All Roads Lead Home
by Mary
“You ever gut shoot a man?”
“What?! Ouch!” Jess exclaimed. Taken by surprise at Ben’s question, he’d jerked as Joshua endeavored to carefully remove the stitches from his forehead.
“I said, ‘did you ever shoot a guy in the guts?’” the angelic-appearing small boy asked again impatiently.
“No. What made you think I did?”
Ben looked at him with exasperation. “One of the hands was just sayin’ that you were gonna shoot Dreb Farley in the guts and leave him out so’s the buzzards could eat him.”
“I don’t think any self respectin’ buzzard would have anything to do with him.”
Ben considered that for a moment and then said, “Well, Fiona an’ Rose both said you was a real lady-killer. You kill many ladies?” he asked hopefully.
Joshua stopped his doctoring for a moment and placed his hands on Jess’ shoulders. “What they meant was that he’s so darned handsome that ladies just look at him and faint dead away.”
Ben rolled his eyes and made fake retching sounds.
Joshua resumed plucking at the last few remaining stitches. When Jess flinched ever so slightly, Lucy was at his side in a moment. Taking his hand in hers, she said, “When it hurts you just squeeze my hand. That way it won’t hurt so much.”
“Real men bite on a bullet when somethin’ hurts. Don’t they Jess?” Ben inquired eagerly.
“Hate to disappoint ya pal, but real men always prefer squeezin’ the hand of a pretty lady. Bitin’ bullets only for when they ain’t got nothin’ better.” He smiled up at Lucy, who blushed with pleasure.
“Speakin’ of pretty ladies,” Joshua announced as Abigail entered the room.
“You old flatterer,” she laughed as she bent forward to examine his handy-work. Running her forefinger gently over the rapidly healing wound, she remarked, “You know I don’t think there’s a doctor in the whole territory you can’t out doctor. I think you made him as good as new.”
Jess, acutely uncomfortable being the subject of such scrutiny, felt his cheeks flush. When her finger had touched his flesh, he’d suddenly found breathing to be a nearly impossible task. It was with great relief that he saw her grab Ben firmly by the arm and say, “You, young man, have a bathtub waiting for you.”
“Aw,” he complained bitterly. “Real cowboys don’t take a bath more’n once a year. Maybe less. Isn’t that right, Jess?”
Before Jess could answer, Abigail said, “On this ranch, all cowboys take a bath at least once a week.” She smiled over at Jess, “All cowboys.”
After they left, Jess turned to Lucy and said, “You were goin’ to show me where Thad and Buck are buried. This might be a good time.”
Once outside, his breathing returned to normal. Lucy took his hand and led him silently across the broad front porch. All about the yard Jess noticed Dick’s men. All seemed to be busily working at various tasks but all were heavily armed and clearly on the lookout.
At the end of the porch steps was a narrow gravel walkway that led up behind the house towards what appeared to be the original main barn. Beyond that the path grew steeper and wound behind a stand of tall firs. Finally it ended at the hilltop, a breathtaking vista extending below of the fields, lawn and wide river. Lupines and blue bells bloomed in glorious profusion and nestled up against the trees and bound by a simple wrought iron fence were two white marble gravestones.
Lucy let go of his hand and busied herself picking a bouquet of flowers. Left to himself, Jess sat down on the grass near the tiny cemetery.
The warm midday sun beat on his back and Jess stretched, enjoying the therapeutic heat on his bruised and damaged body. He’d hated to admit it but this time, he hadn’t bounced back the way he usually did. Looking at him, no one would have noticed – except maybe Slim – nothing got by him. Perhaps he was just getting older but this time he had hurt badly and had hurt for days. In a few years he’d be thirty – middle-aged by anyone’s standards. It sent a chill down his spine. How quickly one’s youth passed and how soon one grew old. If one didn’t die a death by violence, a much worse fate awaited, he thought.
Maybe – just maybe settlin’ down wasn’t such a bad thing. A good woman to share his bed – children perhaps – children like Lucy and Ben. Not as frightening a prospect as it used to be. He thought once more of Slim and Andy. It wouldn’t be long before Andy would be off to school away – he really couldn’t imagine him staying at the ranch. Slim, more than likely would marry. After all, he was a pillar of the community and that’s what folks would be expecting him to do. And what would be come of him? Would he forever be relegated to being “Uncle Jess?”
‘And while we’re at it,’ he thought. ‘What about sex?’ Giggling young females had their place but you’d have to marry them first to get beyond the blushing and cooing stage and he had yet to meet one of those who didn’t scare the very bejesus out of him. The saloon girls were great – they accounted for a number of his most valued friendships but fond of him as they were, he knew that sex for them was more a job and a performance than anything else. He carried no false illusions about his prowess in bed. Yes, he decided, the company of a good woman both physical and otherwise would be a welcomed thing in his life. And once again, the little voice started whispering frantically and once again he ignored it.
The wind moaned softly through the tall trees and for a moment he thought he heard Thad’s laughter, gentle and friendly. Not mocking but almost congratulating him on coming to such a fine conclusion. ‘Yeah, Thad,’ he thought. ‘Easy for you to say.’
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