Bearstone

Walter returns home and, exhausted, quickly falls asleep. On waking, he goes to the basement and retrieves a jar of peaches to eat. He notes the crack in the wall: He has the materials to repair it but not the will. Thoughts of his failure with Cloyd crowd in: He gave the boy work but failed to offer him a home. Now that Walter’s wife and Cloyd are gone, there’s no further reason to maintain the ranch.

The next morning, he checks the horses and feels wistful about the blue roan, Cloyd’s horse. He can hire someone to manage the hayfields. There’s a small income from rights to a mine he sold long ago, and there’s always the idle Pride of the West mine that, he believes, contains gold just waiting to be found.

Cloyd appears suddenly and says, “I want to try again” (69). Walter stares, then says of course. Cloyd apologizes for the peach trees. Walter nods, then leads Cloyd back to the house, where the boy showers and eats, then sleeps again in his bedroom.

When he wakes, his clothes are clean and dry. He asks what Walter needs him to work on.