For a moment, silence hung between them. Then Rachel said softly, “Good.”
“You sure about that?” Blaze asked, looking at her.
She swallowed. “He deserved worse. For what he did. For what he tried to do.”
Blaze nodded. “Yeah.”
Marisol looked between them, sensing what remained unspoken. “You both deserve peace now.”
“Peace,” Blaze said. “Ain’t heard that word in a long time. Might be hard, thanks to Pa.”
Rachel’s brow furrowed. “What did they tell you?”
Blaze reached into his coat and pulled out a worn, folded wanted poster. He handed it to her. “That.”
She unfolded it slowly. The sketch was rough but recognizable—their father’s face with a different name scrawled beneath it. Rachel’s eyes widened as she stared at it.
“It’s him,” she said, her breath catching.
“Yeah,” Blaze said. “Seems he rode with men like Wilder once. Maybe even Kane. Guess I was wrong about the kind of man he was.”
Rachel stared at the paper for a long time before folding it again. “Maybe he did bad things,” she said finally. “But that doesn’t mean he stayed bad.”
Blaze looked at her. “You believe that?”
“I have to,” she said. “Because if he couldn’t change, then none of us could.”
Blaze smiled faintly. “You always were the smart one.”
“She’s right,” Marisol said, stepping closer. “A man’s past ain’t all he is. It’s what he does afterward that matters.”
Graycloud nodded once. “A man is measured by what he protects, not by what he destroys.”
Blaze let out a long breath. “Then maybe there’s hope for me yet.”
“There’s more than hope,” Rachel said. “There’s family. And that’s enough.”
Blaze reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “You’ve gotten wise since I left.”
“Had to,” she said. “Someone had to keep things running while you were off saving the world.”
He chuckled. “Didn’t do much saving. Just stopped folks from making it worse.”
“That’s good enough,” she said.
Down the street, a bell rang faintly. It was the church bell, calling for evening prayer. The sound drifted softly over the town, echoing through the calm that followed the chaos.
Blaze looked out across Red Rock Crossing. The town was scarred but alive. Lanterns glowed in windows, and the faint hum of conversation rose as life slowly returned to normal.
“Feels strange,” he said quietly. “Like everything’s still and moving at the same time.”
Marisol smiled. “That’s what peace sounds like.”
Graycloud adjusted his hat. “We should rest. The fight is done.”
“Maybe for now,” Blaze said.
Rachel looked at him. “What happens next?”
