After the confrontation in the saloon, Maude had holed herself up in her hotel room, occasionally allowing Josiah to come see her. A week passed and she still did not come out. Neither Mary nor Ezra made any motion to go see her. Mary was worried for her aunt, as well as her brother. She had left Ezra to think on his own, but when he made no move to talk to their aunt, she knew she had to say something.
"Are you never going to forgive her?" Mary asked him as she sat beside her brother outside of the sheriff's office.
Ezra glanced over at his sister, arching his eyebrow in astonishment. He took a sip of his coffee before he answered, trying to find the words. For the past week he had mulled everything over in his brain constantly, but the forgiveness he knew Maude wanted was not forthcoming.
"She kidnapped me, Mary," he said. "Stole me from my parents. From you. Now I'll never know them. Never know what kind of life I would have had otherwise."
"Or you could have never lived," Mary said. Ezra looked at her, frowning. Mary shifted and lifted her blonde hair, pointing to a faint line along her hairline.
"This is from the accident that took our parents," she said. "It's a small scar now, but it was a large gash that almost killed me."
"Mary..." Ezra said.
Mary let her hair down and looked at her brother again. "Maude had good reason to think I was dead," she said. "Because I almost was. I only survived because Mama..." She swallowed, emotions tightening her throat. "Because Mama shielded me with her body. I was still hurt, but not killed."
"She still stole me," he said quietly.
"I know," Mary said gently. She reached for his hand. "But I would rather have you now, alive, because she stole you then have you truly dead with our parents in that accident."
"What would you have me do?" he asked, reeling slightly from her words.
"I want you to talk to her," Mary said.
"I..."
"I'm not asking you to forgive her," she continued. "But at least talk to her." She watched her brother closely, smiling a bit when Ezra finally nodded.
---
Maude looked over at her door when she heard the knock. She rose from her seat and walked over, opening it. Her heart started to pound as she stared at him.
"Ezra..."
"May I come in?" Ezra asked, his hat in hand.
"Of course," Maude said, stepping aside to allow him admittance to the room. Ezra stepped inside, glancing around. As meticulous as ever, he did note that she was packed in case she was sent away. He suppressed the sigh that wanted to escape. Typical Maude.
"I admit I am surprised you came..." Maude said, offering him a hopeful smile.
"I came for my sister," Ezra said. Maude's smile faded immediately. "You surely do not expect me to say everything is all right, do you?"
"I had thought that..." Maude started, glancing away from the man.
"As I said, I came for my sister. She wishes to forge a relationship with you as you are our aunt," Ezra said, setting his hat on the nearby dresser. "I am, however, ambivalent."
"Can you never find it in your heart to forgive me?" Maude asked, her voice a mere whisper.
"To be perfectly honest, probably not," Ezra said.
"Ezra..."
"No," Ezra said. He frowned and shook his head, staring at her, letting her see just how much her actions hurt him. "This isn't some con gone wrong, Maude. This is my life. This is Mary's life. You lied and you were caught."
"I was si--."
"Sick, I know. But that excuse doesn't work on me," Ezra said. "Even if I could move past the fact that in your sickened state of grief that caused you to steal me from my parents, taking me from my sister, I can't get past how you left me every chance you got."
"I..."
"No, Maude," Ezra interrupted. "You had your chance to explain your story and I listened. Now you are going to sit and listen to the actions, the hurt, you inflicted upon me."
Running his fingers through his chestnut hair, Ezra gathered his inner strength to finally voice all the pain he had endured because of Maude's lack of parenting. He looked at her.
"You abandoned me," he said. "Every chance you got. Do you realize what that does to a child? Any idea? It hurts. It tears them apart. Every time you dropped me off at some supposed relative's house, it tore me in two. I never knew what I did wrong to deserve being abandoned by the woman who I looked to as a mother. I never understood why you didn't love me enough to stay with me."
"Ezra I did... I do love you!" Maude said.
"No," Ezra said, shaking his head. "You may think you did and you do, but you loved what I represented. I see that now knowing the truth. Now that I do know, you didn't simply drop me off because I wasn't needed for a con, you dropped me off because I was a constant reminder of the crime you committed. The lies you told."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it?" he asked, his eyes sad. "Because it certainly seems that way." He prodded at his chest where his heart beat beneath flesh and bone. "Do you realize that I had an acute pain here that never truly went away? Every time you left, it hurt. Every time I found myself in a new home, a new bedroom... if I were lucky enough to get a bedroom, it ached at the loss."
"I... I did it for us," Maude whispered ineffectually. "The money we got from..."
"The cons?" Ezra asked. "What about the beatings I got for the cons? The cold shoulders I've gotten since because of the cons? Because of this... trade you taught me. Do you realize that even now, as a lawman of this town, I get sneered at? I'm instantly mistrusted because of the things I know, because it's all I know."
"Ezra..." Maude started, tears slipping onto her cheeks.
"You did that to me, Maude," he said loudly, pointing at her. "This is the life I have now and all for what?" He straightened and let his arm drop, letting the silence stretch for a moment. He shook his head, his voice lowering again. "You know, Mary is grateful to you."
Maude looked at him, frowning. "Wha.."
"Hm mm," Ezra said, catching his lower lip between his teeth a moment before speaking again. "She chooses to think that if you had not kidnapped me, I could have died with our parents as you thought she had. As she, apparently, almost did."
"She was hurt..." Maude said, dashing a hand across her cheek.
"Hm mm," Ezra said. He shook his head and let out a harsh laugh, his eyes moving away from her as he looked around the room. He didn't say a word, simply looked around before looking at her again. "But I'm not my sister."
Maude's heart dropped. "Ezra, I know that..." She swallowed hard. "I know you can't forgive me. I know I shouldn't ask..."
"No, you shouldn't," Ezra interrupted. He reached over and grabbed his hat. "I should go."
"Ezra," Maude said, moving towards him.
"You should as well," he said, moving to the door, touching the doorknob.
"What?" Maude asked, slightly confused but her heart was breaking.
Ezra didn't open the door, not yet. He turned slightly, glancing down at the floor over his shoulder. "I'll never forgive you for what you did," he said. "I might be able to be cordial when you come to visit Mary as I am sure she would want you to, but even that I do not know if I could do."
"Ezra, please," Maude whispered.
Shifting to look at her a bit more, Ezra Standish did the one thing he never thought he would ever find it in himself to do. Nor did he ever think he would have to do under any circumstance.
"Good-bye, Maude."
Turning the doorknob, Ezra slipped out of the room. The door hadn't even clicked before Maude Standish curled in on herself and collapsed to the floor as sobs racked her body.
