The Serpent and the Crow

Epilogue

Douglas came back to Bolivar. The Mexican had capped off all the rounds in the Desert Eagle. Dead followers laid beneath his feet. But Doug was glad he fought rather than opt out.

Bolivar wrangled more Para Los Muertos soldiers. They helped burn the Emerald Eye and Braithwaite's disciples. They quartered and burned Ellroy. Douglas oversaw everything turn to ash. Bolivar arranged the transportation of Wade's body. He paid for a caretaker to do their best in restoring Wade to the jolly gringo they remembered.

Douglas watched as Doctor Wayne Ray Lee administered the anti-venom to Halonie. He kept the extra vials. Douglas made certain more of the anti-venom was replicated just in case the need ever arose.

Bolivar and the Para Los Muertos set out to blow up the mines. Collapse the entrance. Sealed shut forever. Although the Emerald Eye was nothing but ash. Douglas was thorough in making sure anything else, that may have lived in the depths remained there, unknown to the world.

Douglas came back to the precinct. A vast majority of officers missing from the Precinct. He hoped they were dead rather than roaming around Solemn as Skinwalkers.

Douglas noted that there were seldom questions asked about what transpired up in the hills, or the personnel missing. Solemn Pines was ready to turn a new leaf and forget about the horror that had developed.

Flavell, Jador, and a few others were treated as missing persons. So was Wade. Douglas gritted his teeth each time he passed a fugitive poster that was plastered around town with Wade's mug on the paper. He felt guilty that Wade had not been vindicated from the things that transpired at Redfern. They labeled him as crazy, a loose cannon, a criminal, and a liar. Only those that knew him, knew better. And there were few people alive to attest to his memory.

For a time, Bolivar and Douglas visited over a few beers but it got harder and harder and Bolivar disappeared. Douglas hoped he found legitimacy or religion. But he knew better. The business he was involved in was dangerous. He liked to imagine he sold up, and was sipping tequila somewhere sunny, but that was wishful thinking.

Douglas retired from Solemn Pines Police Department. He spent most of his time with his family. Halonie. She had recovered, but not entirely. The bite marks on her neck were a sign that everything Douglas went through was real. She was so young she forget how she even got those marks.

Doug sold Ashkook's trailer. It reminded him too much of his son and Wade. And all he wanted to do was moving on with his life. It made it simpler to move to the Navajo Reservation a little easier.

Doug found his calling in keeping the stories of their ancestors alive, their traditions, their myths, and legends. Some of the Navajo thought he was a little too enthusiastic, informing people of the Emerald Eye. Douglas did not care if they knew. There was darkness out there, and future generations needed to keep vigilant. At least familiar with the stories of skin walkers. The kids loved hearing about Wade, and so did Douglas.

Douglas insisted they buried Wade in the Reservation. He is the only white man to be buried there. It was a hard sell. Douglas was not going back to either the Crow or Sioux Nation where his forefathers had come from, but he was not Navajo either. He felt Wade belonged in Arizona and convinced the Navajo Nation to allow him a spot just outside the Rez.

Douglas visited every morning at Dawn. He would talk about the research he did, and the close watch he had. They found no more sky burials. Crime was still rampant in Solemn, but none had the hallmarks of Skinwalkers or the Emerald Eye.

He thought perhaps Wade's brother, Edgar, would return to ask what had transpired with his brother. But he never came back. Douglas thought maybe Edgar said his goodbyes for a reason. Nez tried to track him down, but he was a ghost. He was dead or keeping low. Doug prayed it was the latter.

Before Douglas knew it. He was old. His daughters had their grand kids. His wife had passed long ago. Douglas felt old. He kept telling himself he had to keep watch.

He sat at Wade's tombstone. The only one left alive to honour the hero that left this world with no recognition for his deeds. His deeds to Solemn and to Doug. He owed Wade. The only way he could repay it was to keep watch.

Time passed, and he forgot what he was watching out for sometimes. Douglas observed the dawn rise and the fog part as he saw the wilderness creep and grow, reclaiming what Man had done to it.

That was the trouble about evil, it never got old. Unlike the watchers that waited for it to return. He sat next to Wade's gravestone as the years wore off Wade's last name; Schofield.

Douglas sat reading his tombstone which read, here lies Det. Sgt. Wade. Husband to Michelle. Father to Mary. Brother to Edgar and Doug. Friend to the Navajo Nation. Hero. Vaya con Dios, Amigo.

Douglas looked at his missing thumb. It was a sign that the pain he suffered was real. It happened. Douglas felt weary as he dozed off. The nightmare lingered not far away as Douglas' mind clouded over like the fog that slithered out of the wilderness.

THE END.