It's half-past midnight

23746 is close enough to 25000 that I'm packing it in for the night.

In the next scene, Harry and Bear-on-Fire finally meet, and that's a pretty important scene so I'd like to be fully alert and awake for it.

I expect some bonding, and then the grisly climax. That will be followed by a condensed denoument that covers the sunset years of Harry's gunslinging career, and the final framing chapter.

The end is very much in sight, and the order of events is clear. Whether I can get there in 7000 words or not is my primary question.

If I can't make it in 7000, can I make it in 10000. If I need more than that, I'll be cutting my editing too short, and I desperately need that.

I'll resume tomorrow. Early, I hope.