Winter's Refuge

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three

HEYES

The telegram had few words, still I read it twice.

"Curry baby coming now. STOP Arnie."

I handed it to Sam and asked the desk clerk, "What time is the first train in the morning?"

"It leaves promptly at seven o'four a.m., sir. Would you like me to procure two tickets for you?" the clerk answered.

I was sure he could see I was upset. I didn't even tell him where we wanted to go, but he had glanced at the register and knew where we were from. Smart man, this desk clerk…and helpful.

"Yes, yes please." I started to pull my money out but he stopped me. "The cost of the tickets will be added to your bill when you check out. Shall I have breakfast sent to your room at six?"

I gave him a generous tip. "Yes, something light."

"Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?"

"I'd like to send a telegram to Three Birds, Nebraska."

"I'm sorry, sir, soon after this telegram arrived the wind and rain took down all of the telegraph lines in that direction. I doubt they'll be repaired before you leave tomorrow."

ASJ*****ASJ

I paced and paced in our room. It had seemed so spacious when we arrived, but now I knew every squeak in the floor. The Kid had told me Chrissy almost died in prison when she had the twins and was worried that would happen this time. She'd been so very tired these last months and her demeanor would switch from patient to annoyed in a second. So now I worried about her and paced. And I worried about the Kid if anything happened to her.

"Pa? Heyes?"

I realized Sam was talking to me. "I told you I'm honored for you to call me pa."

"Do you think we could say a prayer for Miss Chrissy and the baby?"

JED 'KID' CURRY

After admirin' the babies, Martha fell asleep curled up in the chair next to the bed, her curly hair coverin' her face. Black Beauty was still open on her lap. Angie had taken Nettie and gone downstairs.

And Chrissy looks exhausted…so does Aiden. He looked at the blood on his shirt, my shirt. "Jed, I'm sorry, it's ruined." I think he also realized he was wearin' wet pants and barefoot.

"All for a good cause, Aiden. Thank you."

He waved me off and picked up the jeans I had brought up earlier. I opened my drawer and threw him a pair of socks. "There's towels in the water closet and the room next door has a bed just waitin' for you."

Too tired to say anything, he nodded and started to leave. Then, stopped at the door. "Jed, I'm sorry."

I wanted to yell our baby girl died…but it wasn't his fault. He had fought his way through the rain and wind and then put up a mighty fight for her life. I know I watched him. "You did more than your best."

He nodded and left Chrissy was leanin' against the headboard holdin' a precious baby in each arm. She looked exhausted and so beautiful. I gently sat on the side of the bed. I know this image of her with the little ones will stay in my heart forever.

She smiled at me with a twinkle in those mountain green eyes. "Names?"

"Well, I been thinkin' about it. Would it be alright to name the boy Josiah James?"

"Josiah James Curry," she repeated. "Good strong name. Why?" Just the opposite.

"After Preacher. He saved my life more times than I can count. Found out his daughter died young. He's helped Lom so much. He's the reason Lom is sober, not me. And I thought it might give him some encouragement, too, to have a namesake."

Josiah James Curry. Good." She kissed the sleepin' baby gently. She looked around the room and whispered to me, "Diane Francis Curry?" She kissed our baby girl on the head. She really had no hair.

"I think Auntie would be honored."

Chrissy brow knitted and she started to cry…and I knew why. "Trinity Rose Curry?"

"Perfect," I managed through tears of my own.

"Jed, I'll sit with Chrissy so you can get some rest." Auntie came back into the room briskly, her cane clickin' on the floor as she walked.

Chrissy smiled. "Jed sleep. Auntie meet Josiah James Curry and Diane Francis Curry."

"Oh my!" Auntie exclaimed. "Really? You made an old woman very happy." But her face got serious. "Jed, just so you know, I put the shackles on Rocky tonight. He didn't want to bother you and said he didn't want to go back to prison."

HEYES

I'm helpless, again, waiting for morning. But I don't want to scare Sam. He's a good kid and another of the gifts Angie brought to our marriage. We talked before he went to sleep.

"Pa, would you be disappointed in me if I didn't do well on my test?" Sam asked.

I smiled. "Only if what you truly wanted was to go to the school that Mr. Kolmand attended back east. Me and your ma would prefer if you were close to home," I told him. This way it's our idea, not him backing out. He can say he's doing it for us.

He studied me before speaking. "I thought it was, but now I don't know. Mom tried to make a good home but she always had to work real hard. And my aunt and uncle looked at me as nothing but a nuisance. The son of an outlaw."

I was going to tell him otherwise, but he was so serious that I thought for a second. He was telling the truth. I had been pacing, but stopped and put a hand on each of his shoulders. "Me and the Kid haven't had a real home since we were young. The Kid worked hard to build and protect our family here…and you're a part of it, whether you like it or not."

"I like it. Nettie is so lucky she'll be raised there with you and ma. And I like living in a big family. I want to continue my education, but somewhere close to home."

"How about Bridgeport?"

"Really? Where we caught the train here?"

Nodding, I answered, "I know Mr. Kolmand said he'd research schools closer to home but, well, me and your ma already did. We were going to talk to you about it when we got home. You don't have to do this. You can go to that eastern school with the prestigious name and we'll support your decision. But Bridgeport has one of the best boys prep schools around here and you could stay with a friend of ours. He'd expect you to help with the newspaper."

"He works for a newspaper?" I saw an excitement in Sam's face.

"He owns the newspaper."

"I could stay with him and really help with the newspaper?"

"Well, I haven't exactly asked him...like I said, me and your ma were going to have this discussion with you when we got home. If you thought you might be interested, then we were going to ask him."

"Ask him."

ASJ*****ASJ

Sam knew that we were going home because Chrissy was having her baby. He didn't know that this birth might threaten her life. So, while he slept, I tried to read, and then I paced, and dawn took forever to break. I left a message with the desk clerk for Mr. Kolmand that we had left early due to a family emergency.

Sam said little until we got on the train. Then he said, "Thanks for coming with me. I really was kinda scared coming without you or ma."

"Wouldn't have let you travel alone until you are older," I answered.

He smiled, looked out the window at the scenery, leaving me to worry about things at home. By the time we got to Bridgeport, I had convinced myself that everything was fine at home and I'd get there to find the Kid and Chrissy the parents of another set of twins.

On the way to Denver, we didn't have the time to see Mike Loveland, and we didn't now either. But Mike was waiting for us on the platform, and he didn't look happy.

"Heyes, over here," Mike called. He's one of the tallest men I know, yet is as gentle as a lamb with his son. "Wasn't sure you got the telegram to come home early."

"Hi, Mike, sorry can't visit now. We're in a rush to get home. By the way, meet my stepson, Sam," I said, as we hurried to the livery to rent a buggy. We had come in Kolmand's buggy.

"Heyes, stop. I need to talk to you." Mike grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Mike?" I asked at his uncharacteristic behavior. And then it hit me. Something went wrong at Phoenix. "Something happened at home? What? Chrissy?" I grabbed his arms in a panic.

"Not Chrissy. Come over here where it's quiet."

Sam's face echoed my panic now. And when Mike led us to a nearby alley and Juan was there, our wagon all ready to leave, I started to shake. If it wasn't Chrissy, it must be the babies.

"Juan?"

"We've had a lot of rain and I thought you'd get home quicker if I came and got you." He hesitated. Whatever this was, it was hard to say. And then he told us. I admit, I wept right there in the alley. And I thought how I would have felt if we had lost Nettie. Sam was trying to hold back the tears, too. It wasn't until we were riding home that we realized Juan had told us there were two new little babies at Phoenix. My heart ached for the one we lost…and for her parents.

ASJ*****ASJ

Juan knew the road home well and despite mud and flooding from the rain, he drove quickly.

I kept trying to think of what to say to the Kid and Chrissy, but those words wouldn't form. Sorrow and loss filled me. I stared out the side of the wagon, but really saw nothing.

When we turned up Curry Road, we found Ken working on shelves for his Boot and Shoe Emporium. He waved us down.

"Glad you're here, Heyes. Jed's in the barn working on a…a…casket. Won't let anyone help him or even near him. Maybe he'll let you."

"Thanks, Ken," I told him. I needed to go to the Kid but it sounded like he was pushing people away. I didn't go into the house, but headed straight for the barn.

"Kid?"

He looked at me through red eyes. "Heyes, glad you're home. Now go inside. Don't want to talk to nobody."

I didn't talk more to him. I didn't go inside, either. I saw the careful work he was doing. Every board was cut precisely and every nail was hit squarely on the head. When he next picked up his hammer. I handed him a nail. He cocked his head to look at me and accepted it. And then I gave him another and another. When he balanced another piece of wood, I handed him the saw and held the wood firmly so it didn't move. Then I handed him the plane. He shook his head and I found the scraper he must have used and dropped on the floor.

Quietly, he worked as the driven man he was. This is the one thing he could give his daughter. Finally, he stood back. It was done. I just stood aside saying nothing, but my heart was breaking for him. He took a deep breath and picked up a sheet and I helped him cover the small box.

"Heyes, come into town with me?"

"Sure. Now?"

He was looking out the back of the barn towards our property line. "Mr. Robinson said that land behind us might be for sale. Bank owns it. Want to try and buy it."

"We've always just used it to graze the horses without paying…"

"Not for the horses. See that hill there with the big oak tree? What does that remind you of?" he asked, still staring at the land.

We stood shoulder to shoulder looking in the distance. And I knew what he was thinking. It was similar to the Heyes/Curry cemetery in Kansas. "Sure, I'll go with you. Let me get cash out of the safe so we can buy it today."

"I think Trinity Rose would like it there," he said softly.

ASJ*****ASJ

Trinity Rose Curry was buried the next morning. The Kid had made a gravestone for her when we came back from buying the land. Mr. Robinson had given us a fair price and with that one purchase Phoenix had more than doubled in size. I think everyone in Three Birds came to the graveside service. All three Birde brothers, Frank, Fritz, and Felix were there with their entire families. Ken, Mary, and Kenny stood with Juan and their son. Hortencia is having a rough time with child. I know this must be on her mind now, too.

Mr. Dwyer, the undertaker and our Sunday dinner companion, rode out to the ranch with Aiden, Denise, and Ajay. Glen closed the telegraph office and joined us. Arnie and Rocky helped wherever they could. Mr. Robinson was there alone. Thank goodness his stepsons were away at school and his wife had gone to look after them. Miss Duhamel came with Mr. Kolmand. I wondered how long it would be until we had to find a new school teacher. The Crenshaw family were there and Mrs. Ryan brought us extra bread and pastries.

Mike and Mikey Loveland and even Sheriff Damon Hollahan came down from Bridgeport.

Chrissy asked to see Jeff Birde so the Kid took him upstairs. I was surprised. He's real protective of her right now and I don't blame him. After she had the babies, she was real weak. Angie says she's getting a little stronger but sometimes she stares at nothing. My wife is sure that's when Angie is praying for Trinity Rose. Jeff came downstairs with one of Chrissy's tree and seed catalogs and an order for a dozen rose bushes to be planted around Trinity's grave. I insisted on paying for them before he left.

I was surprised that Colin and Miss Tina Sanderson, the governor's wife, made the trip from Cheyenne on such short notice. She didn't come to the service, but sat with Chrissy.

Martha and Michael's friends from school and their parents came, too. I hope the Kid sees all these people that care about our family. Even Old Man Bremerton came in his fancy buggy. The Kid wasn't too pleased to see him, but held his tongue. This is not the time for hard feelings.

And, of course, the entire Curry/Heyes clan was there except for Chrissy and the little twins, as we've started calling them.

The service was brief. Father Patrick has returned and officiated. We were reassured that her immaculate soul was received into heaven by our divine Father. I don't remember much else that was said that day. All I remember is the heavy sadness. Everyone had brought food. We went down to the house to eat and talk after the funeral, but the Kid sat at her graveside. When he didn't come after a while, I went and sat with him. Aiden joined us soon after.

"Don't ever want her to feel alone or scared," the Kid finally said through tears.

I had no answer for that. All I could do was sit next to him and grieve with him. Me and the Kid never really knew death until one day our entire family was gone. Then all we had was each other…until prison forced us apart. The Kid built this place for his family, to raise them and protect them. I know he's feeling he failed because Trinity Rose was born dead. But he needs to look around at all the people here, people who've come to help him and Chrissy get through this. I asked Dr. Arden to talk to him more about that when all this is over. The Kid is a good man and a good pa. He ain't never failed anyone.