That Emily had chased Charles off the Barkley Ranch, even firing a shot off at him, made for good family entertainment. No one, however, was able to chase him out of Stockton and that's where he stayed for the next few weeks, sequestered in his hotel room, making near daily visits to the telegraph office, keeping his Seattle lawyers busy.

A Seattle judge threw out Charles' request for custody of his son but not before Stockton's sheriff came to the ranch several times to ask for the boy. Always, he was told that Charles, Junior was not there; he didn't believe it for a minute but he was not about to get embroiled in a family matter and certainly not with this family with whom he happened to be good friends. There was a flurry of legal wrangling between Charles and Audra's respective attorneys in Seattle, Jarrod in San Francisco, and always, reports on the same coming to Stockton.

No one in the family actually came out and lied about the whereabouts of Charles, Junior. They simply stated he was not at the house and, if he was on the ranch, they had no idea where. It was true; he was no longer staying at the house. Instead, he stayed with Heath and Sarah at their house or at a line shack. Sometimes, he stayed at the fort, Daniel and Tommy Wheeler keeping careful watch at all times and having the best time doing so.

In the meantime, a ranch hand was positioned near the road to town should Charles decide to return to the ranch and cause trouble. Nick stayed close to the house for the same reason, his sentry duty occasionally relieved by Heath or one of the older boys. It was one day that Tom stayed home, armed and ready, that Emily, still tired but recovering, noted the faded bruising on his eye and he made a full confession to her, telling her how his father had bailed him out of jail. He saw his mother grasp the arms of the chair so hard her knuckles turned white and she pressed her lips together, thinking. He waited.

"And what did your father have to say about it?" she asked.

"He hollered at me all the way home from jail and then he didn't speak to me for days after that." Tom looked over at his mother, feeling bad that she had to deal with his nonsense when she was trying to get well after being so sick. "I have to pay him back the money he paid for the fine and the damages. I'm sorry, Mother."

Emily closed her eyes, thinking. "Your father's life is in this ranch; his blood, his sweat, his love and he'll never give it up easily." She opened her eyes and looked at her first born. "And you are very much your father's son. I know you're eager to take charge and, one day, you will be fully in charge. Until then, you need to find a way to work with him without butting heads so much. Let him lead and give yourself a day or so to decide if and how you want to follow. And give him time to reconsider his decisions." She smiled. "It's always worked for me."

"But he's so stubborn!" Tom was pacing.

"Yes. And so are you. You cannot change him; you can only change the way you respond to him. Going to town and getting in a fight because you're frustrated with your father is only going to get you jail time and more fines." Tom promised his mother he would try to rein in his temper where his father was concerned; he already knew he would need to be the one to change, to soften. He just resented it.

Emily also talked with Nick about Tom, encouraging him to give their first born more autonomy. Nick listened and objected and resisted but a few days later did just what Emily had suggested, though he wouldn't tell her that. Nick's primary concern was Emily and he was relieved beyond measure to see her well again. Late one night, as they lay together, he told her how frightened he had been at the thought of losing her.

"No one lives forever, Nick, and we've been very blessed with our children." She hesitated a moment, remembering the one baby she did lose. "When Julia was so very sick, I realized that if I lost any of my children, I couldn't go on. I just couldn't." She paused again. "When I die, I want to die like this," she snuggled in a little closer, "my children safe and well, myself asleep and in your arms."

"Like hell you'll die like that," he said, shaking his head. "I'm going first. I'm older and I'm not living without you." He sat up a little, looking at her, smiling, "and, God knows, you can take care of yourself against any dangers."

A date was set for the court in Seattle to hear Audra's petition for divorce. Jarrod would be accompanying her and preliminary travel arrangements were made. Emily gave a deposition attesting to the bruises she had seen.

Charles returned to his fine home on Seattle's Capital Hill but discovered his local business dealings had fallen off by a not insignificant amount. Whatever the outcome of the divorce hearing, he was now publically named a philanderer and a wife beater. Where some people in Seattle's upper society might be willing to look past the former, they could not ignore the latter and together the two misdeeds made him a social pariah and a poor business risk.

There were few in Seattle's elite society who weren't at least acquainted with Charles Lorton's wandering eye but the city was too young and too eager to prove itself to allow names to be named. The society ladies were scandalized and Esther Nelson, the "other woman"named, soon found her social calendar bereft of activity. Instead, she had to remain at home with her husband who had been publicly cuckolded. But it did not last; he moved out, filed for divorce, and severed all financial ties with Charles Lorton. The biggest gossip surrounding the upcoming Lorton divorce pertained to the allegations of cruelty and the local newspapers vied with each other for whatever details they could uncover. One lucky reporter used just the right bribes on just the right people to get a look at Mrs. Nicholas Barkley's deposition. In the court of public opinion, the case was settled by overwhelming vote in favor of the wronged wife.

Audra remained unaware of anything that was happening with Seattle's social set. The reverberations of her allegations had no effect on her friendships, for she had none, only acquaintances. Charles had seen to that.

Summer wore on and it was an unusually hot summer on the West Coast. Emily continued to regain her strength and energy while Julia still liked to talk about the time she saw her momma point a gun at a bad man. Nick would smile proudly and Audra said she swore when she saw Emily standing there with the rifle she thought it was her mother for a fleeting moment.

Charles, Junior had returned to the house and the debate still raged as to whether or not he should accompany his mother and uncle to Seattle. Audra never wavered from her position of divorcing Charles but as the date grew nearer and the train tickets were purchased, she became anxious and nervous.

Two days before Jarrod was to arrive in Stockton and three days before he and Audra were to leave together for Seattle, a telegram, marked "urgent," was delivered to the house. Charles A. Lorton, Senior, was dead.