A/N The previously promised epilogue.

Putting the Band Back Together

Chapter 15

The dog started to whine and bark even before the knock at the door.

Leaving the table, he picked up his rifle on the way to the door.

"Nice doggie. Nice doggie." The man at the door put his hands up in surrender as the dog continued his low, menacing growl punctuated by the occasional snarl.

He let the city slicker stew for a minute before snapping his fingers to get the dog to go to its bed.

"He's not too fond of strangers on account of we don't get a lot of visitors."

"No, but I bet you get enough. My name is Marvin Gerard." Marvin offered his hand to shake.

He just stared at it and him until Gerard took it back.

Looking around, Gerard added less than convincingly. "You have a … lovely … home."

The man wore a fancy suit and a pair of expensive hiking boots that were so new one still had the little plastic loop that had held the tag.

"You look a little lost, Marvin Gerard."

"I bet I do, but I am actually exactly where I am suppose to be. A friend drew me a map."

"Someone drew you a map and told you to come here?" He tightened his grip on his rifle in a menacing gesture. "That doesn't sound like much of a friend to me."

This fellow didn't seem to scare easily – at least not now that the dog wasn't nipping at him anymore. This Marvin Gerard smiled and wagged a finger in his direction. "It's a mutual friend of ours. She warned me that you could be a bit prickly at first. Maybe we should get down to business. She sent me with some papers for you to sign."

Putting his briefcase down on the table, Gerard briskly opened it and took out a sheaf of papers, but then hesitated. "Did you have your own attorney that you would like to call to review the papers? If so, I can wait."

Gruffly, he took the stack of papers. This city slicker might not think much of him, but not only could he read, he could read legalese.

He had only to look at the top of the front page to know what he was looking at. "This area is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. You can't sell me public lands."

"True - public lands, no and almost all the land around here is in a preserve – but not all. There is a few miles from here - entirely surrounded by conservation land – a single buildable acre not owned by the government. That particular acre was owned by one family and passed down generation to generation for over a hundred and fifty years before being sold to a client of mine. That is the acre described in this contract. That acre was recently given by my client to a mutual friend of all of ours – his and mine, yours and mine - who is now gifting it to you."

He stared at Marvin Gerard quite skeptically.

"I think you'll remember the spot. It's where you first encountered our mutual friend. Like a Lannister, Mr. Kaplan always pays her debts."

When he continued to just stare at him, Gerard's smile finally faltered a bit. "You probably don't get HBO out here, do you? No matter."

Marvin took out a pen. "Now if you would just sign here. Here. And here. Initial here. Here. And ..."

Finis