Twenty and Epilogue

Victoria and Audra stood in Stockton's train yard watching as the train approached while Duke remained with the wagon just outside the train yard. There was the usual hustle and bustle that went along with people coming and going, though none of that mattered to the two women as the train pulled in and came to a stop. Moments later one person after another were getting off the train. It wasn't long before Jarrod and Heath were carrying Brian off the train while Nick and Mariah followed close behind.

"Mother, Audra," Nick, who had his arm around Mariah's waist, looked at Victoria. "This is my wife Mariah and her brother Brian."

"Hello, Mrs. Barkley, Audra. I'm pleased to meet you." Mariah, who was still more nervous than she was letting on, smiled at her new mother-in-law.

Victoria smiled back. "It's nice to have a face to fit your name. Let's get your brother into the wagon. We can get to know each other on the way to the ranch."

Nick, who had not planned on doing anything but going straight to the ranch, caught sight of Adam Mitchell, who was standing near the edge of the train yard talking with one of the railroad workers. "I'll be right back; I promise." Nick let go of Mariah and made a beeline for Adam. At first, Mariah, Brian and the others were confused. That is, until the rest of the Barkleys realized what was happening.

"Adam was crazy enough to come here, to the station?" Jarrod shook his head as he and Heath took Brian and made their way to the wagon.

Audra, who was walking behind the men, couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Don't tell me." Jarrod glanced over his shoulder at his sister, mother and new sister-in-law. "He had a bit of help getting to the station."

"I never forced him to." Victoria's eyes were filled with laughter. "I just pointed out that-since he and his brothers were already in Stockton-it might be better just facing the music and getting it over with."

Brian couldn't help it. He looked towards Mariah and started laughing. Inwardly, Mariah was dying of embarrassment and promising to have a 'little talk' with her brother later on.

Audra looked at Mariah and asked with an amused smile, "Don't tell me. You've had similar experiences in the past?"

"You could say that." Mariah shrugged her shoulders as a 'Wellll…' look appeared on her face.

While Mariah and Brian continued visiting with the women, attended closely by Heath, Jarrod and McColl, Nick was cornering Adam-who had moved away from the train he'd been looking at to the side of a nearby building.

"I don't know who's crazier..." Nick stopped in front of his 'friend'-who looked as if he wished he were anywhere, but standing in front of the famous Stockton rancher. "...you or me. Still...what were you thinking? You knew we were joking!" He glared at Adam and snapped-and would have been heard throughout the whole train yard had it not been filled with people who were making just as much noise as he was.

Adam folded his arms and returned the glare, though there was amusement in his voice as he shot back, "Sure I knew, and I figured when that lawyer and I approached you I'd get another laugh when you blew your stack in of those men you were discussing cattle with. I had no clue I'd be the one left speechless when you actually took the paper and signed it! Though, I won't deny I've been laughing and wondering how things were going once I found out what the real deal was." Adam threw a glance towards the Barkleys and the Keagans before looking back at Nick. "So, are you going to beat me up or go back to your family?"

If it wasn't for the memory of holding Mariah in his arms, along with the kiss on the train platform, Nick would have given in to the temptation of slugging the man right then and there. As it was, he simply snarled before turning around and wasting no time getting back to Mariah and his family. It would be a couple of years before he finally thanked Adam for 'being as crazy as Nick was'.

Epilogue

Nick, who had found himself working later than he'd have liked, walked into the house to see Mariah sitting in her rocker knitting while their ten-year-old grandson – Nicolas Jonathon Barkley the Third (or Johnny as they called him)– lay curled up in his sleeping bag in front of the fireplace. His twelve-year-old sister, Joyce, lay on the sofa asleep with a large brown colored book in her arms. Their son, the children's father, had been killed in action during World War 1-and their mother, sadly, had succumbed to the Spanish Flu.

When it came to where 'Johnny' was sleeping, Nick didn't bother asking why the child wasn't in bed upstairs. It was like this the first Friday of every month. That is, when it was winter. Maybe it would have been different if he and Mariah were still young, but they weren't. These monthly 'campouts' in the living room seemed to appease the children during the colder months.

"You'd think those journals were worth millions of dollars the way Joyce acts." Nick hung up his hat and walked over to his wife. Leaning over, he kissed her as deep and as long as he dared then stepped back. "I think I'm going to talk to Caroline and Elias about watching these children for a week." Caroline was their oldest daughter; Elias-the oldest son of Phillip and Eliza Madden-was her husband. The two families had been fast friends since the day they'd returned to Stockton. Though, why one of Nick and Mariah's other six children had not been listed as guardians for Johnny and Joyce was something Nick and Mariah would never know for sure. Though, it didn't matter-as they'd never turn any member of their family away.

"They are to her." Mariah smiled and then started laughing.

"And, just what is so funny?" Nick asked as Mariah set down her knitting, stood up and wrapped her arms around her husband's waist at the same time he was wrapping his arms around her.

"Just trying to picture me in the attire of a damsel in distress, and you riding your horse dressed in a bright, shiny knight's armor." Mariah, remembering all the things her granddaughter had said as she had finished the journal Mariah had kept during the early part of her and Nick's marriage. "In spite of what one may think, only-while you and I can do many things- we can't do everything!"

Nick, who had seen Mariah glance towards Joyce before making the remark, laughed and started shaking his head. "I think the child reads too many fairy tales."

"Maybe… maybe not." Mariah stepped a bit closer and spoke softly. "It's ten o'clock at night, and our bedroom door still locks."

Nick wasted no time in leading his wife out of the living room and up the stairs to the privacy of their bedroom. For the millionth time since the search for Mariah and the other passengers had taken place, Nick silently thanked his maker for the miracle of handing him such a treasure.