Rob goes outside and begins to cry as he finally understands his daughter's feelings, her pain and what a prideful & selfish person he's been to his family over the years. A gunshot is heard and Katy bursts into tears, thinking Flicka is dead. The next morning, Nell finds Rob walking back to the house, supporting the injured Flicka. She runs outside to help and finds out that the gunshot was him shooting at the mountain lion. Both are stunned that Flicka is alive and decide not to put her down. Katy's fever breaks and she begins to recover. As he watches over his daughter, Rob reads the story that Katy had been writing about Flicka, eventually typing the story and sending it to the school so that Katy can pass for the year. When Katy wakes from the fever, she and Rob reconcile and he takes her to see Flicka. Rob apologizes to Howard and gives his son his blessing and Howard prepares for college. As a family, they decide to not sell the ranch, making it both a working ranch and a refuge for wild mustangs.