I have to say I got a bit teary eyed myself. I wasn't sure if it was the play or the fact that I saw Vicky crying.It was late when the play let out. I...wasn't sure what to do next. I would be going home the next day and Vicky told me she had to work also. In fact she would be traveling somewhere else in France.We got in the car and I looked at her. "Where do you want to go?" I asked.First she stared at me for a few seconds even though it seemed like minutes. "Take me to your hotel if you don't. The heat made the air shimmer as he studied the rocks and brush ahead for any sign of the man he had chased halfway across the territory. Yesterday, they had even passed through a hole in the Big Fence into what had once been known as Mexico.The rider pushed his black Stetson back and pulled his 30-30 Winchester from the saddle boot, as if sensing something that he couldn't see.He felt the slam of the bullet before the report of the rifle reached his ears, and he pitched from the saddle to lie. “If we stop to eat here, we’ll never get out to the house, and you still need to talk to the man at the stable about leaving the buggy and the horses there overnight tonight. Drop me at the diner, and I’ll arrange for some food while you take care of the livery stable,” I told Owen, as we left the firewood dealer.I had picked up a deep pot with a lid at the hardware store and took it into the diner with me. I ordered three meals and put everything in the pot when they arrived. The waitress put. Walker seems more centered these days. And I attribute some of that to Pilar’s calming influence. Although it certainly helps that those spastic growth spurts of his have stopped. At least for now. Six feet, two inches is plenty for a 15-year old.Walker’s new body-comfort means that he’s more relaxed, smoother. He doesn’t move with Vanessa’s panther-like grace, but he’s no longer hunch-shouldering along.And that contributes to his sense of self-worth, his confidence. Vanessa, Pilar, and I can.