09/03/2026 16:16

---

Where's Lippy? Xavier shrugged. Deets didn't say a word or even look at Newt accusingly, but Newt was still mortified. Most of the menfolk were inside the store buying supplies, though some were repairing wagon wheels or shoeing horses. He tried to get the other boys to wait on him--in his state he could have been easily robbed and beaten, as he pointed out--but his companions were indifferent to his fate.

The old man had said Dee was a _pistolero_. He rode the dun into Lonesome Dove late on a day in August, only to be startled by the harsh clanging of the dinner bell, the one Bolivar had loved to beat with the broken crowbar. He picked up his Henry and walked out of the circle of firelight, meaning to have a few minutes to himself. Besides, Augustus's name wasn't on the sign, though it was his grave.