Whitey was alive. His heart thundered beneath his hand and his gun clattered to the ground. The world was silent. The gunfire had ceased. They had won. The girls of La Belle had won.

"Whitey. Can you believe it, Whitey?" Louise said. Her eyes were so wide, Whitey could see the whites all around them. Whitey lifted himself up off the floor. A woman lay near them, her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

They had won, but they had lost so much as well.

"Whitey!" A voice shouted from outside. Whitey moved to the window, his legs still shaky from the gunfight. Mary Agnes was shading her eyes from the sun that had fully risen into the sky.

"Whitey, we need you," she shouted again and before Whitey could reply, she walked off. Whitey turned back to Louise and held her chin in his hand. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. That even with a face covered in dust and the pain in her eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

"I'll only be a minute." He didn't want to leave her side.

"I'd better find my brother. Let him know I'm all right." Whitey nodded and the two of them headed out the door together, Louise slipping her hand into his.

The road was a wash of blood and bodies. Frank Griffin's men lay dead and bleeding. Roy Goode inclined his head as Whitey walked by.

"You did good," he said. Louise ran off in the direction of the mine. All the children, old folks, and anyone unfit to fight had remained there. In a place that had killed so many, a group of La Belle residents had been protected.

Mary Agnes was crouched down beside Alice Fletcher who sat on her feet. A rush of ice flooded Whitey's chest. Alice was stroking someone's head in her lap. A sharp glint of metal shined into Whitey's eyes as he crouched down beside Mary.

"Hello there, Sheriff," he said, managing to keep the lump out of his throat.

"Ah Whitey," Bill McNue said. He began coughing and blood bubbled up to his lips. With a kerchief, Alice wiped the red away. Silent tears began to slide down Alice's face, dripping into Bill's hair.

"You're going to be Sheriff, Whitey. You promise now that you'll watch out for our girls?" Whitey sniffed and tried to laugh.

"What are you going on about, Bill? You're Sheriff. Ain't no one better. And you saved the town. Your town."

"I should have saved it sooner. I should–" he stopped to cough and let out a painful groan. "I should have killed Frank Griffin when I had the chance."

"That man wasn't about to let just anyone kill him. He's a Godless man, but a ruthless, stubborn old bastard," Mary Agnes said. There was just a hint of sorrow in her voice. Mary Agnes was about the strongest woman Whitey had ever known. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She looked at him fondly and bit her lip perhaps to keep from crying.

"I'll always watch out for the girls, Bill," Whitey said.

"You know, I think I knew I was going to die today," Bill started. "A ghost or a spirit had been following me these past few weeks. I think he was leading me back here safely. I think he knew I was going to die but that I'd have to fight like hell first."

"You sure did," Mary Agnes said. Tears began to stream down her face. She leaned forward and pressed her cheek to her brother's. "You know I'll look out for Trudy and Will. They'll know all about how great their daddy was."

"And Alice," Bill said and blinked up at Alice. His lips quivered as he tried to smile. "I should have tried harder. I hope that Mr. Goode treats you the way I would have if I'd had the chance." Alice pressed her lips together to hold back tears. She quickly wiped the tears that had sprang into her eyes before leaning forward and pressing her lips to Bill's.

"You're an incredible man, Bill McNue."

—–

After the funeral, Alice headed home. Her heart leapt in her chest at the sight of Truckee on her porch.

"Truckee!" she shouted and raced to him, scooping him up in her arms. "Don't you ever go off like that again, do you hear me?" She swatted him playfully on the back of the head.

"I'm a man now, Momma, I can go out riding on my own." Alice narrowed her eyes. "I was with Mr. Goode." Alice's looked around her land but there was no sign of the infamous Roy Goode.

"He's gone then," she said. It wasn't a question but Alice wanted an answer desperately.

"He left this for you," Truckee pulled a crumpled letter from his pocket. Alice read it out loud.

"So he'd be heading to California."

"I hope he finds his brother," Truckee said. "He also wanted me to tell you there's a bum fence post that needs fixing." Truckee spun a wooden gun around his finger and tried to insert it into his pocket. It fell to the ground and a puff of dust surrounded it.

Alice's pulse quickened. "I'd better see to that," she said.

The post would be a simple fix but something about the soil around it made Alice take a closer look. It was soft and moved easily as she shoveled it out of the way with her hands. Her fingers grasped something leather. Roy Goode had buried two satchels. Alice reached inside and found that both bags were filled with bundles of money. Money that would last Truckee and her years. She was a wealthy woman three times over. She lifted the satchels and beneath them, in the dirt was another paper folded in half. Alice's hands shook as she lifted it and unfolded it. On the top in messy scrawl it read: Thank you. And on the bottom was a map.

"California," Alice said.

—-

She didn't tell Truckee about the money or the map. She didn't want to get him overly excited about either matter. Alice sat at her dining room table, the map folded into a small square was tucked in her pocket. Her fingers flipped it over and over as she turned it the same way in her mind.

"You'll go then?" Iyovi said behind her. Alice jumped and pulled her hand out of her pocket.

"What's that now?" Alice asked, but she knew she wasn't getting off that easy. Iyovi had a way of knowing exactly what was on Alice's mind. Her son had also. Alice feared that one day Truckee would be able to do the same.

"California," Iyovi said. "You'll take the money and you and Truckee will go to California." Alice shook her head.

"Our home is here. I can use the money for more practical things. And anyways, how did you know about California or the money?"

Iyovi shrugged. "He asked my permission of course."

Alice sighed. "This is our home."

"All this talk about home. Home is not a place where you sleep and eat and shit. Home is Truckee. Home is Roy Goode."

"Do you think you'd be able to make the trip?" Alice asked. Iyovi shook her head.

"I have been to California before," she said and spit on the ground. "Not the place for me. But you, you would love the sea." Alice bit her lip.

"Are we really going?" Truckee said from the hallway.

"You were supposed to be asleep!" Alice said but she couldn't be angry. There was a light in his eyes that had seemed to grow ever since Alice had shot a stranger in the neck.

"Please Momma, let's go. Please!"

"Go," Iyovi said. "I'll be here should you ever want to return."

—

Roy Goode wasn't sure how long it took him to get to California. He wasn't even sure how large the state was. But as he gazed out at the Pacific ocean, he couldn't believe he had made it.

When he reached the nearest town, he knew it was the right one. If Jim was still alive, he'd be here.

A little boy ran up to him and pulled at his pant leg.

"Is that your horse, Mister?" the little boy said with a slight whistle in his teeth. He was pointing at Roy's mare. He crouched down to look the boy in the face.

"She sure is. I call her Lucy. What's your name?" Roy looked around to see if anyone might be looking for their kid but no one seemed to notice.

"My name's Roy Goode. What's yours Mister?" Roy almost fell back in the dirt. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped from his throat.

"Is that so? Well you want to hear the darnedest thing? My name is also Roy Goode." The little boy's eyes widened. "Is your daddy around?" Roy asked his nephew. Little Roy nodded slowly and ran off in the opposite direction. Roy took off after him and watched him race into a plain house shouting, "Daddy, Daddy!" all the way there.

Roy waited and soon a man stepped out onto the porch, his hands in his pockets. Their eyes met and Roy couldn't believe it.

"You look the same," Roy said. His brother stood before him. Taller, older, but still his very same brother.

"You look like shit," Jim said and laughed. He walked to Roy and wrapped his arms around him in a bone-crushing hug. "I can't say how glad I am to see you again, Roy. I never thought I would." Behind Jim, Roy could see little Roy standing in front of a pretty blonde woman.

"You didn't do too bad without me, Jim," he said and thumped him on the back.

"I could say the same to you." There was a strange tone in his voice. Roy pulled back from the hug but saw that Jim wasn't looking at him, but past him. Roy turned around and the breath was pulled from his chest.

"We left fairly soon after you," Alice said with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't…we couldn't say goodbye. Not really." Roy swept both Alice and Truckee in his arms.

"Saying goodbye to the both of you was the hardest thing I think I ever had to do," Roy said. Roy held Alice's cheek and pressed a light kiss to her lips. "No more goodbyes, Alice. We can make our life here."

"We can make our home here," Alice said.