Death Has Its Price

Chapter 24 –The End of the Beginning

Two days later they were on the road headed north. The morning after the shooting Bart had woken with a splitting headache, courtesy no doubt of the dead man's bullet. Having learned his lesson with aspirin the hard way, he stayed in bed and waited for the pain to dissipate by itself. Bret explained the aspirin allergy and one more mystery was solved.

The three men were happy to bid adieu to Tucson. Bart had made a lot of money there, at considerable risk to his person. Doc had added another body to his already burgeoning count, and Bret had been thrilled beyond belief with the discovery of his brother and then scared to death over the prospect of losing him. Amy had reclaimed the man she loved and then almost had him snatched away by a worthless saddle tramp, so she was just as pleased as anyone else in the group to begin the journey.

They took their time riding north, the only one overly-anxious to go home being Noble. Bret and Doc both admired the gelding that seemed to have grown permanently attached to the young gambler; he'd tolerate someone else saddling him, but heaven forbid if they made a move to ride him. Camping at night didn't require posting a sentry – if anyone or anything got close to the group Noble was alert and skittish enough to wake everyone.

By the third afternoon, the outer edges of the Stanhope Ranch were in sight. It didn't take long before a welcoming committee consisting of Pete, Jess and Sandy had ridden out to greet them, a far sight happier to see Bart then they had been the first time they laid eyes on him. By this time everyone at the spread knew the truth of his identity, and considering his acceptance by the ranch hands, they were glad that he was just a gambler and not Doc Holliday. Doc took no offense at the sentiment; he'd lived with it far too long to be disturbed by anyone's opinion. Once again Bret was amused and tickled to see how easily his brother made friends.

Gage was waiting for the group, but particularly his daughter, on the porch. Amy dismounted from Cooper quickly and rushed to greet her father, who had a big smile and a welcome handshake for the newly renamed 'Bart.' Doc and Bret were next in line for the Stanhope greeting, and to Bret he added a mouthed 'Thank you.' Bret acknowledged the show of appreciation with a tip of the hat, and all proceeded inside, while Cooper and Noble were once again reunited with their stablemates.

"Not quite uneventful?" Gage asked, pointing to the just-beginning-to-heal slash across his temple.

"My last experience as John Holliday," Bart explained.

"What happened to the man that caused that?"

"My latest experience as Doc Holliday," the gunslinger answered.

"Cora has lunch ready, everybody hungry?"

Later that afternoon Gage and Amy were sitting on the porch drinking Cora's sweet tea and discussing the events of the last ten days.

"How'd he take finding out who he really was?" Stanhope asked his daughter.

"Actually very well," Amy replied. "He still doesn't remember Bret or Doc, but little things seem to be making their way back slowly."

"Like what?"

"Well, he remembers a dog he and Bret had when they were kids. The dog's name was 'Whazit' because that's the first thing Bart said when their father brought the dog home. And the words to a song his momma used to sing to them at bedtime. Silly little pieces like that. But not much as an adult. Bret and Doc told him stories about things they've done and places they've been, but nothing seems to strike any kind of a chord with him."

"What does he remember from the rockslide?"

"He remembers his horse stumbling and falling, throwing him off, then not much until he woke up here. What if he never remembers anything more, daddy?"

Gage shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, daughter. Can you live with that?"

"I guess so. As long as it's not me he can't remember."

"What about marriage?" Gage had hesitated to bring up the subject before, but now that it wasn't John Holliday they were talking about –

"What about it?"

"Don't you want to be married, Amy, and raise a family?"

"Why can't we raise a family without getting married?"

"Amelia Stanhope! That's not the way your mother and I raised you!"

"No, daddy, you raised me to think for myself and respect other people's opinions. And I do. Why can't you?"

Gage wasn't going to argue with his girl, so he switched the focus of the discussion. "What does John – I mean Bart - think about it?"

"I don't know," Amy shook her head. "We haven't discussed it. I know how John felt, but not Bart."

"Are you going to ask him?"

"No."

There was that stubborn streak of hers. "Why not?"

"Because I don't care. I don't want to get married, dad. I don't want a man to tell me what I can and can't do, or what I should or shouldn't do."

"Not even Bart?"

She laughed then, her father trying to get a different answer to the same subject. "Not even Bart."

Gage grew quiet then, willing himself to drop the subject before he and Amy got into an even more frustrating discussion. Speaking of Bart, he emerged from the ranch house with a twinkle in his eye. "Hey, sunshine. How about a ride?"

"Out to our place?"

"Sure. Gage, have you got any more wine?"

So that's where his private supply was disappearing to? "Uh, yes. The old mine?"

Amy blushed. "How did you know?"

Gage laughed, then looked at Amy solemnly. "Your mother and I were young once, you know."

"Let's go. You get the wine, I'll get the horses."

Amy hurried off into the house. "How're you doin' with all this, Bart?"

"I'm alright. Funny to hear 'Bart' instead of 'John.' Sure a relief, though."

"Is it? At least you knew who you were as 'John'. Now – no past?"

"It'll come back or it won't. There's people that can tell me about my life."

"That's true. But it's your future I'm more curious about. No consumption, no dying young – future's whatever you want it to be."

"I still want Amy in my life, Gage. Now I don't hafta run away from her to protect her."

"Don't you?"

Bart looked at her father, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to protect her from anybody trying to kill you. What about from you?"

"Me?"

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a gambler, according to my brother."

"Traveling around the country, moving from town to town, never settling anywhere?"

"Pretty much."

"What kind of a life is that for a woman? For a lady? What if there are children? What then?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead."

Gage smiled at the man who loved his daughter. "Something to think about, isn't it?"

Amy emerged from the house, carrying the wine and cups. "Slowpoke, what are you waiting for?"

"My fault, Amy, we were talking."

She looked at her father skeptically. "About?"

Bart jumped in with an answer. "Life."

"Uh-huh," she responded. "Let's get Cooper and Noble."

XXXXXXXX

It was just as peaceful and quiet as the last time they'd visited. This was someplace Bart had never expected to see again, and it was one of his favorite spots. "Remember what we toasted the last time we were here?"

"Yes," she stated. "To the beginning of all things yet to come."

"Everything's different than it was then."

He watched the long blonde curls bounce up and down as she shook her head. "Not everything."

She held her empty cup up and he poured more wine. "Did you see the looks I got from Bret when we had dinner and I drank wine?"

"What was that about, did he tell you?"

"Neither one of us drinks, according to him. At least that explains the way I feel about whiskey. I can live the rest of my life and never touch the stuff again."

"Good. It's nasty stuff."

"Don't tell Doc that."

"Your turn to toast."

He held his cup up. "Hmmm. To our future, whatever it brings."

"Yes," she repeated, "Our future."

They drank and she snuggled against him. He put his arms around her and held her, something he thought just a few short days ago that he'd never be able to do again. "Amy," he breathed into her hair. "There's no reason we can't get married now. What about it?"

"That's what you and my father were talking about!"

"Sort of."

"I don't want to be married, Bart."

"You were serious? You weren't just saying that for my benefit?"

She nodded her head and pulled out of his embrace. "I was serious. Did you think I wasn't?"

"Well, I – yes, I thought you were just trying to give me a way out."

Amy sat up, turning her back on him. "I have no intention of getting married and leaving the ranch."

"Don't you want to go anywhere, see other things?"

"No. I'm happy where I am. I've never wanted to leave the ranch. Everything I need is right here."

"Even if going to those places is with me?"

She hesitated to answer; somehow she suspected her future was riding on the next few minutes. "I – I don't know."

"Amy, look at me."

Slowly she turned back to face him. She could see the questions, the pleading in his eyes. "Are you telling me you don't want to leave here ever? Not even to spend your life with me? I thought you loved me and wanted to be with me."

Her eyes focused on the blanket underneath them. "I do love you, Bart. More than almost anything. But I don't want to move around with no home and no anchor, when I have a perfectly good one right here. Can't you stay here with me? And just go into town to play poker?"

He was silent for a few minutes, while they sat there and watched their plans for a life together fall apart. "It's not what I want, Amy."

"I thought what you wanted was me."

"You are what I want."

"But you have me, right here on the ranch. Here where we can be together, and raise a family, and walk around without worrying about getting shot. Where we're free to be just us, and be together no matter what."

He shook his head, watching everything he thought was within his grasp continue to slip away. "I've been here almost a year. I felt it before, but I wasn't sure what it was. Now I know. Those stories Bret and Doc told – about traveling around, being free to go where the wind takes you. That's what I've been missing. That's what I want. Maybe I can settle in one place when I'm older, but not now. There's too much to do, too much to see. Too many Tucson's and New Orleans and California's – and I want to see the things they told me about. I want to go to places I haven't been, and go back to places I don't remember, and I want you to go with me. Are you saying you can't do that?"

"I'm saying I won't do that. Everything I've wanted my whole life is right here on the ranch. I don't want to go all those places, with people and things I don't know. I'm happy here, and comfortable, and you were, too."

And with a few little words his whole life blew up in front of him. "I'm saying I don't intend to leave here."