A Hard Road Taken

Chapter: 4

The moon was shining bright into front room revealing Little Joe awake sitting on the couch. He hadn't been able to sleep, so he came downstairs. The events the doc shared with them kept going over and over in his mind standing up he opened the door to where Ken laid. He leaned against the door frame looking at her.

"Ken, you better be gettin' well. Your sister is worryin' about ya. I don't know what the trouble between you two is, but you better get well and start workin' on fixin' it."

"You know she might not want to live." Ben quietly spoke up behind his son.

Little Joe about jumped out of his skin as he turned around to see his dad. "Pa, you sacred me near out of my skin. I know she might not want to live, but I hope she wakes long enough for her sister to talk to her."

"My sister doesn't want to talk to me. Can't stand the sight of me." Ken's voice was weak, as she stared at the men standing in the door frame.

"She does want to talk you, Ken. And she doesn't hate the sight of you." Ben spoke softly as he walked to the side of the bed.

"Honest?"

"Honest."

Ken slipped back into the void she had been in, leaving Ben wondering did she really see him or somebody else.

"Pa, I can sit here with her." Little Joe didn't know why but he hoped she would wake again tonight so he could reassure her that her sister did care about her.

Ben turned and looked at his son. Neither one them was going to be getting any sleep tonight and they both knew it.

"We both can." Ben said as both of them sat down in the only two chairs in the room. It wasn't okay for Little Joe to be sitting alone in a room with a lady; even if the lady was in a fight for her life. Once Ken was awake and stayed awake the chair that Ben was sitting in would most likely get moved out of the room.

The morning found everyone around the table eating breakfast. Kalista knew she needed to eat, however she found herself not hungry. Nonetheless with suspicions in her mind about something, she made herself eat.

Adam watched his wife and knew she really didn't want to be there at the table. While he may not know his sister-in-law, he did know that Kalista wanted to get to know her sister all over again. He didn't know what caused them to stop talking, but there was a loneness; if you looked close you could see it in her eyes when other ladies came over with their sisters.

"Kalista." Little Joe said.

"Yes?"

"How long has Ken been the way she is? I mean the way she dresses and stuff."

"I don't know. We use to be close, but something changed when we were around twelve. I thought I had tried to hold onto our friendship, but looking back I don't think I really tried to talk to her. As I said earlier we drifted apart without really knowing what we were losing."

No one said anything as they finished eating. They had chores to get done and sitting around was not going to get them done. Hop Sing would keep an eye on Ken during the time Kalista was getting her chores done.

~/~

The storm clouds were gathering outside of the cave as the pain got more intense for Amaris. She had laid with her brave after their marriage only to lose him six months later. She now carried his child; though she sometimes wondered if she was carrying twins.

Amaris wanted to cry out, but kept it in. She had to not cry out until they could bring back a lady from the village. With her parents having such a hard time accepting her husband there was no way she was going to tell Kalista about Abejundio.

Kickapoo and Mahican walked into the cave bring Fox and Huron with them. Kickapoo and Mahican left the woman inside the cave while they stood outside keeping guard. When the yelling started, the men cringed as they could tell that Flying Eagle was having a hard time giving life to the child she carried.

Tears fell down her face as she held her twins; both of them were boys. She gave them white names and Indian names. As she held her boys she knew with their skin tone they would never pass as white and sooner than she liked, she would have to give them up to her mother-in-law to raise. The love she had for them was over flowing as her tears fell.

Ken twisted and turned as the memory played in her mind. While she really couldn't remember the pain itself, the love for her boys was still strong as ever. Her mind seemed to skip a few months ahead and she found herself in the past once again.

"John! Jonas!" Ken screamed out causing Kalista and Doctor Nelson to jump. Doctor Nelson knew those names and he sighed.

"You know who those men are?" Kalista asked.

Before Doctor Nelson could answer her question, Ken screamed once again in her fevered sleep, this time confusing not only Kalista but the good doctor as well.

"Abejundio, NOOOO!" Ken scream as tears fell. She soon went back into that deep black hole that had a strong hold of her mind.