Epilogue I

"Hold still now girl," Ned, who sat on a boulder was tending to the cuts and bruises over Grace's sore back with a cold washcloth. To see her in this condition was a real shock to him. It was a good thing that he and the others arrived in the nick of time before that drunken owner of her's had the chance to cause more severe bruises with the hot iron. That would have been beyond his help. "Of all the mindless, good-for-nothin' lawbreakers out there, I ain't ever seen a thing so unjustified." The tone in his voice was cool with fury but his touch remained gentle.

Grace sat up straight in front of him as he trickled more cold water from the river over her back. With the way he was handling her and speaking angrily, it made her a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't toward her at all. His real anger was directed toward the Yeller Gang and Lewis for hurting her so severely. With Sampson and Dan sitting beside Ned, Dan moved his head a bit closer to Grace.

"Don't mind his tone," he assured her, "It's his job as a town sheriff to act tough. That's how we catch real bad men out there. But Ned's a good man, really. I look after him as a companion, just like Sampson has looked after you." Grace could only nod in appreciation. The least that he and Sampson could do at this moment was to stay beside and watch over her while Ned was still tending to her wounds. As much as she was glad to have been rescued in time, Grace thought sadly about her foster mother Orchid and little Juniper. If only she could see them one last time before leaving this forest.

When Ned had finished cleaning with the washcloth, he placed it on another rock to move on to the next item. He searched his traveling bag and pulled out a medium-sized silver container filled with a special healing cream designed for cattle and horses. With the tips of his fingers, he spread it across the deep cuts over her neck and back. Grace flinched in pain but remained still. She moaned when the substance was felt behind her nape. The cuts there were afire.

"I know it hurts, but settle down," Ned assured her, "I'm tryin' to be as gentle as I can. This is a remedy that's supposed to help heal serious wounds. You're lucky to still be alive all this time." His fingers moved down between her shoulders to apply a bit more cream. Grace started to tremble slightly. "Easy now girl, no one's tryin' to hurt yah." He said gently, attempting to ease her fear. "In fact, no one's ever gonna hurt yah like this again. I'll be glad to take you in until I can find someone else who'll take care o' you." In his heart, he had hoped there would be someone out there who would want to raise Grace properly with kindness and love. He couldn't give her to just anybody, not even to a cattle ranch or a stockyard.

Grace looked down at Sampson blankly. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked unsteadily as Ned applied the cream to another cut.

"A bluebird named Honey fluttered by to inform us of five suspicious black riders hidin' out in an abandoned cabin somewhere below," Sampson began. "But she also told us about how she helped you get away from them, even though you were recaptured. It was a good thing she found us; we were almost headin' toward the wrong path in this never endin' forest. Of course, that was when Dan picked up the scent of chimney smoke from a mile away. At first we thought it might have been a forest fire, but the smoke was only an inch thick as it rose straight into the air. Any one o' us could tell that it was comin' from a house. Was it the Yeller Gang? Investigation was the only smart option to do."

"Well, there are some things out there that even my sense of smell cannot track down," Dan admitted. "But I won't let that stop me from doin' what I have to do on the job. Your friend here has done the right thing by warnin' me about those rascals, even though I didn't believe him at first."

"But what about the rest of the forest animals, how did they all know where I was?" Grace was still curious to know about how an army of forest critters formed so quickly and were able to take down the Yeller Gang.

"It was Honey who had formed search groups to know of your whereabouts so that she'd be able to inform the deer family that you were alive," answered Sampson. "But when Honey found out about the bandits holdin' you captive once again, she flew off in search for more help. Remember, the chimney smoke is what led us to find yah."

"Where is she now?"

"Hmmm, I believe she told us that there was another errand she had to take care of, so I don't know if she'll be back or not."

Grace was silent. There were other questions swimming around her mind about the manhunt, but perhaps it was best for her not to ask any more of them. While it was true that she had suffered from physical abuse and loneliness during captivity, her new friends in this forest had helped to keep her spirits alive. And she never gave up on hope of being rescued from her cruel owner whom she never would have expected to be a dangerous outlaw all along. Then Grace whimpered when Ned spread more of the healing cream down to the middle of her back where the whip cuts proved to be deeper than she thought. The cream stung.

"Oops, sorry girl, just be still," Ned placed his hand over her shoulder to calm her. Grace shut her eyes tight from feeling him tend to another deep wound. She hated having the cream touch her, but remembered what Ned said about the purpose about what it was made for. So she sat patiently without complaint. Dipping his fingers in the container for more, he applied it to the next wound below. Even though it stung, Grace had to learn to get used to it if she ever wanted her opened scars to close up. "Well that's all the cream you'll need, now just one more thing and we're done. Where is that stuff?" Grace heard him close the silver container as he put it back in his bag and was now searching for one last item. She hoped it wouldn't have to be another substance similar to the cream. "Hold still for a few minutes, I need to wrap this around your stomach." Glancing over her shoulder, Ned started wrapping a long white bandage around her stomach to prevent the cream on her wounds from getting dirty. "This is the best I can do for now," he said as he wrapped more of the bandage over her right shoulder and under her chest. "When we get back to town, I'm gonna have a doctor look over you so that he'll take care a the rest o' your wounds." He was now finished with the bandage.

Grace walked over to the river to have a look at her reflection. She was taken aback by seeing at how the bandage was wrapped around her body. Did she really receive that many cuts and bruises for her body to be bandaged like this? It was almost hard for her to believe it. But it was there alright, even if she couldn't see them.

"Hey sheriff!" one of the deputies called out to Ned high above the hill in the cabin area. "Are we ready?"

"I'll be right there!" Ned answered. He watched as Grace drank water from the flowing river. The poor thing shouldn't have had to suffer through so much lately, yet he had often heard rumors of outlaws who did all sorts of terrible things to their victims once they are captured. Grace was no exception.

"Come on girl, let's go," Ned patted his thigh repeatedly to get her attention. Grace turned around and followed closely behind him for protection in case anything was to happen. Dan walked beside her with Sampson riding atop his back.

On the trail outside Silent Creek

At the time the lawmen arrived at the cabin area, the forest critters left the scene knowing that they brought the bandits down long enough to keep them from getting away. Whatever happened to them would be left for the authorities to handle. Their job with the rescue mission was over. Now the lawmen were forcing the bandits to move the same trail they used to enter through this forest. Their hands were tied securely behind their backs and their guns were taken from them. Sheriff Jones led the way as the deputies kept a sharp eye on the bandits in case one of them tried sneaking off. Their plan was to get to the nearest train station and ride back to Ned's home town to inform the townspeople of the capture of the Yeller Gang so that they'll have no other reason to flee. Hopefully the town wasn't empty by the time they arrived. They had already come too far to catch these crooks. After so many months of tracking them, they were finally caught.

Grace caught a good glimpse of the green grassy hills littered with exquisite wild flowers. Were these the same fields where she had played games with Juniper and the other animals? Then where were Orchid and Juniper at this time? She still desired to see them to let them know she was alright. But part of her wanted to stay in this forest where she might already have a mother to look after her. While she was walking beside Ned as the group kept moving forward, her eyes searched every corner of the hills for any sign of the deer family.

"Momma?" Grace perked her head up to stare directly toward a familiar figure standing on four long legs and another small figure on a grassy hill. It was her family. She was so excited that she took off like a speeding bullet. "Momma!" The little calf shouted as she kept on moving.

"Huh, where're you goin'?" Ned called out. He and the men moved faster to see what had caused her to run like that. But when they found her on a hill with a mule deer and its fawn, he ordered his men to wait a few minutes before moving out. None of them understood what was happening with Grace or why she sprinted this way to see a bunch of deer, but nobody tried to argue with that. Even Ned didn't understand, but they waited anyway.

"Oh, Grace," Orchid said as she looked closely at her bandages. "You poor dear." Then she leaned her head down to lick Grace lovingly from the side of her face to the top of her head. She was relieved to see the little calf alive and well, despite the bandages. "Honey told me everything that happened. And now the riders have finally come to take you home with them." She stared at the riders closely and remembered the promise she made to Grace on the first day that Honey brought her over. "Grace, I've already given my word to you. And now it's time for you to leave this place."

"What?" Grace looked up at her foster mother as if she had been struck by lightening. "But I love bein' with you, you're like a mother to me."

"I know sweetie," Orchid added softly, "I'm proud of you and I'll always love you. But you must go back with the riders. They came all this way for you, and I can't just break my promise like that." Grace listened sadly as Orchid licked her forehead and continued. "Besides, the forest is not a safe place for you to grow up. You deserve a good home and a loving family on a farm. Even if we're not there, we'll never leave or forget you." The calf's eyes were now welling up with tears. Orchid saw them and nuzzled beside her face. "Oh, please don't take it like that. You're going to be alright now. And whatever happens, I'll always be with you. And don't ever change the way you are." Grace felt a lump growing in her throat. Now she knew she had no other choice but to accept Orchid's word.

"Momma, does she really have to go?" Juniper asked with a saddened expression. She didn't want Grace to go and leave them.

"I'm afraid so Juniper," Orchid replied sadly. "Someone else may be waiting for her to come." She allowed Juniper to nuzzle at Grace's face one last time. This was something the little fawn didn't fully understand yet, but could only do as Orchid told her.

"Remember what I said," Orchid whispered. "Go on, they're waiting." Giving Grace a nudge with her nose, Grace walked back to where the riders were still standing on the path. Ned told them to move out again.

Grace took one last look behind her shoulder to see Orchid and Juniper standing on the hillside of wildflowers. She would miss them, but they would never forget her, nor would she forget how Orchid had taught her how to swim in the river. And she had been able to run at a fast speed and such. Maybe her athletic skills would come in handy someday whether for old or new friends. From far away, Grace never got to see or hear Juniper give a sad farewell to her. She was out of earshot.

When Ned had seen Grace interact with those deer, he reckoned that she must have somehow made friends behind the bandits' backs and was only saying goodbye to them. He didn't truly know, but that was his only guess. When he was young, he had seen how cows formed close friendships with members of their herd and how strong the relationship between the mothers and their calves were with love and caring. Grace was an orphan who was either taken from her real mother a bit too early or just simply lost her. Life with a crazy drunkard like Lewis Wesley must have made her feel confused, scared, alone and wary of human contact. He was determined that she would never have to live with anyone like him ever again. Although he would have hated to take Grace from her forest friends, he knew that life in the wilderness was no place for a dairy cow.

"Boy I can't believe how well yah fought with that wretched excuse for a loyal dog back there," Sampson said in disbelief to Dan. He had been referring to the dogfight, wrestling match back at the cabin. "He went down almost too easily."

"He was a strong dog alright," replied Dan. "But I just couldn't stand how he was talkin' bout keepin' disobedient calves in line. So I think leavin' him chokin' in my dust taught him a thing or two."

"That's exactly what I tried to tell him. But all he did was laugh."

As Sampson looked up at Grace, his face formed into a saddened frown. During the manhunt, he and Dan had been talking over something that Grace might not want to hear. How was he going to tell her? How would he explain that he would no longer be with her when she found a home?

Author's note: That's part one alright; part two is one the way folks. Next we'll have Grace recovering from all that has happened. And there will be another sad goodbye as a perfect home has been found for her.