Wow, what a ride this story has been! We would like to acknowledge our wonderful readers and reviews who faithfully supported this tale which would not be what it is without you. We hope this epilogue does the story justice.

For more tales featuring Griff King, who may well be the most underrated Bonanza character of all time, please check out the community located on this site titled "Collection of Griff King Stories."

Farewell for now, dear readers. We hope you enjoyed this story as much as we enjoyed writing it together. We look forward to hear from you on our next adventure! (And we promise, there WILL be future stories.) Thanks again!

~VCS


Epilogue:

Circling the centre of the barn was a black stallion led by a red headed teen who was clearly too distracted to notice that he was no longer alone with the horse. He seemed to be immersed in a one-sided conversation with the animal who would snort at the most appropriate intervals, giving the appearance that he was communicating with his human companion.

Griff ventured a step forward when the crutch slipped from his grasp and fell with a dull thud onto the ground.

Both Jamie and the horse he'd been nurturing back to health paused and looked toward the source of the noise. A wide grin broke out on the teenager's face when he caught the look Griff was throwing their way. "Griff!" he yelped out in surprise.

Forgetting that his ankle was still on the mend, the older youth attempted to take several steps forward but he stumbled and fell against a wooden pillar.

"Whoah! Easy! Here, lemme help ya," Jamie released the reins he'd been holding and rushed to help the recovering ranch hand right himself.

"Thanks," Griff mumbled, never taking his blue eyes from the black stead in front of him. Absent-mindedly, he allowed Jamie to help him steady himself then leaned heavily against him.

Jamie led Griff closer to the prized stallion and watched in awe at the reunion between the stead and his rider.

"Thunder?" Griff reached out a shaky hand and stroked the animal's nose.

Thunder bobbed his head and nuzzled up into Griff's shoulder.

Unprepared for the enthusiastic reception, Griff lost his balance and fell on his behind, taking a chuckling Jamie down with him.

Thunder let out a loud snort then reached down and licked Griff's face all over.

"It is you, boy, isn't it?" Griff croaked gleefully, his voice thick with emotion. He turned his head to one side and gave Jamie a questioning look. "How?"

"It was nothing really," Jamie shrugged. "I mean, this was the least I could do, Griff. I almost killed you! I had to make it up to you somehow. I wanted your birthday to be special."

As if the horse felt a degree of indignation for being treated as an object, he let out a whinny of annoyance.

Jamie chuckled and directed his next comment at Thunder. "Yeah, yeah. It wasn't all about Griff was it, boy? No, I couldn't very well give up on you after everything we've been through now could I?"

Griff shakily rose to his feet, using the stall door to keep his balance. "This is… This is…" he stuttered, looking up at the black stallion in awe. Thunder responded by bobbing his head and whinnying as Griff got close enough to stroke his neck. "This is…"

Jamie was relieved to see the reunion going so well, even if Griff was nearly speechless. "Not enough to make up for shooting you," Jamie supplied.

"This is more than enough," Griff finally finished. "This is everything. He's special, really special." When Griff opened his arms, Jamie thought that he was going to hug his beloved horse, which Griff did, but not before including Jamie in the heartfelt embrace. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I… I couldn't've asked for a better gift." He tightened his grip, not realizing Jamie was already struggling to take a full breath. At that moment, however, the sixteen year old could not have cared less.

When they let go, Griff looked up at the horse, unable to pull his gaze away. "I thought you were gone forever, Thunder." A waterfall of emotion suddenly spilled forth. "You were gone for so long. How'd you survive huh, boy?" the enthralled young man questioned. "To think you were out there somewhere. Scared, lost, alone…" He ran his fingers through the horse's coarse mane then wrapped an arm around its neck in a heartfelt embrace. "But you're here now and that's all that matters."

"And sick" Jamie disclosed. "When we- when Joe and I- found him, he had bryony poisoning."

"Bryony poisoning?" Griff repeated, blanching at the thought of his horse ingesting the deadly plant. "But that's usually fatal. Thunder looks pretty good, maybe a little underweight, but that's nothing a few weeks and some hay won't fix, an-" Griff paused when he saw the remnants of the harness used to keep Thunder on his feet hanging on a nail next to the stall. Immediately, the hand knew what the device was used for and he clutched Thunder's black mane a little tighter. "You saved him. You really did," he quietly deduced.

"Well, it wasn't just me," Jamie quickly added. "Joe and Candy helped me get him trussed up in the harness, and everyone pitched in on nursing him back to health."

Griff was at a loss for words to express his gratitude so he looked into the younger boy's eyes and nodded.

Jamie didn't need to hear the words that were left unsaid. He could see it all in the ranch hand's eyes .

Unnoticed by the youths, Ben Cartwright and his sons stood by the open doors of the barn, a mixture of relief and amusement written on each of their faces as they watched the scene before them unfold. They were soon joined by their charismatic foreman, Candy, who allowed a wide grin to spread across his features. He couldn't think of a more memorable worthy moment than to see Griff at peace, reunited with one of the few living creatures on this world who loved him for the person he was. Looking around him, he could see that the young man was surrounded by the greatest gift of all. Family. To feel loved and accepted. No one could ask for more than that and for the raven haired young man, Candy knew that there was no better place to call home than the Ponderosa.

End.