Dourado

EPILOGUE

The sun shone bright across the green expanse of Arlington cemetery. The white headstones, arrayed with military precision, gleamed like polished buttons on a uniform. Many considered it an honor to be buried here. Bones, of course, thought it was bland and lacking the individuality that he so valued. He had already planned his own memorial, and intended his cremated remains to be sprinkled into ashtrays at his favorite Vegas casinos and adult entertainment establishments.

Dane had warned Bones that he had better produce offspring, because Dane was not about to carry out those final wishes. The picture of himself at eighty years old, tottering through a strip club with a bag of ashes in one hand and a cane in the other nearly made him smile.

Returning his thoughts to the present, he watched in silence as the honor guard folded the flag and presented it to Melinda Wells, Meriwether’s granddaughter and only living relative. She accepted it with a firm nod of thanks.

She’s got her grandfather’s spirit, Dane thought. As the uniformed men and women marched away, his gaze fell to the small mound of earth where they had interred Meriwether’s dog tags, along with an urn containing the ashes of Rienzi’s bible.

The minister, a short, stocky young fellow with a voice much too big for his body, said a few words, none of which came close to doing justice to so fine a man. He closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

When the mourners were dismissed, Dane turned to leave. Bones caught his eye long enough to indicate that he planned to stay with Melinda for a while longer. Dane nodded, and turned to find Kaylin waiting for him. She stood with her hands on her hips and a slight, upturned smile on her face, tempered only by the solemnity of the occasion.

“What?” Dane asked.

“I saw you back there,” she said, a mysterious look in her eyes. “You were praying, weren’t you?”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to open your eyes when you pray,” he kidded. “Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.” He offered his hand, and she clasped it in both of hers. Together, they strolled through the manicured green grass.

“You know,” Kaylin said, “you still haven’t told me what happened after we got separated back in the temple.”

Dane looked up at the azure sky, and took a deep breath. Somehow, what he had experienced was too personal to share, even with Kaylin. Exhaling, he turned to her and shrugged.

“It’s all so… I don’t know what to say about it. I’m still trying to figure it out. It could take a while.”

He could tell that she was dissatisfied with the answer, but she did not push. “I’ve got time. How long do you think it might take?”

“I don’t know,” Dane said. “Maybe a lifetime.”