by Wally Steele

Created on: June 07, 2009

Gabriel Sunday

Gabriel struggled to hold on to the reins of his horse, as they careened down the impossibly steep slope of the canyon. He had challenged Blue Boy in urging him to gallop full bore towards what looked like certain death and to his surprise, the horse had responded. Now, not only did he have to struggle to hold on to the reins but he found himself forced to lean backward nearly resting his shoulders on the saddle to keep from falling as they continued their plunge downward. He was not sure if Blue Boy had leaped down that slope to please him or in dread of what chased them. None the less the sound of distant gunfire spurred them on.

The horse masterfully handled the treacherous slope with power and determination in its quest to reach the bottom safely. Gabe's chore now, was to just hold on and hope that a sudden stop or a change of direction would not cause him to plummet from Blue Boy. A fall would most certainly result in a broken neck! Or in the very least, injury leading to capture and then a date with a hangman's rope. What seemed to be impossible just a few minutes ago now could be considered just an obstacle of the past that was being rapidly conquered and left behind like so many other things in his life had been.

The other riders had cautiously chosen not to follow his example and plunge head long into danger, thereby avoiding the possibility of the chance of injury. The posse knew he was a desperate man and that he had nothing to lose. All the men felt that they would encounter him again, so why risk everything now. The thousand-dollar reward was not compelling enough to carelessly risk personal safety to try to claim it.

Several of the posse drew their rifles from the scabbard in order to take a few final shots at him in hopes, that by an act of the gods, a bullet might find its mark. This proved to be just some sort of justification for the failure of their mission to follow him to the ends of the earth. Gabe was sure the sheriff had sworn the posse in and after they were sworn had said, Men, we will follow that black cowboy to the ends of the earth!

He had heard him do it before and he just knew that he had done the same now. He took a glance behind him and he could see the posse in the distance as they slowly trotted their horses back towards town with their heads hung low. Failure was not something they would want to brag to the others about. But, the fact was they had

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