"Quit your twitching, Jimmy," Teaspoon admonished, "She's going to turn right around in the aisle and run if she sees you fidgeting like that."
Jimmy was nervous enough that she wouldn't even come. She could still change her mind and he wouldn't blame her if she did. He looked around and saw nearly the entire town of Rock Creek and a few who lived just outside of it. Lou was in the front pew beaming at him and trying to keep her two young sons in check. Kid stood at his side, rings in his pocket. Kid smiled reassuringly as Jimmy caught his eye. They'd had more than a couple conversations about marriage over the last month or so as Violet and her mother prepared for this day. Jimmy didn't understand what needed such preparation but there was talk of the dress and decorations and the menu. He figured it best if he just stayed out of it and focused on what he needed to do which was find a place for them to live. Of course she didn't even know about that. She thought they would live in the small house provided for the town's schoolteacher for a while until they found a place. He had discovered a better option and after the party tonight he would show her what he had been up to.
Keeping the secret hadn't been hard. Their time together had consisted of a few stolen moments here and there and little of that time was spent talking. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he thought of the nights he would come to visit her under the guise of making his rounds. He would have a few hours to spend exploring her body before he had to leave. Today would mark the end of that. They would share a home and no one would think ill of either of them for it. It hadn't been easy getting to this point. He had still been concerned about her folks. But he went to the bank one day and asked to see her father.
"Thanks for seeing me, Mr. Markham," Jimmy said as he had been led into the man's office, "I can't imagine I'm your favorite person right now."
"First, call me Tom," the man had replied, "And second, I will always make time for the constabulary of the town."
Jimmy took the seat Mr. Markham nodded to.
"I ain't here on business and I think you know that, Tom," Jimmy said, "I know I should've done this before asking her but you got to understand how bad she needed me to ask that. I guess I needed to ask it pretty bad too. It's too late to ask for her hand because she's made her choice and frankly even if you said no, I don't think that would change a great deal. I sure would like your blessing though. I'd like to know that I ain't messing things up between you and her."
"I won't lie, Marshal Hickok," Tom Markham began and paused only to correct himself when Jimmy asked to be addressed less formally. "This was not the match we had anticipated for Violet. I am frankly not sure what to think. I never got to know too much of you before and I know even less about you now. I don't know if I can give that blessing yet."
"I respect that," Jimmy said, "I'd respect if you spent the rest of your days hating me. I don't know as I can convince you to feel anything good about me at all but Violet spent far too long without the two of you. It was her choice and she knows that but now that she's got herself over some things, I don't want her to miss another minute of time she could spend with you and her ma. She loves the two of you a great deal and she's cut herself off from folks who love her too long."
"You really care about her, don't you?" Tom Markham said in disbelief.
"I know it seems if I did, I'd leave but I can't do that to her again and I really don't like who I am without her," Jimmy replied, "Yeah, I love her a whole awful lot."
Jimmy watched as the man across the desk seemed to mull over his words and maybe even the way he said them. There was no pretense in his words or his demeanor. He was laying it all on the table. The truth of his feelings for Violet was all he had to argue with. He hoped that someday, if God saw fit to grace him with a child, that he would be able to look past whatever might need looking past for that child's happiness. If that child was a daughter, he prayed to be able to remember that nothing was as important as a man that would love her with every bit of his heart and soul. Jimmy could only hope that would be enough to convince Violet's father as well.
"I haven't seen her this happy since she was thirteen years old," Violet's father said, "I don't mean before that day either. I forgot how happy she is when she's with you. I forgot how much like her old self, her carefree and courageous self, she is when she's with you. I can't match you physically but I have enough power to level nearly every aspect of your life if you ever hurt my little girl. I don't think it's even necessary to point that out though. I can see you love her. She loves you. If you want a blessing, then you have it. If you wanted my permission to have her hand, you have that too."
Standing now at the front of the church, he felt the weight of Mr. Markham's words. He looked over as Mrs. Markham took her seat and smiled at him. He scanned the church again and spotted his brother-in-law Nathan behind Lou surrounded by the children. Celinda would be serving as matron of honor. No doubt she was helping Violet with her dress or flowers at that moment. He knew the time was close and thinking how close he was to promising the rest of his life to marriage actually calmed him. He knew this was right. It was maybe the only right thing he had ever done in all his days.
Music started and he saw his sister heading toward him with a wide smile. He had wired her at Violet's insistence and she had been overjoyed that he had finally seen fit to settle down. She and Nathan had been in town for the last week. It had been wonderful to reconnect with his sister and meet his nephew and nieces. Celinda had taken an instant liking to Violet and even though Violet was going to ask Celinda to stand with her anyway on merit of her being Jimmy's sister, Jimmy thought that she had ultimately asked because they had become friends.
The day before, a wire had come from Lydia. She was not able to make it for the wedding but would come and visit soon. She was even married now and was bringing her children with her. Her husband needed to stay and tend the farm. Jimmy had known that Violet was bringing him the promise of family with a future he hadn't contemplated before but that she would help him rediscover his relationship with his sisters was something unexpected. Meeting nieces and nephews for the first time was something he honestly never thought he would be able to do and had tried to convince himself he didn't even want to. Someday perhaps he could even introduce his sisters to his children.
Celinda reached the front of the church and took a second to give him a quick hug. Then the music changed and everyone stood and looked toward the back of the church. Jimmy did too and at first saw nothing but then there was Tom Markham looking prouder than Jimmy thought he'd ever seen a father look. On his arm was Violet. Even through her veil, he could see she was glowing. The dress was off her shoulders with a wide lace ruffle covering her arms almost to the elbow. The sleeves puffed down to her delicate wrists. The skirt was full and Jimmy almost wondered how there was room for the skirt and Mr. Markham in the aisle of the small church. It ruffled at the bottom and had a huge layer of ornate beaded lace over top. Most of her hair was piled atop her head and in front he could see white flowers and ivy under the veil. He could also see the hair that wasn't piled had been cajoled into perfect ringlets that cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. She held a bouquet of roses and ivy in her hand. She looked around the church and then her eyes met his and locked onto them. He could feel that connection, that feeling that this was predetermined. He knew she felt it too as she offered him a smile.
Mr. Markham and Violet made their way to the front of the church and Jimmy was surprised when, before he did anything else, Tom Markham shook his hand. Then gave his daughter a hug and placed her hand in Jimmy's. Jimmy once again felt the weight and importance of what was about to happen. Teaspoon cleared his throat and Jimmy tried to pay attention but he kept being distracted by the beauty beside him. It wasn't proper to notice in a church but she had once again cinched her corset extra tight and the low cut of the dress was making him think more about the wedding night than the ceremony taking place around him. He still managed to say the right things at the right times and slipped the simple gold band on her finger. Finally Teaspoon told him to kiss his bride which he gladly did. They were announced as husband and wife and Jimmy thought the buttons might pop right off of his shirt for how his chest swelled at the thought that this lovely woman was his wife.
The rest of the night was a blur to Jimmy except for when the band started up and he led his lovely Violet to the dance floor. They swayed to the music, the only people on earth as far as they cared. It was them against the world from then on out and perhaps it always had been. Her body felt right against his and his arms felt meant to hold her. She had taken off her veil and he could see the glint of the clip as the purple stones sparkled in the lamplight. She was beautiful and she was perfect and she was his. She had told him once that she clung to the belief that everything happened for a reason, even the bad things, maybe especially the bad things. He knew he'd never be glad that man had hurt her as he had but if she hadn't been attacked, their fates would never have become so tangled together as to allow this to happen. He wouldn't have her in his arms right now and wouldn't be looking at the next forever with her. He'd heard that when a person dies, their life flashes before their eyes, the past. No one told him that when he married his future would flash before his. He saw himself with a young boy, standing behind him and helping him steady one of his Colts on a target while Violet beamed at him stroking a rounded belly. He saw himself helping a young girl on a horse that looked like Sundance, and not wanting to let her go to take the horse's lead so he could take her around a corral. He saw another wedding day where that curly haired girl was grown and wore the white dress and clung to his arm down the aisle as a young man looked at her with his eyes shining with love. He saw himself and Violet sitting on a porch, grey haired and smiling with their hands clasped tightly.
The party wound down and the couple decided to head for home. Violet looked at him confused when he led her in the opposite direction of her house. She had spent the night before at her parents' house so she had been oblivious to his preparing this for her. None of her things occupied the small dwelling as they had all been moved to what would be their new home.
"I have a little wedding present for you," he tried to explain without giving too much away.
"I'm sure you do but don't we have to be home for you to give it to me?" she asked, her eyebrow arching.
"That ain't the present I'm talking about but it's nice you think that highly of it."
She giggled, "Why yes, I have grown rather fond of it."
"The feeling's pretty mutual there, Mrs. Hickok."
She stopped dead in her tracks as an odd smile played across her face.
"Mrs. Hickok," she said dreamily, "Violet Hickok. Violet Sarah Hickok. I used to doodle that on my tablets when I was younger. Who would have thought it would ever be the truth?"
She took up his arm again.
"So where are we going, my love?"
"Home," he said stopping in front of what had once been the Pony Express station. She had been so busy with teaching and with wedding preparations that she hadn't known the activity had been going on at the place. He and Kid had painted it and put the roof to good repair again. The porch was new and larger and now had room for a little couch, Violet called it a settee, like at her parents' house. The barn had been fixed up and he had even gotten Lou's help with curtains and things like that. It looked like a nice home for a couple just starting out. He wasn't sure what she had planned for children but he knew he could add on if he needed to.
"You did all this for me?" she asked.
"For us," he said shaking his head, "This was home to me once and I like the idea it could be again."
"It's perfect," she told him throwing her arms around his neck. "I didn't want to say this before but we're going to need the extra room sooner than you maybe thought."
He looked at her in question.
"I'm going to have a baby," she clarified, "Hopefully not too many people around town can count past seven because that's all the farther I'll get before it comes."
"Baby?" he asked getting a silly smile on his face and she nodded at him. "Are you okay? I should get you off your feet. Maybe you shouldn't be teaching all them kids every day. That could be too much for you."
He bent down and placed a hand over her belly.
"Should you really have your corset this tight?"
She laughed at him.
"I am fine, Jimmy. What are you going to be like once the baby is born?"
"Worse," he said simply, "Much worse. Still I do need to get you off your feet and carry you over the threshold of our home."
"I do like the sound of that," she told him, "And then can I have my other wedding present?"
"As you wish."
And with that I think I can leave those two to their happy ever aftering. A new life to begin together, their lives laid out before them just waiting to be lived and a Hickok baby on the way. And those who know me know that I just love the very thought of Hickok babies! Jimmy is pleased with this ending. And I do love the woman Violet became. I think this is something close to the woman she was destined to become before the Shadow got her. A little stronger perhaps and maybe a little more cautious but she got her joy back and that is so important. I hope the journey was worth taking with us. I enjoyed it even when they were utterly vexing to me. I thank you all for taking the trip. What follows this note is the lyrics to a song from Mumford and Sons as yet unreleased new CD. It is due out September 24. I think if you read the poetic words of one Marcus Mumford that you will understand how they apply to dear Jimmy and Violet.-J
Hopeless Wanderer – Mumford and Sons
Hear my voice
I came out of the woods by choice
Shelter also gave their shade
And in the dark I have no name
So leave that click in my head
And I will remember the words that you said
Left a clouded mind and a heavy heart
But I am sure we'll see a new start
So when your hopes on fire
But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame
Don't let your heart grow cold
I will call you by name
I will share your road
I wrestled long with my youth
I tried so hard to live in the truth
But do not tell me what is right
When I lose my head, I lose my spine
So leave that click in my head
And I won't remember the words that you said
You brought me out from the cold
Now, how I long, how I long to grow old
So when your hopes are on fire
But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame
Don't let your heart grow cold
I will call you by name
I will share your road
Hold me fast, Hold me fast
Cuz I'm a hopeless wanderer
Hold me fast, Hold me fast
Cuz I'm a hopeless wanderer
I will learn, I will learn to love the sky I wander
I will learn, I will learn to love the sky I wander
The sky I wander