He hadn't been as fast as his friend. He'd never been as fast. Not as nimble, as speedy. He was fast, sometimes, occasionally. But he wasn't super quick, didn't move like his friend, Sometimes it was as if his friend never moved at all, but had been wherever he was going from the start. And he sort of respected that. Ish. He'd not been able to keep up with him except by sheer persistence, though he had enormous amounts of that. They'd managed, though tensions had been pretty fraught between on occasion.
To tell the truth, they'd been fairly distant friends for most of their lives, growing up in the back of beyond, together. There had been other people, though not a huge amount. He'd always wanted to be some sort of cowboy, travelling round and sorting things out for people. He'd worked on his draw speeds, his gun twirling and the like, since his mother had first bought him a plastic pistol when he was young. Now he had a Model 15 revolver, courtesy of a neighbour who'd had a penchant for tinkering with various mechanisms. Not that he'd much of a chance to use it.
They'd lain in the field, the three of them, grass rustling around their bodies. He'd looked left, his friend, pale as ever, lying down in the grass beside him. To his right, he could feel Rachel's hand twirled round his. He moved his head left, a little, and bumped his friend, a gesture of solidarity. Even then, his friend felt more resilient, as if he'd got one of those plates in his head, though he hadn't. They laughed, the three of them.
He'd looked over at Rachel, smiled at her eyes, and then rolled over, keeping hold of her hand and pulling her towards him as he faced left, faced his friend. They'd all been waiting for something, for whatever reason. He'd been waiting for his application to come back, hoping they'd let him join the force. But they'd decided, this sunny summer day, to revisits their childhood days. Go down to the lake, dry off in the sun in the field, and then take a long, slow walk up to the church, maybe visit the fete. Perhaps the last time they'd be together, part as friends. Maybe he'd walk round and see Rachel later, probably she'd come over to his. And goodbye and good luck to his friend.
Of course, it hadn't really turned out like that for Van and Geoff, in the end.