Chapter 57

November 14, 1912

The whole family was in tears as Marion tried out her wedding dress for the first time. As per his family rules and traditions, Jesse was not allowed to view his bride-to-be in her dress until the day of the wedding. Same thing was told to Jon, when he was about to marry his beautiful bride-to-be about five years prior, that he mustn't see her in the wedding dress she was about to wear, and he had to wait until that special day came. So, it was mostly the women in the house, with the exception of the old man. Meanwhile the men decided to use the time to look for a turkey in the Sandia Mountains, as Thanksgiving was right around the corner.

Jack, Jesse, Fabrizio, Jon and Henry hiked the snow-covered mountain trails in search of turkeys for their upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Jack was seriously out of breath, using his stick as a cane to help him trek the difficult trails, and was slowing everyone down to a point where Henry was rubbing his knees. The mountain was covered in fresh powder of snow, which made hiking even more difficult, if Jack hadn't left his boots back on Titanic. Jesse came across a fresh trail of turkey tracks and decided to follow it. Everyone followed, when Jesse heard a slight movement.

"Shh!" Jesse holds up his hand, listening to the sound, then points to his right. He got his rifle ready, then aims it at a bush. He slowly pulls the hammer, then pulls the trigger. The rifle made a loud CRACK! as the shot was fired, and the loud shot from the powerful gun echoed throughout the forest around them. Fabrizio had his ears covered, while Jack flinched from the rifle shot, and nearly fell in the snow. Jesse recoiled a bit from the powerful rifle, then puts it down. He runs toward the snow covered brush, and yells with joy. The crowd runs to Jesse's kill. The bullet had taken a clean hit of the head, taking it off. The turkey was indeed very large, and it took two men to carry it back down the mountain.

"That's a big one this year." Henry says, his eyes went wide as he saw the animal, which was being carried by both Jesse and Fabrizio.

"Where did the head go?" Henry asked, while Jack was trying to be careful as he tried his best not to slide and fall down the snowy mountainside. Henry pointed to Jack as they both watched a mountain goat with a surefoot walk down the mountain, and chuckled, while the men carried their large prize back down to the car, which was parked at the base of the mountain. Jack had tried his hand at firing a rifle, but the things Henry had were too heavy, too loud, and once the recoil was so strong it pushed him a few feet and had knocked him down. Even Jesse's rifle was too powerful, as he heard how loud that thing was.

They made it back to the car, with Henry placing the bird on gunny sacks so blood won't run into the car. Jesse rubbed his ear, as Henry got in the driver's seat.

"That was a big turkey you killed." Jack laughs, but Jesse was unable to comprehend what he was saying. All he saw was Jack's mouth moving, and a shill noise of his ears ringing.

"I can't hear you. My ears are ringing still."

"That gun sure packs a powerful wallop." Henry agrees. "But his hearing will return soon after."

They hopped in, and Henry carefully guides the car back down the rest of the mountain, back to the house. Jack was now in Jesse's position, when he first fired one of Henry's rifles, and it took him nearly the whole day to regain his hearing once more.

...

They soon arrived back to the house, as Marion had removed her wedding dress and changed back into her usual clothing, before the men returned. She gave the dress to Jesse's grandmother, to alter the dress further. Rose held in her hand the letter she would send to her mother back in Philadelphia. Henry looks at what Rose was holding in her hand.

"Ah, I see you have that letter there in your hand." Henry says, as Jack ran past him and kisses Rose, leaving Jesse, Jon and Fabrizio carrying the large bird into the house.

"I have decided all of you were right. I have thought long and hard to what to say to my mother, and to tell her I'm okay. She had never did anything that would be life threatening, and the worst she has ever done was try to forbid Jack and I from seeing each other, even going as far as humiliating us, but we knew that didn't work. Its not like she can do anything to us any further now." Rose looks at her simple gold band, as Jack pulls her a chair, and he knelt beside her. "And if that piece of paper is true, that was addressed to Cal, I think it's the best I try to contact her and give her some hope I am still alive and okay." Everyone then walks in the house, with everyone standing around the table that held the giant bird they had killed earlier, and were awestruck that it indeed was a big one. Little Jack hurls a snowball, nearly catching Jesse on the head.

"You little weasel." Jesse says, as he helps put the bird on the table. Everyone laughs, and Jessica cleans the little mess Jack had made, from his snowball. With everyone still gathered around the bird Rose continues with her story, while Jon bickered about how to remove the feathers.

"We do it the old-fashioned way," Jesse could be heard in the background, followed by the sound of the knife grinding.

"I doubt my mother would do anything now, however, I'm sure she'll convince me to come home, be with Cal, and ride off into the sunset, like these western stories. But I want to be more than just a girl riding into the sunset. I want it to be with Jack, and that's something my mother must accept, whether she wants to or not." Rose says, as she grabs onto Jack's hand. "Over us."

"Now that the engagement has been settled, it's indeed time to start thinking about the marriage of yours." Jon says, wiping his hands after touching the turkey. "While you two are engaged, it's not legal binding, yet, as there's someone who could stop you two from getting married. That Cal guy is still looking for you two, as far as I know, after Matthew surprised us back in August, before leaving for his work."

Rose looks over at Jack and at her engagement ring on her finger. She and Jack had gotten engaged and are enjoying the fact they are together once again. It had been almost seven months since the sinking of Titanic and a little more than three weeks since they had gotten engaged. It had also been nearly six months since they had gotten back together from the hospital back in New York, and she wanted to celebrate the things they had done together. She wasn't thinking about marriage, but Jon did have a point. If they had gotten married, her mother and Cal would have nothing against them. Rose wanted to buy a house somewhere, maybe out here in the west, or back in Jack's hometown, or even possibly in Europe. That was something Rose had dreamed of; of becoming Rose Dawson, starting anew with their lives, raising a child on their own and living their lives comfortably. She was also hoping to get a career as an actress when the time came, but the first step was to be pronounced as man and wife first. She looked over at Jesse and Marion, who were marrying on the day before Christmas, and his grandmother had dressed her as an impromptu Indian, in her wedding dress.

She looked at the couple again. Marion squealed in disgust, and laughed, as her fiancé began to clean and gut the turkey, while Jessica tried to keep her son away from the turkey. The couples' love was stronger than ever, and it had bonded them together, since they had left Philadelphia, and had overcame obstacles and that they had reassured one another they could do anything together.

Jack bites his lip, then turned to look at his beautiful Rose, as they had only been engaged for three weeks. This was going as fast than he had expected, despite the fact he was with Rose since he rescued her for her near suicide at the stern of Titanic, and had also taken her out of the society she so despised to take part in, which was just seven months prior. He loved Rose and did whatever it takes to make her happy, just like Mr. Williams had told him back at the train station, before they left for Santa Monica.

Soon, Jesse was done with the turkey, then cleaned his hands. Rose handed Jesse the letter, and he found a blank envelope.

"Don't tell her we live in here, or Cal might find out we live here." she adds. Jesse puts Ruth Dewitt Bukater and her address on the front, but had left out the return address. Jesse and Marion gets in the car, with Jack, Rose and Fabrizio followed behind. Rose clutched her envelope with her mother's name on the front, as they hopped into Jesse's father's 1910 Buick Model 10, with Jesse driving.

They drove a considerable distance until they arrived to a small village, then headed over to the post office. This place was quite far and isolated from their city, and that the post office also doubled as a small trading post. Rose gets out of the car, then takes a deep breath, before Jack stops her. Fabrizio jumped out also.

"Jack-" he began.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure." Rose swallows hard, then closes the door, before walking to the stucco-lathed building. Both Jesse and Marion sat in the car, with Marion looking towards the building, and Jesse the same, his arm leaning on the wheel, while Jack and Fabrizio stood outside, snow crunching under their feet. It felt like eternity as they waited in the car, but Rose came out of the post office. She was smiling as she makes her way back to the car.

"It's time to go on with my life; with or without my mother."

November 26, 1912

It was Thanksgiving week as the letter had arrived to Ruth in New York, after her maid had brought it over from the house in Philadelphia, with a postmarked stamp from some county in New Mexico, that she didn't recognize. She stares at the envelope, and wants to rip it open, but then something stops her from doing so. Since it was postmarked from New Mexico, she had thought Rose had gone to another country, as she no longer loved her mother and was able to escape the clutches of both her and Cal. She was weak and almost frail from worrying about the whereabouts of her daughter, so she asked her new maid to open the letter. The maid opens the envelope, then hands the letter to Ruth. At first she couldn't make out the writing in the letter, as it appeared to her as a series of scribbles. She knew this was not her daughter's cursive writing, but from someone else's writing. Eventually, she was able to make out the letters, and with shaking hands, she reads the letter.

It had explained that Rose was worried about her mother's health based on a misguided telegram, supposedly sent to Caledon, but it had somehow ended up in New Mexico. She had been persuaded by Jesse's family and friends that she gets into contact with her as soon as possible, and the holidays are around the corner. Rose explained in detail how she was able to escape the clutches of her abusive relationship with Cal back on the ship, and how she nearly committed suicide at the stern, until Jack came to her rescue. She also mentioned meeting Jesse back on the Mauretania, and how she had feelings for him, before she had moved on and being with Jack now. Rose told how Jesse had also fought with Cal not once, but twice; the second being after he was brought in to be killed, and Jack was hauled off to the lower decks, and supposedly left for dead, as he was framed for stealing the Heart of the Ocean, that his servant had snuck in his pocket. She had also told Ruth the danger she was in if she stayed with the Hockleys, as Jesse's father left the business because of the senior Hockley, and his outbursts to his employees, and that his son is the same way.

The letter also explained that Rose was going to marry Jack, no matter what the outcome was, or the position Ruth was going to be put in. Rose also put in demeaning words about herself that she was carrying Jack's child, and that her mother was free to use them. In it she also described she was happier and alive now that she was with her true loving friends, and a family that cared for both of them, and that some of them made it alive out of the ship.

Lastly, she put in that her mother must meet the terms and conditions that if she wants to continue to connect with either her, Jack or her friends, she must break off all contact with Cal. If she told Cal where their exact locations were, she will have to run away, with Jack, and never to be heard from again. Rose also puts in that her mother must end the engagement to Cal, and sell off the worldly possessions, even if it meant she was going to be a seamstress. She told her mother that she loved her friends all to her heart than the possessions in that house she lived in. Rose also stated that she must give respect to her friends and especially Jack, as she would be the sole grandparent, as Jack lost his parents in a house fire back in Chippewa Falls.

In closing, she told her mother that if this should be the last communication she has with her mother, she thanks her with all her might at becoming a mother, even if it meant working extra hard at doing the simplest tasks at being a decent mother.

On the bottom of the paper, Rose signed off with Rose Dawson. Ruth was happy now that her daughter was alive and well, but she forgot the part where they would meet. She looks back at the letter to see if something was amiss. She read the second paragraph again, as she missed the part where she would meet Jesse's brother-in-law, somewhere out in Kansas, and that she must be by herself, and that no one else, not even Cal, must be with her.