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free. “Do what he say.” The sergeant clamped the leather
between his teeth and nodded his head.
Taylor hooked his hands under Pope’s arms. Two other
troopers took their sergeant by his waist, and the three slid
Pope through the dirt to the edge of the gulley. Pope flung
his head from side to side with each inch they moved, but
no sound came from the man.
The wall of fire danced up the gulch, burning every
blade of grass and bush in its way. Where the gulley opened
onto the desert, the fire ran out of fuel and played out. Yel-
low flames flickered on the charred stagecoach where we
would have surely burned.
Outlined by the moon, a wolf sat on its haunches and
watched from a low hill. From the shadows of the cactus and
cholla around it, two more of the animals stalked close to
the first. As one, the beastly trio raised their eerie voices.
The wind stopped, and the desert became as still as a grave.
As its companions slunk away, the first wolf charged
toward me. It stopped in the faint light of the burning
stagecoach not thirty yards away. As if reflecting a speck of
color from the farthest night star, the slightest glimmer of
purple light glowed in its eyes.
I fumbled into my vest pocket for the silver bullet
and pulled my mother’s revolver from my belt. My hands
snapped open the gun, and shaking fingers fought to
replace one of the cartridges with the silver one. I slammed
the gun barrel in place and raised the weapon. But the she-
wolf had melted into the night. As she had taunted me
before.
Combing the darkness for any signs of movement, I
backed my way to the edge of the arroyo where June and

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