Chapter 2

Mary put the pen down on the desk in front of her and massaged her neck. The night behind her was sleepless, she was tossing and turning in the bed whole the time until she finally decided to give up on sleep and get up to write some articles for The Clarion News. It was supposed to be finished tomorrow and she had less than 24 hours to finish last few texts. With Chris back now, safe and sound, she thought that now she could go back to her normal life and everyday's activities. She will be able to concentrate on her tasks.

And yet, here she was, three hours later, still sitting above them same article. Her neck started to ache and she huffed in frustration, giving up on article for now.

Getting up, she looked through the window. It was barely a dawn, the first rays of sun shyly started to play behind the hills. The streets were empty.

Mary took few steps across the office, trying to make herself work on the article. It was about the sheriff in the town not so far away from the Four Corners. She made some research, even managed to get an interview from him, but she remembered that Stephen wrote about that man once – precisely, when he became a sheriff. Due to events last few days, Mary couldn't make herself to search for that old article about the sheriff, but now, as she couldn't place her thoughts on the paper, now it looked like a perfect time to look for it.

She opened an old brown chest where she held an archive of the Clarion News. A cloud of dust made her cough as she reached in the chest to take out The Clarion news about 3-4 years old. She couldn't remember exactly when did Jack Murdock became a sheriff, but she remembered that it was when she and Stephen came back from their trip to Mexico. Mary smiled sadly as she remembered that trip… She still missed Stephen dearly, but ever since Billy came back, she got new strength, new will to go on.

She flipped through the pages of one issue of newspapers when one headline caught her attention. Mary's eyes widened in disbelief as she read it.

"Woman and a boy burned alive"

She felt the lump creating in her throat. How was it possible that she didn't notice this article when Stephen printed it out?

Than it came to her; being busy with Billy and house when her son was still a a baby made her not being able to read some of the issues of The Clarion News. By the time she would find time, she would take the new issue of the newspapers and didn't even pay a single thought to the previous ones…

This must be one of the issues she missed.

As she recovered enough and wanted to go on with reading, sharp pain stabbed her heart, piercing through it like a sharp knife, so strong that she almost screamed.

There was a photo. Family photo.

Of Sarah and Adam…

...and Chris.

Cold sweat ran down Mary's back as she watched the photo. She gently caressed the face of a little dark – haired boy, her heart breaking at the sight of him. He looked so happy. Who on Earth could even think to do something to harm a kid?! It was beyond Mary's understanding.

On his left stood a woman. Her hair was long and curly, also dark. She wore a blue dress and her smile was so warm. Her right hand was gently placed on the little boy's shoulder. She was so beautiful.

Mary's sight started to get blur as her eyes looked to the right… Chris.

A sob escaped her mouth and she quickly covered her lips with her palm. She could feel the pain squeezing her heart with such power that she could barely breathe.

He looked so peaceful. So happy. So much different than a bitter, sad gunslinger that she knew. He wore a suit, dark one, with white shirt.

"Ah, damn!", Mary silently cursed as one tear dropped from her cheek, making a wet spot on the article. She quickly wiped it and took a deep breath, looking away from the newspapers in her hands.

Totally forgetting about the article about the sheriff, Mary closed the chest and stood up, still holding the issue of The Clarion News where Stephen wrote about Chris' family in her hands.

Going back toward her table, Mary laid the newspapers on the table, staring at them, not knowing what to do.

Taking another deep breath in, she laid a palm on the left side of her breasts. Feeling her heartbeat, she remembered the words Buck told her some time ago…

'…In one night, everything was gone. All he's got left are memories. I don't know can he still remember their faces. He doesn't even have their photos. Everything burned out with them, like they never existed…'

Having a will of its own, Mary's hand reached for the scissors. Before she was aware of what she was doing, scissors were cutting the photo from the article.

Giving him the article would be like pulling his heart out of his chest. Mary didn't even have strength to read it. She placed the newspapers in the drawer and looked at the photo in her hands. It was black and white, but it was still a photo. A photo of Chris' family. The only photo that was left of them.

For a moment, Mary wondered how Stephen got the photo for the article, but she shook away that thought quickly. He was a journalist, it was his job to obtain information and photos for his articles.

Her eyes stopped at the window as she watched the town slowly waking up.

'How am I going to give him this? How will he react? What if he tears it apart, not wanting to be reminded of what he had lost?' , these questions were going through Mary's mind. Indeed, impulsive as he was, chris could tear the photo in small pieces.

She couldn't allow that. Opening a drawer, Mary searched through the papers inside it and finally found what she was looking for.

A photo frame.

Taking out her napkin, Mary cleaned the dust away from the photo frame and when it was done, she carefully placed the photo in the frame, watching that she doesn't damage the paper. She worked hard, but at the end she made it.

A breath of relief left her mouth as she watched it… before a little voice in her head asked:

'How are you going to give this to Chris?'