Dolly sank slowly to her knees. She looked down at the still smoking Colt, then up at the two bodies laying crumbled in the dirt.
It was over.
“You doing alright?”
She raised her gaze to see Wayne standing over her.
“Eh...yeah. I’m fine.”
He reached a hand down to her. The pistol just kinda found its own way into the holster as Wayne pulled her to her feet.
They stood facing one another. Their feelings for one another were apparent in their eyes. Had they been alone they would have undoubtedly embraced and enjoyed the moment to its fullest, but...
“You have done well,” Wild Coyote said. “You were very fast to shoot the little firestick.”
Dolly forced her gaze away from Wayne’s and looked into the face of the warrior. “I had me a real good teacher,” she said simply.
“You are free to go now. If it is your wish, you are also free to take with you the bodies of the two who are no more.”
“Thanks, but no thanks, Wild Coyote. That would deprive the buzzards of a much-appreciated meal. No, like I said...I’d just as soon leave them to rot in the sun and feed whatever critters happen by.”
“As you wish.” Wild Coyote then turned and said something in Apache.
A scattering of bucks from the surrounding throng emerged into the clearing and made short work of dragging the bodies away.
“The buzzards will be very happy that you have given to them these worthless White Eye to fill their bellies with.”
*
Without the heavily laden pack mare along to worry about, it hadn’t taken long for Dolly and Wayne to put a goodly distance between them and the Comanche camp. They continued to ride steadily until they felt at ease about the amount of distance they had covered.
Finally, after coming across a pleasant little grove of willows and cottonwoods, they reined up alongside a swiftly moving piece of water that was about as crystal clear as any Dolly could remember ever having seen before. It was almost as if it was a sign or something. She looked at Wayne’s handsome profile, then back to the stream. It was as if the whole demeaning episode that had set her out on this trip in the first place had been for the sole purpose of bringing them together.
“Looks like there’s a pond over there,” he said, pointing.
Dolly let her thoughts fade as her gaze followed his pointing finger. It was easy to see that the creek emptied into a pool that lay farther back in the trees.
They rode to its edge.
“Peers like a pretty good spot to make camp,” Wayne suggested.
Dolly nodded and dismounted.
Wayne followed her lead, wondering a bit about what appeared to him to be a sort of contentment that had settled in around her. “Peers like you got somethin’ on yer mind,” he offered.
She smiled pleasantly. “Yeah, you might say so. What say we get this camp set up.”
His eyes narrowed in questioning wonderment, but he let it lie and instead straightened his expression back to one of trust. “Sure...whatever you say. Heck...I’m about whooped to a frazzle. A good night’s rest is surely way up high on my list of preferred things what needs doin’.” He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek.
They made short work of getting the camp all laid out and a comforting fire built. Once the meal had been prepared, eaten, and the cooking and eating things had been cleaned up and stored in the saddlebags for safekeeping, the pair settled into the coziness afforded by the fire. Wayne lay with his back against his saddle, while Dolly lounged with her back against his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around her.
“Sure is a pleasant evenin’,” he observed.
“Um-hmm.”
“Kinda hard to believe that just the other day we was purt near up to our eyeballs in snow.”
“Sure is.”
They fell silent, with the gentle crackling of the fire being the only sound around them. Finally, the far off lonesome howl of a coyote sounded its woeful plea for companionship.
“Peers like that fella’s got a hankerin’ for a lady.”
Dolly craned her neck to look up at him. “And what about you? You in the market for a lady, too?”
“Depends.”
She sat up and repositioned herself until they were facing one another. “On what?”
“I reckon on whether or not yer willin’ to hook up with a gunfighter.”
Her disappointment was obvious. “Ohh,” she said softly. “I...I guess you didn’t take to heart the part when I said my totin’ this pistol was only temporary. And I...and I just naturally figured that you’d think about hanging yours up, as well.”
He grinned. “Sure I took it to heart. And for your information I’ve been wanting to put my gun out to pasture since way before I ever met you.”
“But you just said—”
“What I said was...our getting together would depend on whether or not you was willing to spend the rest of your days with a gunfighter. To me that means if you are, then maybe you’d do best to look elsewhere.”
His smile proved infectious and hers widened until it easily matched his.
“Well now, Mister Blakely, am I to take that as a proposal of marriage?”
The tops of his cheeks turned a shade of pink that was just about that of a pair of newborn rabbits. “You are,” he said simply, as his color deepened.
The tears that welled up and spilled over onto her cheeks gave him the answer he’d been hoping for. They leaned together until their lips met in a tender, loving promise of what was to come.