Chapter 5

Morning came and he was up as if it was another day on the mountain. He felt he had slept well. He went down for breakfast and saw that Shellie was finishing her oatmeal some of it was on her, some of it was in her and some of it was everywhere else.

"Good Morning Josh. How did you sleep?"

"Fine, thank you Maggie, I may call you Maggie?" He asked.

"Of course, we are all family in this area. I know you haven't been back for a while, but you are family even so! Can I get you some bacon and eggs. I also have fresh baked bread to go with it?"
"That would be nice. Thank you, Maggie, is there coffee?" Josh asked. Thankful that this seemed like a loving home for Shellie. He wasn't sure yet about taking her back with him. He felt she had a good home, why take her away?

"Len said you might want to go look at the property later. He left a horse for you, and he said to tell you that the tree on the hill is where she is. That is if you want to have a talk with her."

When Maggie talked about her, he wasn't too happy to here of her. He had bad memories.

"Thank you, Maggie, I will look into that." Said Josh. Shellie just threw the rest of her oatmeal on the kitchen floor and laughed. She was a little stinker and Maggie knew she was doing that so her new friend would notice her.

"Josh, you will have to 'notice' Shellie this morning. She likes you and is being down right naughty just to get your attention!" Josh smiled.

"Yes!" He thought, "just like her mother" but he also noticed something in her that was Bolt family trait. It wasn't much but it was there. He finished his breakfast and another cup of coffee then he left to go riding to the property.

He saddled the black horse called 'Spirit'. Then he rode out of town and towards the property. He wasn't sure what his feelings would be. He just knew that somewhere there he had to let go of the memories that haunted him. The road was not too bad, it seems as if someone had kept the road up this far out of town. Len did not say anyone else was living there but then again, could be squatters. They were known to take over people's homes when they no longer returned. He traveled past the 'hanging' tree, which was the first tree he had seen when he came out. The hard part was that someone was on that tree as if it was a warning of bad things to come. He did not really pay attention at the time because he had been so enamored of Sheila. Her hair was a deep dark brown. She had brown eyes and an infectious smile. Riding past the tree, again he did not see a warning. The crows that sat on that tree. To some it meant someone was going to die. But Josh rode past the tree. He went up the path that led to the cabin. It was still intact and looked like someone had been squatting in there.

He got off the 'Spirit' and walked up the porch and knocked on the door. There was no answer. The door was unlocked so he went in and took a deep breath. The last night he was there, he remembered he had been tied up. She had beaten him so badly that he was afraid of her and what she would do to him. But also, his brother and family were in danger as well. And then Pilar who had done nothing but help him get through this nightmare. He walked through the living room, the kitchen, then to the bedroom. He looked around in there. The bed had been slept in, so someone was living there. The memories flooded, the good, the bad and the ugly. It was the ugly that had disturbed him. He could not figure why Shellie had been born. When had she been conceived? Was it that night? Was it a couple of nights before? He had refused, he no longer wanted to be with her. She would tie him up and force him, he sat down and started to cry. He couldn't deal with these things. He stopped crying and started to tear the bed apart, try to break the bed itself. He found an ax and started to destroy the bed. Everything hurt, he hurt, he felt so helpless, he had felt helpless, he could not be himself. He had all this pent up anger and rage. The bed was demolished. It was only good for kindling. He walked into the living room and was working on destroying that as well. He went to the kitchen with the ax he was now destroying the kitchen. He did not here someone coming in the door as he was raising his axe to destroy the kitchen table. When he went to swing the ax, it felt like it was stuck. He pulled and pulled but could not move it. He looked behind him and a man stood there keeping him from using the axe.

"Hello, friend" said the man who took the ax from him.

"I am sorry to stop your path of destruction, but I need to cook my meal and if you destroy this table, we will both go hungry!" The man said. Joshua looked at this man, he was as big as Swede but a little fuller in the shoulders.

"My name is Frank Smith and I know who you are, Mr. Joshua Bolt. I am please to meet you. You can call me Frank!" He said.

"You can call me Josh!" Frank took his hand and shook it. Then said, well, since you have left us at least two chairs, we can sit down and discuss the destruction of my cabin." Said Frank as he placed a chair in front of Josh and then sat across from him. Josh sat down. He was still angry but curious as to who this Frank Smith was.

"Josh, I know who you are, I have been living here waiting for you to return. I knew you were going to return; She knew that as well. You don't remember me do you?" He asked. Josh looked at him but could not remember who he was. His memories did not include Frank Smith or at least not at this time.

"Josh, was Sheila's business manager. I took care of her business ventures. She was a very rich lady, did you knonw that?" Josh shook his head no.

"I didn't think you knew that. When you met her, you were in San Francisco working in a new office that your brothers and you had opened. You and her had a great time. Then she decided that she wanted to settle down with you and have a family. I watched as she chose where and when you both would be together. You were so enamored of her, like she cast a spell on you. She did you know. You saw her and wanted to be with her so much, she finally made it happen. She brought you out here. She was hoping that the spell would wear off and that you would still love her as much as you did with the spell. I watched, in fact, I was there the last nigh you two were in bed together. I was the one who took you out to the Milk barn and then took you to the arena.

Josh was listening to all of this, he could not believe what he was hearing. He said:

"Why didn't you stop her? What happened to her that she had changed so much from the woman I knew? How could she have been the way she was?" Josh said, trying to understand and take in all that was being revealed.

"Joshua, Joshua, you could not know, nor anyone know what happened to her. She did become a hateful woman. Not because of your or anything you did but because of something that happened when she was a child. She did not mention this to anyone she had been abused as a child. She learned that hitting, hurting and beating someone was what made them happy, and so she thought that was the way of things. So, she was unusual for a woman, she was able to make her way in the world on her own terms. She made money and we all know that money talks. She was able to set up an empire of places that would serve the unsavory needs of humans who were base and cruel. She was making a lot of money. And she could have anyone she wanted. Her first husband did not understand her at all. He tried to run away but was shot and killed. When you tried to run, she tried other ideas. When your family showed up she was going to keep you alive, whether you wanted to be or not because all she wanted was your warmth and your touch and she was very afraid of loosing you. She did have some mental issues when she was young and well, let me say, these issues persisted to the end."

Josh sat and listened to what this man had to say. He felt torn. He had loved her once, but the love turned to hate and loathing and when she threatened his family all he wanted to do was to get them away from her. He had calmed down enough to start to think straight again. He looked at Frank and said:

"I think I want to see her grave if you don't mind?" Frank stood up and said: "It is over there under the tree on the hill. I will be cooking supper when you get back."

Joshua walked to the tree, under the tree there was a gravestone. He looked at it and read it. He still had not found out if he actually pulled the trigger that shot her. But he stood there. There was a slight breeze, as he stood there, he heard a tune, that she used to sing. Her voice had been sweet when they were together once. He listened to it. He decided to go down to the Milk Barn and look in there. When he got there, the horse 'Spirit' was standing nearby. It had wandered from the porch but was there by the Milk Barn. Joshua went in and 'heard the voices' and the 'sounds' of that fateful day. He thought he saw Pilar, and Candy, he wondered about what he was seeing, it all seemed to be vivid. What had he eaten?

He walked out and went to the Arena. As he stood there, Spirit had followed him and was waiting for him. Joshua looked at the bullet holes in the wood walls, and then looked at where Jason and Matilda had been placed, and then he went to Pilar and Candy were. He came around and went and stood where he had stood. He held up his arm in the exact position he had when he had been there. He looked at the stands, he saw her, standing there. He heard the noises, the shouts and then he saw the shot. He had not shot her. The shot had come from…looking toward the stands, he looked just slightly to his right. Someone had been standing behind and a little off of his right shoulder, Frank and fired the shot that almost killed her and the baby! He hesitated but Spirit, came up to him and positioned himself so that Joshua could get on him and ride. Which Joshua did, he rode fast and hard back to town, the sheriff's house. When he got there, he had to take care of Spirit who was tired from that ride. Then he went inside and up to his room to think about what he had seen and heard that day.