A Marriage of Inconvenience

Epilogue

One day almost six months later Bret was standing outside the Talmadge River Saloon in Talmadge, New Mexico, getting ready to light a cigar. He'd just gotten up from a poker game that had lasted most of the night and he needed a smoke, coffee and breakfast. 'One down' he thought as he struck a match. He looked up and down the small, dusty street. It was still very early in the morning and most of the town hadn't yet started to move. He could see a horse at the very edge of town, headed his way, and there was something familiar about the rider. Bret smoked for a few minutes and kept watching the horse get closer. Then it dawned on why the rider looked familiar. It was someone he hadn't seen for quite a while – his brother Bart.

"Hey Bart!" Bret called out as the pair approached. The rider straightened slightly in the saddle and smiled. "Brother Bret!" he yelled from about 10 feet away. Bart reined his horse over to the hitching rail and dismounted. Bret was so happy to see Bart in one piece that he practically threw his arms around his younger brother. Bart slapped Bret on the shoulder and pulled away from the unusual display of affection. "I didn't know you were here in Talmadge," Bart laughed.

"Yeah, been here since Tuesday. Every time I get ready to leave somebody new comes along to donate to the 'keep Mavericks gainfully unemployed' fund. I was just about to go get breakfast. Join me?"

To Bret's surprise Bart nodded yes. "Sure. Sounds like a fine idea."

Bret looked at Bart carefully. Outwardly he looked respectable. A little thinner, if that was even possible. Hair a little longer. Could stand a good shave. His clothes were a little trail dirty but that was an easy fix. It was what Bret couldn't see that worried him.

By the time he got to Dry Springs Bart was long gone. Samantha plied him with coffee and concern and told him the long sad story, even her part in causing the whole thing with her rescue of Bart all those months ago. Bret couldn't do much more than shake his head and let out a "tsk, tsk" every once in a while. He couldn't believe all the pain that his brother had gone through and how guilty he felt about not being there to help. Maybe there would have been a different outcome.

He stayed with Sam at the ranch for two weeks. She might have had to learn things the hard way, but learn them she had. Everything was running fairly smoothly and the ranch hands were settling in nicely with their new boss. They liked working for Samantha almost as much as they had for Caroline.

Bret talked to Jess and Walter and Jimmy Whitlock and got a clearer picture of Bart and Caroline's relationship. And how invaluable Bart had been around the Double C, much to Bret's surprise. Bart was quite capable of managing a ranch and worked as hard as any of the hands to keep things going. In fact, Bret was surprised how easily Bart had slipped into the role of ranch owner. Pappy had spent long years teaching his boys not to work any harder than they had to, but some of his teaching must have been lost on Bart.

Samantha was doing her darnedest to convince Bret to stay on longer and relax when they started hearing rumors about Bart. Drunken nights in Mexico. Crooked poker games. A never ending string of women. The stories kept coming in long and hard enough that Bret decided it was time to go find his brother. And then, just as suddenly as they had started, the rumors stopped.

That worried Bret even more. Wild escapades could be appreciated, even tolerated. What had happened to Bart would shake up any man. But no news at all, no tales of Bart's behavior or even whereabouts was unexpected. Bret explained to Sam as gently as he could that it was imperative that he find his brother, before something irreversible happened. Samantha was unhappy about the departure but understood. Bret took one of the saddle horses and left the next day, headed south.

There was no trace of Bart anywhere. It was almost as if he had fallen off the face of the earth. Bret tried Guadalajara and Guadalupe and every town in between. No, no one with that name had been in town. No, no one matching that description had been seen. In desperation Bret wired all of their old friends he could find, but no one had seen or heard from Bart. A month passed, then two, and Bret worried that something had indeed happened to his brother.

His money almost gone, Bret finally returned to the states and started playing poker again. He built his funds back up but it took him a while; his heart wasn't really in it. If it hadn't been for that incident in Yuma that almost got him lynched he might have kept traveling around, playing poker and winning only enough money to keep searching. After he escaped with his life, however, he knew that something had to change. Much as Bret loved Bart, if his brother was out there somewhere he would surface eventually. And if not, there was nothing that he could do about it.

That was the main reason that Bret was so stunned when Bart rode into Talmadge. While he was overjoyed to see that his younger brother was still alive, he was also surprised. Maybe a good meal would pry the information on his travels and hiding places from him.

They walked quietly to the town's café and entered. As Bart reached for the doorknob Bret noticed something new that he hadn't seen before – Bart was wearing a wide gold ring on his right pinkie finger. Bret made note of it and determined to ask him about it later. Right now the most important thing was coffee and food.

They talked about almost everything, except Caroline. As far as Bret could tell Bart seemed to be back to his old self, laughing and joking and telling tales. Once they finished breakfast they continued to sit and drink coffee. Until they reached a lull in the conversation and Bret decided that the time to ask had finally come.

"Say Bart, you disappeared for a long time. Want to talk about what happened?"

Bart's whole body stiffened for just a moment. In that second Bret saw the flicker of something in his eyes, so horrifying that it was painful to see. It was there for just an instant and was gone. And then something clicked in Bret's head and he knew where the pinkie ring came from. It was Bart's wedding ring.

Bart forced himself to relax. He smiled and answered his brother. It was the only answer he could give Bret.

"Nope."