The Ghost Ranger’s gloved hands travelled the length of his gown like shadows up a wall. They stopped at the deer skull, the fingertips branching out in an echo of the antlers, and took hold of them. The skull shifted, then lifted, up and over the ranger’s head. The skull dropped, fracturing into splintered pieces across the floor and Peter’s dad looked back at him.

Peter’s throat tightened. But his dad recognized the horror in his eyes and looked back towards the bench. Seated there with one hand cuffed to the wall, head hanging low and quite unconscious, was a young man in a white T-shirt and military fatigues. He couldn’t have been much older than twenty. He couldn’t have had a chance to be much of anything yet: just this solider on a mission with a purpose he probably knew nothing about.

“I followed you all out of town on horseback, Pete,” said his dad. “You haven’t come visit me once since we got here, and when I saw you out the other day I could see in your eyes that something wasn’t right. I was worried you might be in trouble.”

The word trouble sounded less like a judgement than it should have. Peter nodded and finally gave up the struggle to hold back his tears.

“I’ve messed everything up.”

“No,” said his dad. “We love you and whatever it is, it can be fixed.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t spent any time with you.”

“It’s OK,” said his dad, pulling him into his chest for a hug. “It’s OK.”

“He’ll never forgive me.”

“Course he will.”

“The sheriff was the senator who authorized all the Returnees to be killed in the first place. He’s why they had to come here.”

His dad gently pulled away, wiping a lock of hair from Peter’s forehead. “And where is he now?”

“Dead,” said Peter. Then, much quieter. “Teddy too.”

His dad ran his hand down the length of his beard like too much had passed without his being there. “And now you think Cooper and the others sense that something’s wrong in town?”

“Yes,” said Peter. “But I don’t know what. I need to find him.”

His dad nodded. “Then we should go. If we leave now we’ll be back by first light.”

Peter took his dad’s hand and held it for a moment just to be sure of him. But it was only now he noticed how pale he was.

“Pete?” said his dad. “What is it? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

“Stay here, Dad.”

“I should come with you.”

“No. No, I think you should stay. You’ve probably exhausted yourself getting here. But just to be sure.”