Post-epilogue-

Blake told me this. It was in the TopHat Tavern on Colfax Avenue in Denver. I hadn't seen him since he and I and Leon were roomates at Montana State University back in the 70s. It was me that brought up Leon Gardipee, and when Blake got tears in his eyes I figured that nostalgia had linked up with the whiskey and been too much for him I asked him when he had last seen Leon, and reminded him about the five bucks he had borrowed."You ever pay him back?"I grinned.

Blake smiled. "yeah I did. Funny about that. I shouldn't have, cause Leon always said I'd be owing him that Five Dollars the rest of his life." Blake was staring at the rocks in his bourbon like he was trying to find an answer there." You know I've got this old photograph of Leon with his volkswagen. He's sitting in it with his head sticking out the sunroof and a big smile on his face. Remember he used to drive around Bozeman like that, sunglasses on and a cigar clamped in his teeth. He was larger than life, was Leon." Blake laid a 20 dollar bill down to cover the drinks." I kinda figured he'd live forever," he said.

"What happened?", I said, dread seeping up in my soul.

"I got him killed, E." He smiled, but the moisture was still there in his eyes. "You just thank your stars that you saw Blake Madison again, and lived to tell about it." He gave me a last look. I had the impression he was raising a pane of bullet-proof glass over his eyes, and then he didn't seem to see me at all.He turned and walked out of the joint, and I never saw him again.