Author's Note: In this AU, Lou had married Jimmy; Kid had married Samantha. Inspired by the novel Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. The graphic is based on "Lady AGnew of Lochnaugh" by John Singer Sarge on "Lady Agnew of Lochnaugh" by John Singer Sargent

1874 MARCH 15 6 11 PM
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA
MR MRS J BUTLER
SAMANTHA DIED CHILDBIRTH THIS AM
BABY ILL
FUNERAL MARCH 19 PLEASE COME
= KID

April 15, 1874

Dear Jimmy and Lou,

Thank you again for coming all the way to Washington for Samantha's funeral. I know it was a long trip for you and I can never thank you enough. Your friendship and sympathy has been a godsend, especially at this terrible time. Little James is much better, thankfully, and he sends his regards as do your other niece and nephew. Here's hoping our next reunion is for happier reasons.

Yours truly,

Kid

1875 AUGUST 2 5 04 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MR KID EDGARS =
JIMMY DIED STROKE TODAY
FUNERAL SATURDAY
PLEASE COME
= LOU

1875 AUGUST 3 9 05 AM
MRS LOUISE BUTLER
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA =
WILL BE THERE ON NEXT TRAIN
= KID

September 2, 1875

Dear Lou,

Just a note to let you know I'm safely back home. Seems as if the children have grown bigger while I was away, especially little James. I know how badly you are feeling right now. I've been there myself, and I wanted you to know that you have a friend thinking of you even if it is a continent away. I know your friendship was a help to me when I lost Samantha - - even across the miles. Write me and let me know how you and the children are doing, and if there is anything I can do to help, you only have to say the word.

Yours truly,

Kid

~ * ~ * ~

September 14, 1875

Dear Kid,

Thanks again for coming out to Jimmy's funeral. Seeing you and the others from our riding days was a great comfort. So many memories! Remember the time that we investigated Marshal Lambert? And the time we all caught the camel? So much has happened since then. I've got something to tell you, I haven't told anyone, not even Theresa or my brother or the children, not yet. I am sure I'm carrying Jimmy's baby. It breaks my heart to think he won't see his last child, and frightens me to think of raising this child and the others alone. But at the same time, the thought of welcoming Jimmy's gift to me in the spring keeps me moving forward. I hope to hear from you too, about how you are doing . . .

~ * ~ * ~

September 21, 1875

Dear Lou,

I remember our adventure with Lambert, all right. Especially that little dress you wore! I guess an old friend can confess now that it gave me a lot of ideas when I was a young fella. That seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it. I guess it is a lifetime - Martha's and Caleb's and James' lives. Seems impossible that they were ever not part of my life, and I'm sure you feel the same about Norah and Will, and the little one you're carrying now. I was so happy for you when I read your letter. I know having little James was what kept me going when Samantha died, along with our older children . . .

~ * ~ * ~

1876 MARCH 7 3 12 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MR KID EDGARS =
SURPRISE ARRIVAL YESTERDAY - TWIN GIRLS
EMMA & RACHEL BUTLER
= LOU

~ * ~ * ~

1876 MARCH 8 5 04 PM
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA =
MRS LOUISE BUTLER
CONGRATULATIONS, LOU AND BEST WISHES TO YOUR FAMILY
= KID

~ * ~ * ~

April 17, 1876

Dear Lou,

Having a problem with Caleb and Martha, thought you might have some ideas. They seem to blame little James for their mother's death . . .

~ * ~ * ~

October 9, 1876

Dear Kid,

I read that book you recommended in last week's letter, and . . .

~ * ~ * ~

February 14, 1877

Dear Lou,

Happy Valentine's Day, Louise! I know sometimes this time of year can be lonely for us widowed folks. Wanted to let you know there's an old beau of yours out here thinking of you , and remembering our old times together fondly . . .

~ * ~ * ~

December 25, 1877

Dear Kid,

Well, it's another Christmas come and gone. The children have torn open their gifts, including the generous gifts from their Uncle Kid. Thank you so much, Kid, for what you sent them and for the gift addressed to me. Christmas is for children, I know, but it was nice to have a present to open this morning too. You remembered after all this time - the cameo on the long chain I always hankered for. I hope you enjoyed the gifts from us as much as we did yours. I'm off to visit Theresa, so I haven't time to write as much as usual, but wanted to be sure to find time to wish you a Merry Christmas . . .

~ * ~ * ~

June 15, 1878

Dear Lou,

I have some exciting news this week. Something I've been working on for a few weeks, but haven't mentioned in my letters since I wanted to be sure it would happen before I said anything. I'm moving West, to Eureka to be exact. A business opportunity presented itself that made it possible to move the children and Samantha's mother - for I could never leave her behind after all the help she's been to me with the children, who adore her - out with me for good.

But I have to confess something to you. I wouldn't take the opportunity if not for where it's located - or more precisely near whom it's located. Lou, I know this may seem crazy. But our weekly letters started out as a lifeline to an old friend, but over the last year have been more, much more, for me. I never thought it was possible to fall in love by correspondence, though I saw it happen enough during the war. But that's what happened. I suppose it helped that I loved you once before, years ago - maybe that gave me a head start as it were. But just the same, I find I can't live this far away from you any longer.

I know there's been no declarations between us. I dread writing something that will damage what we already share, but then again I know all too well how short life is. You deserve to know that someone loves you with all his heart and soul. Enough that I'll understand if you don't feel the same, and don't want me to come. If that's so, then you can say so, and I will stay here and write to you just the same every week, never fear. But I have a hope that is born from what I think, I hope, I've read between the lines of your letters. I sign this

With all my love,

Kid

~ * ~ * ~

1878 JUNE 1
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MR KID EDGARS =
PLEASE COME
= LOU

Chapter One

The man sitting at the desk wore a well-cut suit, and at thirty-three his sandy hair was now dusted with silver at the temples; but there was a vitality and straightforward strength about him, both physically and mentally, that his years in business and politics had not yet diminished. He seldom sat still, and when not working, could usually be found playing with his three lively children or riding horseback, but it was evening now, the children were asleep and he was engrossed in reading a precious missive from across the country when a soft tap came at his study door. A woman, only about fifteen years older than the man at the desk, but white-haired and older looking from a lifetime of grief and disappointments, opened the door slightly.

"You wanted to see me, Kid?" Martha Edgars asked softly, standing in the doorway of her son-in-law's study. He looked up from the long letter he was reading with a half-smile still on his lips.

Folding up the letter and placing it carefully in an envelope, Kid nodded. "That I did, ma'am. Come in and make yourself comfortable."

Martha seated herself, her back ramrod straight, on a chair opposite Kid's desk.

"I have some news. I've got an opportunity to start a business out West, in California, and I've decided to take it."

Martha stared at him, her face immobile.

"Yes," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm going to be moving to Eureka in a couple months, and of course you're welcome to come with me and the children if you'd like to."

The face opposite remained stone-like.

"Well, that's all the news," he said hesitantly. "So would you like to come with us?"

"Where will we be livin'?"

"That's not quite decided yet," he answered. "I'll be going ahead to make arrangements, and if you'd like to come out, you and the children would follow on the train once I've settled in."

She studied him coldly and silently a moment, then spoke finally. "Eureka's where that Louise woman lives, ain't it?"

Kid looked at his hands a moment. "Near there, yes."

"Her husband's dead now."

"Yes, Martha, he is."

Martha's eyes seemed to drill through him, but her voice remained low and even. "So you're goin' to be livin' near an old lady friend who's been widowed."

"If you're asking if there's something between me and Louise, Martha, then the answer is yes. Just what it is, I won't know until I get there and we explore it. Being the children's grandmother, you have a right to know I hope it will lead to marriage in the not too distant future. But that's up to her."

The woman stared expressionlessly at him.

"You know I promised Samantha before she died that you'd always have a home with me. That won't change, even if I remarry."

"I reckon your new wife may have something else to say about that."

"I know Lou better than that," Kid reassured her. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves now. Lou and I haven't even seen each other since Jimmy's funeral almost three years ago, so there's no sense counting chickens before they're hatched. Like I said, I'm heading out there to see her and to find a place to live, and I'll send back for the children and you when things are settled."

Martha rose without a word and walked rigidly from the study, slamming the door so hard behind herself that the pictures rattled.

Kid shivered a little. His mother-in-law had changed after his wife's death, gotten more and more somber and wrapped up in the children with every day that went by. She spent all her time when the children were at school or asleep poring over pictures and mementos of her beautiful lost daughter. Kid had secretly hoped that she would refuse to move West, though he knew well enough that she had no life other than his children and that it wasn't likely she would elect to remain behind. But she was a harmless old soul, he thought, and devoted to her little grandchildren. The change would be hard enough on the three of them, it would be a help to have their grandmother along for stability.

He sighed and turned back to his letter, removing it from the envelope and unfolding the treasured letter where Lou had declared her love for him anew after all these years. In a few moments his mind and heart were focused only on Louise, and Martha's cold strangeness was forgotten.

Chapter Two

Not bothering to knock, pretty Theresa Richards stepped through the front doorway of her sister's house, humming to herself. She passed by the parlor and then doubled back, staring in amused surprise at her older sister. Louise was staring intently at herself in the mirror, smoothing her shiny, still-dark hair with shaky hands.

"Louise?"

Lou jerked her head, startled, toward the parlor's open door.

"What'cha doing?" Theresa asked slyly, leaning up against the door.

"Nothing. Nothing, just checking my hair, is all," Louise answered, returning her gaze to the mirror and adjusting her collar nervously.

"Checking your hair?" Theresa laughed. "What on earth for?"

Lou glared at her sister sullenly.

"It's not because Uncle Kid is coming, is it?" Theresa chuckled when her sister turned bright red. "It is?"

"Never mind, Theresa."

Theresa couldn't resist. "So you're fussing over your hair, and -" she paused, taking in Lou's pretty white lace blouse and black silk skirt, "dressed up in your best, for Uncle Kid?"

"That'll do, young lady."

"Is this why you asked me to take the children to visit me and Joe and the kids for the week? To get them out of the way while you do some courtin'?" Theresa teased.

Lou looked downcast for a moment, staring at herself in the mirror. "I guess I look like quite a sight," she mumbled. "An old widow woman with four children making a fool of herself."

Theresa repented her teasing and threw her arms around Lou. "I'm sorry, Lou. And you look lovely, don't worry." She looked keenly at her blushing sister. "You want him to think so, don't you?"

"Yes," Lou admitted.

"I thought so. You two have been pretty busy correspondents since you both were widowed. And you do have a past together."

Lou shook her head. "That was a lifetime ago, Theresa. There wasn't anything between us since I took up with Jimmy and Kid fell for Samantha up until . . ." She paused. "After we lost them, and he started writing me those long letters . . ." She smiled a faraway smile. "Those letters would make any woman fall in love," she finished softly, thinking of the last one in particular, when Kid had sworn his undying love to her and hinted strongly at marriage. "But I don't know how I'll feel once we see each other," she worried. She turned to the mirror again, and stood sideways, surveying her figure critically in the pier glass. "I've had twins since the last time I saw him," she worried. "I'm not eighteen anymore like I was the last time we . . . well, I'm not eighteen anymore."

"No, and neither is he," Theresa pointed out sensibly.

"It's different for men. They don't carry the children and get all stretched out of shape, for one thing, and when they get old everybody says they look distinguished."

Theresa rolled her eyes impatiently; Louise's figure was still tiny, though a little bit shapelier than before bearing twins, and she looked a good five years younger than her true age. "If it helps, I think you look distinguished," merciless Theresa deadpanned.

Lou dropped her hands to her sides and glared a moment at Theresa before finally giving in and chuckling. "Thanks for agreeing to take the kids for this week, Theresa. They've been looking forward to it."

"Of course. Far be it from me to stand in the way of true love."

Theresa hugged her sister with a mischievous giggle as the children came down the stairs. After they hugged their mother goodbye and left the room with their aunt, Lou turned her back on the mirror resolutely. She went to the window seat, and sat watching as Theresa loaded the children onto the buckboard. Norah and Will, seven and ten, and the little two-year-old twin girls were happy to go on a trip, even just to Aunt Theresa's house not far away, and clambered up chattering excitedly. Lou smiled to herself. They were all so much like Jimmy, she reflected, looking fondly at the framed wedding picture on the table beside her. She waved goodbye to her family pulling away in the wagon, and after they were gone, sat nervously drumming on the window pane. After a few minutes, she checked the parlor clock and sighed with impatience. Half an hour before he was due to arrive. With a growl of frustration she threw her pale blue silk shawl around her shoulders and marched out the door, down the road she knew he would have to take to reach the house. She was done waiting, she determined as she set off.

Chapter Three

The horse's hooves echoed along the silent forest trail, taking a way he'd traveled before, but under very different circumstances. Kid had become used to the hectic bustle of Washington life; and even through his excited anticipation at seeing Lou again, he couldn't help appreciating the peace and dignity in the majestic, ancient forest. Glancing upwards at the towering treetops three hundred feet in the air, he marveled at what Lou had once written, that the trees could live as long as two thousand years. He knew Lou and Jimmy had settled here as newlyweds to get away from so-called 'civilization' and the past that had hounded his best friend even at such a young age. While Kid had no enemies waiting to gun him down that he knew of, he had to admit he had his fill of city life, and looked forward to the changes ahead.

As he rounded a bend in the trail, he spotted the change in his life he looked forward to most of all. A slender brown-eyed woman was perched, clearly waiting for him, on a rock beside the narrow road; her natural, unforced beauty matching that of her surroundings. Lou's face lit up as she spotted him, and she slid down quickly even as he pulled up on the reins and jumped down from the buckboard. He'd worried a little that the first meeting since they'd fallen in love over again, from three thousand miles apart, would be strange, awkward, but as they rushed to each other's arms, that worry vanished into the mists that rose up from the forest floor.

Time stood still under the giant trees as they desperately clung to each other. He pressed her to him fully, his arms enveloping her, not quite believing that the phantom love of the last few years was now with him in the flesh, real and present. It was as if she might vanish again if he let her go, he felt, but after a few minutes, he leaned back enough to look into her eyes, bright with tears but as beautiful as he remembered in his dreams. "Well, hello, stranger," she laughed tremulously. The smile trembled as she finished, softly, "I love you."

"I love you too, Lou," he murmured. A long silky lock of hair, the very color of the red-brown trees that stood around them, had dropped alongside her face from where it had been pinned, and he touched it wonderingly, running it through his fingers gently, before meeting her eyes again. "You're real, this is real, us together," he observed shakily, half afraid that he would wake up as if from a dream. She nodded, biting her lip and looking upwards at him. He laid a hand along her face and brought his forehead to hers, as they swayed together a moment. So familiar, in one way, in the arms of his first real love, but so different too after all that had passed and changed since then; but it was right and this time they were both ready, he knew, as he bent to capture her mouth with his.

Chapter Four

Lou felt her knees growing weak as Kid kissed her, felt like she had traveled back in time, back into the Express days sharing her very first kiss with him. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, wishing the moment would never end; but too soon, he pulled back and looked into her face with eyes as blue and clear as she remembered, even if the face looked a little older now.

"Should we head back to your place now?" he asked. When she nodded, still a little breathless, he started to offer her a hand up onto the buggy seat, but smiled when she beat him to it, springing up lightly as ever into her seat. Left standing with his hand stretched out, he wryly ran it through his hair as he went around the other side to climb in after her. I might have known she wouldn't need help, he thought, amused, as he settled down next to her and, emboldened by their passionate reunion, slipped one arm around her waist.

Lou rested her head contentedly on Kid's shoulder, as he gathered the reins in his free hand and slapped them gently on the horse's back to urge him forward.

"The children are away visiting for the week with Theresa and her family," Lou said, blushing and ducking her head to look down at her hands.

Kid looked sideways at her with a smile. "You mean I'm actually lucky enough to have you all to myself for a whole week?"

"Mmm hmm," Lou said demurely.

Kid let the reins go slack on the horse's back as he leaned in and kissed her mouth again; and her hands crept up around his face as the buckboard rolled forward through the trees unchecked. "I've missed you," he explained breathlessly, and hurriedly corrected the horse's path. "I guess that sounds funny, huh?"

"No, I know what you meant," Lou reassured him. "I feel the same." They clasped hands and smiled happily at each other, as the buckboard pulled up in front of Lou's home. It was a rambling white house in the popular style that was all the rage in the County, with gables and turrets and dark green gingerbread trim on the wraparound porch. "Since you were here last I've done a lot in the garden," she said. "Care to take a walk?"

"Sure," Kid nodded, tying the horse to the hitching post before the house. Lou held her hand out to Kid and he took it, following her to the garden beside the house. They wound their way down the garden path, with colorful blooms on all sides, surrounded by a border of redwood trees. As they walked, they talked as easily as if they had been together for all the last seventeen years; as if they had never lost that fragile first love they had shared and let slip away so long ago. At the back of the garden, under the trunk of a towering redwood, there was a bench carved from redwood set beside a small pond, fringed with elephant-ear ferns. "Teaspoon made this the last time he was here," Lou said softly, running her hand over the smoothly sanded wood. "Not too long before he died, in fact." She sat on the bench, careful to leave plenty of room for him to join her, but he remained standing, with a faraway expression on his face.

"Teaspoon . . . he had more hidden talents than anybody I ever knew," Kid remarked, admiring the handiwork on the bench absentmindedly. Lou nodded silently, gazing at the surface of the water and remembering the man who had been like a father to both of them so many years ago.

Gathering his resolve, suddenly Kid sank onto one knee at her feet, taking her hand in his.

"Lou," he started, clearing his throat. "You already know how I feel about you. I let you slip away from me once, a long time ago, when I should have fought for you." He caressed her hand, softly, and added, "I know, it was meant to be this way. I think we're wiser, richer now because of the roads we've traveled apart in our past. But I hope we'll travel the same road from now on, together." He opened a jewelry box and offered her a brilliantly cut diamond ring, sparkling in the light filtering down from the high treetops. "Will you marry me?"

Lou took his hand in hers and brought it to her lips. "Yes," she whispered hoarsely, tears forming in her eyes again. He leaned forward and kissed her mouth, then picked her up and swung her around joyfully.

"Can we go right now?" he asked eagerly. "You could pack up a few things and we could ride back to Eureka and be married tonight -"

"Kid, wait. I'm not ready to get married today, honey."

At his disappointed look, she smiled and slipped her arms around his neck. "I want to wait until all our children can come. It isn't just us joining together, Kid, it's our families too. They should be there. How soon can you get your little ones here?"

"A week, I expect, and you're right of course. I was just looking forward to the honeymoon," Kid said suggestively. "Once your children come back and mine come out here, it may be a while before we can have a real honeymoon."

"That's so. I guess there's only one solution," Lou said, leading him by the hand back to the house.

She opened the door to the house, and pulled open a closet door near the entryway, revealing a pair of large satchels. "We'll have to have our honeymoon first. Like you said, there's time to get back to Eureka tonight if we hurry."

Kid surveyed the bags with a laugh and shake of his head. "Pretty sure I'd propose, were you?" he asked, picking a satchel up in each hand to carry them back to the buckboard.

"I hoped," she admitted, chuckling. "Wanted to be prepared."

Kid smiled, and stopped on the porch, backing her up against the wall while still holding the bags, and kissed her mouth once again, their eyes drooping shut as the kiss intensified. He dropped the bags on the porch and slid his arms around her as the shadows from the giant pines danced around them.

Chapter Five

1878 AUGUST 5 2 16 PM
NEW YORK CITY, NY
MR WILLIAM F CODY
JOIN US AUGUST 12 NOON
EUREKA CITY HALL
FOR OUR WEDDING
= KID & LOUISE

1878 AUGUST 6 4:02 PM
EUREKA, CA
MR KID EDGARS
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
WOULD NOT MISS IT
= CODY

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

1878 AUGUST 5 2 17 PM
ROCK CREEK, WYOMING
MRS RACHEL HUNTER
JOIN US AUGUST 12 NOON
EUREKA CITY HALL
FOR OUR WEDDING
= KID & LOUISE

1878 AUGUST 6 9 05 AM
EUREKA, CA
MRS LOUISE BUTLER
WILL BE THERE WITH PLEASURE
LOVE TO YOU BOTH
= RACHEL

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

1878 AUGUST 5 2 19 PM
KIOWA AND COMANCHE INDIAN RESERVATION, OKLAHOMA
MR RUNNING BUCK CROSS
JOIN US AUGUST 12 NOON
EUREKA CITY HALL
FOR OUR WEDDING
= KID & LOUISE

1878 AUGUST 6 4 45 PM
EUREKA, CA
MRS LOUISE BUTLER
WHY THE RUSH
IT S ONLY BEEN 17 YEARS
WILL SEE YOU BOTH SOON IN CALIF
= BUCK

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

1878 AUGUST 5 2 16 PM
WASHINGTON, DC
MRS MARTHA EDGARS
LOUISE ACCEPTED MY PROPOSAL
PLEASE BRING CHILDREN ON NEXT TRAIN TO EUREKA
YOU WILL HAVE HOME HERE AS WELL
LET ME TELL THEM THE NEWS
THANK YOU
= KID

Chapter Six

"That's everybody," Lou said after handing the last telegram to the desk clerk at their hotel in Eureka. "It's official now."

"That it is," Kid said. "I couldn't be happier about that." He was examining a train schedule intently. "We have a few days before Martha gets here with the children. I'll be telling them right away once they get here. When do you want to tell Theresa and your brother, and your children?"

"Maybe tomorrow night? We could drive out to their place and make the announcement. I know this is our 'honeymoon,' but I miss them already."

He nodded, slipping an arm around her waist. "Sounds like a plan, then."

Lou slipped her hand into Kid's watch pocket and took out his watch, glancing at it. "Well, it's seven o'clock and we've already had dinner. What would you like to do the rest of tonight and tomorrow?"

She caught her breath slightly as he bent and kissed her softly on the lips in full view of the desk clerk, pulling her close around her waist. He released her and looked around a little sheepishly at the clerk, who was studiously pretending not to notice them. Kid's blushing demeanor reminded her a little more of the shy, proper boy she'd loved years ago. But at the same time, he was no boy anymore, but all man, she knew. Kid drew her toward the staircase and the room they had booked under yet another assumed name, "Mr. and Mrs. McCloud," and whispered his answer. "I'd like to spend it getting to know you over again."

Lou looked at the clock in the hotel room impatiently. He'd said he wanted to go out for something right after bringing her up to the room, and she'd used the time to bathe and change into her peignoir a half hour ago. She wondered if he'd had a change of heart over their impulsive engagement. What would their children, their friends say about their getting engaged within a half hour of seeing each other for the first time after two years? Maybe he changed his mind. Maybe he is on the night train back to Washington. Maybe- -

She turned back to her reading to try to calm her nerves. She'd kept all Kid's love letters in her reticule in a small leather case for some time now. She looked at the last one again, and was somewhat comforted. He would never just leave her here, no matter if he thought better of their quick engagement. Would he?

A tap came at the door, and she sat upright. What if something happened to him, and this was the clerk coming to tell her? She jumped up, pulling her filmy robe around her to open the door a crack.

"It's … it's you?" she laughed, wonderingly. She opened the door wide for him and he stood in the doorway, a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands, staring at her worshipfully.

"You look so beautiful," he managed.

"Thanks, but you'd better come in, I'm not fit to be seen in the hallway and it's a mite cold," she chuckled, drawing him in by the arm. "Did you forget your key?"

"No. I just didn't want to presume," Kid said, uncorking the bottle of wine and laying the cork on the lowboy dresser. Behind him, Lou smiled to herself.

"We're engaged and staying in hotel together as a married couple, Kid. I think you could come in without knocking."

He shook his head. "A gentleman never walks in on a lady unannounced, never mind the circumstances." He handed her a glass of wine. "I'm sorry it took so long to get this," he apologized, untying his tie after she took the glass. "What've you been up to in here?" he glanced over the letters scattered on the bed.

"Reliving some memories," she smiled, drawing his jacket off and laying it over the chair. "Go ahead," she said, gesturing toward the bed.

He picked up one of the letters. "I remember writing this one," he said, settling onto the bed. She curled up next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. He turned and kissed the top of her head tenderly.

She looked up at him and started to speak, then turned suddenly and took a sip of wine.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously, setting his glass down and turning on his side toward her.

"Just that when I got those letters, I used to read them over and over. Felt like I could hear your voice talking to me. Kept me from being so lonely, so sad, at some pretty dark times. I never really thought that anything would ever come from it, but here you are, big as life," she said, handing him her half-empty glass. "I better not have too much more of that, I could never hold my liquor."

He propped himself up on one elbow after setting her glass next to his. "I spent a lot of time reading your letters too," he told her. "Got me through some rough nights."

Their lips touched softly, his hand tracing down from her chin to her neck. "But this is better, a lot better, don't you think?" he whispered into her ear as the hand slipped lower.

"Much," she agreed, drawing his head downward. She felt the wine buzzing in her head pleasantly, and relaxed under his touch, any worries scurrying into the corners of her mind.

Chapter Seven

Martha read the telegram again, as if by reading it a fiftieth time it might change the words written in plain teletype black and white. But it didn't. She flung the paper in the fireplace, her rage growing. Marry, would he? And not just anyone - an old lover, his best friend's leftovers who wouldn't have him seventeen years ago. Now she's a widow, and she's willing enough, I suppose. But how could you, Kid? After being with my Samantha, how could you be with that whey-faced little - -

The woman angrily picked up a small vase and smashed it on the floor. I thought you were different, Kid. I grew to think of you like a son, thought you really loved my Samantha, might even be worthy of her. But you weren't. You're like any other man, now that your wife is dead and gone, you just need a warm body to lie next to, it don't matter who it is. You'll degrade my Samantha's memory, give her children to that woman to be their mother.

The last thought twisted like a knife in Martha's heart. My girl's babies, calling someone else mother? Forgetting that Samantha ever existed, replacing her? Never. Never, while I've breath in my body.

"Grandma, are you all right?" her granddaughter said, worried, from the doorway.

Martha looked up and saw her beautiful Mattie staring frightened at her. "Yes, dumpling," she struggled to answer. "C'mere to Grandma. Caleb!" she called, and Mattie's older brother came running.

"What is it, Grandma?"

"Sit down here next to Grandma, honey."

When they were nestled up on either side of her, Martha started unsteadily. "Your daddy sent me a telegram, wants us to come out there on the next train, lambs."

"Really?" Mattie said delightedly. "I didn't think we'd be goin' out for a few more weeks."

"Somethin's changed, dumplin'. I have somethin' to tell you two, but you know it's got to be our secret for just now. I think y'all have a right to know, you're old enough, but no tellin' daddy when you see him, all right?"

"We never tell your secrets, Grandma," Caleb admonished, indignant.

"I know, lamb. Well, your daddy wanted to be the one to tell you this surprise, so y'all act surprised when y'all hear it."

"Yes, Grandma," Mattie said, confused. Caleb nodded as well.

"Your daddy has decided to have a new wife. Your Aunt Louise is goin' to marry your daddy. We're goin' to live with her and her children in California."

To Martha's dismay, both children seemed pleased at the news.

Mattie exclaimed happily, "She'll be our new mama - - "

"No, Mattie," Martha said harshly, then, at Mattie's frightened look, softened her tone. "No, honey-lamb. She will be your stepmother. But you must never, never, forget your real mama. She was the most beautiful, smartest lady in the world, and no one can ever take her place. You promise Grandma you won't forget that. Because that'd be like you didn't love your mama, understand?"

The two children didn't understand, but they nodded obediently.

"Y'all just keep yourselves to yourselves when we get there. Behave, but don't forget who your mama is. And remember, when Daddy tells you, you act surprised, now."

"Mattie? Caleb?" a small voice called from out in the hallway.

"And don't breathe a word of this to James," Martha hastened to add. "He's much too young to understand any of this. And since your mama died when he was born," she said, venom sneaking into her voice again, "he don't even remember your mama anyways."

Small James appeared at the doorway and looked in, wistfully. Grandma was with his brother and sister, again. He wished he knew how to make her love him like she did them. He bit his nails, tears coming into his eyes as he stood trying to figure out what to do, and as usual his actions annoyed Grandma.

"Don't stand there like a goat at a gate, James! In or out?" she snapped.

His brother and sister looked indignantly and disapprovingly at him, as usual.

"Out," he whined, flinging his picture book at them angrily. Why did she always find fault? Why couldn't she see he was trying? Why couldn't he ever please any of them? He ran crying back to his room and slammed the door until the walls shook, wishing with all his small heart that Daddy would send for them soon, so there would be someone who loved him to be with again.

Chapter Eight

Kid smiled nervously at Lou's four children, as they stared at him intently from where they were lined up on Theresa's sofa. Will, the oldest, was the spitting image of Jimmy, especially when he was scowling, like now. Norah, Lou's oldest girl, was the same age as his Martha, and looked at him a little dubiously. And the twins sat gravely, their eyes and faces serious as if they were forty-two, not two.

"Well, what do you think, everybody?" Lou asked, her voice a little strained and high-pitched. It meant the world to her to have the children accept Kid. She loved him so that it had barely occurred to her to worry that they might not, but their neutral reactions were unnerving her.

"If you're happy, we are, Ma," Will said, slowly. He nudged Norah, who nodded, and quickly smiled as well.

"Sure, Ma, we're happy for both of you."

The twins, seeing that it was the proper thing, grinned widely and chorused their approval as well.

"Where will we all be living, now?" Will asked, uncertainly.

"Kid and his children will be moving in with us. Until we can add on, it might be a little crowded, I'm afraid. I'm going to have to ask you to share a room with Caleb, Will. And Mattie will be in with you, Norah. Is that all right?"

"Fine," Norah said, stifling a sigh. She didn't like the idea of sharing her room with someone she knew only from occasional visits, most of them years ago, but she knew how lonely Ma had been since Daddy died a few months before the twins were born. Ma deserved to be happy, and if she could help with that, she would try to cooperate.

"Wonderful," Lou said. Kid looked relieved, and kissed Lou on the cheek. "Well, if that's settled, why don't I hitch up the wagon and take us all out to dinner someplace nice to get to know each other better?"

"Sounds wonderful," Lou beamed. After the door shut behind Kid, however, Will's face darkened slightly even as his father's used to when he was angry years ago.

"Ma, are you sure about this?"

"Will, Ma knows her own mind. You should just want to see her happy," Norah said, urgently.

"But you haven't even seen him in years. How can you be sure?" he demanded. "And what about …"

"What about what, Will?" Lou asked gently. "Your father?"

"Yes," he whispered. "I don't want another father. I won't call him Pa, I won't do it, even for you, Ma."

Lou bit her lip, and nodded. "I understand that, Will. Your Pa is your father, even though he's gone. That won't change just because I'm remarried. And if you're not ready to call Kid Pa, then that's okay too. Nobody's going to force you to. But we will all be a family, I hope you can accept that."

Will, who'd been devoted to his father and devastated at his death, looked out the window bitterly, and Lou turned his head toward hers.

"Your Aunt Rachel once told me something important, Will. She said that we should always be careful, when we're protecting an old love, that we don't build a wall so high that we keep out a new love." She peered into his eyes. "No one can take your pa's place. I'm not looking to take Samantha's place with her children, either. But there's lots of room in your hearts, if y'all let us in."

Will squirmed a little at this talk of him, a twelve year old boy, lettin' in the love, especially from a man. But he was a good-hearted boy, and wanted his mother to be happy. "I'll try, Ma," he said, embarrassed, as Norah grinned from ear to ear behind their mother's head at his discomfiture.

"Team's ready. Let's all head into town, see some sights and get some dinner, okay?" Kid called from the hallway, and the children filed out behind their mother. Chapter Nine

"Remember what I told you, now," Martha hissed at Caleb and Mattie as they got down from the train steps. "Act surprised when your pa tells you the news."

Little James bounded into his father's arms, joyous at the sight of the one person in his world who never was cross with him, always had a kind word.

"Missed you, Daddy," he said, his little face shining. The older children hugged their father, and Martha nodded to him.

"Well," Kid started when the reunion died down and they were walking toward the hotel, Kid carrying James on one arm. "I have some news for y'all, it's kind of a big deal."

"What is it, Daddy?" James asked.

Lou came out on the front steps of the hotel and smiled cautiously at them. Kid beckoned her over. "Y'all remember Louise, I suppose, well except you, James. "

"Yes, sir," Caleb said dutifully.

"Reckon there's only one way to tell you this news, and that's to come out and say it. Louise has agreed to marry me."

James squealed with delight, and beamed at Louise. But the older children stood silently.

"You two have any questions?" Kid fumbled, disappointed vaguely in their reaction.

"No," Caleb said shortly.

"Well, we'll be living at Louise's house with her children, once we're married. It may be a mite crowded, some room sharing, but -"

"That'll be fine," Mattie said, stiffly.

Lou and Kid looked at each other, deflated by the second limp reception to their good news.

Martha intervened, imperiously. "The children are a little tired, Kid, Louise. It's been a long train ride. I think it's best if they go rest at the hotel a spell."

"Sure," Kid said, hastily.

"We can get together at Theresa's for the wedding tomorrow, then," Lou said softly. It would be hard to go back to her own house and sleep alone in her big bed again, after the last week with Kid in town, but she missed her own children and it had been agreed they would not sleep together under the same roof with any of their children, until they were married.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Kid said, drawing her close for a soft kiss, as Martha's eyes narrowed dangerously behind them.

Chapter Ten

The next afternoon, Lou stepped down the church aisle in a pale yellow silk gown, with yellow roses pinned at the heavy knot of her hair on the nape of her neck, and another cluster of them clasped in her hands. Rachel smiled through tears to see the cameo earrings she had given Lou dangling from her ears at her second wedding. Lou smiled back at her dear friend, and at Sam, Emma, Buck and Cody in the pew beside her.

The vows were quick, in deference to the extreme youth of certain members of the audience. Little Emma and Little Rachel sat excitedly in their namesakes' laps, dressed in soft yellow like their mother, clapping their hands in delight when Kid took their mother's hand before the minister.

Emma glanced over at Martha, sitting up like a ramrod in her seat, with Caleb and Mattie on each side of her. The three looked as if they were at a funeral, not a wedding. Emma nudged Rachel and inclined her head toward them.

Rachel looked at Martha's stiff face, and back at Emma, eyebrows raised. "I don't envy Lou that mother-in-law," she murmured.

"She's Kid's mother-in-law, not Lou's. That's even worse. It's like mother-in-law squared or something," Emma drawled, her voice low.

"More like trouble squared, unless I miss my guess," Rachel commented, before her attention was drawn back to the happy couple, sharing their first kiss, much to little Emma and little Rachel's delight and loud applause.

Chapter Eleven

Lou and Kid smiled happily at one another as their wagon pulled up outside Lou's house. "Our house now," Lou said, snuggling against Kid's arm. "Let's all head in and get settled, shall we?"

"Come along, Mattie, Caleb, James," Martha called to her grandchildren. "Look lively, now. Mrs. Edgars said to get in the house."

Lou flinched slightly at the name, and Kid pressed her arm. "We're all family now," Lou forced herself to say, though Martha's attitude during the wedding and the trip from Eureka made her feel like a hypocrite for continuing to act civilly toward Martha; but, she was part of the family now, for better or for worse. Kid had made a deathbed promise to his first wife to care for her mother and keep her in their children's lives. Samantha had been her friend as well; but even if she hadn't, Lou never would ask Kid to break such a promise, and would have lost respect for him if he shirked his duty to his children's grandmother. She hadn't expected Martha's attitude, however, since on visits before Samantha's death she had always been perfectly pleasant. Lou sighed. "So please, call me Louise."

Kid, annoyed after the long drive with veiled potshots and back-handed compliments all along the way home, irritably added, "Besides, Martha, you know it isn't settled just yet what name we'll all be goin' by." He helped his children's grandmother down from the wagon and lowered the back to let the children scamper down.

"I expect there hasn't been much time to decide what to call yourselves, at that," Martha observed as they mounted the steps. Her voice was calm, even, but her eyes glittered. "What with your children bein' Butlers after their daddy's alias," she sniped at Lou, her voice still quiet and deferential. "And yours bein' named Edgars on account of you never wanted anyone to know your real name," she continued innocently, nodding her head toward Kid, "I can see why y'all wouldn't want to go by Butler or Edgars after this," she said, puckering her brow. "Yes, it is quite a confusin' situation for everybody."

Kid looked apologetically at Lou, who lifted an eyebrow and handed Kid the key to the door. "Let's show everyone their new rooms, all right, sugar bears?" she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Mattie and Caleb looked over at Martha, who widened her eyes imperiously behind Lou and Kid's heads. They nodded, expressionless and silent, but four-year-old James squealed with delight and took Lou's hand eagerly as Lou and Kid let the group upstairs.

"There's room enough for Mattie in Norah's room; and for Caleb in Will's," Lou said, looking for encouragement toward Kid, who nodded. "The twins are still in their nursery," she said, smiling at her own two-year olds.

Norah stepped forward and took Mattie's hand, drawing her into her room. "This is my bed," she said shyly. "But if you'd rather have it, I don't mind switching," she said hastily, turning her head quickly, setting long brown braids flying. Her wide brown eyes looked anxiously into Mattie's impish blue ones. Mattie grinned, pushing back an errant honey-colored curl behind her ear, and started to answer, but caught an ominous look from her grandmother, and stopped short, confused. "No need for that, Norah," Mattie said a bit stiffly, sitting down on the other bed. "This'll do, I'm sure."

Lou smiled encouragingly at her now downcast daughter, as Will nudged Caleb. "I'll show you our room, Cal," he said.

"It's Caleb," the boy muttered back, following his new stepbrother out.

"Well, I'll go down and help Stephen with the luggage, then," Kid mumbled, leaving the room and heading down to the wagon.

Lou's handyman Stephen appeared at the doorway in the awkward silence that followed. "Mrs. Edgars," he addressed Martha. "Here's that package you asked me to bring up."

"Thank you, Stephen," Martha said, smiling a little. "I'm not sure yet where I'll be, but -"

"I'm so sorry, ma'am," Lou said. She opened a door down the hall. "You can have my sister's old room; I think you'll find it comfortable."

Lou opened the door to her sister's room. "Laura aired it out for you," she said brightly, indicating the fresh linens and flowers her housekeeper had arranged in their absence.

"That'll be fine . . . I suppose you won't mind if I put in a few personal items?" Martha asked, gesturing to Stephen, who was carrying a large framed picture covered in canvas. Without waiting for an answer, Martha took down a painting Lou had hung over the fireplace after Theresa had married.

Lou bit her lip; the painting was an original Frederic Church that Cody had sent her and Jimmy as an anniversary present. She looked at it fondly a moment as Martha hung her painting in its place. Just as well, Lou reasoned. She loved this painting so, it would be best to hang it somewhere it could be appreciated by all of them, maybe in the parlor, she reflected.

"This is something my Samantha painted," Martha noted. "She was a wonderful artist."

"I know," Lou started, turning to look at Martha's painting. She blanched when she saw it was a self-portrait, of Samantha in a white silk gown with a lavender sash. She stared at the painting, an amateurish effort of course compared to the great work by Church that Martha had cast aside in its favor … but showing well enough the beauty and vitality that its subject and creator possessed in life.

"Beautiful, isn't it," Martha remarked almost idly. Her eyes met Lou's and for an instant, Lou felt the chill of Martha's cold hatred. It was only a moment, so fleeting that Lou was unsure, but glancing back at the portrait and Martha's triumphant face, she shuddered slightly.

"Yes, of course, Martha. Well, I'll let you get your things in order," she said, turning from the room hurriedly and shutting the door behind her. Standing outside in the hall, she looked down at little James, still standing waiting for his room, a toy wagon clutched in his arms. She set the painting she'd carried fom Martha's room against the wall.

"Well, that leaves just you, James, doesn't it?" Lou smiled, getting down on her knee to speak to the little boy. "I expect you'd like to share with your brother? We can fit another bed in there if we get bunk beds."

James shook his head quietly. "No ma'am."

Lou looked surprised. "Would you rather have the little room next to Grandma?" she ventured.

James looked conflicted, glancing uncertainly at the two rooms' doors. "I . . . I don't know," he mumbled.

"He'll take the small room next to mine," Martha said authoritatively, from behind Lou.

Lou turned and looked back at Martha over her shoulder.

"He's still just a baby," Martha said smoothly. "He needs to be near his Grandma."

"That's fine," Lou answered, looking back and forth between the woman and her grandson, who stood with his eyes fixed on the floor.

Kid bounded up the stairs with several bags. "Here's your bag, little man. Where's it go?"

"In here," Martha pointed to the room next to hers. Lou watched as Martha took James by the hand and led him to his room, with James looking back with a strange, almost frightened look.

Kid dropped a bag inside the room and then started down the hall to the other children's room, but Lou stopped him.

"Kid, is everything okay with James?" Lou asked. At his quizzical look, Lou explained, "Well, he seemed a little upset just now."

"Oh, that's just James," Kid said. "He's a little high-strung and shy, is all. He'll warm up to you, they all will. How could they help it?" he asked, kissing her on the cheek and smiling brightly. He continued down the hallway and Lou looked a final time at James' now-closed door, before following to help with the other children's moving-in.

Chapter Twelve

The first morning the newly assembled family were together in Lou's house, Louise rushed around the dining room table, counting place settings anxiously. Yes, just right, four seats on each side, and one on each end, she calculated. She rang the bell and called upstairs, "Breakfast, everybody!"

She ducked into the kitchen, and Maria the cook smiled broadly at her. "So, I got enough of everythin' for everybody the first day, ma'am, until we figure out everybody's likes."

"That's perfect, Maria," Lou said, relieved. She looked at the enormous trays of a variety of food. "You've outdone yourself, truly." Maria beamed, and Lou picked up a large platter of eggs and a plate stacked high with buttered toast, and backed into the room as the family scampered for their seats. As she set down the platter, she noticed that Martha had installed herself at the foot of the table as if she were the lady of the house, with Caleb at her left and Mattie at her right. Martha started to serve the two children from the platters that were being placed on the table, while James stood by the doorway clutching a large picture book.

Stifling her annoyance at Martha's usurping of the end of the table, Lou turned to James. "Where would you like to sit, honey? Next to your daddy?"

"Can you sit on the other side?" he asked, shyly.

Lou pushed back a lock of his hair. "Sure thing, James." She pulled out a chair for the boy and helped him up into it, since the heavy dining furniture was a bit cumbersome for a small boy. Looking from the corner of her eye, she saw that Martha, Caleb and Mattie were halfway done with breakfast.

"You plannin' on leavin' any for anybody else?" Will muttered at Caleb darkly. "Your pa hasn't even sat down yet."

"Will," Lou said. "That'll do."

"But you always say it isn't polite to start eating till everybody is served," tiny Emma piped up in that way two year olds tend to do at inopportune moments. "I don't have my hot cereal yet."

"Me neither," wailed little Rachel. "Why are you sitting next to James? You always sit next to me," she stormed. "And they took all the red jelly!"

Norah looked pityingly at her harried mother. "I'll get your porridge, peanut," she said to Emma, going to sit between her two sisters.

Kid finally appeared at the door. "So, good morning, everybody," he said brightly. "Everything looks wonderful, Lou."

"She didn't cook it," Mattie observed, smiling at her grandmother, who nodded slightly in approval.

"Okay," Lou said, her teeth gritted. "Everybody have what they need?"

The children stared at her sullenly.

Kid cleared his throat. "Well. Eat up, everybody."

"Yeah, we don't want to be late for school," Caleb said, shoving a piece of toast in his mouth. "It'll take forever to get into town, even if we're riding with you, Dad."

"Well, Caleb, I meant to talk to you about that. There's no way we can enroll you in school in Eureka, it's too far, son."

Will rolled his eyes at Caleb's ignorance, earning him a jab in the side from his mother.

"Where'll I go to school, then?" Caleb asked.

"You won't need to go to school," Kid said, trying to sound cheerful in the face of his son's aghast look. "There's a governess who comes during the week to teach Will and Norah. She'll be teaching you and Mattie too, now."

Caleb jumped up and threw his napkin down. "What? Nobody said anything about us not going to school!"

"I assumed you knew, Caleb, this house is too far from town."

"Well that's just great. We're coming out here to the middle of nowhere, and now you're telling me I won't even get to meet any other kids or go to school?" Caleb bellowed. He was a city boy, used to bustling streets and dozens of other children to play ball or other games with. And as a son of a former schoolteacher, he was a brilliant student, always heading up his class with great pride. "I didn't sign up for jail," he screeched.

"Caleb, watch your tone," Kid warned, and the boy dropped into his chair.

Martha looked reprovingly at Kid. "Kid, this is a lot of change to take in, all at once. Can't you be a little more understanding?"

Kid shook his head, slowly. "Sorry, Caleb, but I won't have that tone of voice in our home." He got up from the table and bent over to kiss Lou on the top of the head. "I'm sorry to eat and run the first day, but I have a client coming in to the office at noon, and business meetings all this week. I'd better get in and meet him. You all behave and we'll discuss everything rationally when I get home, tonight." He kissed his three children on the heads, and waved awkwardly to Lou's children.

As the door shut behind Kid and he could be seen through the window going to his buggy, Martha said quietly to Caleb, "Don't worry, Caleb. Grandma'll talk to your Daddy for you. I understand how hard all this is." Suddenly, she glanced down the table and saw James flipping the pages of a book on his lap. "Now I know I ain't seeing you readin' at the table, young man," she said, her voice rising.

She got up and marched around to the boy. "Hand it over." Lou looked astonished at the woman, but she was inexorable, and James meekly handed the book over. Martha flipped it into the fireplace in the corner on her way back to her seat. "Little boys who don't know when to read books shouldn't have 'em," she said calmly, as James sat with tears in his eyes.

"Martha!" Lou burst out.

"It's the only way that child learns, Louise. You'll find out soon enough."

Lou drew the teary-eyed child to her, and glared at Martha, but resolved to speak with Kid about it when he returned. But she dreaded the day ahead trapped in the house with Martha and the bickering seven children, without Kid to help her.

Chapter Thirteen

Kid poked his head in the doorway at seven o'clock, looking around as he shut it behind him. "Lou? Kids?"

He passed the parlor and saw Lou slumped in a chair in front of the fireplace.

"So how'd it go today, honey?"

At the look she shot him, he subsided. "That bad, huh?"

She shrugged. "Well, they didn't stop fighting all day. Your mother-in-law takes your children's side constantly instead of staying neutral and letting them work it out. Oh, except for James. She didn't get off that child's back all day. I think she's out of her mind, Kid."

He puckered his brow, untying his tie and hanging his jacket over a chair.

"Come on, Kid. You can't tell me you haven't noticed how she treats James, and how she babies your oldest two."

"Maybe a little," he said dubiously. "She's always had to be the one to take care of James, since he was born. And he's always been a handful."

"Are you serious? He's a little doll, eager to please, sweet. Not like those other two," she finished, her voice dropping to a mutter.

"Excuse me? My children are very well behaved, usually. And perfect students. They've had to pick up and move across country, leave all their friends. I'd think you would be a little more understanding."

"I am, Kid. I'm not saying it's their fault. Your mother-in-law is encouraging their attitude toward me. If she wasn't around, I could get through to them in no time." At Kid's look, she said, "I know she's your mother-in-law, and I know you promised Samantha she'd have a home with them. But what if you sent her on a vacation or something for a few weeks?" she pleaded. "Give me a chance to bond with them without her around all the time, glowering at me like a . . . like a ghoul," she shuddered.

Kid shook his head. "I know, Lou, but they've got so many adjustments to make. I hate to take their grandmother away too."

He went and put his arm around her. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, Kid! I just told you," she said.

He sighed, and nodded. "Well, I was hoping she'd make more of an effort," he said sadly. "But your happiness has to come first. I'll ask her to go in the morning, for a month's vacation someplace. That should be enough time, don't you think?"

Lou repented her words when she saw Kid's worried face. "Listen. Forget what I said. I . . . I guess I just wanted to make sure you were going to back me up around here. I know you promised Samantha, and the children do have a big adjustment to make. She can stay, I'll figure out how to win her over."

"If you're sure," Kid said, relieved. "If anybody can win her over, it's you," he said, turning her head up for a kiss.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lou thought better of her generosity with regard to Martha, several times over the next few weeks. While Martha, wary of Louise's influence over Kid, became more subtle in her methods, and never acted inappropriately in front of Kid, she was still a wearying burden to the new stepmother.

Disciplining seven young children, three of them not her own by blood, was difficult enough. But when she sensed that the children's grandmother was undermining her at every turn, it was next to impossible. Yet steadily, she gained Mattie and Caleb's respect, if not their affection.

James fit in beautifully with Lou's children, it turned out. He sat in the twins' room with them, seated on small chairs in front of him, and to Lou's astonishment, read aloud from his simple books as they sat rapt in attention.

"KId, you didn't tell me that James can read," she said the night she made the discovery. Kid frowned. "Come on, Lou, he's only three. He can't read."

"I'm telling you, he can," she insisted. "I saw him reading to the twins today."

"Maybe he was pretending," Kid said. "Martha always told me he wasn't too bright, compared to the other two."

Lou slammed down the hairbrush. "That's it," she seethed, turning around with hands on her hips. "How can you say that? I never see that child without a book glued to his hands. He's taught himself to read, that's how smart he is. And with the way that - - that unfeeling monster treats him," she ranted, "it's a miracle. If she showed him the slightest encouragement -"

"Easy there," Kid said. "I've known Martha for seventeen years, Lou. She was pretty harsh when I married Samantha, but she warmed up to me, eventually. And she doted so on Mattie and Caleb. I don't know how I would have managed the three of them the last three years since Samantha died, without her. I just can't believe that she's lying when she says James, is, well - a handful, that's all."

"He's special. That's what he is," Lou said, her heart breaking for the little boy who'd wormed into her heart in only a few weeks. "And I"m telling you, it's Martha who has the problem."

"I've never seen her mistreat him, Lou," Kid protested. "And why? Why would she mistreat a little boy, her own grandson?"

"I don't know. I just know what I see, and that's a little boy who needs you to stick up for him with that woman."

Kid nodded, his face troubled. "I'll talk to her tonight, Lou. I promise. I had no idea things were like this while I was busy at work," he said regretfully. "Thank you so much for ..." he paused. "For being a mother to him. He needs it."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Martha turned from her box of treasured mementos of her daughter, at the sound of a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Kid, Martha. Can we have a word?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and put the box in her dresser, then opened the door of her room.

"Can I come in?"

Martha gestured toward the small couch in the corner of the room, and Kid moved toward it, jumping slightly in surprise at the portrait of his first wife, nearly lifesize, towering over the room.

"I - - I didn't know you hung that up," he said feebly.

"My Samantha painted it. And this is my room, isn't it?"

"Of course. I'm not here to talk about that, though," he said, sitting at an angle to avoid the sight of the gigantic picture.

"What are you here to talk about?"

"How do you think the children are adjusting, Martha?"

Martha shrugged. "Well as can be expected, I suppose. But it's hard. Louise - - " she paused.

"What about Louise?"

"She favors her own children, Kid. I guess that's to be expected. But it isn't fair to your three children. And to be honest, I get the feeling she doesn't want me around at all, because I'm a reminder of Samantha."

"Really," Kid said.

"I'm afraid so. I hate to say anything, but you did bring it up."

Kid looked at his hands. He hadn't wanted to believe Martha had changed so in her grief, but . . . he knew that Lou was trying mightily with his children, and that she adored James.

"The thing is, I been thinking," he said carefully.

Kid cleared his throat. "Actually, I was thinking it would be good for you to, ah, get a break from all this. You've been working yourself ragged taking care of the children for me since Samantha died, you need a little rest. Why not go visit some of your family back East." He was improvising now, but he was trying to keep Martha from thinking Lou had it in for her. Her next words let him know, he wasn't succeeding.

"She wants me out of the way, doesn't she? This is coming from her."

"Martha -"

"Fine, Kid. I'll go on back East for a spell, if that's what you and Louise want."

He looked relieved.

"I'll leave in two weeks. Surely my presence can be tolerated that long?" she said acidly.

"Martha, please," he pleaded.

She shrugged. "I understand perfectly. It's bad enough for most women to deal with their own mother-in-law. She's had to deal with yours. I don't want to put you or the children in the middle. I'll give you some room to breathe and be back in a month or so."

Kid nodded, "Thanks for understanding, Martha," as he backed out of the room.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lou was relieved, though a little guilty, when Kid told her that Martha had agreed to leave for a vacation. She knew in her heart if she could have the children without her interference for that time, she would be able to make inroads with Mattie and Caleb. But mainly, she wanted to give James some relief from Martha's harsh discipline. When Martha came back, she intended to have a heart-to-heart with her and let her know that she was in charge.

But there were two weeks to get through first, and oddly Martha became more antagonistic than ever toward Lou, who she blamed for her enforced vacation. She sniped nearly constantly, from the moment Kid walked out the door to work, until he came home. Lou gritted her teeth and ignored her, and noticed to her surprise that finally, the older children seemed to realize that Martha was being unfair to her, and to even take her side frequently.

One night, a few days before Martha was scheduled to leave, Lou and Kid checked on the children together and walked, hand in hand, in the darkened hallway toward their room. Tired but happy, Lou whispered, "Today was a wonderful day, Kid. Mattie asked me to show her some horse jumping tricks, and Caleb asked me to quiz him on history. I think they're getting to like me."

"I know they are. They told me so earlier tonight," Kid confided.

"They did?" she said excitedly. "I'm so glad."

"You deserve it, honey. You've really hung in there."

Lou grinned, and leaned against the wall, drawing him close for a kiss. She looked up seductively, murmuring, "You know, I've got just the reward you can give me."

"What's that?"

"You need me to draw you a picture?" they kissed deeply, but he broke away suddenly.

"I'll reward you, but - - but we'd better be careful. It's - - it's not a safe time, is it?"

She shrugged. "So what if it isn't? We're married, aren't we? We have seven kids, I think it doesn't get more married than that."

"But you don't want another baby, do you?"

Hurt, she looked down. "Don't you want me to give you a baby?" she whispered.

"It's not that, Lou, but, well, we have seven children already."

"But I want to have your baby. I thought we'd have at least one together, didn't you?"

He plucked at her sleeve. "We probably should have talked about this. I assumed we were all set for children."

"Why?"

He bit his lip, thinking about James' birth. The agony Samantha had gone through, the long and torturous labor, the uncontrolled bleeding. She'd suffered so.

"I just don't want to take a chance, honey. James was . . . he was so big, and Samantha couldn't handle it, even though she was six inches taller than you. What if our next child were like that? What if something happened to you? I couldn't bear it," he said, softly.

"I've had four children," Lou pointed out. "I never had a bit of trouble."

"Like I said, James was almost eleven pounds, Lou. Your children were all small."

"So I'm not the woman Samantha was."

He stared at her a moment, then said, "I never said that. Samantha died having James, and I couldn't bear it if I lost you. That's all."

She bit her lip and looked off to the side, to see Martha lurking in the shadowy corner of the hallway.

"Excuse me," she blurted. "Do you mind? This is a private conversation."

Martha whirled angrily and slammed her way into her room.

Lou sighed. "I'll go apologize."

"I think that's a bad idea. She's got to give us some damn space," Kid said, annoyed.

"I didn't need to snap at her. I'll go talk to her. Can we discuss this again after she's gone?"

Kid sighed, but nodded. "If you want to, but I really am afraid of this, Lou. You're my whole world, you and the children. Please, let's not push our luck."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"I'm sorry about what just happened in the hallway, Martha. I had no call to snap at you."

Martha sat staring at her stiffly, and finally nodded. "I can understand, you're under a lot of pressure, Louise."

"Yes, but things are getting easier all the time." No thanks to you, she thought.

"I know you didn't want me to hear your conversation. But if you don't mind my saying, I think Kid's right."

"Well, we'll make a note of your opinion." Lou started toward the door, but Martha called out to her.

"You know why he doesn't want you to have his children, without my saying so."

"I'm not having this conversation," Lou said firmly.

"And don't you think you're being selfish, demanding another baby just because you're insecure about my Samantha? You think if you give him a baby too, you'll be closer to him like she was. But if something happens, he'd be stuck with seven children to raise alone. Well, not alone. I'd be here to help like I always am."

Lou pulled the door open, but Martha called one more time.

"Baby or no, you'll never be as important to him as Samantha. She gave him his first child, his first son. You'll never be anything but a poor replacement," she said, losing her temper and lashing out at this woman who dared to take her girl's place.

Lou shook her head silently at the woman's viciousness and left without another word.

Chapter Fourteen An emergency at work required that Kid stay in town for two nights, just before Martha was scheduled to leave, but Lou was relieved that Martha stayed in her room most of the time he was away. The night before he was to come home, Lou went to bed early, the better to make the morning seem to come earlier.

Sometime around midnight, Lou sat upright in her bed, disoriented, at the sound of a child's voice shouting out in the stillness. She staggered out from under the warm covers, reaching for her robe, and into the hallway. The crying was coming from little James' room, and she sleepily hurried toward the doorway. Just before she reached it, she saw it was ajar and heard Martha's voice coming from inside. She hesitated a moment, debating whether to stick her head in the door and let James know she was there as well if he needed her. Martha would be going home for a long trip soon, maybe it was best to let her have a moment with James. Maybe she wanted to make amends. As Lou stood uncertainly in the hallway, she was startled to hear a sharp slap from inside the room.

"Now hush your mouth! I had enough of your wailin' and cryin', young man; you ain't a baby any more. I declare, you ain't been nothin' but a passel of trouble ever since you were born -"

Lou shoved the door the rest of the way open, and saw Martha standing over the three-year-old's bed, her arms crossed, as the little boy wept. Lou suppressed her own rage for her stepson's sake, and, her voice tense, addressed Martha. "I expect you're feeling pretty tired, Martha. Why don't you head back to bed, and I'll help James get back to sleep." Her eyes over her candle were steely as they stared into Martha's.

Martha stared back with undisguised hatred in her own eyes for a brief second, and then dropped her gaze. Turning to James, she bent and kissed him on the top of his head. "Good night, pumpkin," she said, her voice honey-sweet now. She brushed past Lou abruptly.

Lou set the candle down on the bedside table and gathered James in her arms. The chubby little arms went around her neck tightly and his small body shook with sobs. Looking around, Lou located the rocking chair in the corner, and pulled a blanket from the bed as she carried James to it, humming soothingly to him as she went. She sat down and pulled the blanket over both of them, letting him cry himself out as she sang a soft lullaby to him.

"Bad dream?" she asked gently when he subsided a little. His wet little face looked up at her, and he nodded. "You know, we dream all kinds of strange things when we're asleep. But it isn't real, and you're safe, sweetheart."

He tiredly dropped his head on her shoulder, and she continued to look into his eyes as she rocked him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Please don't tell Daddy."

"Why not, sweetheart? He'd understand."

"Grandma - - Grandma wouldn't like it," he said, his big brown eyes frightened. Lou felt a chill settle over her.

"She wouldn't? How do you know?" Lou asked, trying to keep her voice casual. "She always says not to tell Daddy. He already hates me enough."

"Your father doesn't hate you, James," Lou blurted. "He loves you, why would you think such a thing?" She paused. "Did - - did your Grandma say that?" she asked, cautiously.

He blinked his big brown eyes up at her. "I can't tell you," he said wretchedly, the tears welling up again. Lou read the truth in his face.

"Your father loves you with all his heart, James," Lou said desperately, wishing that Kid were here to back her up. "He's told you he loves you, hasn't he?"

James sadly put his head down. "He has to say he loves me, but he don't mean it. On account of my mama died when I was born. Everybody hates me, Caleb, Mattie, everybody."

Lou went pale and pressed the motherless boy to her to hide the tears in her eyes. "You're wrong, James. Your daddy loves you, I'm sure of it. You believe me, don't you? And I love you too," she said, her heart swelling with compassion and love for her husband's sad-eyed child.

"I love you too," he said, smiling finally through his tears. "Can I . . . can I call you Mama?"

"Of course you can," Lou said, soothingly. She wiped James' tears and rocked him gently until he closed his sleepy eyes with a contented sigh and dropped off to sleep. Her own eyes were heavy and she leaned back with the little boy in her arms, resolving as she drifted off, to speak to Kid as soon as he returned the next day about his son and his mother-in-law, and this time she intended to insist; Martha was never to set foot in her home again.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

September 8, 1839

Paris, France

Dearest Martha,

I'm back in Paris, but my heart is back home with you as always. As I promised, I spoke with the Carters about seeing you onto the ship, and once you step off the docks here, we can be safe and free to be together always. You won't believe how different things are here, until you see it with your own beautiful eyes. I know you've dreamed of being an artist, and once you're here, you can study painting along with many other American negroes, most of them from Louisiana, who live here side-by-side with white folks. We'll be so happy together, once you're here safe and sound. Don't be afraid, just do like we planned that day this summer in your quarters. Seems like a lifetime since then, since we were together, but once you're here I'll never let you go again. I promise.

Yours faithfully,

Robert

Martha carefully folded the letter, the first one she had ever received, and the only one for a long time after that. She placed it in the small leather pouch she'd carried it in, hidden inside her skirt pocket, for . . . Lord, could it be, nearly forty years now. All she had left of Robert, now that the little girl he had given her, with her milky white skin and roguish brown eyes, had gone down to her grave before her. She'd been a fool, of course, to give in to Robert's pleading that summer day. She'd known the danger, knew it wasn't a safe time, but she'd been so overwhelmed with love and gratitude for his plan to save her from slavery, to help her run away and live as a free woman in a faraway city.

He'd arranged for passage for her before he left, to come after him with a sympathetic friend and his wife. That way, it was hoped that Big Daddy 'Drew would never know what had become of her. They would simply stay on in Paris forever, they foolishly supposed. Forever's a long time, though, and here she was forever and a day later, an unwanted burden on her daughter's family. Or what had been her daughter's family; every day that … that scrawny, insignificant woman Kid had married was making new inroads with the children. Standing outside James' door, listening, she'd heard that dreadful child actually call

her

Mama. It wasn't enough that Samantha had died to bring that boy into this world, he had to pretend she'd never existed.

Martha's hands trembled as she put a valise on the bed, and started packing things into it. First, of course, the small mementos of her daughter that she'd treasured all her life. The simple, rough cotton baby dress Samantha had worn as a baby. Stopping to look at it a moment, Martha remembered, the first time she was happy again after Master 'Drew caught her at the docks, dragged her home, and soon after sold her to a far-off new owner. She had lost her dream of freedom and love, and gambled away what little she did have - her family, her friends on the old Andrews plantation. She'd known, as they dragged her screaming from her parents' arms, that she would never see them again, and she never did.

But, fifteen and alone, when she brought Samantha into the world, she put all her love and hopes and dreams into the adorable baby. The mistress of the new house had no children, and when she saw her beautiful girl-baby, there was no mistaking the jealousy in her eyes. Martha had been so proud, just like she was when she walked through the streets with little Samantha in tow, and all the white women had clucked and cooed over the little girl, assuming she was her mammy. The seeds of her idea, to reach freedom another way, through Robert's child, had started growing then. She'd plotted and planned all through Samantha's childhood, taking every opportunity. Mrs. Hall, her mistress, had made the lovely little girl a lady's maid, and Samantha had spent hours in the mistress' presence, picking up her mannerisms, her culture. Martha had started stealing a few dollars' worth of baubles or a handful of change here and there, squirreling them away bit by bit over the years until Samantha was thirteen, when they'd made their move finally. They ran away, Samantha posing as a young, cultured debutante, and Martha as her Mammy. It had all gone so smoothly, Samantha taking top honors in her school, getting a teaching certificate.

But somehow, everywhere they went, sooner or later the truth would trickle out in rumors, and rather than risk discovery, they'd had to move on, farther and farther west, until Samantha had fallen for Kid. Oh, she'd resented him at first, he wasn't right for Samantha, not after all the work and trouble, all the book learning and culture and talent Samantha'd gained. But the girl had stubbornly loved him just the same, and for many years, she'd learned to accept and even care about Kid. Until he was the cause of her death, him and his son.

Her heart broke into a thousand small, sharp, bleeding pieces that awful night, when the one person she'd wrapped her whole life around for all these years slipped away. Those pieces had never stopped hurting, more than she could bear some days, it seemed. She'd looked down the bedroom at Kid, holding his son and crying over Samantha, crying as if it wasn't his doing. She'd hated him then, hated that boy. The only revenge she'd been able to have, if she wanted to still be with her oldest grandchildren, was by subtle, insidious ways. She'd been raised in a place where the only acts of revenge against the masters possible, were small, invisible, acts. Little things like spitting in the master's food in the kitchen. Like spreading gossip from one plantation to another, through the slave quarters. There was no open defiance, not for any slave who wanted to live. Though Kid did not think of himself as her master, as Caleb's and Mattie's father, he might as well have been. So she was reduced to taking her hatred for Kid and focusing it on his little boy all these years, tormenting him in whatever small ways she could devise without being detected. It was wrong, she knew that, but she couldn't help herself.

Now, it was over. She'd gone too far, her anger had risen at Kid's remarriage to beyond her control and she'd gotten reckless. Louise would tell Kid what she'd done, and promise or no promise, Kid would send her away. She would never see her other grandchildren again. Louise would have them, would be their mother. She'd seen them just this morning, cuddled on each side of Lou as she read a story to all the children in the parlor. Despite all she'd done, it was already happening, and once she was gone, there would be nothing left to remind the children of who their mother really was. Unless she put a stop to it, here and now.

She finished packing, and hurried down to the barn, fumbling to hitch up a wagon by herself, her tired old fingers stiff and clumsy, but she managed it. She flung her bag in the back, and hurried back to the house.

Slipping into Mattie and Norah's room, her face tightened in displeasure. The two girls were curled up on Norah's bed, a quilt over their legs, a shared book open between them, the lamp blazing. They looked like sisters. Martha softly stood Mattie up, and walked the sleepy child to the hallway, taking the lamp with her and setting it on the floor of the hallway outside. Next, she pulled Caleb from his bed, and the two children stood blinking sleepily in the hallway.

"Grandma, why'd you wake us up?"

"Shush, now. You've always been good children, now haven't you? You've always minded me. I need you to mind me now, understand? We have to go for a ride now."

For the first time, the two stood uncertainly staring at her. Mattie asked, dubiously, "But what about everybody else? Why are we sneaking out in the middle of the night?"

Martha twisted her hands in her skirt, angrily. She'd had these children's unfailing obedience for the last three years, and now after knowing that woman a few weeks, they questioned her. "Never mind that, Mattie. You go because I said so, hear? Get your shoes and coats on. There's no time for anything else. Go and get in the wagon, and don't ask questions."

As the children, confused, went out the door, Martha went to the hall window to watch them get into the wagon. Hands shaking, she pulled the shade down, and picked up the lamp, walking toward the small room where James was sleeping in Louise's arms. Watching them a moment, she thought a final time of Samantha, and an impulse seized her. She tipped the oil lamp on the rug just inside the little boy's room, spilling the fuel on the floor, then bent to set it alight. When the flames started to take hold in earnest, she turned and fled down the stairs.

Chapter Fifteen

Will looked around the room, confused. What had woken him up? He glanced over at the other bed and saw that Caleb had gotten up. Musta gone to the outhouse, but . . . was somebody in the hallway?

"Mattie?" he heard Norah calling, in a hushed voice, but Will swung out of bed, going to the hallway to shush her.

"What are you callin' in the hallway for? You want the twins -"

Too late. The two year old dervishes had woken up and appeared in the hallway, bright eyed as if it were 11 o'clock in the morning and they'd been up for hours. "Whatcha doin'?" Emma said, hopping up and down on her bare feet.

"Nothing, just, Martha was in here, and got Mattie, and she just went in James' room ..." Norah trailed off. She wasn't sure why, but something was wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well, that's their business," Will said. "Back to bed, you two."

"We're hungry," the two protested, chorusing together as one as they so often did, and joining pinkies for good luck when they did so, as they always did.

"It's too late for food," Will said firmly. The twins turned to him, two fairy-like creatures in their little lace gowns, except for their glowering, furious faces. "But we're hungry," Rachel scowled, and Emma's lip began to protrude.

"Okay," Will said, hastily. Once Emma got going, there'd be no sleep for anybody the rest of the night. He sighed. "Let's go down to the kitchen, I'll get us all a midnight snack. But let's not wake anybody else, okay?" he pleaded.

"Yay," Rachel chorused in a hushed cheer with Emma. Will smiled, catching some of their party spirit, and nodded. "Come on, pipsqueaks."

And so they headed down to the kitchen on the back of the house on the first floor, even as Martha was coming out of James' room and rushing down the other staircase, toward the front of the house where the wagon waited with her beloved two grandchildren.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Louise woke with a start when a beam fell from the ceiling of James' room, across the bed. She screamed, her voice hoarse, her head dizzy from smoke. She looked down frantically at James in her arms, huddled under the blanket, and then around the room. No way out. The realization hit her dim, confused mind and gripped her heart with a cold terror. The children - I have to get to the children - she inched around the blaze on James' bed, to open the door, drawing back when she touched it - - the doorknob was red hot. Clutching James to her, she opened the door and was overwhelmed by the backdraft; the entire upper floor was ablaze, impassible, and her babies were there, burning up, she agonized. James' little arms clutching around her neck brought her to her senses; she could save him, at least, maybe - - she fled back to the window, holding James under the arms with the blanket around him.

Setting him down a moment, she frantically threw up the window sash, leaning out with James in her arms. But it was a sheer drop, three floors up, she hesitated, and looking down the drive, was shocked to see Martha driving away in the wagon with Caleb and Mattie.

She screamed from the window after her, "Martha! Martha, there's a ladder by the shed, please, help us - - Martha!" she screamed as loudly as her hoarse throat would let her, leaning from the engulfed room, smoke pouring out of the window around her, the heat overwhelming. "Martha!" she screamed a final time, before realizing; Mattie and Caleb were screaming, trying to get from the wagon and back to help her, and Martha was holding them back while urging the horse onwards. She could hear the children's screams, "Grandma! Grandma, please, the house is on fire! James is there! Louise!" their frantic young voices reached her over the roaring sound of the fire, and she knew, as Martha drove the horse onward and disappeared around the bend in the drive. Knew there was no hope other than to jump from this window with James in her arms onto the slated patio underneath his window three floors below, and she climbed up on the window-ledge with the terror-struck boy in her arms, praying that she didn't break her legs or worse in the fall, so at least she could save Kid's son . . . her son, as she thought of him now, she realized. She closed her eyes, bracing for the jump.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

As always when he returned from Eureka with the early morning light filtering around him through the trees, Kid felt the sense of calm and serenity settle over him, along with the pleasant anticipation of seeing his new wife and family again. He hadn't been this contented since he could remember; he and Louise got along so much better now than they had when they first fell in love. Even big problems and disagreements, like Martha and the question of a new baby, hadn't dimmed their new-found passion for each other, and they were working hard at finding solutions and compromises together. He slapped the reins on the horse's back to hurry him, but as the house neared, he was alarmed to smell a sooty, smoky odor growing ever stronger. As he turned around the last bend in the road before the house, his world seemed to shatter around him, as he saw the house. Or rather what once was their house, as now there was nothing but a pile of rubble. Even the barn closest to the house had caught fire and burned to ashes.

His legs unsteady, he got off his horse and ran toward the house, scanning the rubble frantically, not knowing what he was looking for, when he heard a plaintive wailing cry from one of the outbuildings behind the house. He ran, stumbling along the forest floor over roots and fallen branches, calling for his wife and children, when Norah burst from the brush and ran into his arms. "Kid," she wept, her face black with soot streaked with tears. He dropped to his knees and turned her face up.

"It's okay, Norah, I'm here now. Where's everbody else, honey?"

"Mom . . . Mom fell and hurt herself out the window trying to get out with James," Norah cried, her voice hoarse. "She had to jump out. I saw her when we came around the back, there wasn't time to stop her," she sobbed.

Kid steeled himself, and asked, "Did everybody get out, Norah? Did they, honey?"

She looked dully at him, and shook her head. "The cook and the groom, they died," she said. "Mom is in the shed, me and Will got her there, after she jumped out with James. She was trapped up there, she didn't know we had gone downstairs. She thought we died already."

"All the kids were downstairs? They all got out?"

"Mattie and Caleb went with Martha."

Kid thanked God silently, that Martha had been there to help, what would have happened to all the children otherwise. He stood up shakily and hugged Norah, saying gently, "Let's go get your Mama to the doctor."

"The horses are all dead," Norah said, crying. "We couldn't get her to the doctor."

These poor children, what an ordeal, Kid thought. He hurried to the shed and went in, running to Lou's side.

"Kid," she said, rising up with a wince and putting her arms out.

"What's happened, you - - you couldn't walk - -"

"It's just my leg, it doesn't matter. Kid, I have to tell you something important-"

"Thank God," he breathed. He had been afraid it might be her back, a permanent injury. "We can manage this, I'll call the rest of the children -"

"Kid," she blurted. "Please, it's so important. I'm so sorry - Martha set the fire, and she took Mattie and Caleb and ran away, Kid. She wanted to kill all of the rest of us," she said, her voice shaking. "I saw her from the window, she - - she drove away with them and left me and the others here to die, my babies, James, the servants. Kid, I'm so afraid of what she might do, she's crazy. You have to leave me here and go after her, or there won't be time."

Chapter Sixteen

Kid had been torn, not wanting to leave Lou alone with the children in the little cabin, but knowing she was right about Martha. His mother-in-law was dangerously unstable, and he couldn't just let his oldest two children be taken away who knows where. Lou had pleaded with him to go after his other children, and reluctantly he had made the difficult decision to leave her and the other children behind.

Now he was halfway to Eureka; he figured she'd gone there last night and probably was hiding out somewhere until she could get a ride or a train back East. He was startled, then, to see Caleb staggering along the roadway, tiredly, apparently walking as fast as he could to Eureka.

"Caleb!" he shouted. The boy whirled around, his dirt-streaked face lighting up at the sight of his father, and ran toward him. He caught the boy up in his arms, hugging him tight, then set him down. "Thank God you're okay," he said, pushing the boy's light brown hair off the front of his forehead. "Where's Mattie, son?"

"With Grandma," he said, his voice shaking. "Back in there," he explained, pointing. Kid saw that Caleb was wearing a knit robe of sorts, and that he had unraveled a skein of yarn, trailing behind him. "I tied it to a tree near the cabin."

"She took you into the woods?"

Caleb nodded.

"How'd you get away?"

"She didn't even try to stop me," Caleb said. "She just wanted Mattie to stay, she didn't care if I did or not."

The boy started to cry, and sobbed out, brokenly, "Dad, something really bad happened. The house was on fire, and . . . and Grandma wouldn't go back and help. James, the Hickoks, they . . . they were all in there, I don't know what happened to them."

"They're fine, son," Kid hastened to tell the distraught boy.

"Dad, I wasn't a good brother to James," the boy cried. "Grandma told me - - she told me things about him, and Louise, but I know they weren't true now. Why did Grandma do that?"

Kid furrowed his brow, but then again the deranged woman had tried to kill an entire family of innocent people, including her own grandson. Why would anything she did make sense?

"Grandma . . . was very sad when your mama died, Caleb. Some folks . . . when that kind of hurt happens, they can't handle it, and they start getting confused. That's what happened to Grandma. But we'll talk more about this later, okay?"

The boy nodded, wiping his face. Kid spoke kindly but firmly to him, "Caleb, I'm going to ask you to stay right here with the horse. I'm going to go get Mattie, okay?"

"Daddy?"

Kid turned, and looked at the little boy.

"She has a little gun. And she thinks Mattie is Mom, only little again."

Kid stared at his son, horrified, and nodded, before taking off into the underbrush after his daughter.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Mattie looked dully at her grandmother, trying to make sense of her rambling, but it was no use. The woman had kept her up all night, talking incessantly, and the little girl was nearly bleary eyed.

"Please, Grandma, I'm so tired," she whispered, hoarsely, as Grandma braided and unbraided her hair for the thousandth time.

"Not Grandma!" the woman shouted, giving the girl's hair a yank. "What did I tell you, Samantha?"

"I - I'm sorry, Mammy," she whimpered, tears coming into her eyes. Caleb had run away and left her here . . . James and Louise and the others were probably dead ... and she didn't know if anybody would ever find her. Grandma was acting like a stranger, and her whole world was shattered around her.

Suddenly, she looked up, eagerly, at the sight of some motion at the window. Craning her neck around Grandma, she gasped slightly. It was Daddy ... but he was shaking his head, quickly, his finger to his lips. She understood, and tried to show him so with her eyes, but her grandmother stepped in front of her.

"There now. You look like a real white girl, now." She stood and admired her handiwork. "You're the prettiest girl-child I ever saw, white or black, Samantha. But remember what I said, our only chance is if you pass for white. You'll do what I say, now, won't you, child?"

"Yes - Mammy," she stammered. "I'll do whatever you tell me to."

"That's my girl," Grandma smiled, her smile almost like the grandmother she knew . . . and over her shoulder, Mattie saw her father slowly approaching the rambling woman; but suddenly, Martha whirled, her hand on her gun, and clutched her around the throat, dragging her to the opened trap door and starting to shove her down the steps to the basement. She slammed the door shut, and stood on it, the child sobbing beneath her.

"Martha - - please, don't," Kid pleaded. "Please, put down the gun and we'll talk about this. Let my little girl go."

"Your . . . your little girl . . ." Martha whispered, her eyes drooping tiredly a moment, then focusing suddenly. "Robert?"

Kid stared at his mother-in-law, at her gun waving wildly around the room.

"It's you, Robert - - you've come back for me, for our little girl," Martha sobbed.

"Yes," Kid said, nervously, looking at the gun again. "I'm here now, Martha, and - and I'd like to get to know our little girl. Please, can you bring her up?"

"Robert, I knew you'd come back for me someday," she cried out, rushing to his arms and kissing him passionately. Kid saw the trap door moving slightly as the child tried to lift it . . . knew he had to disarm the woman before his little girl got up here and possibly got hurt. Letting her kiss him, to get her guard down slightly, he managed to wrest the gun from her abnormally strong grip, and shove her away into the corner, just as Mattie emerged from the basement. He called to his daughter, "Mattie, you need to go, you need to run along the yarn you'll see tied to the poplar tree outside. Caleb's at the other end, you two get on the horse and ride, understand?"

"Daddy -"

"Now, sweetheart, run," he urged her, as he watched Martha glower dangerously from the corner. He had to hold the delusional woman here until his children were out of her reach, and he shouted to Mattie again, "Please, baby, you need to get away. I'll be there in a minute."

The little girl looked anguished, but obeyed, running through the forest along the blue skein of yarn, toward the road; and Kid turned to the woman who had been like a mother to him for so many years, before grief had destroyed her reason.

"Martha - - you need to let me tie your hands, and take you back to Eureka. You need help, I'll see you get it, for Samantha's sake."

"Robert?" she said, her voice quavering. He sighed, nodding. "Yes. Robert."

"You need me to pretend I'm . . . I'm your slave, is that it? And . . . and we'll get away that way," she said, her face confused.

"Yes. Yes, that's it," he sighed, pitying her in spite of everything.

Epilogue

Lou smiled around at the other occupants of the enormous bed they'd found in the house Kid had rented for them in Eureka. She was literally surrounded by her children, huddled around her like little kittens around a mother cat, with James firmly stationed right in the crook of her arm, his head on her shoulder. Norah was cuddling against him, and the twins were on her other side, squeezed in together next to her. Will had deigned to join them, too, big boy though he considered himself to be.

One of the children shifted and Lou winced slightly at the pain in her leg from her jump out the window with James. "You okay, Mama?" he said, his face next to hers.

"I am now, James," she smiled, kissing him on the forehead. "Somebody turn the page, my arms are too full," she laughed, and Emma reached over to turn the page on the book in Lou's lap. James proudly read the page aloud for Lou, and they continued through the storybook, contentedly, with the twins, then James, then finally Norah and Will dropping off to sleep. Lou slid her arms out from under them and folded up the book, carefully placing it on the bedside table, to wait for Kid to come with Mattie and Caleb.

Kid had taken Martha and the children the rest of the way in to Eureka, and left Martha at the small hospital there, bringing a doctor and a wagon back for her. He'd found a place for them to stay, and been there holding her hand while the doctor set her broken leg, but he'd had to take the older children to speak to the judge about Martha, after she and the other children were settled. They'd barely had a chance to speak to one another since it all happened. The door to the rented house opened, and Kid came in quietly with Mattie and Caleb.

She heard him approaching, and smiled when the door opened, and he came in. "Well," he whispered. "I've heard of three's a crowd, but six?" he laughed, his face softening at the sight of James asleep in the crook of Lou's arm.

Mattie and Caleb drew closer to the bed, and looked at each other. "We're sorry, about everything," Caleb said, his face grave. "What Grandma did, and -"

"It's all right, Caleb. I understand, and we'll have a fresh start, okay?" Louise said, stretching up her hand to cup his little face. Caleb nodded, gratefully, and Lou pressed Mattie's hand comfortingly as well. "Would you like to join us?" she invited, and the little ones nodded, scampering off to change into nightclothes.

Kid smiled at Lou, leaning over the mass of children to kiss her upturned mouth. "Are you sure, Lou? I know the kids are small, but nine in a bed is a lot," he grinned.

"It's just for tonight. They've been through a lot, and, well . . ." she looked at them all lovingly, saving a special smile for Mattie and Caleb when they came back in and slipped into the bed, "we are all a family now."

Author's Note: Thanks Mercy and Jen for following this story on LiveJournal and encouraging me to keep going with it!

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