Dear Mort,

I hope this letter finds you well. I know that the town is in good hands thanks to your leadership.

It's getting colder now. We had a small snow storm, just a few inches, but my sister started panicking. I almost laughed at her. Remember that storm we had a few years back, I think Mike was 10 or 11? Slim had to make a path from the house to the barn and the drifts made a wall twice the height of Mike!

I am sending my Christmas presents early due to possible storms and such. I hope you enjoy mine. I sent a warm, hand-knit scarf to Andy in Boston. I made quilts for Mike, Slim and Jess out of some old shirts I took with me when I left. I'm keeping Jess' here in my room.

Something rather strange happened to me the other night. I had been thinking about my family and had a most unusual dream. Now, I usually don't remember my dreams but this one was so real. I dreamt that many years had passed and I was traveling by train to visit Slim in Laramie. Andy had come back to take over Sam's practice and Mike was now working on the ranch with Slim. Jess was never far from our thoughts, but hardly ever did anyone talk about him.

Anyway, I was on a train with a stop over in Cheyenne. In the compartment next to me there was a young mother with two small children. The boy, whose name was Matthew John, who the mother called "'MJ" and the baby girl was Jessica. Well, the mother had her hands full so I offered to keep her son entertained with stories. All too soon, we reached Cheyenne where the family was to meet up with the father. I got off the train to stretch my legs and the young father appeared out of nowhere to scoop up his children and hug his wife. The mother indicated that she wanted to introduce me to her husband and when he turned around, it was Jess! And then I woke up!

I have thought about that dream a lot since then. Maybe it's wishful thinking but if he had been injured and lost his memory maybe he found a new life. I hope so.

This will be my first Christmas away from my family. I suspected, a long time ago, that my visit had been planned by Slim and Violet. I was angry at first but I realized that Slim was only thinking about me. I was distraught over Jess' disappearance and probably making myself sick. If I couldn't take care of myself, how was I going to take care of Slim?

I miss my family, Mort. I know that you and some other of Slim's friends like that dear Miss Benson will keep him company. I do hope he's found someone to help him with the ranch by now.

I do want you to know that you have an army of volunteers who will help you in taking care of Slim. I know that probably surprises you. You see, I did a lot of things besides cooking and cleaning at the ranch! I helped deliver babies, sang in the church choir, taught at the Laramie school and was part of a sewing circle. There are a lot of women folk who would just love to take care of Slim but none as much as dear Marcie Benson.

Now, I know for a fact that they were getting closer and he was going to ask her brother if he could court her but then Jess disappeared and I'm sure he hasn't pursued her at all. Anyway, if he ever gets sick you now know who you can call on to help.

Please look after him Mort.

Daisy Cooper

PS: Have a Merry Christmas.

Daisy POV

Daisy wiped her eyes and sat back in her chair. 'I'm a sentimental old lady' she chided herself. She missed the planning for Christmas dinner, making the ornament for the family tree, all the secrets and the big holiday town social. 'Maybe I can talk Slim into letting me come home in the spring,' she thought to herself. She got up from her chair and put the finished letter on her desk. Jess' quilt lay across her rocker . Somehow she couldn't bring herself to wrapping it and putting it away. 'Maybe I'll use it and keep his memory alive' she thought to herself.