Warning: Tissue alert! Don't say I didn't warn you.

~oOo~

Previously: "You heard the man!" Jarrod said as he looked at the other men. "Let's start looking!" No one argued as each man started looking for the second opening. By the time the men actually found the second opening, Jarrod and Nick were sure they were going to climb right out of their skins. However, not knowing Crown's men had used this entrance trying to avoid attention, they were all shocked to see the boards had already been removed. It didn't matter though, as Nick and Jarrod were overjoyed to see Heath running towards them. However, their joy was short lived, as the sound of rumbling could be heard once more and rock and timber began falling around their brother.

~oOo~

Nick paced the length of the "sick room", as the doctor called it, while Jarrod stood with his face towards the window; Eliza sat next to the bed Heath laid in, while Hannah sat in the left hand corner. Upon arriving in town, Jarrod had talked with the sheriff about the stolen items, and the law man had wired the owners. The sheriff had told him that he let the owners know the coins had been found and to please send the five-thousand-dollar reward to Eliza's mother in Tennessee. He'd also shocked Jarrod by telling him that Mark Hillman was really Todd Jensen; an outlaw with a price on his head. That meant there was an additional two thousand dollars that needed to be given to someone. Jarrod had told the sheriff to have it deposited into the family's account and that he, Jarrod, would see his brothers got it. Jarrod had then wired the family, while Nick had gone straight to the doctor's office with Heath. Eliza and Hannah had showed up shortly afterwards. Now, Nick's couldn't stop the events of the past twenty four hours from repeating themselves more than once in his head.

"Heath!" Nick and Jarrod cried out simultaneously as the trembling mine grew still and all they could see was dirt, boards and rocks. Both men ran towards the humongous pile of debris, hollering for the other men to help them. Naturally, none of the men refused. Within seconds they were working as a team to get the items cleared away. Still, even with all the help they had ,it was still a good ten to fifteen minutes before they got to Heath, who seemed to be more dead than alive.

"Easy," "Be careful" and "We've got to get him to the doctor's!" were just some of the things that were said as they cautiously removed Heath from the mine.

Nick inwardly sighed as he turned around and saw the pain in Hannah's eyes. He then looked at Eliza; she was looking at Heath. Her eyes were full of hurt and guilt. The famous Stockton rancher knew she was blaming herself for what had happened to Heath. While he had to admit, a small portion of him wanted to lay the blame all at her feet, he knew he couldn't honestly do that. No one had forced Heath or himself to travel to Strawberry, and she had, more than once, told them they didn't have to go inside the mine. Walking up to Eliza, Nick put his hand on her shoulder and assured her she was not to take responsibility for what happened. "It was an unfortunate accident; that's all."

"But if I had just come to Strawberry by myself..." Eliza started to say, only to have Nick stop her.

"You would have been killed by those men, and we couldn't have that either. Let's just be glad big brother arrived to bring us help...or we'd all have perished in that mine." Nick said that because the "wall of debris" he thought would be so easy for him and Eliza to remove had proven to be tougher than he thought. Had Jarrod and the men not arrived, he wasn't sure he and Eliza would have had time to get out before the mine had the other cave in.

"I..." Eliza started to reply only to have Strawberry's doctor, a thirty two year old, brown haired gentleman with a roundish face, by the name of Hyrum Landon step into the room. Eliza moved out of his way to allow the good doctor to examine Heath for what seemed like the thousandth time. When he was done, Dr. Landon; a brown haired, round faced, gentleman-straightened up and looked at Jarrod, Nick, Eliza and Hannah. All of them found themselves holding their breaths, waiting for the doctor to speak.

"You said you wired your family?" Dr. Landon looked straight at Jarrod.

Jarrod felt his heart stop. The doctor wouldn't ask that unless he thought...Jarrod stopped his train of thought; he had to. "Yes, I did."

"Did you ask them to come to Strawberry?" The doctor hated to ask the question, especially when he saw the look of alarm appear on Jarrod's face, as it did upon Nick's, Eliza's and Hannah's.

"No, I didn't. Is that really necessary?" Jarrod asked quietly.

Dr. Landon sighed as he looked at one very still, and pale looking, Heath. "I guess not, as I don't know that it would do any good now. Not only did your brother suffer three broken ribs and a broken leg, but," the doctor sighed as he looked upon the pooling under Heath's skin and his extended belly, "he appears to be bleeding internally. I dare say he'll be gone by the time they get here."

"NO!" Nick and Hannah both exclaimed as Eliza's hands flew up to her mouth.

"I'm sorry. It doesn't look good, and I've done all I can for him. If I were you, I'd say my goodbyes." Realizing their need for privacy, the doctor turned to leave and then said over his shoulder. "I'll see my other patients in my other exam room today." He then walked out of the room and shut the door, leaving tears streaming down both women's face while Nick and Jarrod fought theirs.

Nick made his way to the free side of Heath's bed. Reaching down, he picked up Heath's hand. "You got to wake up, boy. You got to prove the doctor wrong." He just had to, Nick didn't want to lose his blonde haired brother. The rest of them joined in saying the same thing.

Tired as he was, Heath managed to open his eyes. At first grins spread over everyone's faces, and then he spoke; tearing their world apart. "Let me go, it won't be the end. Remember, knights live forever."

"No," Jarrod, who had also moved to the side of Heath's bed. "Please, you got to fight to stay. We need you; the family needs you."

Heath gave them a weak, crooked smile. "As long as you remember me, you'll never really lose me." He then managed to look at Hannah. "I did what I had to do, hope you understand that."

Hannah simply nodded, unable to speak.

Heath then turned his attention to Eliza, who again had tears streaming down her face. Without asking, he knew what she was thinking. "Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. And," he looked at her left hand. "I'd like you to keep the ring. It fits perfectly." He then asked Jarrod to make sure she was taken care of, as if the two of them had actually gotten married. Afterwards, he started to close his eyes, only to hear Nick again begging him to stay; after all, there was still their mother and sister to think about.

"I always hated goodbyes. Tell them I'm sorry; tell them I love them." Heath whispered and repeated what he said about letting him go.

Out of the three, only Jarrod was able to find his voice. "It won't be the same without you, Heath. God bless you."

Heath then took a few more ragged breaths and slipped into the other side of life; the only things that could be heard in the room were Eliza's and Hannah's quiet sobbing and the sound of Nick and Jarrod's hearts breaking.

Epilogue

A gentle breeze was blowing through the northern pasture as Eliza sat in front of the headstone the family had placed upon Heath's grave. She ran her fingers over the engraving. HEATH THOMSON BARKLEY JULY 5, 1852 TO AUGUST 5, 1877. She might have continued tracing the words only she heard the sound of an approaching buggy. Turning her head, Eliza saw Victoria Barkley climbing out and walking her way. Eliza turned to face the headstone once more.

"I thought I might find you here." Victoria said as she sat down on the ground, next to Eliza.

After a few moments, Eliza again turned to face Victoria. It still amazed her that the Barkley Matriarch had insisted that Eliza and her mother; who had been advised by more than one doctor to move to someplace like Nevada or California, move into the guest house on the ranch. In fact, the way Victoria treated her, one would have thought she and Heath had actually married before he died as a result of his injuries. "I can't seem to stay away." Eliza admitted.

Victoria sighed. It had been one of the longest years in the family's life. Nick had practically drunk California dry for six months. Thank heavens Jarrod and Eugene had been able to get through to her hot tempered son. It had taken him awhile, but Nick's feet were pretty much on solid ground once more. The rest of the family had struggled also, just not as visibly as Nick. Then again, Jarrod had Rachel to lean on so that helped him out a lot.

Lightly touching Eliza's arm, Victoria said, "No one's asking you too." Victoria then told her the same thing she had told the rest of her family, "But you need to go forward with your life. Heath would never want any of us to grieve forever. Just keep him alive in a portion of your heart." She then stood up and held out her hand. "Come back to the house. Silas has cooked a fine supper, one that both you and your mother are more than welcome to join."

Eliza smiled as she took a hold of Victoria's hand and stood up. "Thank you."

As the years passed by Eliza did as Victoria had said and made the most of her life...which included teaching school for over thirty years and playing "aunt" to all the Barkley grandchildren that eventually joined the Barkley clan. The Barkleys always thought of her as a member of the family. However, Eliza Klampton would never wear another man's ring. As she once told her friends 'No one could ever turn my head the way Heath Barkley did. He's my one and only Knight'.