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Dr. Nays sleep.

I place the barrel of my colt against the stripe on her forehead.

I take a deep breath, muster up the courage needed and say,

I'm sorry, girl.

Then I squeezed the trigger.

It breaks my heart, but it was a mercy in the end.

We hadn't seen water in three days and the last few cacti we came across had been dry as sticks.

There was nothing to forage and the girl had

started to foam at the mouth. She could still stand, but that was for my benefit, I

think. In the end, she had no more to give and I thanked her for being loyal all these years.

She was the best horse I ever had.

And with the way things are going, she is probably the last horse I'll ever have. I've got maybe four days of hard-tack and

rattler jerky left and a half-canteen of water. The lack of water will get me before I run out

of food. But I ain't afraid of dying of thirst or

starvation. Nah. What's really going to get me are the damn spectres on my tail. The sun is just

cresting over the butte to my back and I kick sand on the small fire I'd risked lighting. I dug down a couple feet

into the sand and dirt so the light would be hidden as much as possible.

Ain't my first time being tracked, just my first time being tracked by folks that is dead.

...