Kid felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of his sails. He laid down on his bed of hay and folded his arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to process what had just happened.

At least she had finally admitted she loved him, but he knew the declaration from the mulish woman wasn't the same as an agreement to marry him. Even her initiating a kiss wasn't the victory he'd hoped for. He saw that she would be trying to distance herself from him even more.

"I lost everything when I lost Ben," he said out loud. He had too; he'd lost his childish faith, his family, his home, his self worth. He'd been a shell of a man roaming through the west, trying to forget his sorrows however he could. He hadn't come close to doing so until he met Ruth. "And now for the first time I see a future for me. And You're not going to ruin it for me this time." Was it ridiculous to threaten the Creator? He was sure of it, but it felt good to vent anyway. "Why does she have to be such a faithful follower of You?" He could almost hear the question God would throw back at him. 'Would you love her as much if she wasn't?' "No, I probably wouldn't. I just can't—I don't understand—" Every sentence lodged in his throat as he wrestled with his thoughts and feelings. "I'm angry at You for taking my brother so soon. I'm angry with myself for being the cause. I'm angry at my family for not trying to get in contact with me. I'm angry that I'm so good with a gun that I have all those confound it people trying to shoot me down for it. I'm angry Ruth won't marry me unless I get myself right with You. But mostly I'm just angry."

It wasn't the first time he'd given thought to God, but it was the first time He'd talked to Him directly since the accident. It wasn't a beautiful or reverent prayer, but it was a prayer. Ruth would probably be jumping with glee just to know that he was talking to Him.

He fell asleep at some point while pondering his misery and awoke to the sound of someone giving a loud cry of bereavement. It was still pitch dark. He ran out to discover the source.

The source was Maude. Ruth, Olive, and Loren had come outside too. They were all dressed in their nightgowns, and in the women's case their hair was down. Ruth's hair still wasn't completely down as she was wearing it in a braid, but it reached down past her elbows, and Kid admired the sight until the rider's strident voice interrupted it. "So you got to come right away, Miss Mau—Mrs. Bray. Your pa's color didn't look real good. Your ma sent me and said you shouldn't tarry."

Maude's eyes were round as saucers and she was trembling. Loren ducked into the house and came back out with his long coat and used it to cover her nightgown. "You ride with him. We'll follow just as soon as we get dressed."

She nodded, looking too shell-shocked to say much. The rider pulled her onto the back of the horse, and they rode toward her parents' ranch in a gallop.

Kid was already dressed. He got the wagon and horses ready while Ruth, Olive, and Loren dressed. Loren carried a change of clothes for Maude. It took no time at all on anybody's part, but he was already gone when they got there.

Maude had an arm around her mother though she looked grief-stricken herself.

"His heart," Mrs. Appleby said with a sob. "His heart it just gave out on him. He insisted on helping put the barn to right instead of letting them boys do it all. He—he was gone so quickly. What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"

"First, you and Maude are going to sit down," Ruth said gently, leading the grieving women to the couch, resting a comforting hand on their shoulders. "Do you want more time to say goodbye or do you want to take care of the body yourself?"

Maude shook her head straight away. "I got my chance to say goodbye." Mrs. Appleby took some time to think about it, but then she shook her head too.

Loren didn't look like he knew what to do. Olive urged him over to sit down with their neighbors and now family members to offer what consolement he could.

Kid went around the house, making sure all the windows were shut tight and draping cloths over the mirrors and picture frames, and stopping the clocks.

Ruth headed toward the bedroom. "I'll help you, Ruth," Olive offered, following her there to where Mr. Appleby had died.

Mr. Appleby hadn't been terribly young, but he hadn't been terribly old either. He was a terrible pallid color, and there was still a sheen of sweat on his cold skin.

"What a way to lose your father on your wedding night, although I guess there's never a good time for it," Olive said, shaking her head sadly as she pulled out his best clothes. She and Ruth dressed him. Then Olive brought the pitcher of water in the room over, along with a rag, and began washing. Ruth took a comb and brushed his hair.

"We better get him in the ground fast," Olive said when they were finished, referring to the heat this time of year. "I'm guessing someone rode out to tell Dorothy."

"I assume. It's a shame she lived too far away to get to see him before he passed on. I'll ask Mrs. Appleby and Maude if they want to have the funeral as soon as she gets here."

"Yeah, no sense in having a visitation. Ain't enough folks out here for that," Olive said.

The ranch hands had made a casket using some of the old crates that had been laying around the place. It wasn't fancy, but it served its purpose. They'd also taken the initiative to dig the spot for him to be buried.

Mrs. Appleby agreed that they should have the funeral as soon Dorothy arrived, and she got there just as dawn came with a noticeably absent Marcus. "Is he—" she began, but she didn't finish because she could tell from the tears her mother and sister were shedding that he was gone, and she joined their weeping.

"Would you say a few words?" Maude asked Ruth, her voice broken from the crying but still comprehensible.

"Of course," Ruth said.

The ranch hands went and put his body in the rough and ready casket and became his pall-bearers as they carried him out to the grave site.

To Loren's credit, he had an arm around his silently weeping wife and his eyes never strayed to the sobbing Dorothy, who held onto her mother for support and comfort.

"'Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.'" Ruth recited. She could tell that the family didn't want a long service. "One of the shortest but most powerful verses in the Bible is John 11:35. 'Jesus wept.' Don't be ashamed by your tears and know that God grieves with you all, my sisters and brothers, but also remember that Jesus Christ has conquered the grave. 'O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?' Let's sing together words of hope as we send-off this godly man."

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess within the veil
A life of joy and peace"

They stayed standing in respectful silence around the grave until the last clod of dirt was packed down. The Appleby women went quietly into the house together with puffy eyes and streaked faces, not wanting to linger there a moment longer.

Ruth felt drained. She had officiated her first wedding and funeral within 12 hours of each other and within the same family, but that was life, she supposed, especially out here where marriages needed to be made promptly for survival and deaths were quick with little available medical help.

Maude and Loren had decided they were going to stay with Mrs. Appleby for an extended period of time while Olive saw to the ranch. Ruth hoped the tragedy brought the sisters closer together again, but sometimes the opposite happened and a death of a parent caused siblings to grow further apart.

"Don't let it interrupt your travel plans," Olive said. "You two go ahead on. We'll all be fine. There's others in more dire need of help than us."

Loren agreed. "I'll pass along your goodbyes. I think they need some time to take in the passing just the 3 of them. Things had to happen swift what with the weather, but they're still taking it all in."

In a way she felt bad about leaving on such a tragic note, but they didn't need the added pressure that came from having guests. "I'm sure you're right. Ya'll will never be far from my prayers," she promised.

They returned to the Brays' for their horses and things which were already packed.

"Always death and more death," Kid muttered as they swung up onto the horses.

"Always coupled with hope in Christ and comfort from the Holy Ghost. Mr. Appleby is experiencing joy beyond measure right now."

"Do you always look on the sunny side of life?" Kid asked.

"I try, brother," she said with a small smile. "I try."