"I reckon... I'll be fine once I catch my breath," said Longarm. Actually, every muscle and bone in his body ached, and the old wound on his back hurt like blazes. He was going to need some time to recuperate from this job.
Kinsman jerked a thumb at the prisoners. "We rounded up this bunch, them that didn't make us kill 'em. Found one floatin' in the pond too. Reckon that was probably your doin'."
Barcroft, thought Longarm. He nodded wearily. Molly wasn't hugging him anymore, but she still had an arm around him as she stood beside him. Longarm looked at Kinsman and then at Aurora and said, "Glad to see that you two finally decided you could work together."
"Once this Chinese gentleman showed up at the camp and told us what you'd found out, there wasn't much choice," said Aurora.
"When I first got to this part of the country," Longarm pointed out, "you never would've believed him since he works for Kinsman."
"Well... I hope that such distrust is behind us now." Aurora looked at Kinsman.
"Far as I'm concerned it is," the rancher grunted. "I still ain't overly fond of what you've been doin' up here, but I'll make an effort to get along if you will, ma'am."
Aurora stuck out her hand toward him. "Of course."
Kinsman took her hand, and they shook on it. Longarm felt a surge of satisfaction that gave him some renewed energy. One of the things he had set out to do had been accomplished. With luck, there would be peace between the cattlemen and the loggers from here on out.
He looked at Callahan and asked, "What are you doing up here?"
"I was at Aurora's camp," Callahan said rather awkwardly, "explaining myself to her."
"Asking me to marry him, he means," Aurora said, with a laugh. "You could have knocked me over with a feather, Ben. I always thought you couldn't stand me."
"I hope you know now that's not true."
"Certainly I do." She linked her arm with his. "And I'm very tempted to take you up on your offer to merge our companies."
"I don't think that's all he wants to merge," Molly blurted out.
Kinsman glared at her, but the others all laughed. After a moment, even the rancher gave a rueful chuckle. He said, "We'd better gather up those prisoners and all the bodies and cart 'em into town. Deputy Bullfinch'll have to make room in his jail for the live ones."
"Plenty of room at the undertaker's for the dead ones," Joe Traywick put in.
Aurora stepped closer to Longarm. "Custis, where is Mr. Flint?"
Longarm inclined his head down the Mountainside. "Back yonder at the end of that flume. Both of us went shooting off there, but Flint hit headfirst." Longarm shook his head. "He won't be causing any more trouble unless he's already trying to take over from the Devil down there in Hades."
Tugging gently on his arm, Molly led Longarm away. "I'm going to take good care of you," she said. "We'll have you back on your feet in no time."
"Sounds good to me," said Longarm.
"And then we'll have you on your back."
He looked over at her quizzically.
"I want to be on top next time," she whispered.
The End