Well-done. Appreciate the care you took with the tone and style of the characters' speech. Clearly you spent time on this and had the writing skills to pull it off.
Did I NEED to have your version? Not really... I was satisfied with Stroud's ending at the time and I still am.
Do I LIKE having an alternative? Sure, why not? I felt like I was back in the book there for a little while, and for that I thank you.