Chapter 43

• Into the obsidian veil of the night he rode, a lone figure cutting through the silence of the wilderness. The dark, unyielding expanse of the mountains held secrets and terrors alike, and somewhere amid those ancient, rugged peaks, Grimwood_ ever elusive and enigmatic_ waited alone. In Jack’s mouth still lingered the bitter, briny tang of his own blood_ a stark reminder of wounds that were not yet healed, both seen and unseen.
• It was a chase born of madness and necessity_ a wild pursuit in which every hoofbeat and every gust of wind carried with it the promise of reckoning. Jack had but the faintest clues to guide him, like scraps of an old, half-forgotten legend, yet by some grim instinct he managed to remain close to the trail of the infamous outlaw. For several long, torturous days, he pressed onward, his spirit tempered by the relentless hardships of the land. Riding atop a tall, red-roan stallion_ a mere wreck of a horse with lean, tired sides, a pendant head, and glazed, haunted eyes_ he felt the pulse of destiny in each labored stride. And then, in a moment that stretched out like a vision, Jack recognized Grimwood’s peerless mount, Red Pete_ a once-mighty steed that now seemed a ghost of its former self. The outlaw had traded his exhausted warhorse for a common pony, a final, desperate act that whispered of his waning strength. Thus, Jack knew in his soul that the end of this long and winding trail was near.
• The entire range watched the chase with bated breath, as though the fate of legends were being decided on this wild, haunted plain. It was reminiscent of the ancient race of Hector and Achilles circling the walls of Troy_ a contest of titanic wills that promised a duel of giants when the two foes finally met. Twice, whispers carried by the wind announced the fleeting silhouette of Trillin’ Jack; once, Cole Grimwood was seen locked in a desperate, running duel with a posse fresh from Townvill. The man hunters, alert as ever, clung to the secret hope that the two famed outlaws might soon destroy each other in a clash as legendary as it was brutal. Yet none could foretell how this savage, wild chase would ultimately end.