then walked away without looking at Dale.
“I don’t get it. Am I invisible?” she cried. “He wouldn’t even shake my hand. And why didn’t you say anything about what I did down there?”
Hitch glanced inside the pouch. “I told you we could get in big trouble for this, but you didn’t listen. I told you to stay in the ship, but you didn’t listen.”
“And it was a good thing, right?”
“Depends on your point of view. There’s a chain of command that shouldn’t be broken, no matter what the circumstance is. Can’t lie to you, Dale,” Hitch said. “There are consequences for what you’ve done.”
“This is crazy!” Dale exclaimed. “What kind of consequences?”
“Well,” Hitch said, “for starters, I’m afraid you can’t be my deputy anymore.”
Dale’s mouth fell open in shock. “What? We saved Tensor-4!”
“We did, and the price for doing that is you’re no longer a deputy.” Hitch dug into the pouch and pulled out a shiny silver badge. “You’re now a full-fledged Sky Marshal. And I would be honored if you saw it clear to stay on as my partner.”
Dale stared at the badge, not believing it was real.
“What do you say, Marshal Sweet? We still partners?”
Dale nodded enthusiastically. “You bet we are!”
“Let’s make this official.” Hitch pinned the badge onto Dale’s shirt.
Applause erupted. Dale spun around. The entire group of Sky Marshals who had come to see the ships arrive had stayed to congratulate her. Captain Fife stood in front with a big smile, clapping harder than anybody else.
“Thank you!” she exclaimed.
“It’s me who should thank you,” Hitch said. “You saved my life down there, along with a whole lot of others. We needed you. Tensor-4 owes you a huge debt of gratitude.”
“So what’s our next case, partner?” she asked.
“Hold on there,” Hitch said. “We still got this one to wrap up.”
A short while later, Hitch and Dale landed back on Tensor-4. They flew Patches and LuluBelle through the Shadow Gap to Gilroy’s mine.
“You done it!” the old prospector exclaimed as Dale handed him his precious nugget of gold.
“Now you can stop digging in the dirt and find someplace nice to settle down,” Hitch said. “And you got a bonus to go along with it. Casey’s yours for good.”
Hitch patted the golden palomino that he’d won from the cattle rustler, Rangel.
“Thank you both,” Gilroy said. “I got no other words.”
“None needed,” Dale said. “We’re just doing our job.”
The two marshals then flew to the town of Silver Spur and the Mine Car Hotel. Scarlett greeted them both.
“Never thought I’d see the Madre again.” She pointed to the silver ore.
“We’ll be comin’ back this way to see the church you all build.” Hitch held the ore out to Scarlett, but she didn’t take it.
“You should put it back where it belongs,” she said.
Hitch looked at the purple pillow that sat behind the hotel’s front desk, then handed the chunk of ore to Dale.
“Your honors, Marshal Sweet,” he said.
Dale took it with a smile, vaulted over the desk, and stood in front of the pillow. She held the chunk of silver up high so everyone in the hotel could see it.
“And now,” she announced, “the case of the Camarillo Kid is officially closed.”
As everyone in the hotel lobby clapped and hooted, she placed the ore on the pillow. The player piano kicked in with a happy tune.
Bright light shone in from every window. Strangely, it became so intense that soon there was nothing to be seen except white.