Dear Mrs. Cooper,
Thank you so much for the Mark Twain book. So often, at the end of the day, I find myself re-reading old newspapers so now I can put my feet up, drink my coffee and get lost in Twain's stories.
Laramie is quiet now. Snow comes and goes. I think outlaws are too cold to go outside. It's wishful thinking, of course.
Slim has a new ranch hand! His name is Caleb Johnson and he lives on the other side of town with his family. Slim finally put a paid ad in the paper. He told me that he felt like it was disloyal to Jess but I convinced him that if Jess was here now he would want Slim to have help and so Caleb answered the ad. He came to me first to inquire about the ranch and without saying to much, I told him about the ranch and relay and introduced them to each other. Caleb now works in the mornings and they both seem to be getting along well. Caleb is good at almost anything that has to be done. Some of the burden has been lifted off of Slim but I still worry about him.
I decided to do something different this year. Do you remember my nephew Johnny? He so wanted to be a sheriff but doesn't have the ability. Anyway, he and his wife have two small children now and Christmas has always been a lively affair. I invited Slim to join me for not only for Christmas Eve but for the day as well. At first, he declined -too much work, couldn't leave the ranch and so forth but I persisted and finally he agreed. I think he had a good time at least he smiled more than usual.
The church service was nice although it was packed with people I've never seen before. The children put on their usual Christmas play complete with a crying baby and his older sister (mother), a distraught Joseph (who continually kicked a shepherd), and a couple of angels whose halos kept falling down. The poor mothers of these children were mortified but everyone was in such good cheer that no one said anything and instead everyone cheered at the end. Slim regaled Johnny and Beth with stories of Mike's portrayals of the various characters when he was in those plays so long ago and enjoyed the punch bowl we passed around after Beth put the children to bed.
I did get your letter about the women and will keep them in mind should the need arise. Slim left a little while ago. He was a happier man when he left.
Keep well,
Mort Cory
Mort POV:
Some days, I feel as though I've failed them both. I watched Slim ride away that night and I wondered would we ever find Jess? I remembered the conversation I had with Johnny after Slim left the house. I suddenly felt very alone. One of my best friends, really more like a son to me, was riding towards home without his best friend. I had tried to cheer him up, well maybe both of us, and yet here I was sitting on Johnny's chair by the fire feeling lost again.
"Sometimes I wonder what Slim would have been like if he'd never met Jess Harper?" I remember saying to Johnny. Now, my nephew is still a very young man but he's always been perceptive. He looked me in the eye and replied, " if they hadn't met, you wouldn't have made a good friend and Slim wouldn't have found that missing piece of his heart and Jess wouldn't have found a home."
Even now, days later, I know for a fact, the bond my two friends forged was something I had been privileged to witness. Even if Slim never met Jess again, Slim was a better man for having known Jess.