Title: A Wife's Regrets
Author: Maeve Bran
Rating: T
Summary: After the events in Contention, Mr. Butterfield returns William to the Evans' ranch.
Fandom: 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Notes: Warning for canon deaths mentioned. This is an extremely melancholy fic. Please have hankies ready.
Words: 1325
Alice Evans was hanging the wash out on the line. After she hung each piece on the line she scanned the horizon for signs of her absent husband and missing son. Mark was inside studying the day's lesson so she could let the worry show for the first time in days. Finally after the last bit of wash was on the line the sign she had been waiting for came. Two riders were approaching. One appeared to be a full-grown man. The other looked like her teenage son. She couldn't be certain so she reached for the shotgun but before she could line up the sights she spotted a third horse. It had no rider but looked to carry a body slung over the saddle.
Alice set the gun down and crumpled to the ground with a strangled cry. Mark came running out of the house. She reached for him and drew him to her side.
"What is it, ma?" Mark asked.
Alice just continued crying until the riders approached.
"Mrs. Evans, ma'am," Butterfield greeted her nervously. "I'm afraid I have bad news. Your husband got Wade to the train but his gang caught up to them and shot Mr. Evans."
Alice let go of Mark and gradually climbed to her feet. She looked to William, who was just getting off his horse. William carefully tied the horse to the nearby porch railing before he turned to talk to his mother.
"He did it. Pa really got Wade to the train. It was a sight to behold. I didn't think he could do it, but he did, Ma," William gushed sadly before running to hug his Mother.
"I don't want you running off to avenge your father, young man," Alice gave voice to her greatest fear at the moment. She knew she couldn't face the loss of a son as well as a husband.
"He won't have to. Wade jumped down from the train and one of his gang tossed him his gun. Next thing, Wade shot every last one of his gang and then got on the train again. I never saw the like, ma'am," Butterfield said, still stunned that a gun man would do such a thing. "It was almost as if Wade had taken a liking to your husband and wanted him to succeed in his task."
Butterfield had gotten down from his horse and tied it next to William's and was attending to Dan's horse. "Where would you like him, Mrs. Evans?" the railroad man asked as he attended to Dan's body.
"Lay him out on the bed in our room," Alice said not knowing what else to answer.
"I'll help," William suggested. He and Butterfield managed to get Dan's lifeless body into the house and laid out on the bed. When the task was done, Butterfield came back out to talk to Alice.
"Before he escorted Wade to the train, Mr. Evans made me promise certain things," the railroad agent said.
"What things?" Alice asked.
"For one, I was to give you one thousand dollars cash money," Butterfield said as he fished in his pocket for something. "I'm afraid that until I get to the bank in Bisbee, all I have is two hundred. It will have to do as a good faith payment." Butterfield handed her the cash.
Alice took it, not knowing what else to do. "That's a lot of money. Why?"
"Wade's gang was offering a reward for killing Wade's captors. The town Marshall and everyone else chickened out. I begged Dan to forget about getting Wade to the train but he wouldn't. I even offered him the two hundred cash to walk away. He refused. He asked me to give you the money and I couldn't refuse him. He was determined," Butterfield explained.
"You said he asked for some other promises?" Alice asked, refusing to be reminded of her late husband's stubbornness.
"He made me promise that Mr. Hollander would never be able to get his hands on your land. First thing in the morning, I will see to it. Mr. Hollander and his men will never set foot on this land again. I also promised that the water will flow to your land but most importantly I promised to see young William home safely," Butterfield said.
"I do appreciate that. I don't know how I'd make it with out William," Alice said.
Butterfield untied his horse and prepared to go. "I'll be back in the morning with the rest of the money and the arrangements for Mr. Evans' burial."
"Thank you," was all that Alice could manage as the railroad man left. She watched him fade into the distance before turning to go back into the hose.
She found her way to the room she had shared with Dan. She grabbed up the towel from the washstand and the basin with water in it. She gently bathed the dirt, sweat, and blood from Dan's face. She was just about to remove his jacket and shirt when William slipped into the room.
"Ma," he said hesitantly.
"Yes, son?" Alice replied.
"He was very brave wasn't he?" William suggested.
"Yes, very brave," Alice said as she saw the look of respect on her son's face. It was a look Dan would have been proud of. Maybe if William had looked like that before, Dan wouldn't have gone on such a foolhardy mission. But as soon as the thought came she dismissed it. It wasn't they were her son had failed to look at Dan that had driven him on this mission. It was they way she had failed to see him.
"Ma, pa asked that I give this back to you," William interrupted her musings. He handed the broach over. Alice took it and started weeping again. This time she wrapped William in her arms and he started to cry too. After a few minutes, William wriggled free.
"I'll go look after Mark," William suggested. Alice answered with a nod and William slipped out of the room.
Alice resumed her task. Mr. Butterfield would be back in the morning and Dan had better be ready for his burial. She eased the coat and shirt of her lifeless husband and recalled what it was like to be held to that chest in happier times. When they were first married, nothing made her happier than to lay her head on his bare chest and listen to the steady beat of his heart. It always made her feel protected and loved when he'd wrap an arm around her and hold her tight to him. Then came the last three years of struggle with the ranch and Mark's illness and William's rebellion, and some how it had been years since she had snuggled up close to him. For the longest time they had lain side by side without touching more than absolutely necessary. She wished that she could go back and give him the look she used to, the look that she was only now realizing that he had needed so desperately to feel like he was a man and valuable.
Alice lowered her head to his chest and wept. She let the water of her tears start to wash him. When her tears finally dried, she rewetted the cloth and began her work again. An hour latter, Dan was dressed in his Sunday best and ready for the funeral to come. He looked like the handsome man Alice had married and Alice wished she never had to see him like this. He had done his duty to see that she and the boys were taken care of but it had come at too high of a price. Alice stood up and went to find her sons. She pulled the door shut on Dan's body and vowed to leave her regrets there with him. It was time she found a way for her and her sons to survive with out him.
-x-