Hoping to Fill her Heart’s Void – Extended Epilogue

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It was amazing, thought Christina on a contented sigh, how so many changes in a life could happen so quickly, in a space of time which seemed almost overnight. 

Today, more than three years following the dramatic events which had led to her present circumstances, she was a wife, a mother, and part of a boisterous, loving extended family.

“Well, now there’s a rare sight—my gal actually sittin’ still for a mite, insteada rushin’ hither and yon like a crazy woman.” 

The amused voice was filled with tenderness as Tyler came loping up the front porch stairs to join her. In the heat of this deep August afternoon, three months into her pregnancy, she was finding that tiredness had become the norm, and it was a pleasant end of the day to loll in the wide swing with a glass of lemonade and wait until her husband came home for supper.

She lifted her face for his kiss and his caress, gestures which always lifted her spirit and left her wanting more. Was it possible this honeymoon stage might last through all the days of their marriage?

“Jesse still sleepin’?” he next inquired.

Their two-year-old toddler was, according to his father, the spittin’ image of Christina. Stubborn, determined, and independent as all get out, he might have been his mother in miniature. He’d already crawled and climbed from his crib so many times that his parents had given up on convention and allowed him to nap atop several blankets on his bedroom floor. With Red keeping careful guard, of course.

“He went down late, just didn’t want to give up. But I expect he’ll be wide awake and yowlin’ shortly. He has your vocal range.” 

Grinning, she brushed the back of her hand down his cheek, across his throat, and into the open vee of his shirt. Having been given permission long ago, by her vows to love, honor, and obey, she took such liberties whenever possible. As did he, in turn.

Such as now, when he turned toward her for another deep kiss and a gentle cup of her breast, firm and weighty with the addition of another child on the way.

“You taste like lemons,” he teased upon releasing her, only to slip one arm around her shoulders. 

“And you taste like cigar smoke. You been hittin’ them raunchy stogies again?”

Tyler tossed aside his hat and leaned back to give the swing an easy push with one foot. “You prefer the taste of island rum? Truth is, darlin’, Shane and I did a mite of celebratin’ after we left the jail. Seems Lily told him the news that she’s expectin’, and he is plumb over the moon about it.”

Sucking in a delighted breath, Christina gazed at him with eyes full of joy. “Oh, Ty, that’s wonderful. She has been keepin’ her fingers crossed for so long….”

“Well, for the Lord’s sake, when you see her, don’t let on I already toldja. For sure, she’ll wanna give you the word herself.”

As Tyler had predicted, during that excruciating long-ago night, the next day was a busy one, fraught with travel, difficult details, and inconvenience every step of the way. Passengers Lily and Christina had shared coach space with the ailing Tyler, who had complained loudly about the unmanly treatment until Christina shut him up with a good dose of laudanum. After that, he had dozed peacefully for a good part of the return trip to Coyote Wells.

Deputy Bruno Riley worked for the town, under the supervision of Sheriff Ray Golden. But he was not part of the outlaw ring, nor was he privy to any of the financial deals Golden had set in motion. Bringing in the local magistrate to handle this whole messy affair meant that Golden was immediately put behind bars, along with the three surviving cohorts of his gang. The bodies of the remaining three were carried off to the undertaker’s for a hasty burial.

Ray Golden, the golden-haired wonder, with the world at his fingertips. Christina couldn’t help wondering, as she exited the jail in which the former sheriff had been entombed, whether his monstrous ego believed he could really escape punishment from here on. And what about his dream lady, Sonnet Lundgren—would she still consider marriage to one whose star had crashed from the sky and burned up at entering the stratosphere? Doubtful. It would be no surprise if Miss Lundgren and her fabulously wealthy parents beat a hasty departure from this tinhorn town.

The Levington group had lingered in town for several days to recuperate.

Tyler had been sequestered with Dr. Paulson for some time, while Christina waited nervously in an outer room not conducive to patience. An occasional grunt of pain or muttered curse escaped from behind the closed door, but eventually, the sheriff had emerged, looking much the worse for wear, into Christina’s devoted care. 

“How are you, Ty?” Surveying his bewhiskered face, bandaged head and shoulder, and weakened gait, she couldn’t wait to get him into the comfort of his hotel room’s clean cotton sheets and quiet surroundings. “You don’t look so good,”

“Thanks. Feel like I been drug forward and backward through a knothole, so my handsome mug might as well show the effects.”

She gave a subdued giggle of relief. If he could joke about his travails, he must be on the mend.

With hardly any urging at all, he slept away the rest of that day and through the night. By the next morning, when she appeared, with Red at her heels, to invite him for breakfast, he was ready to visit a bathhouse for a leisurely soak and a much-needed shave.

“And where is Shane, I’d like t’ know? Off playin’ hooky whilst I’m laid up, I s’pose,” he sniffed.

“If by that you mean his spendin’ time with his betrothed, why, I’d—”

“Betrothed?” Over the dining room table, after sawing one-handed into a nice thick slice of beef and somewhat petulantly refusing her offers of help, he clumsily dropped his knife. “When did that happen?”

Her big blue eyes were sparkling with mischief and amusement. “Just about the first time they met, I’m thinkin’. But he made it official yesterday afternoon.”

“Yeah? How’s that?”

She was studiously applying herself to a bowl of creamy oatmeal drizzled with molasses. “Bought her a nice ring at the local jewelry store. An opal, I think he said, flashin’ all the colors of the rainbow.”

Tyler looked outraged. “But that’s what I was gonna do!” he squawked. “The jewelry store. A ring. An opal.”

“Well, that’s all right,” she comfortably assured him. “I don’t need a ring to know that—well, that you and me, we’re—well….”

“Tight,” whispered Tyler, stretching his good hand over to cover hers. “We’re tight. Did I happen to tell you, up there in the hills when I didn’t know much of what I was sayin’, how much I love you?”

“Why, yes, I do believe you did mention that fact once or twice. Too tired to kiss me,” she murmured, twinkling, “but you were able to tell me again and again that I was the only gal for you, and that you cared for me more’n the stars above…mush like that.” She grinned, then sobered as her twinkle added the brilliance of tears. “Sweetest things I’ve ever heard, Ty, bar none.”

Embarrassed, he harrumphed once or twice before proclaiming that she deserved to hear such mush every day of her life, and he hoped to do just that. Meanwhile, after he’d had a chance to clean up and look human again, they were going ring shopping, as well.

“Oh, my goodness gracious,” she said, playing the demure southern belle to perfection, “be still, my heart. You got any money left, after footin’ the bill for this crew for so long?”

He simply sent her a look that spoke volumes. “Reckon I can afford it. Rest easy, Sallie Ward. You got nothin’ to fear.” Then, giving up on the sloppy attempt to manage his own cutlery, he slipped the plate with leftover beef under the table for Red’s benefit.

Later, having gotten his wish for the bathhouse visit, he emerged clean-shaven and sparkling. A second visit was made to the telegraph office, where both could contact friends and relatives with their most recent updates. After that came their visit to Parrot’s Gem Shop, where, pressed by her betrothed, she chose a very simple gold band set in the middle with an inexpensive garnet, which he immediately changed to a large blue sapphire surrounded by diamond chips.

“You’re goin’ back to Levington as my future wife,” he told her, adjusting his cumbersome bandaged arm in order to kiss her. “I intend to show off both you and that betrothal ring.”

Eventually, touring the town, the couple and their dog bumped into Shane and Lily, also touring the town, and they made their way to the Buttonhole Café for supper. There, the ladies admired each other’s new pieces of jewelry, and Shane announced that he’d had the pleasure of meeting Lily’s family.

“Yeah? How’d that go?” Tyler asked curiously.

Shane gave him an eye roll. “You know that Lily had decided to strike out on her own, b’fore I entered the picture. How d’ you think it went?”

Even there, spending so much time in his company, Christina raised the occasional doubt as to whether Tyler was positive, really positive, that he wanted to take this step into marriage.

“I don’t want you to think, years down the road, that you mighta made a mistake.”

He had staked out possession of the only bench in the small green park added by city fathers for ambiance, and the two were enjoying the cooler air of Coyote Wells after sunset. Twilight had brought a lessening of flying insects, and a heightening of saloon music, and kerosene lanterns lit to keep the darkness at bay.

“My only mistake,” said Tyler between his teeth, “was not kickin’ Ray Golden’s teeth down his throat b’fore he was given over to official custody.”

Christina’s snuggle under his unbandaged arm might be considered a bit too risqué for public viewing, but enough shadows had lengthened across the square that few details could be observed. Besides, when had she ever cared to follow social mores?

“What does Ray have to do with it?”

He squared slightly about in order to meet her tentative, uplifted gaze. “B’cause, my little partner-to-be, you let that flapdoodlin’ rooster’s noise get into your head. He ain’t worth a single thought, Kit. The man is shut up in the calaboose, where he can’t bring harm to nobody. So, when we leave for Levington, you gotta promise me you’ll leave him b’hind, too.”

The Wesley brothers’ horses had been put into the care of the livery, pending disposition as spoils of war. Both lawman, and their companions, had given depositions to various officials—a somewhat tedious experience in itself, and one which the ladies were most relieved to finish. They might be required to return to testify in court, once trial dates had been set, or they might not. 

The three volunteer deputies, Hampton, Padre, and Zeke, had provided their own statements. Afterward, they had shaken hands with Tyler and Shane, and there was a sharing of gratitude and good wishes all around.

 Whatever happened, the worst was over.

The quartet had been happy to say farewell to the residents of Coyote Wells and be on their way, with Shane and Red driving the team, Lily and Christina comfortably ensconced inside the coach, and Tyler doggedly attempting to shove one boot into the stirrup of his big buckskin, missing, and finally managing to climb aboard. Patient Donderella and Storm the stallion, their reins loosely tied to the Overland’s rear boot, trailed along behind.

This was an easy journey to the north and slightly east, over well-worn roads, through much-traveled territory, all broken by the small towns here and there. Occasional stops provided the humans and the dog with hot coffee and a meal at restaurants and plenty of grass and watering holes for the horses.

That seemed to be the calm before the storm.

The party returned to a hoopla celebration at Levington’s Town Hall.

Word of the two lawmen’s accomplishments in capturing the whole deadly Wesley Brothers gang had quickly spread (thanks to Oliver’s proud announcement to anyone who would listen); and, once again settled in their customary digs, the returning heroes were feted at a raucous, rough and rowdy jamboree. A small band was featured, as were balloons and streamers, tables loaded with all sorts of dishes, casseroles, baked goods, and the like. 

Levington was just as proud of their own, and the town council intended to show it.

It was here that Christina had met her future in-laws.

At least she had had a chance to bathe, shampoo, and dress herself accordingly. Lily, ever ready to help a friend going under the gauntlet of possible disapproval, was happy to help out. The girls were settled in a hotel room, and making the most of washing away the dust and grit of the road, when Tyler arrived with the announcement.

Christina was armed with a whole battering ram full of courage. But at the necessity of being introduced to Tyler’s nearest and dearest, she shrank. She paled. She protested.

“Sweetheart, you knew it had to come eventually,” he reminded her. “Or did you plan on livin’ here with me like a hermit, never havin’ to see nobody?”

“They’ll hate me,” she muttered, swishing away in a pretty royal blue printed skirt (to match her ring, she said) to the window.

“They’ll do no such thing. I already toldja, they’re gonna love you. Just—uh—gussy yourself up a mite—” He began that hesitantly before floundering to a stop. “Lil, maybe you can help her—”

Lily quirked a brow. She herself might have stepped fresh out of a ladies’ top fashion shop, in a lovely copper-colored gown that bared her shoulders and whittled her waist to nothing. “Help her become something she isn’t?” she asked crisply.

“What? No! Thunderation. Help her show off the person she is,” Tyler firmly replied. “The gal I’m gonna marry in about two days’ time.”

Christina grabbed a hiccupping breath. “Two—two days—? We can’t possibly—”

“No, darlin’, we can’t. But once you meet my mama, you’ll be loaded onto the weddin’ train, and its only speed is top. We’ll just haveta rein her in, I reckon.”

Which was exactly what he breathed into her ear, as a repetition meant to stiffen her spine, when he stood beside her several hours later as the boisterous family swarmed around her.

As promised, Ruth Young had instantly taken her future daughter-in-law to her heart. As expected, she commented that the girl was far too thin and needed to be fattened up. As hoped, she admired the ring and insisted her son had inherited her own excellent taste.

In the midst of all the hubbub between children and grandchildren, husband and friends, she also was introduced to Lily Sanders. Shrewdly understanding that there was much to both women’s backgrounds that she wanted to know, Ruth took the pair aside for a little female chit-chat. It wasn’t long before she invited them to the ranch to stay while wedding arrangements were made.

Christina had grinned. Just as Tyler had prophesized. However, the whole thing sounded so wonderful, such a change from her hard-scrabbled existence, that she acquiesced immediately, as did Lily.

Thus are the mighty fallen.

Looking back now on that initial presentation to the town as a valuable, viable citizen and to the Young family as a soon-to-be member, she felt a renewal of the warmth which had greeted and overwhelmed her then. Smiling a little maternal smile, she gently touched the tiny mound of her pregnancy which barely showed yet around her middle.

“What, honey?” Tyler had noticed. 

He was a very noticing sort of man. Usually, she found that to be enormously comforting; infrequently, such as when she was planning a birthday surprise or when she preferred to keep any illness from him so he wouldn’t worry, she found it to be a nuisance.

“Just wonderin’. Your mama is gonna be so pleased to have another grandbaby to spoil.”

Tyler hooted. “Yeah, like she don’t have enough already.”

Three plus years had seen Helen and Joshua add a boy to their growing twins; Veronica and Colin married, established in town with one on the way; and Marcus and Leroy not yet ready to strike out on their own but perfectly happy running the ranch with their father; and Evie reading every book she could borrow from the town library.

With Shane and Lily adopted into the clan and their own good news soon to share, it seemed that all was well and about to be made more so.

Tyler’s house, at the end of Bow Street, had been added to, expanded, repaired, and maintained within an inch of its life. Christina loved the place, with its big shady trees and its aromatic flower and herb gardens. This now had become the center of her existence.

Her beautiful team of Appaloosas, their days of stage-pulling no more, had been retired to graze happily out at the ranch. Once she handed the reins of her Overland to Jack, for good, he purchased the horses he needed, set up the runs as in the past, and hired a young man named Nick Wilson to ride shotgun with him. 

“No point in lettin’ a good business fall apart,” Jack had agreed, once the transfer of deed had been signed and he had gotten situated in her former office. “Thankee, gal. You got an awful fine heart, and I’ll keep this here line a-goin’.”

After that, enthusiastic hugs were in order to complement the signatures, and the deal was done.

Since then, on rare occasions, the urge had come over her to steal a ride in the conveyance, just for a taste of the old life. But she was a mother now, with a toddler here and another babe coming in six months. She had to be responsible. So, when thoughts of the Overland came over her, she visited the ranch and her beautiful team to dispense apples and hugs right and left.

Many times, during the years since her marriage, she had visited her father’s gravesite at the cemetery. She had told him, with words and with flowers, how much she loved him. How much she missed him. And that, at least, the man who had run him off the road that terrible night an eon ago had been charged, judged, and hanged by a noose until dead.

She snuggled her head into the crook of Tyler’s shoulder. The wound had healed, gradually but mostly completely and had left no repercussions, other than a small dull ache once in a while during damp or snowy weather. Such was the price one paid for doing one’s duty.

“Happiness is ups and downs,” she told her husband with authority. “But it’s all inside yourself, ain’t it? It’s how you deal with the sadness and the gladness that keeps you goin’.”

“Well, darlin’, how’dja come by that piece of wisdom?”

“Life,” Christina said. “Life. And the Overland stage.”

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