“Holy shit! That scared the shit out of me!” He whispered into my ear as we closed and locked his bedroom door. I laughed nervously.If we had been...caught by his dad, I probably would have died. My head would’ve just exploded right there.We were both too spooked to continue where we had left off, so I sat on the couch with Ryan on my lap and we played video games for a while.“Hey.”“Hey.”“I liked spending today with you.” Ryan told me without taking his eyes from the television. I’d been. Then went on. “But I’ve never, well, I’ve always just kind of been there for the guy. They always did everything. I don’t know what to do to make it good for me. Everybody says you’ll help me.”I smiled in the dark at her honesty. I forgave her all her interruptions and swore to make this a good time for her.“You could start by sitting down.” I patted the cot so she could hear where to sit in the dark. She sat. “Now take off your night shirt and sandals.” She shivered in the cool night. I think I might, because I could work at the Glass Works in Corning and then I wouldn’t have to move away. I could help Ma out.’ ‘Oh, Raymond, don’t get trapped!’ Tracey warned. ‘This town will swallow you up. You’ll give all you have and get nothing back. One day, you’ll look around and see that you’re drained, with nothing left to give. You’ll regret all the things that you never did, places you never went, people you never met. Don’t kill your dreams before they have a chance to live. Ask. .. FIRE!"The crash of seven rifles shooting was the first any of the Indians or the man inside the line shack knew of the presence of the militia. This first shot was not very easy, considering the distance to the target, the speed of the horses running past the shack, and the angle of the shots. For whatever the reason, only 2 of the Indians went down, and the rest were now alerted to the second group of foes.The Indians reacted with admirable speed. Without hesitation, they turned to attack.