Epilogue

"Mother?!"

Victoria closed her eyes and sighed. "Nick, I'm in the living room, for heaven's sake."

"Oh," Nick said, and he and Heath came in, fresh from Modesto only two days after Jarrod came home and happy from a sale to the army. Both he and Heath leaned over and kissed Victoria as she went on with her sewing.

"Everything went well, I take it," Victoria said.

"Went perfect," Heath said.

"Where's Jarrod? Is he back?" Nick asked.

"He is," Jarrod said as he came in from the library. He shook hands with both his brothers.

"Did you find the woman you were looking for?" Heath asked.

Jarrod nodded. "Cecilia Paine, Levi Paine's wife. I found her, but it doesn't have a happy ending. She's trapped in another hopeless situation."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Nick said.

"At least you tried, Jarrod," Heath said.

Jarrod nodded. "You made a good sale?"

"An excellent sale," Nick said. "Even Carl Wheeler is happy, and you know how hard he is to please."

"Where's Audra?" Heath asked.

"She went to town to visit the orphans and get the mail," Victoria said. "She should be back soon. And you two should clean up before you leave the trail all over my house."

Nick and Heath headed for the stairs, but they stopped when Audra came in the front door.

"Nick! Heath!" she cried.

They gave her a kiss without a hug, not wanting to get her dusty and dirty.

"Anything good in the mail?" Heath asked.

"I don't know," Audra said. "There was no mail, but there was a telegram, for Jarrod."

Jarrod came over, and Audra handed him the telegram. Victoria got up and joined them as Jarrod opened it and read it. And he said, "Oh, my God. It's from Cecilia Paine."

"What does she say?" Victoria asked.

The surprise in Jarrod's face turned to a real, genuine smile. "She's sending it from Sacramento before she catches a train east. She's going home to Kansas City. She says she has family there who want her to come back. I can't believe it. She got away."

Victoria reached for him, and he took her into his arms.

"She got away!" he cried, and he literally did cry.

Victoria wiped the tears that fell down his face as Heath slapped him easily on the back.

"This calls for a celebration," Nick said.

"Not until you clean up and change clothes," Victoria said.

"You do smell like cattle," Audra said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Nick said. "Congratulations, Pappy. You won your case without having to go to court."

Nick and Heath headed upstairs as Jarrod walked with his mother and sister into the living room. He was still looking at the telegram as he sat down on the settee and his mother sat beside him.

"I think this makes me happier than any case I ever won," Jarrod said.

"You worked hard to save that woman," Victoria said. "I'm so happy you did."

Jarrod wondered how Cecilia managed to get away. He knew Mrs. Malloy had given her the money and that had something to do with it, but he could never know for sure where she got the courage, and he didn't need to know. He was just happy it had happened.

And he was happy all day, until he woke up in the middle of the night with another nightmare. He was back in that cabin, being beaten and whipped and torn apart all over again. Covered with sweat and terrified, he sat up on the edge of his bed until the nightmare began to pass. It was so dark in his room he couldn't see anything, but he could hear his breath coming in frightened bursts. He didn't understand. The nightmares should have stopped. Why was there another one?

And then he realized something. The face of Levi Paine in his dream was gone. It had been replaced by the face of Al Doulin.

He sat on the edge of his bed and closed his eyes.

The End