. Thirty minutes recess ended. The crowd returned to their seats and the contenders finished their rest.“Four hundred and seven participants are lef...t. The fifth level’s hour is soon to commence, so let me help you all to remember...” Armin announced, smiling at the spectators, gesturing with appreciation at the contenders. “Regardless how many participants will sustain in the upcoming fifth hour or the remaining two, with no discrimination over your performance, the top two hundred will. Jed and his friends wound up with 14 prisoners, the rest of the rustlers were dead. Several of the prisoners were badly wounded and needed to see a doctor as soon as possible. Some of the wounded would not live the two days it might take to get them to the nearest town. Five travois were built to carry the wounded, and they set off just after mid-afternoon.They left the majority of the posse to bring in the cattle; four men rode with Al, Jed, and Tom to take the surviving rustlers to jail. The. It could be thebriefest of touches, brushing an arm, a hug hello orgoodbye, standing close in the kitchen making tea…thecloser we stood or sat the more intense the feeling.Until one day after spending hours digging over thegarden in the rain, covered in mud we had the perfectexcuse to jump in the shower.We laughed standing in the kitchen like a pair ofdrowned rats, stripping down to our undies andshivering as the rain dripped from our hair down ourbacks and over our breasts.. She got her bra and blouse on, stood up, and tucked the blouse into her jeans. She picked up Jake’s shirt and tee shirt before following him down at a slower pace.Jake called out, “Is there something wrong with how the car is parked, officer?” He knew that wasn’t the problem, but let’s start with what he was doing right. The cop -- must have been a deputy -- got out of the car.“Where did you get that?” were the deputy’s first words.“Falujah.” He slowed down. He might look threatening galloping.