Searching For Jeremy Bolt The Alternate Ending J
Jason and Jeremy rode a long way up Bridal Veil Mountain. When they stopped, Jason built a campfire and put on a pot of coffee. Each of them drank a few cups as they made small talk about work and things going on in town.
The brothers were quiet for a few minutes. As the darkness was getting ready to slip away, Jeremy got up and walked over to Brownie.
Jeremy stood in front of his beloved horse and rested his head against Brownie's head.
"I love you, Brownie." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around the horse's neck. Tears streamed down the youngest brother's face.
Jason listened quietly as he sipped his coffee and sighed.
Jeremy gave Brownie a little kiss on the nose and walked around him to get his shotgun which was strapped to the animal's side.
After retrieving his gun, Jeremy turned to move toward Jason. The sun had started to rise, and Jason had left his seat on the ground to watch it. The eldest Bolt's back was to his brother. He was holding his shotgun beside his leg.
Jeremy walked a few feet closer to Jason and stopped. There were still several feet between them.
"J-J-Jason, I want you to pick up your shotgun, please." Jeremy gulped.
"No, Jeremy." Jason kept his back to him.
"J-J-Jason, please do this for me. Pick up your shotgun." Jeremy's voice quivered.
Jason gazed at the sunrise. "No, Jeremy."
Jeremy was crying now. "J-J-Jason! I'm your brother! Please help me! Pick up your damn gun!"
Jason turned around. "Jeremy, why is it so important to you that I pick up my shotgun?"
"So, you can kill me before I kill you, Jason." Jeremy fell to his knees sobbing.
Jason walked to his brother and helped him to his feet.
"Come on, brother. Let's go sit down at the base of this tree. That's right, this one right here." Jason helped Jeremy sit on the ground next to him.
"I'm sorry, Jason! I have tried so hard, but I can't fight this impulse anymore. I'm so tired. I just want it to be over." Jeremy placed his head on his brother's shoulder as he continued to cry.
The big lumberjack leaned his head against his baby brother's head. He put his arm around him.
"I love you, Jason. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose. This urge seems to be getting stronger and it's wearing me down. I lied to you, Jason! I didn't want us to go hunting. I wanted to come here to get you to kill me. I thought about doing it myself, but I didn't want Candy to walk in on me or find me. I just couldn't do that to her." Jeremy hiccuped as his tears ended.
"It's alright, Jeremy. Everything is going to be alright now." Jason soothed.
Jeremy closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Jason leaned his brother's head gently against the pine tree.
Jason pressed his lips together and stared at Jeremy for a moment. Then he sighed and dropped his head.
The oldest brother reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a bandanna. He folded it and put it over his nose and mouth like a bandit's mask. He tied it around his head.
Jason reached in his coat pocket again taking out several cloths and a small bottle of Ether. He opened the Ether and set the bottle down.
Jason cradled Jeremy's head in the crook of his arm. The youngest brother was sound asleep.
Jason picked up the bottle and a cloth. He poured some liquid on the cloth and held it over Jeremy's nose and mouth.
"Breathe deeply, Jeremy. I love you so much. I can't bear to see you in pain any longer. None of us can. We know you struggled mightily to try to overcome that urge to kill me. However, it's impossible. So, Candy, Lottie, Doctor Wright and I had a meeting to discuss how to help you. This was the only viable solution. We didn't include Joshua because we knew he would be against it. He is going to hate me for this and it's going to be terrible for him without you and me. He will have Biddie and they will be happy." Jason spoke solemnly.
Placing his hand on Jeremy's chest, he felt a steady heartbeat. Jason removed the cloth from the young Bolt's face and threw it down.
Doctor Wright had advised that it would take most of the Ether. Jason got another cloth and doused it well with the substance.
Placing the new cloth over Jeremy's nose and mouth, Jason whispered, "It won't be long now, brother. Your pain is almost over."
The big man thought back over his life with his brothers. He never would have imagined anything such as this.
Jason checked his brother's heartbeat again. It was weaker, but not weak enough. The doctor was correct.
Jason got another cloth from his pocket and poured the rest of the Ether on it. He removed the other cloth and held the new one tightly over Jeremy's nose and his mouth.
Jason waited. A minute later, Jeremy gasped slightly and his body went limp as his last breath escaped.
Jason Bolt held his baby brother tightly and squalled his heart out.
"I love you, Jeremy! Oh, God! Please don't hate me! I only did this to end your suffering. If I had allowed you to kill me, you would have been tormented by that. This was the only answer. Oh, God, Jeremy!"
Jason held his brother as he cried pitiful gut-wrenching sobs. When he calmed down a bit, he whispered in Jeremy's ear, "You are alright now. You are with Mom and Dad. Tell them to wait for me. I will be there in a minute."
Jason got up from the ground. He laid Jeremy down gently on the ground and covered him from head-to-toe with a blanket.
Jason Bolt looked out across the valley for a moment. He removed the bandanna from his face and threw it down. Then he walked behind the pine tree he and Jeremy had sat against.
Jason reached in his coat pocket and took out his pistol. He put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
"Josh! Are you awake? Come on, Josh! You missed church! Are you gonna miss Sunday dinner too?!" Jeremy shouted as he walked through the cabin.
"Hey, Jeremy! I just woke up. Boy, I had a crazy dream!" Joshua said as Jeremy walked into his bedroom.
"You can tell me about your dream while we eat. Get dressed, Josh! I'm starving!" Jeremy grinned.
"Okay, I'm so glad you got your appetite back. You don't have that urge to kill Jason anymore, do you?" Joshua asked as he was getting dressed.
"Of course not, brother. You know that doctor friend of Doctor Wright's cured me when I was in the hospital for two months in San Francisco." Jeremy reminded him.
"Sure, I remember now." Joshua smiled.
When Joshua was dressed, he and Jeremy left the cabin to join their family and friends at Lottie's.
The Bolt family along with Biddie, Lottie, and Clancy shared a table. The three brothers sat next to each other with Jeremy between Jason and Joshua.
There was lots of conversation, laughter, and love at that table. Candy could hardly take her eyes off her smiling gorgeous happy husband.
Outside Lottie's establishment, a man and a woman stood arm in arm gazing through the window. Their eyes were fixed on the Bolt table.
"Why, the tears, sweetheart? They are all fine." He asked his wife.
"Yes, they are. But they came so very close to…if you hadn't knocked the gun out of Jason's hand just in time." She answered.
"You did your part as well. You breathed life back into Jeremy." He hugged her.
"Yes, we saved them with The Lord's help." She smiled. "And with a whisper and a kiss, we gave Joshua his crazy dream so that the other two would not remember what happened to them on the mountain."
"The Lord helped with the dream as well." He spoke.
She nodded in agreement without looking at him. She couldn't take her eyes off of those beautiful young men, Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy.
"The wee one is cured too. That urge to harm his brother haunts him no more. The Lord is merciful." He said. "Darling, it is time."
"I know, dearest. One more look at our handsome sons." She replied.
Johnathan and Mary Margaret Bolt watched their sons laughing and smiling and enjoying themselves with their family and friends.
Johnny and Maggie turned to face each other.
"No more searching for our youngest barin, Maggie. He is home where he belongs." Johnny spoke.
Maggie Bolt smiled as she and her husband walked arm in arm toward their mountain.
The End.