A Season of Reckoning

Eli has one notch to go!A Season of Reckoning is the final chapter of the epic western saga The Joshua Trail Trilogy. The Joshua Trail Trilogy which began with Six Notch Road and continued with The Joshua Trail now reaches its long awaited and exciting conclusion.After ten long years of pursuing the hated Joshua brothers from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the gold mines of California, south of the border deep into the badlands of Mexico and back again, at long last, Eli has his fated showdown with Jules Joshua the most evil man who ever lived.Eli has lost more than he can ever gain by killing Jules, but he is determined to carve that last notch into his gun handle.Jules intends to deny him that pleasure.There is A Season of Reckoning for only one of them. Jules took one last look in his son's direction as he held Eli's notched gun in his hand. "You think you the law or something now, Eli?""It's exactly like that, Jules!""Well, if that don't beat all!" Jules chuckled as he looked at Eli's gun. His mood turned sad, then sinister as he let his thumb ease over the first notch. He retched as he thought on what the notches represented. "I done some mean things in my life as a sinning man, but no thing as evil as what you done on this gun handle. Killing a man is a natural thing. Gloating on it is a godless act.""It was no more than what was deserved.""You thinking on cutting one more?""I expect there'll be six soon enough.""You gonna cut your own self in the handle?" Jules voice cracked as he looked at the hatred on his son's face. Hot, salty, tears of bitterness formed at the corners of his eyes. Deep in the darkest corners of the tortured recesses of his being, a last flickering glimmer of a soul emerged. "Ben! You look on and see who can rightly claim to be your father."Ben turned away.Jules thought it over and holstered the gun. Then he reached down and offered Eli a hand up. Eli looked doubtful, then took the hand and got to his feet.Without a need for words, they checked their gun loads, then holstered their pistols and eased to a proper distance. They paused for a moment of mutual respect, before a nod to be at the ready. Jules tipped his hat to Stella. She smirked..Ben turned and looked on with curious eyes, not sure which man to champion. The streets fell silent.There was a mean eternity of restless rawhide, eager iron and itchy fingers ... then a flash of gunfire ...