WITHOUT YOU
WITHOUT YOU
The gunfight didn't last long. Not only were the outlaws outnumbered by one, but they also fell for Jimmy's ruse of 'sitting' by the campfire. One of the gunmen was so confident he walked right into the campsite and fired on the 'stuffed Jimmy' at point blank range. That was their first mistake.
The other mistake they made was in thinking the first outlaw had actually killed Wild Bill. The remaining two gunmen became careless and were quickly defeated.
Once the gun smoke settled and the attack was over, they buried the outlaws in the shallow graves.
Jimmy thanked Avery for his help and the two soon separated. Avery going back into Deadwood to tell of Wild Bill's 'death' and the Hickok family following the creek to the Belle Fourche River, heading Northwest into Montana Territory.
By nightfall the second day, as they were sitting around the campfire, they discussed what last name they were going to use, now that Hickok was out of the question.
Lou and Jimmy decided to honor their Express father and use Hunter.
A month later they crossed over into Canada and decided to settle just north of the border. There were good grasslands in the area to establish their ranch.
In the years that followed, the Hunter ranch was a booming success. Jimmy and Lou's son married and built a small home near the main ranch house and gave his parents grandchildren to coddle and spoil. When they became too old to take care of the ranch, James Running Buck Hunter took over the day-to-day activities of the ranch.
Lately, Jimmy and Lou could be found hand-in-hand sitting in white rocking chairs on the porch watching their grandchildren play in the front yard of their home.
Jimmy looked over at his wife and smiled to himself. All those years ago while working for the Express, only in his dreams did he ever believe his life would end up this way. Growing old with the one and only woman he had ever loved in his life; holding her in his arms as they fell asleep at night; and, yes, still kissing her whenever he wanted to.
He couldn't imagine life without her.
Without you I'm not okay
And without you I've lost my way
My heart's stuck in second place
Without you.
THE END