"Court is now in session. The honorable Jacob Larkin presiding. All rise."

All the people in the courtroom stood up as the judge walked in. Johnny and Landon were at the Defendant's table. Behind them were the entire immediate Marston family. Once given permission, everyone sat down.

"Case number six-nine-eight-seven-dash-six; the people versus John David Marston the Third and Landon Joseph Marston on the charges of Criminal Trespassing, Burglary, and Possession of Stolen Property," the court clerk read from the documents.

"Mister Larkin, as the attorney on record, how do your clients plead?," the judge asked.

Larkin stood up. "Jeremy Larkin for the defense," he said. "My clients have informed me that they will accept a reasonable plea bargain. This is their first felony offense."

"They do have several misdemeanors for street racing, public intoxication, petty theft, and vandalism," the prosecutor said. "We have not reached an agreement yet. We cannot accept mere probation for these offenses."

Jack listened as he stared at his hands. He thought hard. Where had he gone wrong? Jack and Irene had always been honest about who the children's grandfathers were and that the lives they had lived were not at all acceptable. Even if the country were still in the period known to many as the "Wild West," it was still wrong. John and Landon had lived and died violently and this had caused incredible pain for the entire family. The children knew how the death of John had affected Jack. He was still struggling with minor depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anger. Irene's father had died right in her arms. She was still struggling with nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder and did become depressed from time to time. Jack and Irene had sought counseling, but it had not been as much help that they had hoped.

"Your Honor, what we have is two young men who are following the footsteps of their grandfathers," the prosecutor said. "Their mother is the daughter of Landon Ricketts and their father is the son of John Marston, both very well-known criminals. Mr. and Mrs. Marston were once bounty-hunters and once carried guns. They likely still own guns and don't have them locked up."

"Objection," Larkin argued. "The grandfathers of these boys have both been dead since 1911 and 1914. These boys were born in 1927, well after the deaths of these men. These grandfathers had no chance to influence these men. And their parents have no felony convictions whatsoever."

"But their father was suspected in the death of a retired federal agent," the prosecutor argued.

"Suspected, never arrested or even interrogated for that," Larkin replied. "The murder happened in Mexico and they have closed the case as a robbery-homicide."

"But was it?," the prosecutor asked. She glanced back at Jack, who was fighting to maintain control of himself.

"Your Honor, even if Mr. Marston were indeed convicted, that would have no bearing on this case," Larkin argued. "This is a completely different case."

"Both of you, please stop this," the judge said. "The fact of who the grandfathers were are not important. Also, the murder of Edgar Ross has nothing to do with all this. We don't know who killed Ross and that will likely remain a mystery forever. Likely, the killer is dead by now. What I am concerned about is that we have two young men who are already throwing their lives away. What I am going to do is grant a stay and ask you to try harder at a plea deal." He looked at the defendant's side and went on. "Gentlemen, you will not be able to walk away with only probation," he said. "You will have to accept that there will be some jail time. I don't blame who your father, mother, or grandfathers were. All that is in the past. I just hope it stays there. You're still young. Don't throw it all away."

Jack and Irene sighed with relief. They watched as the guards took their sons from the courtroom. In the corridor, Irene sat on a bench along the wall. Jack stood near her.

"I knew she would bring that up," Jack said. "Our fathers."

"Jack, that's gonna follow us all our lives and all our families' lives," Irene replied. "We're just gonna have to deal with it." As they talked, Larkin found them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Marston, I need to ask you something," he said. "Well, I need to ask Mr. Marston a question."

"What?," Jack asked as Irene stood up.

"Did your father ever talk about a man named Norman Deek?," Larkin asked.

"Yeah, two or three times," Jack said. "Bonnie told me a lot more about who that was. They kidnapped her and held her for ransom to set him free after Marshal Leigh Johnson arrested him. They almost hanged her in a ghost town. My father and Johnson and the deputies were able to save her."

"Norman Deek never married, but he fathered three children that we know of," Larkin said. "One of them was another client of mine. He said that Norman told him that his family are still angry with your family for the death of Norman."

"Norman was killed by his own men at Tumbleweed," Jack said. "When my father released him, the gang started firing recklessly and hit him in the chest. He was killed almost instantly."

"Well, tell them, not me," Larkin said. "This one, Roscoe Deek, is forty-three and doing thirty years. He's up for parole in 1972. The others are Harley Deek, who is forty-one, and Wally Deek, who is thirty-six. I know they all have many assault convictions on their records and they are not good men at all. They have all been arrested for domestic abuse and one put his girlfriend in intensive care for two days. Be careful. I don't believe either of you are bad people. And I think it was wrong for Miss Anderson to use your relatives to try to get the judge to go her way. Thank God that judge believes in nurture rather than nature."

"I never thought about it," Jack said. He looked at Irene. "You?"

"I think it's half-and-half," Irene replied. "Some things are natural and kids are just born with them. But, other things are learned. I think hatred and violence are learned. Anger may be natural, but you choose how to deal with it."

Jack sighed.

"We've all done well, Jack," Irene said. "We're not dangerous people at all. Our sons may be in trouble for theft, but not for assault or anything violent. They didn't have any guns or other weapons with them when they were arrested."

"Sometimes, I wonder if we made the right choice by having any children," Jack admitted. "I love our kids very much. But, is it because of us that our twins are in trouble?"

"No," Irene replied. "After all, our daughters have never even gotten so much as a parking ticket."

"Is it because they're women, girls?," Jack asked.

"Jack, women commit crimes," Irene said. "You know that as well as I do. Why do you think we have women's prisons?"

Jack nodded.

"We'll have to accept that they'll do some prison time," Irene said. "But, afterward, we'll help them get their act together."

Jack nodded. "I still wonder," he said.

"We always will," Irene said.

"I mean, what are the odds that the son of one outlaw and the daughter of another outlaw end up together and having children together?," Jack asked. "Was it a bad decision?"

"Hell, no," Irene said. "I love my family. I wouldn't trade any one of you for anything at all, even the world. We made the right decision."

Jack smiled. He hugged Irene and kissed her head.

At home that evening, Irene made herself a small meal. Jack didn't feel like eating. He watched the evening news, wondering if his sons would be portrayed in the media as modern-day outlaws. Thankfully, his sons were not even mentioned. Jack was relieved at that.

Beecher's Hope was already drawing attention. People were traveling into Blackwater just to make the short drive to Beecher's Hope to see the home of John Marston. Because of all the commotion, Jack had hired contractors to remove his wooden fences and build up a iron fence with locked security gates. Only those who knew the five-digit pen-code could enter the property unless allowed by a Marston. The iron fence was chosen so people could see the graves and leave flowers, which happened a lot.

It was no secret now who Jack and Irene were and who they were related to. People were also traveling to Rathskeller Fork to see the grave of Landon Ricketts and leave flowers there also. Irene had considered having him re-buried on Beecher's Hope to keep the entire family together.

After she ate, Irene remained at the table and stared out the window and watched the sun set. What would become of her two beloved sons?

Was there really any true redemption for the Marston family and the Ricketts family?

4