Ruth had to talk to Kid before she changed her mind and before the annulment became complete and she never saw him again, which looked like could be any day now. She went to bed straight after supper and waited until she could hear Señor and Señora Martinez go to bed in the room next to hers. Then she waited some more to make sure they had fallen asleep.

Going out the window wasn't an option; she didn't want to take a chance of getting stuck like Kid had. She had to go the old-fashioned way through the door. She cringed when the door to her room squeaked, but it didn't seem as if it had disturbed the Martinezes. She opened the door quickly the rest of the way to avoid the squeakiness.

She hadn't noticed the way her heels clacked on the floor either. She carefully undid her laces and pulled off her shoes. Shoes in hand she tiptoed past the Martinez door.

"Is something wrong, Sister Ruth?" Señora Martinez called from her bedroom.

Ruth's shoulders went up in a tense jerk. She just wasn't good at this sneaking stuff. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd get something to drink," Ruth answered.

"I'll join you," she said.

Ruth put her shoes back on just before Señora Martinez came out.

"Still dressed?" Señora Martinez asked. "I thought you went to bed hours ago."

"I wanted to, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to, so I didn't."

"Well, come on. I'm in the mood for something warm to drink. Are you?"

"Sounds fine," she answered, trying not to let her disappointment show.

Ruth waited for her in one of the comfy chairs by the fire while Señora Martinez went down to the kitchen. The older woman came back with two steaming cups and handed her one of them.

It was a little bitter for her taste, but made with milk and cinnamon, so not unbearably bitter. "Thank you."

"Perfect time of the year for hot chocolate," she said, taking the other chair.

She looked as if she were going to stay there until Ruth went back to bed. "Can't disagree with that."

"You were looking to meet with your husband, weren't you?" Señora Martinez asked, not one to beat around the bush.

"Yes. What's the worst that could happen? I'm already pregnant."

"Amusing, you are. Someone could see you. Why can you not talk with him at the church before the trial starts?"

"Because I want to tell him about the baby and the judge could hear us and then that would ruin the case."

"And if the baby makes your husband want to give up his ways?"

"I don't think that's going to happen."

"But if it does, you would drop the annulment charges?"

"If that's what he wanted, but it's not."

"It was his idea, not yours," Señora Martinez realized.

"Yeah. Whether we stay married or not is completely up to him, but this isn't about me trying to manipulate him into staying. I just think it's the right thing to do. A man should know if he's fathered a baby."

"Well, I am sorry. Your story is more sad than I thought. Perhaps a note? Señor Martinez could take it to him in the morning."

"No, thank you. I don't think it's the kind of thing a person should reveal in a note."

"Maybe you're right. I suppose you'll just have to take a chance at the trial."

They finished their hot chocolate in silence. Ruth waited until Señora Martinez's head drooped on her chest and the sound of faint snoring filled the air, her empty cup still in a firm grasp. Ruth set her own cup on the floor and carefully eased out of the chair after once again taking her shoes off.

She had a distinct adolescent feeling sneaking out this way, not that she'd ever snuck out of the house as a teenager. It was ridiculous that a grown woman expecting a child wasn't free to come and go. Her feet weren't as tough as they'd been when she was a child and went barefoot outside, so she didn't get far from the house before she had to put her shoes back on.

As she got closer to the little house, the hot chocolate churned disagreeably in her stomach. She looked at the temporary bookmark she'd made in her Bible. "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour." She'd written the verse down on the strip of paper to help keep herself from losing her resolve.

She wasted no time in knocking on the door though the front faced the mountains where no one was likely to spot her. It wasn't Kid who came to the door but Nitis.

"Nitis, hello. Kid's not here?"

He shook his head.

"Wonderful. It wasn't easy getting out, you know. Any idea when he's coming back?"

Again he shook his head.

"Well, as long as I'm on the run I might as well visit with you."

"It's after midnight, I'm sure," she said, looking at the starry sky. "That means tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the day after that is Christmas and it'll be the first year I won't have anybody to celebrate it with."

"Christmas?"

"When Jesus Christ was born, God with Us. God the Son came to the earth as a baby to pay the price of our sins, the wrong things we've done."

Nitis looked interested. "White miners celebrate. Not say why."

"I reckon some people do tend to lose the true meaning and focus only on the frills, which is tragic. How's Kid been?"

"Not happy."

"Really?" she asked, looking hopeful. Was it possible he was missing her? "Has he said why?"

"You husband is not much for talking."

"No, he ain't." Before she had a chance to ask anything else about Kid, the man himself came through the door.

"What's going on here?" Kid asked, fire in his eyes. "You want somebody to see you with Nitis and jump to the wrong conclusion? Then all our work will have been for nothing."

"I had something important to tell you. It couldn't wait any longer."

He grabbed her by the elbow and led to the door. "Anything you have to say can be said through our lawyers."

Ruth's lips came together in a tight line of anger.

He led her all the way back to the Martinzes and left without so much as a goodbye.

Señora Martinez was still asleep. Ruth could at least be grateful for small favors. She took their cups to the kitchen and then woke the woman up and told her she was going to bed. Señora Martinez agreed that it was a sensible place to be.

Behind the closed door of her temporary bedroom, she spoke to God. "I tried, Lord. You have to admit I tried." Except she could have tried harder and she knew it. He'd just made her so darn mad. "Give me the patience to try again."

sss

Kid was still fuming when he got back to the house. It didn't help when he saw Nitis looking at him. "Why you looking at me like that? I'm doing the right thing."

Nothing.

"You don't understand, but I know if you were in my shoes or moccasins, you would be doing the same thing I'm doing. There's more to the story than you know."

He didn't say a word only continued to stare at him reproachfully, which irritated Kid further. You could argue with a man who used words, but how could you argue with a disapproving look. "Aw, I'm going to bed."

sss

"I would like to warn you both that perjury, especially for the dissolution of valid marriage, the separation of two legitimate spouses is a serious crime," the judge warned that afternoon. "It will make any future marriages invalid." There was a heavy pause then he said, "I would like for the plaintiff and the defendant to see me privately with Señor Martinez, of course."

They were taken back to the priest's living quarters, a sparse but function space.

"You have heard me threaten. Now I would like to talk to you as a priest. I want to know if there isn't more than meets the eye to this. Is it a money problem? Does one of you use money without telling the other?"

They both answered with a no.

"Do you tell each other when you are angry?" the judge asked. "You cannot expect the other to read your mind. There is so much hidden anger that comes from not talking about things and it is soon mistaken for hatred. Does this happen to you?"

"Letting me know what's on her mind has never been a problem for her," Kid said right away. "Trust me."

"Do you see how he talks to me?" Ruth asked. "For no reason at all. Don't think you know everything about me, Mr. Cole, cause you don't."

It wasn't enough that they'd had to suffer through the weak attempts at reconciliation from the notary, but now the judge had to give it a go. She supposed it was all standard procedure, but it was so agonizing because she really wanted to reconcile. He went into a big long speech about the sanctity and purpose of marriage. She listened as Señor Martinez translated, but he wasn't going to convince her because he wasn't going to convince Kid.

"Will you try to resolve your differences and live within the bonds of marriage?" the judge asked when he was done.

"How can I when it wasn't a valid marriage from the start? I just want a new start," Ruth said. "I want to get on with my ministry."

"Everything she's said has been true. I can't justify trying either," Kid added.

In the courtroom again, the lawyers gave their speeches and though she only half listened, she knew her lawyer had given the better closing speech. The priest would be a fool not to rule in her favor but then divorces were rarely given much less annulments.

"I will rule on the matter after Christmas," the judge declared.

In 3 days, the judge would decide whether she was Ruth Cole or Ruth McKenzie and either way Kid walked out of her life.