Six months later
Micky comes walking into the living-room and hands me a letter, one of the prettiest smiles on her face I have ever seen. "It's from Oklahoma, but it got Cut's name on it."
"Hmmm," I muse, opening the envelope.
There is a picture inside too. A beautiful baby with pitch-black hair and huge dark eyes. I lay the photograph aside for the moment and start reading.
Hello, you Old Fart! (Cut's usual friendly opening)
Thought I just check in and see how you're doing. Hope you made it home alright.
How's Micky and the kids?
In case you're wondering, Conny and I decided to move back home. Got me a job with the local Police Department. Jimmy and I throwed the money we got together and bought back the old ranch. I'm gonna get the North side and he's gonna take the spot down by the lake. We'll build us a couple of log homes, already got the blue-prints drawn up.
By the way, the little sweetheart in the picture is the newest addition to the family.
Kayla Marie Whitehorse! Pretty, ain't it? Boy, you should see Jimmy! He's strutting around, proud as a peacock, showing her off.
Anyways, everything is great here, it's good to be home again. Let me hear from you when you get time, OK? Kiss Micky and the kids for me and stay out of trouble.
Well, gotta go! Take care, Chase! See ya later!
Cut
P.S. Go retire! You're getting too old for that shit!
P.P.S. Jimmy says, take good care of them bear-claws and learn some sign-language, so he can talk to you when we come to visit next year.
"I will, Cut! I will!"
THE END
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A/N: The original (1994) title of this story was 'For the Price of Trust', but back then online publishing was still unheard of and it never saw the the light of day —with the exception of a few friends who received a copy of the original manuscript, because they were part of the plot (the not-entirely-fictional characters based on their personalities...luckily none of them held that against me and we're still friends).
This story also has a sequel, with a lot more involvement of 'Harry" and his tribe. So, if you liked this one, let me know and I'll dust off the 1998 manuscript of the second part.