Mark stirred, burrowing in Luke's chest, and his father looked down at him with affection. It was always the same on a stagecoach. First the boy couldn't sit still, bouncing from window to window to watch the world go by, then he would get ravenously hungry and have something to eat. He would end by going to sleep with his father as a pillow. It always gave Luke a pang, evoking as it did the memory of the days after Margaret's death when Mark would follow him everywhere, clutching his shirt and climbing in his lap whenever he sat down and refusing to sleep alone. Luke had tried putting Mark's bed in his own room and every night he tucked the little boy in and told him a bedtime story and waited until he dozed off. And every night as soon as he lay down himself, Mark would crawl in bed with him and nothing but the deepest sleep ever loosened those tiny clinging hands. Eventually the boy grew out of needing to keep Luke in his sight at all times but when they built the new house, Mark refused a room of his own. He still wanted to go to sleep with his father close by.
The stage went over a big bump and Mark was jostled awake. He smiled up sleepily at Luke. "Are we almost home, Pa?"
"Sit up and I'll ask the driver." Luke stuck his head out the window. "How much farther, Cole?"
The driver called down, "About ten miles, Lucas. I can stop for five minutes if you want to stretch your legs."
Luke turned his head. "Do you need to walk around a little, son?"
Mark shook his head. "I can make it, Pa."
The other passengers nodded in agreement. One was Mr Sullivan, a man of about forty on a tour of inspection for the stagecoach line; and one was a drifter hoping to find work in North Fork. The third was an old whisky drummer with a large sample case.
"Keep going, Cole!" The big man sat back. "I'll be glad to get back, son, but I'm tired enough not to want to ride out to the ranch tonight. How about we stay at the hotel and go home tomorrow?"
Mark's face lit up. "I say that's a fine idea!"
"Then that's what we'll do." Luke leaned back and pulled his hat over his eyes. Mark tried looking out the window, but after a moment he rested against Luke's shoulder again, joining his father in sleep.