Summary:\u00a0 Rainy day reflections from Hoss Cartwright in the aftermath of a tragedy. (An epilogue for “The Dark Gate”)<\/p>\n
Rating: T\u00a0 \u00a0Word Count: 644<\/p>\n
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I usually don\u2019t mind the rain. I\u2019ve always liked the way it washes things clean and leaves a fresh new smell on the earth. But it\u2019s been rainin\u2019 here for days, like the sky itself is grievin\u2019. We could all use a little sunshine right now, especially my brother Adam.<\/p>\n
There are some things a man knows he has to do, even if it\u2019s the last thing he wants. Adam had no choice. It was either his life or the life of his best friend. He knew that. But when he killed Ross Marquette, I think a part of him died too.<\/p>\n
Adam and Ross had been friends for as long as I could remember. I was just a kid when they were old enough to go off on adventures together, and I used to get a little jealous that they didn\u2019t ask me to go along. But later I understood why they didn\u2019t. At first glance they were as different as two people could be, sort of like me and my brothers. Ross was tall and lanky, with ears that stuck out and a mouth that looked too wide for his face. Adam is just plain handsome any way you look at him, at least accordin\u2019 to most of the women around here, and I wouldn\u2019t disagree. But that don\u2019t mean much to him, even though I tease him about it sometimes. He and Ross were alike in the ways that matter to a man, like bein\u2019 able to count on somebody to back you up when the odds are against you, and knowin\u2019 he\u2019ll tell you the truth about yourself even if hurts both of you. Somebody who\u2019ll get you home when you can barely sit a horse because you nearly drank yourself blind over a girl, even if it means leavin\u2019 the dance early. I didn\u2019t see it, just the leftovers the next mornin\u2019. Not a pretty sight even then, so I figured Ross must\u2019ve had his hands full. They weren\u2019t much more than boys then, younger than Joe is now. A lot of things have happened since.<\/p>\n
Adam went to college, and Ross worked his family\u2019s place for a few years before he married one of the sweetest gals you\u2019d ever hope to meet. Delphine. Even her name sounded sweet, like music. If Ross had a wild hair she tamed it, and he\u2019d do anything for her. I never saw two people any happier. But sad things happen to everybody at some point, and they were both pretty broken up when their baby came too early. They wouldn’t have any more.<\/p>\n
Nobody but Delphine could say for sure when things started goin\u2019 wrong with Ross. But she didn\u2019t tell anybody at first, and now she\u2019s gone too. That makes it even worse for Adam, because he tried so hard to help her when he found out what Ross had done. Ross was so crazy by then he even accused her of cheatin\u2019 on him with his best friend. There was no reasoning with him after that, and Delphine didn\u2019t argue when Adam told her to pack her things. She had somebody else to think about besides herself, but she couldn\u2019t tell Ross because he never woulda believed that baby was his. Nobody knew except her and Doc Martin and Adam. He kept it to himself for as long as he could I reckon, because when he told me I could tell it had been eatin\u2019 him up inside.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to say that time heals all wounds, but the problem is that it don\u2019t always. Some things never go away. You just learn to live with them, that’s all. I figure my Pa knows that better than anybody. That\u2019s what Adam\u2019s gonna have to do. And I know he will, because I know my brother.<\/p>\n
I just wish it would quit rainin\u2019.<\/p>\n
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END<\/p>\n