No matter how hard he tried, Moss could not eradicate the evidence of where young Andy Travis had died in his stable.

The wiry old man vigorously raked the spot, spread fresh layers of dirt and straw, and soaked it with what seemed like a trough-full of water. By the next morning, the dark, ugly red-black stain would be there again in his eyes, tearing at his heart.

Yes, Andy's blood had soaked the ground as he lay dying, bitterly telling Marshal Dillon that he had forgotten that he wasn't wearing his gun. The heartless bounty hunter, Joe Kite, had stood nearby after shooting Andy down, impatiently waiting for his prey to die, and to collect his $1,000 reward.

Along with his immense sorrow at the dying of the boy he had thought of as a son, the long-time stable owner grieved for the anguish of the young Marshal. Matt had convinced Andy to take off his gun since his fast-draw reputation had spread enough to draw in would-be challengers.

"Nobody's going to go after an unarmed man," Matt had stressed after taking the young man down to his office when Andy had gunned down a man in the Long Branch in self-defense.

Andy had quietly looked down in thought, then handed his gun to the Marshal and unbuckled his gun belt. He held back that he was a wanted man with a bounty on his head.

"I hate killing, Marshal. I feel kinda naked without my gun, but maybe that's not so bad!" he grinned.

Chester then took the young man over to Moss Grimmick's for a job.

"I killed him," Matt intoned in a flat voice, staring out into space, still squatting down next to Andy's lifeless body, sprawled against sacks of grain. The Marshal had listened to Andy's painful last words about forgetting he was unarmed. He had also confessed that he had quit a gang too late, and that it was also too late for Doc's help.

Andy's head had fallen to the side. Matt felt for a heartbeat, gently closed the boy's eyes, patted his shoulder, and stood up to face Joe Kite.

The bounty hunter glared at the Marshal in anger and disbelief.

"What, that don't make sense! You're just trying to cheat me out of the reward money!"

Standing up to his full towering height, muscled body tense and threatening, Matt stared down at the nervous Joe Kite with icy blue, narrowed eyes.

"Get out! Go steal yourself a mule and ride out of town!"

Kite started to bluster a protest, but looked around uneasily at the six men watching him who were slowly walking closer. Matt stood over him like an impending storm, and Chester and Moss and three townsmen friends of Andy pierced him with their threatening looks.

The cowardly bounty hunter nervously backed out the stable doors and ran away down the street.

Skeptical at first, Andy took a job at Moss', and after a short time, found himself relaxing, making friends easily, and enjoying life. He seemed to always have a smile on his handsome, boyish face, and passersby would smile themselves hearing his and Moss' laughter coming from inside the stable.

Moss was an easygoing, friendly man, but had lived and worked in stables for so long that he felt more comfortable around horses than people. He had many good friends, including the Marshal, Doc Adams, Chester, and Miss Kitty, but he had grown to love the red-haired Andy.

"Marshal, I wish he was my son!" Moss replied when Matt stopped by and asked how the young man was doing at his job.

"You want to go fishing, Marshal?" Moss asked, grinning.

Matt pushed his Stetson back on his head and grinned back at his old friend.

"Moss, you've never gone fishing before!"

"I've never had anyone I could trust enough with the stable to go before," Moss said, looking back through the open doors of the stable where Andy was cheerfully whistling as he raked fresh hay for the horses.

Two weeks after Andy had been killed, Moss would still find himself staring at the place where the boy had died whenever he was near it. He had even thrown sacks of grain over the spot where the blood stain had been. Sacks of grain that Andy had convinced him to buy for the horses in place of thistle.

Only Moss' closest friends, Matt, Chester, Doc, and even Kitty who did not see him as often, noticed any change in the old stable owner. A slight faraway look in his faded blue eyes at times, and a hesitation in his step when walking by a certain place in the stable.

Moss spent almost all of his time with horses again. He didn't even think about fishing now. The protective shell around his old heart had returned.

And only Moss could still see the long gone, ugly blood stain in his mind's eye, the location covered with sacks of grain a laughing young man had ordered.

End.