He walked over to the fallen Yamaha, gun still on Wilson and Thomas. He took the cap off the gas tank, dipped the bandanna in with one hand and sloshed the fuel all around. Then he angled the gun into his bad arm and took out a lighter from his pocket. He lit the gas-soaked bandanna and jumped back. Thomas moved toward Wilson again as if to protect both of them from what was coming. Even I took a step back. There was a burst of white light and then an explosion like a rocket as a fireball blasted into the air. Patches of fire floated to the earth and sizzled out on the grass. The gas tank on the Yamaha looked like a can that had been peeled open, and lingering flames kept burning. Barbie Man was now just a few feet in front of me, still shouting. What had he done to Ellen when he was like this?

“Move back!” he shouted at Thomas. “Get away from him.” Thomas moved backward on his knees, his arms raised, and Barbie Man dragged Wilson’s limp body by his suede jacket and then knelt down beside him. Was he going to kill him?

I moved forward. I was in the yard now, out of the trees. I took quick, quiet steps toward them, and just a foot from Barbie Man, I raised the Marksman. Thomas saw me at that moment; his eyes locked on mine for the briefest second, and then he looked away. Barbie Man was bent over Wilson, and I could feel the adrenaline surge through me. If I hit the skull, it could bounce off; I had to go for the neck, the vulnerable flesh and tender veins. He suddenly reached back, put his gun into the back of his jeans, and pulled a knife from a sheath on the side of his boot. I could see the strip of white flesh on his back below his shirt. What was he going to do to Wilson with the knife? My hands were shaking. Now I had to do two things at the same time: shoot him and get his gun. Pull hard and keep aim. Breathe in. With two fingers, I pulled the trigger. As I felt the air pressure release, I grabbed the gun from his trousers and stumbled backward. Barbie Man fell over Wilson, and Thomas catapulted onto him in a single movement.

I was holding two guns. Barbie Man was screaming.