She made her weekly trip to the mercantile to pick up some supplies. She held Brian on her hip as Colleen and Matthew raced in to look at the candy.
"Good morning, Mr. Bray," she was surprised to see him. Abagail usually ran the store on Saturday mornings. Loren liked to go fishing then.
"Yeah, sure," was his reply.
She looked at him quizzically. "Something wrong?" She ventured. "Is Abagail feeling alright?"
Loren looked up, almost angry. " ‘Course she’s feeling fine. Can’t a man run his store the way he wants!"
Charlotte was taken aback. "Of course, Mr. Bray. You are a fine storekeeper." She picked her way about the store, getting the things she needed. Bringing them to the checkout counter she noticed Mrs. Bray in the back.
"Maude!" She hurried over to her. "How’s everything?" She was dying to know about Abagail and Sully, but felt nervous about asking.
Maude Bray sighed. "I opine I’m feeling plumb tuckered out this week." (AUTHOR’S NOTE: Opine - to be of the opinion)
"Do tell!" said Charlotte. She leaned in privately. "Is everything alright?"
Maude sneaked a quick look at Loren and saw him glaring at her. "That’ll be four dollars and fifty cents," she said loudly.
Charlotte saw Loren and drew a half eagle out of her pocket. Maude made the proper change and handed her a half dollar back. "Don’t ask Loren anything about Abagail," she whispered to Charlotte. "It ain’t good right now."
Charlotte nodded, and quickly left.
Ethan got home from the saloon not long after Charlotte did. He walked in, staggering a little. Charlotte smelled the whiskey again, and was shocked, as it was the middle of the day.
"Ethan!" she admonished. "Anti-fogmatics this early in the day!" (AUTHOR’S NOTE: Anti-fogmatics- raw whiskey)
He waved her on and staggered to the room. She went after him. "What are you doin’!" she exploded. "We came out here to find a better life, start on a clean slate. We were gonna strike it rich, you told me! And look at us! You, in the saloon all day long, liquored up half the time! Me, alone here with the kids. What kind of a life is this!"
"Seems to me you do just fine without me," muttered Ethan.
"What? I didn’t hear you," Charlotte said.
"I said, seems to me you do JUST FINE WITHOUT ME!!!" he yelled. "Why do ya need me anyway when you got that Sully fellow to keep you company! Tell me Charlotte, just what do you do ALL day with him when I’m not here!" he sputtered at her.
She was horrified, so much so, she actually took a few steps back.
"Sully is my friend," she spat in a low voice. "I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that. I’m here all day alone with these three kids. It is nice to have a FRIEND."
Ethan suddenly turned around and got real close to her, almost in her face. As he was over 5 inches taller than her, though, he looked far down.
"You don’t need any friends," he said evilly. "You got me," he pointed his thumb at his chest. He pushed past her and walked out to the main room, past the kids.
She sank the floor, crying. She couldn’t bear it anymore. What was she going to do? And then a thought crossed her mind. She left the children with Ethan, and without telling him where she was going, took a horse and rode out to Aspen Creek.
She saw his fire from a long way off. He, in turn, heard the horse rustling and looked up from his whittling at the person riding towards him. Charlotte? She had found his camp? He stood up.
Charlotte waved to him. "Hey Sully!" she shouted. All of a sudden the horse reared up and threw her off. She flew off the horse and fell to the ground with a thump.
"Charlotte!" yelled Sully. He ran to her side and found her unconscious, bleeding on the left side of her head.
"Oh my God!" breathed Sully. He looked around, then back at her head. In one swift move, he picked her up and carried her to his camp. Ripping the sleeve off his shirt, he uncapped his canteen and poured water over it, then held it to her head. "Wake up, Charlotte, c’mon, you gotta wake up."
She moaned and moved her head about. "Sully?" she asked. He found her hand, and clasped it. "I’m here, you’re okay," he told her.
"I...I came to find out about you and Abagail," she whispered slowly, trying to form the words.
Oh, the dear, dear woman! Sully looked at her in amazement. Never in his whole life had he met anyone as caring about him as she did. He hugged her gently.
"She said yes, Charlotte!" he whispered excitedly. "We’re getting married! Sometime next year, and I want you and Ethan and the children to come! Everyone in Colorado Springs is invited!"
She attempted to sit up. "Oh, slowly, Charlotte," he said.
"I’m alright, Sully," she said. "Just...tell me more about it...how did you propose? Where did you do it?"
Sully remained silent.
"Oh!" she gasped, finally realizing. "Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s private of course. I’m sorry." She was a bit disappointed.
Sully shook his head. "That’s alright Charlotte. I’ll...I’ll tell you about it sometime," he said. "Right now," he paused, "I just want to savor it." His voice had changed somewhat, still quiet and determined, like always, but it had a certain softness in it she hadn’t heard before.
"Ya sure you’re feelin’ okay?" he asked her.
She had forgotten. Slowly, she brought her hand up to her head, gently feeling the cut. "I’m fine," she said , jumping up. But she was immediately dizzy and started to sink back to the ground.
"Whoa!" Sully said, springing up to help her. "I think you should stay here tonight, Charlotte. I don’t want you riding in this condition."
"Sully," she said irritatedly , pulling away from him, "I gotta get back to my children. Ethan will - "
Sully interrupted her, something he had never done before. "Why’d you come out here, Charlotte?" he asked. "I know you care about me and Abagail ‘n all, but there was another reason, wasn’t there?"
He saw right through her. They saw right through each other.
Her shoulders dropped, dejectedly. She turned away from the man, her eyes taking in the sights of the creek instead. "Ethan’s mad at me again. Thinks I spend too much time with you. I tried to tell him we were just friends, but he doesn’t want to listen. So...I came to tell you...maybe you shouldn’t come ‘round anymore." She saw his eyes and rushed on. "The kids love you, Sully, and you are my best friend, you can’t even imagine, but...I love Ethan... and..." her voice drifted off.
Sully looked at her, his face half-filled with anger, and some comprehension as well. She loved her husband, and she would do whatever she could to make him happy. Even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. Sully couldn’t understand it, couldn’t comprehend how she could love that selfish, hard-hearted man, but it wasn’t his place to say differently.
He took a deep breath. Then, slowly, trying to find the words, he began speaking. "Charlotte, I don’t want to get in the way of you and Ethan. You know I care about you, and I’d do anything I could for ya, but ya also know that my heart belongs to Abagail."
Charlotte nodded. "I know...if only Ethan would believe that," she whispered tearfully. "I’m sorry Sully, for doing this to you," she threw her arms around him and hugged him. Then quickly, she got up, this time not overcome by dizziness, and walked over to the horse.
She turned for one last look at him. "I’ll be seeing ya," she said.
"Charlotte?" he asked. "I really don’t think you should be riding. If you want, I’ll follow you home, make sure you get there okay."
She walked back and caressed his cheek. "Better not, Ethan might see. Don’t worry! I’m fine!" And with that, she mounted and rode off.
Sully, in a fit of angst, threw the wood he had been whittling into the fire.
"Sure," he said to himself. "Just fine."
Charlotte rode at a good clip, trying to reach home as fast as she could. But the tears kept filling up her eyes, making it almost impossible to see.
"Silly!" she scolded herself. She urged the horse faster but it refused to go any quicker, remembering earlier its buck.
"C’mon Nugget! She urged it, faster and faster. The name of the horse no doubt had come from Ethan’s previous dreams of striking it rich in the gold country.
The horse sped up momentarily, then settled down into almost a trot. Soon, it finally stopped, refusing to go one more inch. Sighing in disgust, Charlotte climbed down and began walking with the horse. As she thought of Sully, her eyes filled up with tears again. She turned towards the creek to wash her face, and was suddenly struck by an overpowering feeling of dizziness. She grabbed for the reins to steady herself, but it didn’t work. Along the bank of Aspen creek she fell to the ground, unconscious.
The horse nudged her, trying to find out what had happened to its owner. But Charlotte lay still, and the horse, not being secured by anything, made its way home
It was ten o’clock. Ethan made his way home on his horse. He had left Matthew alone with the younger ones hours ago, so he could go back to the saloon. A nine-year-old boy, he figured, was old enough to help his Pa out. It was a good thing the horse knew the way, or he might never have made it. As it was, when he pulled up to the homestead, he had trouble getting down. His foot, damn foot! got caught in the stirrup and he fell to the ground.
"Oof!" Ethan picked himself up slowly and staggered toward the house. He had to hold onto the corral fence to help him get there. He kicked open the front door.
Matthew, Colleen, and Brian, all up past bedtime, looked up at him in surprise. Brian had stopped crying for the second, but now started again. Colleen was trying to comfort him but it was of no use. Matthew looked up at his father and smelled the whiskey that permeated the air. He frowned.
Colleen gave up trying to comfort Brian and picked him up, walking slowly towards her father. "Pa, where’s Ma?" she asked.
"How the hell should I know!" he bellowed at her. She blinked, having never been spoken to like that before. Her lips trembled. And Brian kept crying.
Ethan pointed at the baby. "Why aren’t you kids in bed!? And shut that kid up!" He staggered toward his room.
Matthew held out his arm. "It’s alright, Col," he said.
She turned to him. "Mat-yoo," she said, her voice quavering. "I’m hungry....and Brian needs his milk."
"I know," said the nine-year-old boy. "Where’s Ma?" he hugged his sister.
The sun rose quickly in the sky the next day. Ethan, hit by a hangover, slept in late, leaving Matthew to do the chores by himself.
After they were done, he looked around the house for something for he and his siblings to eat. They had gone to bed hungry the previous night, as there had been no supper. As for Brian, they had coaxed a little bread sopping with cow’s milk down, but he had spit most of it out. Matthew couldn’t understand why. He searched the pantry, finding a day old loaf of bread, and broke some for he and Colleen.
"I want butter!" she said, defiantly for her.
"Look!" The boy exploded. "There ain’t no butter! Ma hasn’t done the churning yet!"
Colleen burst into tears. At that moment, Ethan stumbled out of his room.
"Where’s your Ma?" he asked Matthew.
"She’s...she’s not here," said Matthew.
She didn’t come home last night?" Ethan asked incredulously, just beginning to realize what was going on.
Matthew shook his head. "You mean, you don’t know where she is?"
Ethan ignored him and began storming out of the house. He had to find Sully. Sully would know where she was. Unless...he paused for a moment. Unless she had run off with Sully. He slapped the thought out of his head. Charlotte would never do that. She loved the kids too much.
The kids... he finally remembered Brian.
"Matthew, when was the last time Brian ate?" he asked.
"We tried to feed him some milk-bread last night," said the boy. "But he wouldn’t take it."
Ethan dropped the children off at a neighbor’s homestead and rode off for town. He had no idea where Sully lived. Maybe Abagail would know.
He rounded the corner into town and jumped of his horse. Wrapping the reins around a hitching post, he ran into the store. "Mr. Bray! Mr. Bray!" he called out.
The storeowner looked up in surprise from the ladder on which he stood stocking his shelves.
"What is it, Mr. Cooper?" he asked.
"Where’s Abagail?" he replied.
"How the heck should I know?" he asked, scowling. "Don’t matter to me none," he said.
Ethan was confused for a moment, but then pushed the thought out of his mind. He ran back outside and was about to mount his horse when he spied Sully and Abagail having a picnic in the meadow. He raced to them.
Sully picked his eyes up from gazing lovingly at his fiancée just in time to see Ethan rushing toward him. He jumped up in the nick of time, as Ethan came barreling down upon him.
"Where is she?!" Ethan demanded, grabbing Sully’s shirt, and pulling him towards him.
Sully, quite able to defend himself, pushed Ethan away and yelled back, "Are you crazy!? What are you talking ‘bout!"
Beside him, Abagail had gotten up quickly, a frightened look crossing her face.
"Charlotte! Where’s Charlotte! I know she’s with you!" the man screamed, hysterically. His insaneness was scaring Sully, as he noted his love’s face. He stepped in front of her, to shield her, as Ethan continued. "What, did she run off - leave me and the kids?!" Unreasonable at that moment, Ethan took a swing at Sully. Sully ducked and grabbed Ethan to stop him from hurting himself, or anyone else.
"Charlotte? What are you talking about? What happened to Charlotte?" He shook the man. "Did you hurt her!? I swear - if you’ve hurt her!" he threatened Ethan. Ethan, the coward he was, trembled. Abagail, seeing Sully’s face and knowing how much he cared about Charlotte, stepped in and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Byron," she said, firmly but sweetly.
That was all it took. Sully released Ethan and the two stared at each other. Ethan straightened up, coming to his senses. "She didn’t come home last night," he said. "Did you see her?" he asked.
Sully thought hard. "She found my camp around four-thirty," he said, "but left soon after that. I haven’t seen her since then."
He realized as soon as he said it. "Oh my God," he muttered. He began running, "Abagail, forgive me - Ethan, I just remembered..."
Ethan took off after him. "What?" he asked. "What is it?"
Sully stopped and turned around. "I told her not to go, I told her I’d follow her home - "
"What is it?!" Ethan nearly exploded.
"When she found me last night," Sully started, "her horse threw her and she hit her head on a rock, lost consciousness. I told her she should stay for awhile, make sure she was okay, but she wouldn’t, said she had to get back to you and the kids. What if?..." the question lay unfinished. He turned and began running again.
"Wait!" Ethan shouted. "I need to go get my horse. You too! Get yours!"
Sully shook his head. "I don’t ride," he said. "Meet me on the northern bank of Aspen Creek, ‘bout a mile away from the bluffs. My camp is there. We’ll start there."
Ethan looked at him doubtfully.
"I’ll be there!" Sully ran off.
Sully flew through the woods as fast as he could. It didn’t bother him that he couldn’t ride a horse. He didn’t like them very much, if the truth be told, was pretty much scared of them, ever since his brother had been dragged to his death when his foot had gotten caught in a stirrup. It didn’t really matter now, he told himself as he ran. He would get there before Ethan did.
And he did. He was waiting for almost a full ten minutes before Ethan showed up, growing more anxious by the second. Then Ethan came, and they traveled together East, along the northern bank of Aspen Creek, searching for Charlotte. Sully led the way with Ethan following on his horse.
The trees weren’t thick, and Sully saw her almost a half a mile off. He recognized the blue and white calico she had been wearing the day before.
The blue spot lay huddled on the ground, deathly still. A lump formed in Sully’s throat as he got sick to his stomach. Oh God...
"I see her!" he yelled to Ethan.
Ethan, surprisingly, had not seen his wife. His mind was filled with too many thoughts. Why had she run to Sully? Hadn’t she once told him she didn’t even know where he lived? What else had she been lying about? And then Sully interrupted his thoughts.
"Over there!" he yelled. He took off.
Ethan dismounted and followed. Sully obviously reached her first. Throwing himself on his knees, he cradled her head.
"Charlotte?" he whispered. There was no answer, no movement, nothing. Ethan caught up and stood stock-still for a moment, not doing anything.
Sully, in one swift move, gathered her into his arms.
"What do you think you’re doing?!" yelled Ethan. "Leave my wife alone!"
Sully didn’t even pause. "We gotta get her to a doctor. Closest one’s in Denver." He turned to Ethan. "Ethan, you gotta ride for one."
"If you think I’m leaving you alone with my wife, you’re crazier than a loon! You’ve done QUITE enough for her already!"
That made Sully freeze, aghast at this selfish man. He spun around, and then started speaking so calmly it scared Ethan.
"You have HELL of a wife, Ethan, and I’ll be DAMNED if I’m going to let her die alone here with you."
"What is it?! Tell me! Are you lovers!" Ethan shrieked hysterically.
Sully marched towards him, Charlotte still in his arms. "Don’t you get it?" he laughed, incredibly evil, almost hysterical himself. "Charlotte doesn’t love me like that, she loves you - though for the life of me I can’t imagine WHY. And I love Abagail." He continued. "She came to tell me last night she couldn’t see me anymore, AS FRIENDS, because YOU," he spat the word out, "didn’t like it. She got hurt because of YOU, Ethan. And if she dies..." he faded. "I swear, if she dies... - you’ll wish you’d never been born."
He whirled around again, leaving Ethan speechless. "Now go for the doctor!"
The doctor had a few tough days bringing Charlotte around, but she finally woke up, much to the relief of Ethan. She recovered steadily, though she had to spend much of her time in bed. Sully came to see her often, although at first Charlotte hesitated.
"I’m not sure you should be here, Sully," she told him when he knocked on the door and came in.
" ‘S’alright," he assured her. "Me and Ethan, we’ve come to an understanding - and he reckons I can see my friend just as much as she wants me to."
Charlotte smiled, happy at the news. "It’s Ethan and I, Sully," she corrected him.
"Well, you must be better!" he laughed. "Been awhile since I’ve had my grammar corrected by Charlotte Cooper!" He was so happy to see her awake.