Chapter 43

A/N To make it a true A/U, I wanted to have a sort of Western vibe with this story.

June 24, 1912

Jesse, Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and Karl all gave tearful goodbyes as they prepare to leave New York. Little Jack cried the hardest; he was already beginning to miss his uncle even before he left the house.

"I promise I will come back." Jesse says tearfully, hugging his nephew, and reassuring him he'll be back for more good times, but for now, he had to go back and take care of business with his father. He also told Jack to try not to give his parents anymore hard time, especially to his new soon-to-be-auntie Marion, as he hugged his nephew for the last time. Soon, Jesse and Jessica embraced, followed by whispers in their native language to be safe, and to take care of one another, and before he went over to kissing and hugging Marion for the last time. His father had hailed a passing cab and are all waiting for him. Jesse climbs in the cab, finding what little room the car had to offer, and his friends had already taken their seats. Marion decided she's going to stay behind to look after things, and to look after young Jack.

Eric had reassured everyone Cal doesn't know where they truly lived, but its was better if the couple left New York that instant. Jon and Jessica stood on the porch, with Jack calming down before he took a last look before the car rounded a corner and disappeared. Eric puts a comforting hug around Marion, assuring her Jesse will be safe, and guides her back to the house, which is now silent. The laughter, the tears that brought everyone together, is now a lasting memory that this house now holds. Even the car that Jon taught Fabrizio to drive in is now full of memories; bringing Jesse home from the hospital, the Coney Island trips, the numerous times Fabrizio had stalled the thing out before finally having the confidence to drive. They knew that old, rustic farmhouse back out in the country will harbor even more memories there as well.

June 27, 1912

After spending nearly three and a half days on the rails, then making two stopovers, his father pointed in the distance where the old house was. Jesse tries to squint in the distance, only to wince at the sight of the structure.

"Eeck! What a dump. Did that get worse?" Jesse asks, pushing his hair from his eyes.

"While you were in New York and Europe we had a pretty bad winter. Broke the roof in. Now it needs a good repair." His father says, before preparing to get off the train.

Jesse, his father, Jack, Rose, Fabrizio and Karl disembark the train, back to the main gates. From there, they were greeted by their family friend, who was surprised by the extra company.

"Whoa. Big crowd this year." he says, as the men and a young, rich-looking woman get in the car, and he loads their luggage in the trunk.

"Hola, Tomás. These are all of Jesse's friends from the ship." Mr. Williams says, throwing his hat in the passenger seat, then groans as gets in the car. "My knees ain't working like they used to."

"Oh right. We were so thrilled he survived when he sent us a telegram back from Philadelphia, although we didn't know the ship had gone down, at least in these here parts. At least he can still do some of the things in the back, right Jesse boy?" Tom asks, reaching up to ruffle Jesse's hair, like he has always done since he was a little boy.

"I treat him like he's my son as well." Tom says, getting into the driver's seat, not before grinding the gears. "I want Jesse to look at my clutch some day." Mr. Williams laughs, as everyone's heads began to jerk, and they were on the move. Soon, the interior was filled with the grit of dirt the car had stirred.

Rose takes in her new surroundings. The air was dry and hot, something she had to get used to since she was used to moist Philadelphia air. The town was small, compared to being back at bustling New York, or for that matter Philadelphia as well. Fabrizio himself wasn't used to this unusually dry heat; in Italy it was always a comfortable warm with a moist atmosphere. Here, his nose seemed to dry out almost instantly, and his throat was starting to dry as well. He began to cough from the dry atmosphere, as does Karl, as he was far from his cold climate as well. He also starts coughing from the lack of moisture, and his nose dries out as well. Jack had been to many places since leaving Chippewa Falls, so he knew this climate fairly well, even though he coughed a bit. This is the furthest south he has ever been in.

"Welcome to Albuquerque, kids. I'm pretty sure you all are used to your temperate climates, but here, its dry and hot, but we do get some rain occasionally. We'll take you over to the house, and make yourselves comfortable there, while Jesse and I go over to my shop." Mr. Williams says, as Tom drove him and the five kids over to the run-down looking cabin on a rutted out dirt path, made for old wagons, not cars.

"Eeck! It did get worse." Jesse tried to contain his composure. The dwelling looked to be much smaller than the last time he was here.

The house had a small hole in the roof, one of the windows had been broken in, and the door appeared to have been kicked in, though someone failed to get it to open. The stove pipe had fallen off the roof and had blown away at some point during his absence. His father unlocks the door, the hinges creaked from lack of lubrication and the desert dust as it slowly swung open. Inside it was in worse shape, with the air feeling thick and musty, followed by the smell of mildew and wet cloths. Dust swirled with every movement they made. There were papers and books strewn about the floors; dirty iron pots and pans littered the counter and sink, though it wasn't yet connected to anything. The stove pipes inside had collapsed, leaving behind soot around the potbellied stove. There was no electricity; just kerosene lanterns on the table, one on a nightstand near the only bed in the house. At the foot of the bed contained a wooden chest, without a lock. A remains of what was left of the chair is also near the table. Everything was covered in dirt, spider webs, and mouse excrement that littered the floor. The floor had some sort of water damage, right where the roof had leaked and at the collapsed pipes. They checked the cupboards; there was no food to be had there. Whatever food they found, it had insects, and in some cases, mice had eaten away the packaging. The only connection to the outside world was at the nearest hotel, who had a telegram there. Despite the run-down nature of the house, and being in a different climate, Jack felt like he was back home once more in Chippewa Falls. He wanted to look forward to helping Jesse and his father restore the house. Fabrizio wanted a job in construction, and this was his chance to learn something as well.

"Well, where shall we start?" Jack asks, a little concerned with the rodent pellets that had mixed in with the dirt. His mother had warned him about these pellets, but she never gave him advice on the removal or containment of such things. Karl lets out a little yelp, and everyone carefully goes to where Karl was, only to see a mouse looking up at them, before scampering away in the mess. Rose has a handkerchief in front of her mouth and nose to keep out any contaminants from entering her body, as she held closely to Jack's shirt, and stepping carefully behind. She had also heard about these pellets from Trudy, but she too didn't get any advice from her; she had only seen her use a broom to chase out rodents from the house.

"Rose will have to stay at that hotel, until this place is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected." Jesse says. "And the rest of us will have to do the dirty work."

"How are we going to contain all this mess?" Jack asks, a little worried.

Jesse points his thumbs behind him. "The river there. We soak the hell out of this place, but we need to cover our mouth and noses; we don't want to breathe any of this stuff." Fortunately, Jesse's mother and his grandparents had learned this sort of thing. Jesse's mother had learned from her father that people around them had died simply by breathing in the pellets, and worse if its mixed with the dirt and disturbed, like they were in. The only way they could clean up a mess like this was first cover their mouth and nose. Next saturate the entire house with water, throwing away everything in a pile, even their clothes, and lighting a match to it. Mr. Williams was impressed with his son, and they sat about looking for something to prevent their airways from coming into contact with the droppings and dirt that lingered in the air.

Jesse carefully walks over to the chest, luckily, the items contained inside weren't damaged. It was mostly filled with old clothes, most of it Jesse's from a few years prior. He throws some of the cloths at Fabrizio, Karl and Jack to tie around their mouths with, and for Jesse, to use as an impromptu bandana, to keep his hair in place, as they were stuff he wanted to get rid of anyway.

Mr. Williams and Rose make their way to a rusty car in a nearby brush that had been sitting for some time, and with a few tinkering of the engine, Mr. Williams got it up and running again. He took Rose to the hotel while Jesse and his friends cleaned up the house. Soon after, Mr. Williams then drove to his old shop, where his employees were waiting for him, along with a banker, who stood by his office door, with a briefcase in hand. He went to his office, as a huge stack of papers awaited him on the desk. He sat down to look over the documents before he proceeded to sign them. He had originally wanted Jesse to take ownership, but instead he changed his mind, as he wanted him to go on and do something with his life, particularly start his engineering school. But for the time being, he would hire him as his associate, then maybe get his friends on board as well.

…

Mr. Williams gets in his car after a long day signing legal documents that was stating he was retaining ownership to his business, as it slowly picks back up, and as news slowly spreads that Jesse was among those who survived Titanic. In it Jesse would also be getting the business if he passes on. He drives back to the house, as smoke was billowing behind the building. He saw someone walking on the roof, then kneeling over as he pounds a hammer to the roof. As he got closer he saw his son and Jack taking out almost everything from the dwelling and tossing them into a nearby fire, consuming the mouse related diseases and trash that had accumulated while they were gone. The only thing that had been saved were the bed frame, the night stand, and the old chest. Fabrizio was on the roof, patching holes and had been saying they were in need of new wood, and that some parts of the roof were about to cave in, mostly from dry rot. Despite the slightly cooler air he wipes sweat from his brow as he continues hammering the shingle pieces to the roof.

Darkness falls upon as everyone finally takes a break from restoring the house. The sounds of wood being chopped was heard, before Jesse appears, as his arms were full of wood he had cut and places them next to the potbellied stove. A fire was going as it warms the house in the cool evening, and a kettle was placed atop the stove. Fabrizio and Jack sat on the opposite side of the porch, looking over the silhouette of the mountains in front of them. Karl sits on the steps, admiring the scene around him as well.

"My, it's unusually cold this time of the year, but at least it's better than earlier this year, and a lot more relaxing than last year." Mr. Williams says, rubbing his hands together, then blows into them. "I like what you guys have done to the house." Mr. Williams admires his house, as crickets around them began their sounds. Frogs began croaking in the distance, and a lone coyote howled from somewhere. Jack had never heard something beautiful, since the time he spent back at Chippewa Falls. Karl heard much bigger wolves somewhere before, but more in a rural setting, and he has never heard crickets before. Fabrizio had never been to an isolated place, as he spent his childhood in Florence most of his life. Inside Jesse began lighting the kerosene lamps before feeding the stove another wood. The house had a warm atmosphere as it had finally been cleaned for the first time, the kerosene gave off an orange glow, complementing the warm stove. Most of the furniture had been destroyed, except for the bed frame, chest, and night stand; they were thoroughly cleaned and are now air drying outside. Soon it was time to call it a night, and Jack wanted to be with Rose; he missed her all day and couldn't stop taking his mind off of her. He missed her scent, her laughter, everything. Jesse's father decided to sleep at the hotel as well, then takes Jack with him.

"Good night, Jack, and see you in the morning." Jesse says, as Jack embraced him hard, followed by "Buenes noches, Jack." something that Jack understood very well, despite learning very little Spanish himself.

"Buona notte, Jack." Fabrizio says, embracing him as well.

"Hyvää yötä, Jack." Karl says, but Jack had no clue what Karl was saying.

"That's Finnish for 'good night'." Jesse translates. Jack smiles, and also embraces him hard, then waves to his friends, as Jesse's father waited for him at the front of the house.

After they said their goodnights in different languages Jack and Jesse's father left the house for the night, and Jesse lit another kerosene lantern, after the other one had used up its remaining fuel. Fabrizio brought in the night stand, where the three boys decided to play a small card game on the night stand before calling it a night.