Summary: A story of curiosity, kindness, friendship, and compassion on Adam’s part.
Rating and Reader Alerts: G
Words:  10,800

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The Brandsters have included this story by this author in our project: Preserving Their Legacy. To preserve the legacy of the author, we have decided to give their work a home in the Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library.  The author will always be the owner of this work of fanfiction, and should they wish us to remove their story, we will.

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Disclaimer:  The Cartwright characters were created by David Dortort and I claim no rights or privileges to their characterization.  All other characters are products of my imagination, and any resemblance to any person whether living or dead is coincidental.

 

A KINDNESS CHERISHED

Jayne Mitchell dropped her packages after she stepped out of the mercantile store and bumped into him.

“I’m sorry.  I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she said in apology as she bent down to retrieve her packages.

“No problem,” she heard his deep voice answer.  She cast a quick glance at him and when she saw how exceptionally handsome he was, it made her feel even more clumsy and she fumbled the packages all over again as she tried picking them up.

“Can I carry these somewhere for you?” Adam Cartwright asked when he saw how much trouble she was having holding onto them.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head.  “No, oh no.  You have much better things to do.  No,” she protested and picked up the packages, only managing to drop them again.

“Here…let me take those,” he replied and reached out and took the bulky things from her and stood up.  “Where to?”

“The hotel,” she answered timidly, keeping her head down.

Adam nodded and headed for the hotel.  Jayne kept half a step behind him as they walked.  He turned slightly and looked at her.  He saw a rather tall, thin woman; her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck; the round wire glasses she wore made her face seem small and pinched, and her clothes were more suitable for an older spinster lady, though to him she didn’t look all that old.

“You can walk beside me so we can talk,” Adam said to her.

“Why?”  her voice was quiet and shy sounding, but he noticed it sounded raspy.

“Why talk?  Well, talking to someone while you’re walking with them helps to break the silence.”

“No one usually wants to talk to me.”

“By the way, I’m Adam Cartwright.”

“I’ve heard people talk about the Cartwright’s.”

He gave her a curious look.  “And what did the people say about the Cartwright’s?  AND you haven’t told me YOUR name.”

She lowered her head quickly and blushed terribly and shook her head.  “Jayne…Jayne Mitchell.”

“Well, Jayne Mitchell, it’s nice to make your acquaintance, but you still haven’t told me what people say about the Cartwright’s.”

Jayne stopped walking, which made Adam stop, and look at her.  She stood with her head lowered slightly and her eyes cast down.

“Please, Mr. Cartwright…I don’t like repeating things I hear.  I can carry the packages the rest of the way,” she replied and reached for them.

“I don’t mind carrying them, it isn’t that much further.  And you don’t have to repeat what you heard.”  He made no attempt to hand her packages to her.  “We’ll talk about what you like to talk about,” he added and started walking again.  Jayne followed but stayed two steps behind him.

He stopped until she was abreast of him and he started walking again.  “Now…what would you like to talk about, Miss Mitchell?”

“W-well…I’m…not…I don’t really know how to talk to a man, Mr. Cartwright.”

“You don’t?  Well, first of all my name is just Adam, not Mr. Cartwright, and it isn’t all that hard talking to a man…you just open your mouth and make the words come out.  Try it.  Go on, open your mouth.”

Jayne smiled, though she didn’t raise her head to look at him.

“Now that I’ve gotten you to smile, how about raising your head and look at me.  I want to see what color your eyes are.”

That made her lower her head even lower and she turned her head away from him as she felt a warm sensation start at the base of her neck making it’s way all the way up to the top of her head.

He looked over at the woman.  “Don’t be embarrassed to hold your head up, Miss Mitchell.”

They had reached the hotel entrance and Adam held her packages out to her.  “I still want to see the color of your eyes,” he said as she took the items, but kept her head and eyes lowered.

“Can I pay you, Mr. Cartwright, for carrying my packages?”

“As a matter of fact you can.  You can pay me by looking at me and calling me Adam.”

Slowly she raised her eyes to look at him.  He saw her eyes were violet in color and rimmed with the longest lashes he had ever seen.  But he had to look fast, because she lowered her eyes almost immediately after looking at him.

“Thank you…Adam,” she said quickly, then turned and hastily stepped inside the lobby, dropping a package then scooping it up again before continuing on.

Right before she departed, Chase Powell came out of the hotel.  Just as Jayne reached the bottom step before continuing up to her room, Chase said, “With all the pretty girls in Virginia City, you carry packages for the ugly duckling.”

Jayne stopped immediately, but didn’t turn around.  Adam looked at her standing rigid with her back to them, her head lowered.  He looked at Chase Powell.

“Shut up, Chase.”

When Adam turned back to look at Jayne, she had already disappeared up the stairs.  He looked back at Chase.  “You have a big mouth, Powell…you know that.”  Adam turned his back on the man and stepped over to the hotel desk clerk.

“What room is Miss Jayne Mitchell in, Mr. Forbes?”

“Miss Mitchell has requested that I not give out that information, Adam.”

“I see.  Do you know how long she’ll be in town?”

“She’s been here two months, and she’s paid up for three more.”

 “What time does she come down to dinner?”

“She don’t.  She eats all her meals in her room.  She kinda stays to herself, a real recluse.  The only times she leaves her room is Sunday morning for church, Monday morning when she goes to the mercantile and an hour on Wednesday morning.”

“I wonder why I didn’t see her in church yesterday?”

“Well, she comes in just before the minister’s sermon and usually sits in the back with me and my wife, then before the closing hymn is sung, she’s out the door.  Everybody in town’s been talking about how much of a recluse she is.  I’m surprised you haven’t heard about her in these last two months.”

“Well, I’ve been in San Francisco, Sacramento and St. Joe on business for two months.  Do you know where she goes on Wednesday mornings?”

“As a matter of fact I do.  She goes to the Library.  Ten o’clock every Wednesday, and is back in the hotel by eleven with an armload of books, then she goes straight to her room and I don’t see no more of her til Sunday morning at church.”

“The Library you say…every Wednesday morning.”

“Just like clockwork.  Stays to herself…it ain’t healthy if you ask ME.  I tried to have a conversation with her once, but she hardly said more than yes and no.  Strange.”  Mr. Forbes shook his head.

“Thanks for the information, Mr. Forbes.”  Adam turned and left the hotel.

Up in her room, Jayne Mitchell stood beside her window and through the lace curtain, she saw the man in black walking away from the hotel.  She watched as he mounted his horse and rode out of her view.  A tear escaped out of each eye and ran down each cheek, as she stepped away from the window.

******

Virginia Thomas, Librarian at the Virginia City Library, was busy unpacking a box of newly arrived books when the Library door opened.

“Good morning, Mrs. Thomas,” Jayne remarked as she closed the Library door behind her.

“Good morning, dear.  It’s a beautiful day out there today isn’t it.”

“Yes, it’s quite lovely.”  Jayne placed three thick books down on the counter in front of the Librarian.

“What books would you like this week, Jayne dear?”

“If you have it, I think ‘Paradise Lost’.  It’s been some time since I’ve read it.”
“One of my all-time favorites.”

“I think mine too.  I never tire of reading it.  It’s one of those books that gets you to thinking, but it’s also one of those books that few people enjoy reading.”

“That’s because they don’t understand it,” a deep voice sounded from across the room.

Jayne whirled around and saw Adam Cartwright walking towards her.  She whirled back around to face Mrs. Thomas and said, “Just have that book delivered to me at the hotel, Mrs. Thomas.”  Jayne headed quickly for the door.

Adam reached the door a step ahead of her and looked at her.  “I’d like to talk to you, Miss Mitchell, if I may.” 

“No…you would be embarrassed again if you were seen talking to me.”  She pulled the door open and left the Library in such a hurry that Adam didn’t even have time to respond to her statement.

“Why did she say that to you, Adam?”

“Oh, the other day Chase Powell made some crude remark about her and she heard it…I guess she thinks I feel the same way,” Adam explained as he watched her almost running towards the hotel.

“What a shame she should feel that way.”

“Mr. Forbes told me that she comes here every Wednesday.  I was hoping to talk to her and apologize for what happened, but it seems I only managed to scare her away.”

“I don’t think she saw you when she came in…I’ve never seen her so flustered before, you must have startled her a bit.”

“Maybe.  If you’ll get that book she wanted, I’ll take it to her.”

“Oh, would you?  That way I won’t have to close up the Library to take it myself.”  Virginia Thomas pulled ‘Paradise Lost’ off the shelf behind her and handed it to Adam.

“Do you happen to know her room number?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.  Mr. Forbes could tell you.  I’ve always just left books for her at the desk.”

“No, I’ve already asked him and he told me that she didn’t want her room number given out.  Well…have a nice day, Mrs. Thomas.”

“Same to you, Adam.  And thanks again for delivering that book.”  Virginia Thomas smiled as Adam left the Library.

******

Leaning on the counter waiting his turn to talk to Mr. Forbes, Adam scanned the pages of ‘Paradise Lost’.  He remembered as a youngster his father reading to him, one of the books being ‘Paradise Lost’.  His father would always begin by telling him this was his mother’s favorite book.  Maybe that’s why HE liked it so much.

Adam turned to the last page and read aloud the last few sentences:

“The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence, their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wandering step and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.”

“Uh, what was that you said, Adam?” Mr. Forbes asked him.

“Oh, I was just quoting John Milton’s Paradise Lost.”  He closed the book and looked at him.  “Mrs. Thomas asked me to deliver this to Miss Jayne Mitchell.”

“Well, I’ve already told you I can’t give out her room number.  If you’ll just leave it with me, I’ll see she gets it.”

“Right.”  Reluctantly, Adam handed the book to him.  Mr. Forbes took it and placed it in Jayne’s mail slot on the wall behind him.  Adam knew he was not going to learn Jayne’s room number from Mr. Forbes so he decided on a different approach in order to talk to her.

“If I leave Miss Mitchell a note, will you deliver it to her?”

“Certainly, at the same time I deliver the book.”  He handed Adam a sheet of paper and the ink well and pen.

Folding the note, Adam handed it to Mr. Forbes, who in turn placed it in Jayne’s mail slot on top of the book.  Adam left the hotel and walked across the street to the saloon and sidled up to the bar.

“Give me a beer, Charlie.”

“Comin’ right up, Adam.”

About that time Adam heard a loud whoop of laughter erupt across the room and turned to look in that direction.  Chase Powell and two other cowboys sat together around a table.  Chase looked at his companions then called to Adam for him to join them.
Adam picked up the glass of beer Charlie placed in front of him and meandered over to the three men.

“Sounds like you fellas are havin’ a good time this morning,” he said while he lowered himself in the last empty chair at the table.

“Yeah, Chase here, told us a funny story and we wanted you to hear it,” Bill Kelly said as he snickered.

“Oh, what’s the story?”  Adam sipped his drink while he waited to hear the tale.

The other man at the table, Craig Jackson, spoke next.  “He told us he saw you and ole’ four-eyes walking together and you were carryin’ her packages.”  Craig and the other two snickered.

With his glass raised to his lips, Adam just peered at them over the top of the glass, then he placed it on the table between his hands.  “Well, I guess Chase was mistaken, because I don’t know anyone named ole’ four-eyes.”

“Aw come on, Adam, you know who we mean.  That woman who has her hair pulled back so tight it makes her face look pulled tight too,” Craig said and then the three laughed.

“Maybe if you tell me the lady’s name, I might know who you’re talking about.”

“Alright then.  That Jayne Mitchell,” Chase responded.

“I carried her packages for her…what about it?”

“Nothin…if you don’t mind being made fun of and laughed at because you were seen with the ugly duckling.”

“You don’t have to call her names, Chase.  What’s she done to YOU?”

“Nothin’…she just ain’t too pretty to look at.”

“Well, that’s your opinion, so keep it to yourself.”  Adam stood and walked away, placing his half-full beer glass on the counter before leaving the saloon.

Chase watched him leave.  “I gotta find out just what it is he SEES in that woman.  Maybe I need to look at ole’ four-eyes a bit closer.”  The three men laughed together again.

******

Adam stepped across the street to where his horse was tied up in front of the hotel.

“Oh, Adam!”

Adam turned to see Mr. Forbes coming out of the hotel waving something at him, then handing him an envelope.

“This is from Miss Mitchell.”

Taking the note, Adam thanked him and opened and read it:

“Dear Mr. Cartwright:

Thank you for delivering the book
to me, as for your note of invitation to
accompany you to dinner, I must decline.

Respectfully,
Jayne Mitchell”

Adam raised an eyebrow in curiosity, for very seldom did a woman decline his invitation to dinner.  He folded the note, placed it in his shirt pocket, then mounted Sport and headed home.

******

That night at dinner, Adam pushed his food around on his plate more than picking it up and eating it.

“Something on your mind, Adam?” Ben asked.  “Adam?”

Jerked out of his deep concentration with Ben’s calling his name the second time, Adam looked up from his plate.  “Sorry, Pa.  What was it you said?”

“You seem very preoccupied, I asked if something was bothering you.”

“Not exactly bothering me.  I’m just thinking.”

“Oh, no,” Joe groaned and rolled his eyes.  “When older brother’s thinking, that means there’s more work for me and you,” he added, pointing to himself and his brother Hoss.

Hoss only nodded in agreement, because he was enjoying his dinner too much to stop and answer audibly.

“What I’m thinking has nothing to do with you two OR work.  I met a woman in town today.”

That statement spurred Joe’s interest and he gave Adam his undivided attention.  “A woman?  What woman?”

“A woman…everybody in town, according to Mr. Forbes…has been talking about.”

“You must mean Jayne Mitchell.  And Mr. Forbes is right, somebody has comments about her every place you go in town,” Joe responded.  “Especially some of the fellas.  They say…”

“I HEARD what some of them are saying about her.  But what I want to know is why they’re treating her the way they are…calling her names like ole’ four-eyes and ugly duckling.  She doesn’t deserve to be talked about like that.  Mr. Forbes says she stays mostly to herself…I wonder why she feels she has to, and I plan to find out why.”

“Ain’t thet bein’ a-mite nosey, Adam?” Hoss interjected.

Adam shrugged his shoulders.  “So I’m nosey.  There’s something about Jayne Mitchell that intrigues me.  I could almost swear I’ve seen her before…or someone who looks like her, and I want to know more about her.”

“Don’t tell me you’re interested in her,” Joe remarked.

“I’m not saying that, at least not like you mean.  I just think with all the laughter about her behind her back, she needs a friend…A friend who DOESN’T laugh at her.  I don’t think people should be shunned or made fun of because of the way they look.  Women are more sensitive about their looks than men are…some women more than most.  That’s all I’m saying.”

“I’ve heard that talk about her too, though I’ve never seen her,” Ben interjected.

“I seen her once-st or twice-st in the mercantile.  When she talked she sounded like she had a raw throat ‘ere somp’n,” Hoss offered.

“That’s probably because the time or two I’VE seen her she was wearing the highest and tightest collared dress I’ve ever seen.  It probably chokes her and she has to talk that way.”  Joe started to laugh, but when he looked over at Adam and saw that look in his eyes that told Joe he better not laugh, Joe didn’t laugh.  Instead, he quickly turned his attention to his food and stuffed his mouth full of potatoes.

Adam kept his eagle-eye stare on his youngest brother.  “Someone’s really insecure when they have to make fun of someone’s looks.”

Adam’s countenance softened and his eyes twinkled merrily.  “Besides, I figure if someone enjoys reading Paradise Lost, they have SOME degree of intelligence and you have to go some to find an intelligent person in this part of the country,” Adam said, still looking at Joe.

Hoss guffawed, and Ben chuckled, but Joe just kept stuffing his mouth.  He felt he would be more likely to live by choking to death, than by having to be pierced asunder by his eldest brother’s eyes, or chopped down to a stump by his eldest brother’s words.

******

Adam waited as long as he could outside the church for Jayne Mitchell to show up.  He had already waited through two congregational songs and was listening to the choir as they ended their song.  He slipped quickly inside, but saw Jayne hurrying towards the church, however, there would be no time to speak to her now, so he found his place beside his family and sat down just as the minister stepped up to the pulpit.  He glanced back at the door and saw Jayne slip quickly in and seated before the minister began.

Jayne timed her departure from the church just as the minister said his parting words and before he closed his Bible.  After closing the Book, Adam knew the parting congregational was about to be announced, and he remembered what Mr. Forbes said about Jayne leaving before the song, he glanced back and saw that she was no longer there.  Still wanting to talk to her to apologize, he stood and walked quickly to the door.

Jayne was several yards away from the church when she heard the organist play the introduction to the closing hymn.  Keeping up her quick pace, she jumped when Chase Powell stepped out from behind a tree, blocking her path.  Side-stepping him quickly, she picked up her walking speed.

Adam stepped outside the same time Chase stepped out in front of Jayne.   He made his way towards them.

Chase caught up to her and walked beside her.  “Hey four-eyes, let me get a better look at you,” he taunted her.

“Go away and leave me alone!”

“All I wanna do is get a better look at you to see what Adam Cartwright sees in you,” Chase said and reached out, grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him.

Kneeing him where it would hurt most, Chase doubled over in pain.  “I TOLD you to leave me alone!” she exclaimed, her voice quite raspy.

Adam walked up at that very moment and smiled, saying, “You handle yourself pretty good, Miss Mitchell.”  He bent down then straightened up again.  “But you dropped your glass…” he said as he turned to her, only to find that she had already disappeared. 

“…es,” he finished.  Watching Chase limpingaway most humbly, Adam folded the wire glasses and put them in his pocket and walked back to the church to ride home with his family.

Now he had TWO reasons to talk to Jayne…to apologize and to return her glasses to her .  His curiosity had just about reached its limit about this most unusual, quick departing woman, and he was determined to talk to her again if it was the last thing he ever did.

******
Monday morning bright and early, Adam saddled his horse and rode to Virginia City.  He wanted to be there when the mercantile doors opened so he wouldn’t miss Jayne Mitchell’s weekly visit to the store.  Just as soon as Leona Thompkins unlocked the door, he stepped inside and began browsing around.  After thirty minutes of watching him wandering from rack to rack and aisle to aisle, Mrs. Thompkins walked up beside him.

“Can I help you find something, Adam?  You’ve been searching for something, maybe I can help you find it.”

“Well, actually, I’m waiting for someone and I didn’t want to miss seeing them.”

“How do you know they’ll come in here?”

“She always does on Monday mornings…I’m told.”

“You must mean Miss Mitchell.”

Adam nodded.

Mrs. Thompkins smiled widely and it seemed as though her eyes disappeared as her pudgy cheeks became more pudgy from smiling.  “She’s a sweet girl, but I feel sorta sad for her too,” she said as her smile faded.  “Especially the way folks talk about her like they do.  If they had to go through what she went through, they wouldn’t be so quick to say those things they do.”

“What she went through?”

“Yes, poor girl.  One day I just up and asked her if she wanted my home remedy for her sore throat, and she told me she didn’t HAVE a sore throat, she talked that way because…oh excuse me, Adam, I got a customer.”

Mrs. Thompkins waddled her stout frame over to the counter to wait on Martha Stuart.  Her two girls, ages six and seven, looked over at Adam.  When he smiled and waved at them, they giggled and hid their faces in their mother’s skirts, which made Adam grin.  He chose two peppermint candy sticks and crouched down and held them out to the girls.  The children tugged on their mother’s skirt and when she looked down at them, they pointed at Adam.  Mrs. Stuart turned around, smiled and nodded.  The two little girls took the candy and with two very quick ‘thank you’s’ they compared their candy sticks then began licking and sucking on the candy.

Adam stood up and resumed his wandering up and down each aisle until Mrs. Stuart had concluded her shopping and left.  He then went to stand in front of the counter.

“You were about to tell me the reason Jayne Mitchell talks the way she does.”

The storekeeper busied herself with her merchandise while she talked.  “The poor girl…she said it happened when she was in Sacramento three years ago, she was…excuse me, Adam, I have another customer.”

Leona Thompkins waddled away from him again to wait on Mary Ann Roberts.  When Adam saw  her, he slipped quickly down another aisle, but not without her seeing him.

“Just fill that order, Mrs. Thompkins, I have some more shopping I’d like to do,” Mary Ann said while she kept her eyes glued on Adam, then made her way over to where he stood with his back to her, trying to be inconspicuous.

“Hello, Adam.”  Her voice was soft and velvety when she spoke his name.

Though not wanting to, he turned around and faced her.  “Hello, Mary Ann.  When did you get back in town?”

“I’m flattered that you noticed I had been away.”  She tilted her head and brushed a lock of her auburn hair away from her heavily painted up face.  Her green eyes looked him up and down and she stepped closer to him.

“You’re still just as handsome as ever.  Still unmarried I hope.”

He stepped back and focused his eyes on the door,  not allowing his attention to linger on the amount of skin her low neckline revealed.

“You didn’t answer me, Adam, so I take it you’re still single.  I’m glad.  I thought about you all the time I was in San Francisco.”

“I bet you did.”

“I couldn’t forget you, Adam.  Not after everything we meant to each other.”

“Which is what?” he asked, but kept his attention on the door.

She walked up and stood very close to him.  Her perfume wafted up to his nostrils and he felt like he was being put under her spell.  His eyes left the door and met hers.

“You liked me, Adam, I know you did.”  Mary Ann stood dangerously close to him.  He made his eyes leave hers and he stepped away from her again.

“Yes, I did, but when I found out about you and Jim Peters, I knew I wouldn’t be asking you out anymore.”

“I made a mistake, Adam.  Are you going to hold that affair against me for the rest of my life?”

“No, but I know there’ve been others, Mary Ann.”

“I’ve made mistakes, Adam…but I-I’ve changed.  Can’t you forgive me and take me back?  That’s why I came back to Virginia City to see if there was a chance of that happening.”

“I forgive you, of course, as for us getting back together…I’m afraid not.”

 “But I love you, Adam…I’ve always loved you, even from grade school…don’t you know that.”

“You have a different concept of love than I do, Mary Ann.”  He glanced up at that moment and saw Jayne Mitchell leaving the mercantile with an armload of packages.

“Excuse me…I have an appointment to keep.”  He walked away from her quickly and headed for the door.  Mary Ann watched from the window as he caught up with Jayne a few feet down the street from the mercantile.

“Well, Miss Mitchell, we meet again.  May I carry your packages?”

Jayne stopped and looked at him.  “Mr. Cartwright…I don’t know why it is you show up and plague me every time I come out in public, so why don’t you just go ahead right now with all your teasing and derogatory comments.  That way you’ll have it all out of the way and maybe you’ll stop bothering me!”

Adam stood looking at her with steady eyes.

“Well…go ahead!  Call me…four-eyes…ugly duckling…homely.  I believe those are the phrases all the men use!”

He continued to look at her with steady eyes.  “I want to apologize to you for the names Chase Powell called you the first day we met, and to return your glasses that you dropped Sunday.”  He took out her glasses from his pocket and placed them carefully on her face.  He held her gaze for a second or two longer then touched his hat brim.  “Good day, Miss Mitchell,” he added and turned to walk away.

“M-Mr. Cartwright,” she said quickly and he turned around.  “I…don’t know what to say.  So many men have been unkind to me, I thought…please forgive me.  I’m sorry.”  With that, she walked away quickly.  Adam caught up with her and snagged her arm.

“Please, Mr. Cartwright…I’m so embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed to be seen with me?”

She jerked her head up and looked at him with wide eyes.  “No, oh no, it isn’t that, it’s that I’m…I’m so ashamed of what I said to you.  All the other men have been rude and unkind, I just thought…”

“I would be the same way?”

She flushed terribly and nodded and lowered her head.

He used one finger to tilt her chin up.  “Well I’m NOT, and I’ll forgive you if you let me carry these for you, and if you join me for a cup of coffee in the hotel dining room.”

She gave him a shy smile and it seemed to brighten her whole countenance.  He thought now she had a rather pleasant face.  Then her face lost it’s brightness and she turned her eyes away from him.

“I only go out in public when I have to, Mr. Cartwright, so I must decline your invitation for coffee.”

“Well, you owe me, Miss Mitchell.  That was part of the deal if I forgave you…joining me for coffee.”

“But…”

“No buts.  Coffee in the hotel dining room, then I’ll go home and I won’t…plague…you anymore.”  He smiled slightly and his eyes twinkled in amusement.

“I didn’t mean to accuse you of annoying me, but…I’ll accept.  But ONLY if we can find a secluded table.”

“Deal.”  Adam took her packages from her and they made their way to the hotel dining room.  From the dining room manager, Adam requested a table away from everyone, and they were seated at a table for two in the farthest corner of the dining room.

After the waitress brought their coffee and left, Jayne cupped her hands around her cup and stared down into the dark liquid.

“Do you not drink coffee, Miss Mitchell?”

“I do, and it’s Jayne, but I’m puzzled about something, Mr. Cartwright.”

“What about?  And it’s just Adam, not Mr. Cartwright.”

“I’m puzzled about YOU.  You seem to be genuinely friendly, but I wonder why.  Is it part of a joke or did someone dare you to be friendly to me?”

“It’s neither a joke nor a dare, I just felt like you needed a friend and I’m just being friendly.”

“You sure it isn’t curiosity?”

“Well…maybe that too.”

“Well at least you’re not lying.  I can usually tell when someone is lying to me.”  Jayne raised her eyes and looked into his.  “Tell me what you’re curious about and I’ll try to answer.”

“I suppose the thing that piques my curiosity the most is, you remind me of someone.  I feel as if I’ve seen you some place before, but I just can’t place where, or at the very least you look very much like her.”

“Beyond three years ago, have you ever been to the Sacramento Opera House, Adam?”

“Yes.  Many times.  Why do you ask?”

“Because that’s where you probably saw me.  You see, my name is not Jayne Mitchell, it’s Kellie Clarkson.”

“Kellie Clarkson, the opera singer?”

“Kellie Clarkson, FORMER opera singer.  You’ve been too kind to ask about why my voice sounds like it does, nor have you laughed at me because of it, so I’m going to tell you.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Kellie.”

“I DO want to.  Three years ago, I had just finished my appearance in “Nabucco” and went to my dressing room to change for my next appearance, when I was met by Letitia Sterling and a man whom I didn’t know.”

“Letitia Sterling…world renowned opera singer?”

“She was only my understudy at that time.”

“Go on.”

“The man pushed me inside my dressing room and put a knife to my throat and told me if I didn’t resign from the opera so Letitia could take my place, he would make me very sorry.  I refused, and then he forced me to drink something.  I thought it was poison and I would die, but it wasn’t poison.  Whatever it was, burned and scarred my throat and vocal chords so badly that I was never able to sing again.  I haven’t been able to utter a note since that day.”

“I heard that Kellie Clarkson dropped out of sight.  Is that when and why you did?”

“Yes.”

“I remember thinking at the time what a tragedy it was to lose such a great opera singer.  There hasn’t been anyone to equal the clarity of your voice.”

“That’s gone forever.”

“There’s nothing that can be done?”

“Nothing.  I’ve been to surgeons both here and in England and they all tell me the same thing…the damage is irreparable.  I’ll sound like this for the rest of my life…an ugly croaking.”

“I gather Miss Sterling and her…friend…weren’t prosecuted for what they did.”

“No.  No one would believe she could have done anything like that.  No one believed my story about her, and when I described the man to the authorities, they searched for him, but no one with his description was ever found. There was no evidence, because the man did his job on me, then left with the container of whatever he forced me to drink.”

Kellie took her glasses off her face and put them in her bag.  “I don’t need these to see at all.  I just wear them and fix myself like this to keep people away from me.”

“Why do you want to keep people away from you?”

“Because when I start talking, they’re repulsed by the sound of my croaky voice and they laugh and sneer at me, so I figured if I made myself as ugly as I sound, no one would bother me.”

“You don’t have to make yourself ugly, Kellie.  If I remember correctly, you were very pretty and statuesque the last time I saw and heard you perform.”

“I was unable to eat solid foods for a long time…until my throat healed, so I lost a lot of weight.  I never bothered to make myself look like I did before, because the memories were too painful.  I thought if I looked different and changed my name, I could be a different person and it wouldn’t hurt so much.”

“But it hasn’t helped.”

“No.  I hate everything I used to love…pretty clothes…music…singing.  I don’t even want to hear it.”

“Is that why you always arrive at church late and leave early?  So you don’t have to listen to the music and singing?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think if you face and accept the fact you’ll never sing again, that you’d be able to enjoy music and hearing people sing again?”

“I HAVE faced and accepted that fact, Adam.  No one knows better than ME that I’ll never sing again.”  Her words were sharply spoken.

“Have you?  It seems to me that if you’ve REALLY faced and accepted it, it wouldn’t bother you to hear music and singing.”

Kellie looked at him with steady, unblinking eyes.  “I thought you wanted to be my friend.”  She stood to her feet and gathered up her packages.

Adam held her arm.  “I AM your friend.  Sometimes friends tell us things we don’t really want to hear, but SHOULD hear.  That’s a kindness that should be cherished, Kellie…a friend who is honest and just doesn’t say things to agree with us.  I AM your friend.”

“Well now…what have we got here.”  It was Chase Powell.  The look in his eyes matched the smirk on his face.  “Fancy meetin’ you two here.”

Kellie didn’t answer, but sidestepped him in order to go around him, but he stepped in front of her, preventing her from leaving.

“No need to rush off, Miss Homely.”

“That’s enough, Chase,” Adam said, stepping between them.  “Let her go on about her business.”

Chase threw him a challenging stare.  “Are you gonna make me?”

“If I have to.”  Adam touched Kellie’s arm lightly and nudged her forward.  “Go on.”

She made a move to step away, but Chase grabbed her arm.  She looked up at him and said, “I guess I didn’t make myself clear the last time you tried to stop me.  Do you need a repeat performance?”

Adam quirked a smile when he remembered how Chase slithered away like a whipped puppy that Sunday.

“You wouldn’t dare do that again…would you…homely?”

Kellie tilted her chin up at him.  “Wouldn’t I?”

“And if she won’t, I will,” Adam put in, then stepped closer to Chase.  “And I believe you owe the lady an apology for calling her names.”  His eyes were piercingly dark as he stared into Chase’s eyes.

“Apologize?  Not on your life.”

“Apologize to the lady.”

Chase’s answer was a fist in Adam’s face.  He stumbled back and fell against the table behind him, breaking the centerpiece and glassware, and knocking over a chair.  He quickly recovered, jumping to his feet and throwing a punch of his own to Chase’s stomach, then his chin, knocking him to the floor.  Adam pulled Chase up by his shirt collar and stood him in front of Kellie.  A large crowd had gathered around and the hotel manager looked on nervously.

“It would have been a lot simpler if you’d just apologized to the lady.  NOW you also have damages to pay.  Now tell her you’re sorry for calling her names.”

When Chase balked, Adam shook him by the collar.  “I said tell her.”

Chase looked at her, then through clenched teeth he uttered an acceptable apology.

“Now…that wasn’t so hard, was it Chase.  And if you’ll just pay the manager for all these broken things, we can all be on our merry way.”

Chase jerked some bills out of his pocket and thrust them towards the manager, then jerked out of Adam’s grasp and stormed out of the dining room and the hotel altogether.

Kellie placed her packages on the floor and took up the water pitcher on the nearby serving table, wetted a napkin and handed it to Adam, after he righted the chair.  He pressed the linen to his bleeding lip and looked at her.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Me?  I should be the one asking YOU that.”

“Besides a loose tooth or two and a swollen lip, yeah, I’m okay.”  She saw him grin at her despite the cloth being over his mouth.  His eyes told her he was smiling at her.

“Thank you…for defending me.  I’d almost forgotten what it was like to have  a man take up for me like you did.  You think he’ll give you any trouble?”

“Chase?  No, I think he’s learned his lesson.”

“Was it worth a split lip defending me?”

“A lady is always worth a little discomfort,” he replied, daubing at his lip for the tenth time.

“A lady like me?  Men only see me as an unattractive, homely lady with a voice like…”

“Men see you the way you want them to see you, Kellie.  No wonder they stare at you and laugh…look how you’re dressed.  If you wouldn’t wear clothes a fifty-year old woman would wear and that are two sizes too big, they wouldn’t stare at you.  And your hair…I remember it was beautiful as it lay in waves over your shoulders.  You can be pretty again if you work at it.  Don’t use your voice as an excuse to make yourself unattractive.”

She bent down and retrieved her packages and straightened up again.  “Thank you for your criticism and disapproval, MR. CARTWRIGHT!”  Kellie whirled around and before Adam could stop her, she fled from the dining room in tears.

“Well now you’ve done it, Adam Cartwright.  Open mouth, stick big foot in…boot and all,” he said out loud to himself.  “You’ll be lucky now if she’ll even give you the time of day.”

Adam took out a sufficient amount of  bills from his wallet, plus a little extra, to pay for their coffee, and laid them on the table.  He left the hotel feeling like he had just lost a friend.

Upstairs in her hotel room, Kellie Clarkson wept bitterly.

******

Adam was quiet at dinner that night, avoiding all conversation.  Without finishing his meal, he left the table and stepped outside.  He stopped at the edge of the veranda and leaned one shoulder against the porch column, and peered out into the darkness.

Ben walked up beside him and looked up.  “Beautiful night.”

“Yes, it is.”

There was a long silence between them before Ben spoke.  “Why so quiet at dinner?  Does it have anything to do with that altercation between you and Chase Barrett earlier today?”

Adam looked over at him.

“Yes, I know about it.  Mr. Cagle from the hotel told me about it when I saw him in the bank this afternoon.”

Adam turned to look back out into the inky darkness.  “Has there ever been a man in the history of time who ever understood a woman?”  Adam asked out of the blue.

Ben chuckled and replied, “Now what brought about THAT question?”

“Ohhh, just wondering.”  Adam sat down on the veranda step and leaned his upper body forward.  “Did you understand my mother, Inger or Marie?”

Ben joined him on the step.  “Well, Adam, just when I thought I had, they’d do or say something, then I knew I never really understood them at all.  That’s what makes a woman so intriguing to a man…just when you think you know them…they change.”

“They sure do.”

“I suppose if women weren’t like they are, we, as men, wouldn’t be attracted to them.  But why this conversation…you interested in someone?”

“Yes and no.  Yes, because I want to help her if I can, and no, not romantically.”

“Who is this woman?”

“The woman in town who calls herself Jayne Mitchell?  Her real name is Kellie Clarkson, the opera singer who disappeared three years ago.”

Ben’s face showed surprise.  “You’re not serious?!  I remember reading about that.  Are you sure she’s Kellie Clarkson, the opera singer?”

“I know it’s her.  I knew when I saw her for the first time in Virginia City I had seen her someplace before, and when she told me her real name, I knew she was the same.”

“Does her voice sound as rough and raspy as people say?”

“Yes, unfortunately.  She told me what happened to cause it.”

Ben could only shake his head after Adam told him of Kellie’s misfortune.  “And they never caught the man?” asked Ben afterwards.

“That’s what she said.”

“Performing must have been her life…her livelihood…how does she provide for herself  now?”

“I don’t know.  She never got around to telling me.  I’m afraid I ended our conversation sooner than I wanted.”

“How do you mean?”

“She just kept saying how unattractive she was and I couldn’t stand to hear her run herself down any longer.  Especially since I know what she used to look like.  She was a very pretty woman.  I was finally able to get her to call me Adam instead of Mr. Cartwright, but by the end of our conversation, she was calling me Mr. Cartwright again.  She sort of spit it out instead of saying it…like it was a bad taste in her mouth.  Then she just stormed off before I could apologize.”

“Were you sorry for what you said to her?”

“Not for what I said, but I guess the WAY I said it upset her.  She wanted me to be honest with her, and when I was, it upset her.  I’m afraid I wasn’t very diplomatic in the way I told her.   I guess I’ll never understand women.  Like Hoss says, ‘Wimmin’s  just too confusin’.”

Adam grinned and Ben chuckled then Adam grew quiet again.  “Is it just Kellie that’s bothering you, Adam?”

“No.  Mary Ann’s back.  I saw her in the mercantile this morning.”

“How did THAT go?”

“She wants me to take her back.”

“And?”

“I told her no.”

“I know how much you liked Mary Ann Roberts, Adam, and I know how much it hurt you when you found out about her and Jim Peters.”

“I suppose I liked Mary Ann more than I’ve ever liked any woman, and she is definitely a woman.”

“Yes, she is, but Mary Ann uses her looks to entice men.”

“I know.  And Kellie uses HER looks to REPEL men, but they’re both a woman.  Figure THAT out.”  Adam wagged his head back and forth in wonder.

“There’s really no way TO figure out a woman, Adam.  We just have to accept them as they are.  That’s what gives them their mystique…us men not being able to figure them out.”  Ben patted Adam on the shoulder and stood up.  “Well, I’m tired, I think I’ll call it a night.  Goodnight son.”

“Yeah, goodnight, Pa.”

Adam continued to sit staring into the darkness for several minutes after Ben went to the house.  After feeling mentally drained he too, went into the house and up to bed.

******

Letting the calf go about his way and laying the branding iron aside, Adam removed his hat and drew his sleeve across his sweaty forehead.  Noticing an approaching rider, he stood up from his work.  Hoss was helping with the branding and stood up also.

“Wonder whut Billy’s doin’ out here?” Hoss asked as he, too, wiped his sweaty brow.

“I’d say we’re just about to find out.  Hello Billy.  What brings you all the way out here so early in the morning?”

Billy Dockins, hotel messenger boy, pulled out an envelope and handed it to Adam.  “The lady asked me to give you this, Adam.”

An eyebrow raised in curiosity as he took it.  “Lady?  What lady?”

“She said for me not to tell you, I’m just supposed to give you that.”

“Oh, well, thanks, Billy.”

Billy nodded then turned his horse back towards town.  Adam stood looking at the envelope, making no attempt to open it.

“Ain’t ya gonna op’n it, Adam, an’ see who it’s from?” Hoss gave his brother an anxious and curious look and a big grin.

“Of course I’m going to open it…in private.”  He placed his hat on his head and stuffed the envelope inside his shirt.  “But right now, we’re going to finish the branding before the day gets even hotter, so bring on the next calf.”

He crouched down and picked up the branding iron and laid it on the bed of hot coals.  He pressed his other hand over the place where the letter lay inside his shirt.  He considered himself to be a patient man, but with every passing minute, he grew more impatient, impatient to find out what lady had written him a note.  So with his patience running low and with Hoss not back yet with another calf, he whipped out the envelope and broke the seal.  He read the note quickly, then read it again, slowly this time:

“Dear Adam, if it is convenient for you,
I would consider it an honor to have
Dinner with you tonight.  I have already
Reserved the private dining room at the
Hotel for eight o’clock tonight.  I look
Forward to seeing you then.”

He raised his eyebrows again and a slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.  “No name…An invitation to dinner…A PRIVATE dinner.  Very mysterious.”

He stuffed the note and envelope back inside his shirt just as Hoss rode up with another calf draped over his saddle in front of him.  “What’re you grinnin’ ‘bout?” Hoss asked his brother when he noticed his expression.

“Oh nothing, Hoss, nothing,” he replied, but all the while he was imagining the interesting evening that awaited him.

The calf bawled and pulled him out of his imagination and he stooped down, picked up the branding iron, and continued on with his work for the day.

******

Standing in front of his mirror, Adam worked at tying his string tie, humming all the while.  Joe happened by the open door and he stopped when he saw his brother preparing for an evening out.  He cracked a smile and leaned against the door frame.  “Mm MM!  Must be SOME lady for you to get all dressed up like that.  Who is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know.  You’re dressed fit to kill and you don’t know who you’re going out with?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re teasing.  Right?  Because you don’t want me to know her name.”  Joe stepped quickly away from the door and over to Adam.  “It better not be that cute little Beth Adams.  I’M gonna ask her to the church picnic Sunday.”

Finishing his tie and slipping his arms in his black dress jacket, Adam smiled in amusement at his youngest brother’s curiosity.  He headed for his door with Joe right behind him.

“It better not be Beth you’re goin’ out with tonight, Adam.  And you better not ask her to the picnic.”  Joe kept talking while Adam kept walking until they had reached the front door.  Adam picked up his hat, placed it carefully on his head and with another mischievous grin at his young brother, he exited the house, humming a merry tune.

“Doggone him!”

“What’s the matter, Joe?” Ben asked as he looked up from his newspaper, from his chair beside the fireplace.

“Oh it’s Adam.  He has a date tonight and he won’t tell me who he has a date with.”

Ben chuckled at him.  “Well, son, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Maybe not, but it sure is aggravating when he won’t say anything.  All he does is grin at me like some Chinese cat.”

Hoss broke out with a hearty laugh, Ben chuckled and Joe raked his fingers through his hair and dropped down hard on the settee, with a scowling look on his face.  He plopped his feet hard on top of the low table in front of him, for added emphasis. 

******

Upon entering the hotel dining room, Adam’s eyes scanned over the people inside.  He knew most of the women but since they were with someone else, he knew it wasn’t any of them who had sent him the note.

Ralph Cagle, hotel manager, walked up beside him.  “Good evening, Adam.”

“I have a dinner reservation for eight o’clock in the private dining room.”

“Yes, the lady told me you would be expected.  Follow me please.”

“Uh, Mr. Cagle…just who IS the lady?”

“She asked me to not tell you.”

“Figures.  This better not be somebody’s idea of a joke,” he muttered while they walked.

Reaching the private dining room, Mr. Cagle opened the door and allowed Adam to enter.  “Can I get you anything while you wait?”

“No, no thank you.”

Mr. Cagle nodded then left, closing the door behind him.  Adam placed his hat on a chair seat and sat down in another chair to wait for his mysterious date to appear.  After several minutes of waiting, he stood and glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was ten minutes after the hour.

“Now if that isn’t just like a woman.  She says a certain time and she’s late.”

“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long, Adam,” he heard a voice behind him say.  He turned around quickly and was shocked when he saw her.

She looked stunning in a gown of shimmering lavender silk.  Her hair was shiny and lay across her shoulders in waves.  Her cheeks were naturally flushed and her lavender eyes sparkled.  Her smile, warm and friendly.

“Kellie?  I never expected my mysterious letter writer to be YOU.”  He walked over to her and took her hands in his.  “You look beautiful.  I knew somewhere beneath all that drudgery was the pretty Kellie Clarkson I remembered.”

“I DO feel pretty.  With a little weight here and there I’ll look just like I used to look.  Thank you, Adam, for helping me want to feel like a woman again.”

With her high-heeled dress shoes on, she was only about an inch shorter than Adam, so she didn’t have to lean up when she kissed his cheek lightly.  When she drew back from him, she looked deep into his eyes.  “You’re a very kind and compassionate man, Adam Cartwright, and I’m glad we’re friends.  You were right when you said an honest friend is a kindness to be cherished.  I DO, Adam, I cherish your friendship AND the kindness you’ve shown me when everyone else showed me unkindness.”

“After the last time we saw each other I thought  you’d never want to speak to me again.”

“I didn’t, but in the last two weeks since then, I’ve been thinking about everything you said.  I’ve had people pity me for so long, it just became a way of life with me and so I expected it from everyone.  You were right, Adam, I was using the loss of my singing voice to stop my being productive and enjoying life to its fullest.  I shall treasure your friendship wherever I go.”

“Go?  So this is a farewell dinner?”

“Yes.  I’m leaving in the morning.  I’m going back to Sacramento.  I’m going back to the opera to see if I can be useful in some way other than a singer.”

“I’m sure there’s many aspects of the opera that could use your expertise.”

“I hope so, Adam.  I want to feel useful again.  Thanks to you, I believe I CAN be.”

Adam placed an arm around her shoulders.  “That’s my girl.  But would you do something for me?”

“What?”

“Will you wait until Monday to leave?  I’d like to escort you to the church picnic on Sunday.  That is if you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen out in public with me.”

Kellie tilted her head back and laughed out loud.  Though it wasn’t a pleasant laugh to hear, Adam was pleased with the fact that she felt she COULD laugh now and not be embarrassed about it.  “I’d love to go to the picnic with you, and I promise I’ll do my best to not be embarrassed to be seen with you,” she teased.

“Fine.  Now how about that dinner you promised me, I’m starved.”  He led her to the table and seated her, then sat down opposite her.  They laughed and talked and enjoyed each other’s company until well into the night.  When Adam left her off at her room, they heard the lobby clock striking midnight.

“Adam, do me a favor?  Come by for me Sunday and take me to church, I want to be there when the first note is sung.”

“I’d be happy to.”

Kellie smiled and stepped into her room and turned around to look at him.  He smiled at her and chucked her under the chin, then left.  She watched until he was out of sight before she closed her door.

******

Mary Ann Roberts was there when Adam walked into the church with Kellie Clarkson holding onto his arm.  Mary Ann grew instantly jealous and made her way over to them.  “Hello, Adam.  Who’s your friend?” Mary Ann’s eyes looked Kellie up and down.

“This is Kellie Clarkson.  Kellie…Mary Ann Roberts.”

Kellie held out her hand to Mary Ann and smiled.  “How do you do, Miss Roberts.”

Mary Ann didn’t take Kellie’s hand and when she heard her speak, Mary Ann immediately broke out into  a laugh.  Adam immediately escorted Kellie away from Mary Ann, but Kellie stopped him.  “No, Adam.  I’ve been running away from people’s laughs, but no more.”  She walked back to Mary Ann and stood in front of her, with Adam right beside her.

“I’m glad I made you laugh, Miss Roberts.  Laughter is good for one’s soul, it can also be a good way to meet new friends.  Would you like to sit with Adam and me during church and then join us for the picnic afterwards?  That is if you don’t mind, Adam.”

Adam groaned inside himself, hoping and praying Mary Ann would decline.

“I think Adam would just as soon not have my company.”

Not wanting to, but being a gentleman, he extended the invitation to her.  “You’re welcome to join us if you like, Mary Ann.”

She smiled slightly, then shook her head.  “No.  I think three would be a crowd.  But thank you for the invitation just the same.”  She turned and walked away.  Adam felt greatly relieved that she refused, but Kellie wagged her head.

“I feel sorry for her.  She’s very unhappy.”

“She’s led a hard, rough life.”

“You know her well?”

“I know her well.”

“Ohhh.  Former lady friend I take it.”

“Yeah,” he simply replied.  He glanced back at Mary Ann and saw that she was sitting alone.  He led Kellie over to where his father and brothers were sitting and introduced them.  Joe was with Beth Adams.

When the song leader announced the page of the first congregational, Kellie opened the book.  Though she could no longer sing, she listened to all the voices around her.  She paid particular attention to Adam’s as he switched back and forth from singing the melody to singing baritone.  She heard the clarity of his voice.  She closed her eyes and smiled as she listened.

Adam looked over at her and knew she was enjoying music and singing again, and was glad he had had a part in helping her to achieve that.

******

After church, everyone gathered on the church lawn to share their meal.  Kellie found a place right in the middle of the yard, instead of a secluded spot, to spread out the ground cloth.  She sat down on it and waited for Adam to return with their plates of food.  While she waited, Chase Powell walked up to her.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I couldn’t help noticing you.  I saw you come in the church with Adam Cartwright, but I don’t believe I saw you before.”

“Hello, Mr. Powell.”

The moment she spoke to him, he knew who she was.  “You’re…”

“Ole four-eyes…ugly duckling…Miss Homely?”

“Yes, ma’am…I mean, no ma’am.  I mean…you don’t look the same.  I didn’t recognize you.”

“Well, Mr. Powell, I no longer want to look the way I did.”

“You look real pretty, and I’m sorry for all the names I called you and for making fun of you before.  You’re none of those things.  I hope we can be friends, Miss Mitchell.”

Kellie smiled up at him.  “Thank you, Mr. Powell, for being enough of a gentleman to apologize.  I accept your apology, and yes, we can be friends, but my real name is Kellie Clarkson, not Jayne Mitchell.  I only used that name because I was trying to run away from being who I really am.  But no more.”

Chase Powell smiled at her.  “Kellie’s a real pretty name.  Just like you.”

“Is he bothering you?” Adam asked as he walked up on them with his hands full of plates of food and drinks.

“No, on the contrary, Mr. Powell and I just became friends.”

“Oh?”  Adam raised an eyebrow and handed Kellie her plate of food and one of the drinks.

“Yes, and I was just about to ask him to join us, if you don’t mind that is.”

“Sure!  I’d be glad to!  I’ll get some food and be right back,” Chase said then left quickly before Adam could respond.  He laughed then sat down beside Kellie.

“You’re enjoying yourself aren’t you?” he asked her as he saw the happy expression on her face.

“Oh yes, very much.  I haven’t allowed myself much happiness these past three years, and thanks to you, there’ll be many more days of happiness.”

“I didn’t do so much.”

“Didn’t do so much?!  You brought me out of that shell of bitterness and showed me I was hurting only myself.  You helped restore my self-esteem, made me want to feel like a woman again.”

“You were always a woman, Kellie.  If it hadn’t been me, someone else would have helped you.”

She eyed him curiously.  “Are you ALWAYS so humble?”

Adam scratched the back of his head and grinned at her.  “I’m hardly the one to ask that, but if you were to ask my brothers, they’d probably use a much different word I can’t repeat in the company of a lady.”

Kellie laughed at his remark then looked up and saw Mary Ann driving away alone in her buggy.  “Tell me about Miss Roberts.  She’s very beautiful.”

“Yes, she is.  VERY beautiful.”

“Were you in love with her?”

Adam was glad that Chase walked up at that moment so he wouldn’t have to answer Kellie’s question.  He was glad, because he didn’t know if he could have answered it honestly, now that he was asked outright.  He admitted to himself that when he and Mary Ann WERE seeing each other, he did have strong feelings for her.  But were they feelings of love?  She had hurt him when she became involved with Jim Peters, the town womanizer.  Then when she left town two months later, and Adam knew why, it seemed to make the hurt insurmountable.  After seeing her again after all the time that elapsed, his feelings for her surfaced for a split second then he dismissed them.  He wished she hadn’t come back.

“Aren’t you hungry, Adam?”  Kellie’s voice broke in on his thoughts of Mary Ann and he looked at her.  “Aren’t you hungry?  You haven’t touched your food.  Chase and I have been talking a blue streak, I guess we’ve ignored you.”

“That’s alright.  I wasn’t hungry before, but I am now.”

“Let me tell you about the time that I…” Chase’s voice trailed off into oblivion while Adam ate and thought some more about Mary Ann Roberts.

******

Kellie looked up and down the street as she stood by the stagecoach.  She gave out a breath of happy relief and smiled when she saw Adam approaching on his horse.  He dismounted and walked up beside her.  “I was hoping you’d come to see me off.”  Kellie beamed him a smile.

“I was afraid I’d already missed you.  I had more work to get done than I previously thought, I came straight from the range so you’ll have to pardon my appearance.”

“You’re forgiven.  Next time you come to Sacramento, be sure and stop in the opera house and see me.  I don’t exactly know what I’ll be doing, but even if it’s just mending costumes, I’ll be content.”

“I’ll make a point of it.  Have a safe trip.”

“Could I write to you?”

“I’d be upset if you didn’t.”

When the driver called for the passengers to load up, Kellie turned and Adam helped her into the coach.  “Goodbye, Adam.  And thank you for helping me find my life again and for extending to me a cherished kindness…that of friendship.  I’ll treasure it always.”

“Goodbye, Kellie.  If you ever need anything, all you have to do is let me know.”

“I know.”

Adam closed the door on the coach and stepped back.  Kellie leaned out the window to talk to him.  “Everyone needs at least one friend, Adam.  Even someone like Miss Roberts.”

He just looked at her and watched until the stage disappeared around the last row of buildings at the edge of town.  He stood there for a minute or two longer thinking about what Kellie said, then mounted his horse and rode slowly down the street.  As he headed out of town he saw Mary Ann Roberts walking slowly down the walk in front of the saloon, dressed in her brightly colored saloon attire.  She stopped and looked up at him.  He thought she looked like she had aged ten years and she looked very sad.  He felt compassion for her because of the kind of life she led, though she had chosen it willingly. 

He touched the brim of his hat in greeting to her as he rode past.  She turned and went into the saloon.

As he rode home, he thought long and hard about what Kellie said to him and about Mary Ann Roberts. Would she misconstrue his intentions if he dared to attempt to befriend her again?  He would think on it long and hard, but right now he had a corral full of horses waiting to be broken, so he heeled Sport forward at a faster pace towards home.

THE END
Author: Eileen K

Note: Quotes are taken from the book “Paradise Lost” by John Milton.

Note:  This is not the story I had so much trouble with, I’m still working on that one.  This story is just one I had tucked away and decided to post.