As surprised as Kid was that Ebenezer gave him the brandy, he was even more surprised when he wordlessly began to follow him back.

They split up at the house. Kid went to deliver the treatment to Ruth through the window of her room, while Ebenezer went to see James using a more traditional means.

Mary could have been knocked over with a feather seeing the brother-in-law she hadn't seen in years standing at the door. She didn't know what to say. She moved to let him in, and he went towards his brother's room as if he had just been over there yesterday.

"Eb," James said with great emotion. He might have been the one least surprised and the most overjoyed.

"And people say I'm the strange bird, but you're there laying on your deathbed, smiling. What kind of sense is that?"

"You know why I'm smiling. It's the same reason you used to smile. I know where I'm going when I die."

"I'm not sure I want to go anymore. What kind of God sits up in the heavens and decides who to take and who to leave? It's cruel what He did to me, taking my family away. I can't let go of the past."

"Emmeline and your boys are not in the past, they're in the future."

The words startled him. He'd never heard it said that way before.

"It may not seem like it some days, but years pass by in the blink of an eye. This life wasn't meant to be wasted, living alone. It was meant to be used to the glory of God."

The words cut him to the quick, but more than that he could see how many years really had passed in the lines of his brother's face. It was a wake-up call. Tears fell down his face, tears he had long denied himself. He wanted to see Emmaline and his two sons again, and he wanted to be right with God again. "Pray for me."

"More prayers have gone up on your behalf than you'll ever know."

sss

"What is it?" Ruth asked.

Kid hadn't dared leave it in the bottle. He'd pulled out a few drinks into a small cup and gave it to her at various intervals. "Medicine."

She took one drink before making a face. "It's sweet, but it tastes awful, and my mouth and stomach are burning,"

"Good, it means it's working." It was her third time drinking the stuff, but the first time she had her presence of mind while drinking it. He was already seeing a difference. She had more color in her cheeks.

She sniffed it and recognized the smell. "Kid Cole, if you are liquoring me up, I swear I'm going to knock you into kingdom come."

He couldn't help smiling. He was happy to see her getting her dander up. It meant the brandy was working. He kissed the top of her head. "Now why would I want to liquor you up? I already got you into my bed."

"Kid!" she chastised. He loved the way he could still make her flush. Thankfully, the teasing had gotten her mind off the brandy, and she finished the cup. "Yuck. Do you have water to wash it down?"

"Sure do," he said passing her the cup. "Got a little soup, too."

She only ate a little. She mostly drank, but she had eaten. He was full of hope for the first time since Ruth had gotten sick, and he didn't forget to thank God for His goodness.

sss

Ruth continued to improve and eventually figured out he had been giving her brandy. She refused to drink any more and gave him a lecture about the dangers of alcohol from the Bible. He didn't mind he'd been found out because by then she had moved to solid foods and was sitting up in bed for short stints, so she probably didn't need it. He listened to her recite verses on the evils of drinking and agreed with her though he would have had her drinking again if he'd had to. It could have played a part in what saved her life.

She was doing so well healthwise, Bonnie announced she could receive visitors without worry of spreading the sickness though she still needed some time in bed to recover fully.

One of her first visitors was Ebenezer. "Uncle Ebenezer! I see it, but I don't believe it. What convinced you to finally leave your cabin?"

"You did, I guess, in a roundabout way. Your husband was willing to risk his life to see you better, and I wanted to see if he was telling me the truth about James and then I just wanted to see my brother. Sorry about shooting at you like I did. I was trying to drive you away; I wouldn't have actually shot you."

Her lips curved in delight and humor. "You don't seem nearly as scary close up."

"Maybe because I've decided to rededicate my life to Christ. I carved the biggest cross you ever saw and planted it at my family's graves. The whole valley can see it probably. I hope it'll remind people that God saves people like me, people that have lost everything and completely given up."

"You've raised your Ebenezer," Ruth said. She was still feeling too bad to sing the words of the beautiful hymn, but she could hear that line of the song playing in her head.

The name, Ebenezer, referred to the stone the Israelites had placed as a monument. They'd fallen away from God and suffered trouble and sadness, but then they repented and recommitted themselves to the Lord. God forgave them, and the Ebenezer stone reminded them of their fresh beginning thanks to the mercy of God.

"You're right. It's almost like Ma was a prophetess as if she knew I'd wander away but come back. I wish I had talked to her before she died. Told her I loved her."

"I kind of believe she knows and is rejoicing with the angels as we speak. And you'll get the chance to tell her one day." It felt as if a rock settled in the pit of her stomach as another thought crossed her mind. Her father's dying wish had just been granted.