Blowing in the Wind
A/N As you will see in this chapter, I have changed a couple of cannon facts.
Chapter Twenty Five
As the train sped along the tracks, John allowed his mind to wander to his last visit with Mrs. Davies, and then to the visit he'd paid the Carson City Cemetery afterwards. It had been a short, but necessary trip.
The wind was whipping though the graveyard, causing the few leaves that had fallen to the ground to dance from one spot to another. However, it was not blowing so hard as to chase the lone visitor who stood in front of two headstones. His eyes fell to the first headstone, a large rectangular slab of stone; he'd chiseled the words and numbers upon it himself. Eliza Hansen Summers June 1, 1850 - April 4, 1873, beloved daughter, sister and wife. His eyes turned to the smaller one-he'd also chiseled out the words upon it- 'Rachel Summers April 4, 1873-April 17, 1873 'An Angel'.
"I came to say hi and tell you I'm going away for a while, maybe for good; I don't know." The sound of a man swallowing hard, along with a few tears sliding off his cheeks and hitting the ground, could be heard throughout the otherwise silent graveyard. "Have family in Stockton from what I'm told, and it seems like my name should be Nick Barkley. Don't know when I'll actually change the name though, been John Summers far too long to simply drop it. Guess I'm not telling you anything you haven't found out by now, if things work the way Mama Davies seems to think they do that is."
John let out a long, drawn out, sigh. Leaving his wife and daughter behind in that graveyard was the one downside of agreeing to leave Carson City and traveling to Stockton with Jarrod. He'd visited the two graves on a weekly basis for the first year and then, over the next year, the visits had dwindled down to once a month. Guess he could take comfort in the fact that he would always have them in his heart, even if he didn't visit their physical graves for a while. John turned his face away from the window and looked at Jarrod. The words John had spoken to Jarrod when he, John, had walked out of his house and saw Jarrod and Steve sitting in their saddles waiting for him rang in his ears. "I'll promise you six months. I'll go with you to Stockton, to the ranch and at least meet and visit everyone. Past that I promise nothing." Jarrod had acknowledged he'd heard his brother and promised not to push him, as did Steve…even if he couldn't see how he'd have the opportunity to push John anyway, not with going to Modesto rejoin Lilly, Paulette and to visit his own biological family.
John might have continued thinking silently to himself only Jarrod started talking about Heath and the ranch. Since Jarrod had already told John that he would be expected to work under Heath, John put his private thoughts aside and listened.
"As I've said before, Heath is a hard worker and honest. He's also more than fair minded. He won't ask you to do anything that he won't do himself." Jarrod told him.
John sighed. He'd worked under Paul and then William. After Paul, it had seemed like heaven to work with William. Well, maybe not heaven, but definitely an improvement over working with the oldest Davies son. He couldn't help but wonder if he was going to wind up be extremely glad he'd left Nevada or find himself running as fast as he could back to there and the ranch that had been his home for so long. "A man should do that," John replied as he turned his eyes back towards the window, "I mean, be willing to do what he expects from others."
An awkward silence fell between the two brothers, neither quite sure what they should say. Then, out of nowhere-or so it seemed to Jarrod-John asked, "You ever been married?"
Jarrod felt a sharp pain go through his heart as he thought on his short lived marriage. "Yes," Jarrod answered quietly, "but she was killed by a bullet meant for me a week after we married."
John's head whipped away from the window, and he stared at Jarrod. "I am sorry." As he stopped staring and his eyes filled empathy for Jarrod. He might not have lost his wife by a bullet; still, he had lost her. "I guess I shouldn't have asked that."
Jarrod's gave him a small smile and shook his head, understanding appearing in his eyes. "You know very little about me. I will tell you about it." He leaned back and started telling his brother all about Beth and how, after her murder, he and Heath had joined up with the sheriff and others to track Cass Hyatt-who had ran after the shooting-down. A lightening fast look of grief flashed over Jarrod's eyes and then disappeared as he said, "I watched the man hang, but got very little satisfaction from it. Hyatt's hanging couldn't give Beth back to me."
John let out another sigh. "No, guess no matter what, neither one of us can get our wives back." he said and then shook off the melancholy feeling that was threatening to wash over him. He then asked about the rest of the family Jarrod spoke of. "Have any of them married?"
"Only the youngest, Eugene," Jarrod told him. "Baby brother married a young red headed woman by the name of Beatrice Hammond; he met her at Berkley last year. They live near the college and are expecting their first child sometime in January. He's still attending medical school." When John quickly turned his face towards the window yet again, Jarrod felt his heart hurt for his brother once more. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the mention of Eugene's impending fatherhood had struck a sore spot with John. Jarrod said nothing more; sensing that any more talking that happened between him and John would just have to wait.
While John and Jarrod fell back into silence, Kyle was doing his best to get comfortable in the boxcar while remaining hidden behind stacks of various sized boxes; he had plans to make.