Chapter 13 – A Flash of Light

Dalton and Janie teamed up on Bart to convince him to leave the hotel and come stay at their house for two or three days before heading back to Delmont. He was about to tell them 'no ' for the final time when they sent in their secret weapon, Sara Beth, and once again he found himself unable to turn down a lady. He took the little girls room, and she slept with her mama, daddy and baby George Thomas. Spending a few days with the family was an eye-opening experience.

Sara Beth was his shadow – everywhere Bart went, so did the little girl. It was a case of total and complete love, and the feeling was mutual. Bart showed her everything she needed to know about Taffy and how to take care of him, and Sara Beth taught Bart everything she could about her dolls and the attention and feeding of same. Once the little girl was fast asleep at night, Dalton told tales about growing up on a pig farm and Bart explained the intricacies of being a gambler's son. Neither had anything to gain by getting to know the other, but get to know each other they did. Dalton was fascinated with the whole Maverick clan, and Bart for once in his life envied the joys of being a family man.

Baby George Thomas was a real eye-opener. Bart was captivated by the tiny hands and feet, and the fragility and helplessness of the newborn. The gambler had never spent any time with anyone that small, and after a few days at the farm he was both thrilled to be leaving and sad to say farewell. He'd come to Lake Charles looking for someone who no longer existed, and walked away having found a man who had quickly become a friend.

After he packed up and got ready to leave the farm to return to Delmont, he and Dalton sat down and had a frank discussion about Bess Dupree. "I don't know what I'm gonna tell her, Dalton. She's not the kind of woman to accept 'I couldn't find your brother' as an answer. And I can't tell her the truth – I don't know what she's liable to do. She could ruin more than one life just on a whim."

"You'll figure somethin' out. Do what you need to do to keep Bess out of your hair. We'll be fine here."

Janie walked out into the front room slowly, the baby in her arms, Sara Beth trailing behind her. "Baby George came to say goodbye to you. Do you want to hold him again?"

"Sure," Bart told his proud mama and took the small bundle from her. "You grow up to be a good boy, George. Just like your poppa did. Only don't take quite so long to do it, huh?" Right on cue, George Thomas gurgled his approval, and Bart bent his head to plant a kiss on the tiny one's forehead. He handed the baby to his father and gave Janie a hug.

"Thank you for everything," she whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome," he whispered back. He turned loose of her and searched around like he'd forgotten something. "Let's see, wasn't there somethin' else I was supposed to do?" He looked down and feigned surprise to see Sara Beth. "Well I'll be danged, there is someone I forgot." He bent down and picked the girl up and hugged her tight. In response she threw her arms around his neck.

"Don't want you to go."

"I know, honey, I don't wanna go, either. But I have to go back to Texas. There's a lady there waitin' to talk to me."

"Is it your wife?"

They all laughed. "No, Sara Beth, I don't have one of those. I'm gonna wait for you to grow up." He planted a kiss on her cheek.

"You better," she said firmly. "Y'all come back and visit me, Bart."

"I will, baby doll. I promise." He handed her to Dalton, who'd given the baby back to his mother.

"Thank you for everything, but especially for takin' good care of my wife and son when they needed you." Dalton put out his hand and Bart shook it readily. "You come back and visit us, would ya?"

"I will, Dalton. You never know when I'll be back through these parts. Goodbye, Dupree family. Just keep lovin' each other."

Bart walked out to the porch and mounted his horse for the trip back to Lake Charles. In about an hour he'd be on a stage headed for Delmont, Texas, and Bess Dupree. God help him.

XXXXXXXX

Bart kept trying to figure out what to tell Bess. Every time he thought he had an acceptable explanation for her, he found enough flaws to punch holes in it. It took him a day and a half to get there, and when the stage pulled into Delmont he still didn't know what he was going to say. Luckily, Bess wasn't at the stage depot and wasn't even in town.

Bart went back to his room at the hotel and then wandered down to the livery. Noble whinnied and snorted, glad to have his friend back, and Bart produced the requisite apple. Once again the gelding practically swallowed it whole, core and all, and the gambler didn't have the heart to tell his horse not to. He stayed for over an hour, grooming 'the old man,' and discussed the Dalton/George/Bess situation at length with the animal. Unfortunately Noble had no answers for him, either. It was late afternoon and Bart wanted supper, so he patted the gelding on the neck and promised, "We'll go out tomorrow." Anything to put off the explanation he didn't have until later.

When he came away from the livery he walked up the street to the sheriff's office. Trainer was sitting at his desk with a deck of cards, playing solitaire. "I can teach you a more challengin' game than that," Bart told him as he walked in.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"The family calls it Maverick solitaire, and this is how it goes . . . . . " Bart's voice trailed off as he picked up the sheriff's deck and shuffled, ending as always before he dealt the cards with the one handed ruffle that he'd done since he was a child. Sometimes the hand that had been broken in Mexico bothered him a bit when he did it, but not today.

"Pretty fancy shufflin'."

"It comes with familiarity. Now you start out by dealin' twenty-five cards . . . . . " Bart explained the whole thing while showing Trainer what he meant.

The sheriff was fascinated. "And you say this works over ninety percent of the time?"

"Ninety-two percent, to be exact. Better odds than chasin' after a contract killer or a half-brother."

"That's right, you been gone for a while. How'd you do?"

"Not bad, considerin'."

"Considerin' what?"

And just like that, it came to him. Why hadn't he seen it before? 'Forest for the trees, Brother Bart,' he heard in his head, in his brother's voice.

"Considerin' what?" the sheriff repeated.

"Huh? Oh, never mind. I'll explain later. I got somethin' to take care of right now." Bart picked himself up from the corner of Trainer's desk where he'd been sitting, and hurried back out and across the street, to the telegraph office. Not only had the truth of what happened the day Hanford Dupree was killed come to him, he suddenly realized where his brother was and sent a telegram to Bret Maverick, General Delivery, Willow Springs, Texas. If he was right, he'd have an answer by tomorrow. If he wasn't he'd have to rethink the next month of his life.

He left the telegraph office and went back to the hotel, where he arranged for a bath to be drawn and went upstairs to shave. He was going to supper and then poker. And see if Lady Luck was still speaking to him.