After I’d shown Chief Madsen the doll and answered more questions, I took a nap. I zipped my tent closed and curled on my sleeping bag, letting the heat cover me in sweat, feeling it bake my bones. Drifting off, I was able to forget, to lift the burden of reality and float in a world of dreams.
When I woke, the sun had sunk below the canyon walls and purple shadows muted the stark landscape. The mantle of remembering settled once more on my shoulders, heavy with regret. I realized my work now would be in moving past this point, slowly shedding the grief until only the sweetness of eternal friendship remained.
Learning the truth about what had happened to Clint would be an essential part of that healing.
Emerging from my tent, I saw the police had set up a small camp of their own about
