“It’s been a long journey with good friends.” He pulled the blanket away from her face and walked over to the fire. “When are you leaving?”
“Soon. I think once I get her home that she will feel better.”
“I am truly amazed that she has had the fortitude to go through so many years with us.” Meeks nodded as James bid him goodnight and left with Dominic.
Sara and Cassie kept Mirisa in bed as Meeks and James booked passage home. Matthew made enough elixir for a month, gave James the recipe and told him that they all should be taking it.
“You know Matthew it wasn’t that long ago that you were eating worms.”
“Funny because many of the recipes include dried up worms.”
“You’re a good man.”
The ride home was enjoyable as James brought new books to pass the time. There was a light covering of snow on the mountain tops with crispness to the air.
1910
Mirisa watched Sara as she headed to the sheering barn. When her husband first showed up from Australia, none of them thought about it since he had been hired as an expert sheerer. Sara instantly fell head over hills in love with Henry Croft. He was a big strapping man with a cocky smile and lively eyes. With his expertise of sheep herding, their ranch grew and became very profitable. James had long since turned over the trust accounts to all of the children but none of them showed the least amount of interest nor did any of them flaunt their wealth.
James was proudest of Cassie who went away to the University and obtained her doctor’s license. It was the last time that the family had all gathered in the east. James built her a small building with her practice on the ground floor and an apartment overhead. It was on Meeks’ land at the corner of Crossroads giving her easy access to the many ranches and homes east of Denver. Matthew sent her his best holistic recipes and which plants to grow in her garden for healing. One of Cassie’s classmates came out at her invitation and soon decided to stay. Where Sara’s wedding was simple with the reception at the lodge, Cassie wanted a traditional wedding. Cassie named her first son after her father but it surprised everyone when she had triplets. They built a larger house next to the clinic and turned the apartment into a chemist shop.
Mirisa loved having the lodge for just herself and Meeks but it wasn’t unusual to find grandchildren filling the house. Maggie returned home with her three youngest children when Chi took ill and passed away. Jonathan knew that she would stay there because the comfort of her family was important to her and she had been gone too long. The only two children who didn’t come home was Jonathan and Lizzie. Garnett traveled frequently when she was playing with Francoise but it saddened him that she had only one child who was so polite and strikingly beautiful. Lizzie named her Alexi.
Dominic mounted his horse and headed for the tobacco fields. They had rotated them so that they were growing in the southern fields away from the river. It was a good morning for a ride as the mist crawled along the shoreline lifting slowly. He stopped at the drying barn talking to his foreman before he headed into the fields to check the health of the new crop. Dominic took out a cigar and lit it as he walked between the rows examining the leaves. He thought it was going to be a very good year.
“Sir?” Dominic turned to the sound of the voice. He knew as soon as he made eye contact that it wasn’t going to be a very good day. The shot killed him instantly.
Matthew was in his office when the bullet entered his father. Matthew reached out for his father but it was like yelling into a well trying to decide how deep it was. He knew his father was gone.
“What happened?”
“We heard a shot which we thought maybe your father found a snake or something in the fields but when I checked we found him lying on the ground. He wasn’t alive and there is a single bullet through his heart.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No but I haven’t checked with the workers. His horse is missing. Do you want me to go get the sheriff?”
Matthew nodded. “Where is my father?”
“We brought him up in the wagon.” The man was clearly upset. “I’m sorry. He was a good man.”
“Thank you.” The foreman turned when Matthew asked him to wait as he wrote out a telegram to Garnett. He knew he should just reach out to his mother but he was paralyzed with grief.
Jonathan turned as the bullet entered his father’s heart. A warrior should always die proudly and his father did. Jonathan sat in mourning for a moment before saddling his horse. He rode due east into Arkansas into the top of Mississippi. His instincts overrode his anger as he turned his horse into the mountains. Jonathan dismounted and took in the faint smell of the campfire.
He tied his horse in the stand of trees and silently moved toward the glow of the fire. The man was wearing a dandy suit almost as innocent as a traveling salesman. Jonathan worked to the north of the camp and put his hand on the nose of his father’s horse calming him. The man stood up and stretched before lifting the small bowl and sitting up against his saddle. He put his spoon in the beans and tasted determining they were still too hot. It had been a good run.
Jonathan slipped up behind him slitting his throat from ear to ear pushing him over. Jonathan went through his saddle bags finding his father’s gun and his watch along with other items he probably stole from someone. He ran his hand down his father’s horse talking to him. He held the watch out and remembered the hours he would sit on the floor playing with it. Jonathan doused the fire then untied the horse and headed for the plantation.
Garnett was sitting on the porch whittling when the messenger rode up. A sinking feeling ran through him but he kept whittling as the young man walked up and handed him the telegram. Garnett gave him a tip and put the telegram down. Charisse brought out a tray of tea and sandwiches.
“Who was that?” She looked at the envelope on the table. “Is it bad news?”
“It is.”
Charisse nodded and sat down waiting for him to do something. Garnett put his knife away and ate his lunch. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Let me get my wrap.” Charisse went in the house and took her shawl off of the hook and walked back out. He ran into one of the grandchildren coming from James’ house and asked him to send his grandfather to the lodge. The young boy turned around and ran back to the house.
Mirisa and Meeks were sitting on the porch enjoying the day when Garnett and Charisse stepped out. Charisse sat down next to her brother as Garnett brought out the whisky and took out a cigar lighting it.
Meeks met his eyes and nodded as Mirisa bit her lower lip. James came up the river path climbing up on the porch. He looked at Garnett and Meeks before he went inside and brought out shot glasses.
Garnett took out the telegram as Meeks put his hand over Mirisa’s. She instantly reached out for her sons but only to make sure they were alive.
“Dad was shot. Died instantly. Assailant unknown. Matt”
It was a sad trip home to the plantation that none of them wanted to talk about or acknowledge because death was something that was riding with them.
Mirisa stood at the window in the library thinking about life and death. Thankful that her children were healthy and happy. She turned and sat down at Dominic’s desk taking out his stationery. Under it was a sealed envelope with her name on it. Dominic had the most beautiful handwriting. She picked up the letter opener and slid it along the edge. It was a touching and beautiful letter.
“Mirisa?” She looked up at James and handed him the letter because really it said so much about his friendship for the three of them.
Jonathan dismounted in front of the plantation and walked into the library as James looked at him. He put his father’s gun on the desk as Mirisa watched him. James picked it up and nodded to Jonathan who leaned over and kissed his mother before heading out onto the veranda to find his brother. Matthew was standing against the railing talking to Meeks and Garnett when Jonathan put his arms around his brother. He reached in his pocket and
took out the pocket watch handing it to Matthew without any explanation. They both walked out toward the river.
“I always thought Jonathan would be as good as his father if not better.”
“He’s better.”
They buried Dominic in the family cemetery and returned to Colorado.
Sitting in the hill of wildflowers, Mirisa leaned back against Meeks and soaked in the sun. “I think I want to be buried right here.”
“You don’t plan on going anytime soon do you?”
“No but the days seem to come too fast and the nights are too short but when I go I shall take you with me.”
“Well, I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.”
“Do you wish to wake up without me?”
“You know I don’t.”
“Then we shall go together and the children will bury us in this very spot where we can look out over the valleys and run through the spring rain.”
“You are such a romantic.”
“As are you my loving husband.”
1926
When Charisse died quietly in her sleep, her children all came for the services. Meeks gave the eulogy as each of her children said goodbye and thanked Garnett for giving her such a good life. Their father had died at the card table when a fight broke out over cheating. Mirisa was going to miss her favorite partner in crime and closest companion. Lizzie came home to spend time with her father and two months later he as well died. Lizzie found him slumped over in his favorite chair with a manuscript in his lap. Even though they had all aged, the numerous drawings around all of the houses of the five of them when they were very young made you realize how much they had loved life. Lizzie wondered if they all ended up in the same spot of life out of accident or destiny. The men never talked about their life and her mother only told stories that were smothered in romance.
They buried him in the morning next to Charisse. Before they closed the casket, James rolled up his gun belt and laid it on his chest along with his hat. Mirisa thought it must be a Unit rule because it was the same thing they did before burying Dominic.
They read Garnett’s will which left everything to his daughter along with a journal of her entire life with programs and reviews, every drawing and tintype. Cassie didn’t know who became more overcome over his death, her mother or her sister. She finally walked across the road and knocked on the screen door before going in. Lizzie was sitting on the porch with her violin in her lap.
“He kept my first violin.”
“Are you moving home?”
“One day. Our concert schedule is winding down and we are teaching more. As much as I love Paris, I would like to have time here. I never thought when you left me in Paris that I would be gone for so long and I have missed everyone so much.”
“And we have all missed you.” Cassie reached up and touched her cheek. They sat and talked for hours about the great times they had as children. Mirisa came over looking for Lizzie and sat down across from her. “Your father was very proud of you from the moment you were born. Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter.”
“Mother, don’t die. Please don’t die.”
Conrad sat in the music room as Mirisa put a cover over the piano and straightened out the sheet music putting a ribbon around it.
“Conrad?”
“Yes Mirisa.”
“You never told me about this part.”
“To grow old and die in your sleep is far better than to be ripped from your family before you are ready. Everyone dies but not everyone lives long enough to enjoy the world and to have such beautiful children to carry on your dreams and love. Do not fear the inevitable.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“You never did. I don’t think I ever met anyone more determine to seek immortality than you.”
“Will you be here for the boys?”
“No, I think they are doing well. The need for my council is long past and I have stayed here too long. Is there anything you want from me?”
“I would love one last ride with them.”
“All of them?”
“Just the five of us like our first trip to Texas.”
Conrad smiled. “I guess if you wanted to relive anything it would be the excitement and love that rose out of that ride. Some people will tell you that they have lived a life without regrets even though we all have regrets. Things we haven’t done, roads we turned away from or time that seemed to be as lost as we were. However, most will be able to tell you there is always one time they believe shaped their entire life and which they wish they could experience once again. Young love is so strong that it lives beyond our last breath.”
Conrad smiled as the sound of the piano filled the room. Mirisa turned to the piano but it was covered and silent. She sat down on the bench and cried.
James was thrown from his horse putting him in bed for the winter. Cassie moved him to her house so she could care for him and spent many hours reading to him since his eyesight was failing. After he was back on his feet, Cassie insisted that he either move into the lodge or live with her. He told her she was the love of his life but he was going to go back to the lodge if that was his only choice.
The summer of 1927, right after his eighty-eighth birthday James caught pneumonia and died. Mirisa laughed when she found explicit instructions on how he was to be buried. With his gun, hat and if they could get his horse in the coffin then his horse too. Cassie inherited his estate but instructed her to get the boxes out of his closet. Each one bore a child’s name and was filled with silly little things like Sara’s raggedy rabbit.
Meeks helped Mirisa climb the hill and they sat quietly talking as the girls picked flowers and tied ribbons around them putting them on each of the graves.
“Do you think we should go dig up Dominic and move him out?”
Mirisa laughed. “I think he would haunt us if we did. I think tonight I shall sit down and write each of them a letter.”
Meeks kissed her cheek and ran his hand up her arm to her fingers. “I always thought your legs were the best part of you.”
“Alexander, you are the best part of me and probably the best lover a woman could ever know.”
Cassie and Maggie were putting boxes in the guest room at the lodge when Cassie looked at the large box that had Mirisa’s name on it. She opened it to find a manuscript. She lifted it out and looked at the title. “The Assignment.”
“Maggie, have you heard of this book?”
Maggie looked at the title and shook her head. “Maybe Garnett was still working on it when he died.”
Cassie turned the page to find it dedicated to Mirisa with the dates 1862 – 1875. “It’s about their life.” She turned a few pages and found many drawings by Meeks. Cassie put it on the bed and looked through the box which contained all the handwritten manuscripts and journals. She knew the handwriting in the margins was both Garnett’s and her mothers. “Maybe we should get it published.”
Maggie sat down on the bed. “You might want to read it before you make that decision.”
“You’re right. If he wanted it published, Garnett would have done that.” Cassie picked up the manuscript and went to look for her mother. She wasn’t in the house so she took it down the hall and put it next to her bed.
Mirisa and Meeks stayed up late every night reading the transcript. Some nights they laughed and some nights she cried uncontrollably. Each word brought back the early years and Mirisa fell in love with them all over again. It was the most beautiful story and a beautiful life. Meeks asked Maggie to send it to Garnett’s editor and have it printed with the drawings. The book was released in almost record time and was such an overnight success.
“Alexander?”
“What darling?”
“Don’t you think it is a little too…well…personal to be out there?”
“Sweetheart, he writes fiction and even though people will want it to be real they will think it’s just another great story.”
“The
children will know.”
“As they should.”
“Alexander, I had no idea how much you loved me.”
Meeks sat down with copies of the book and wrote his feelings about each child before handing them to Mirisa who thanked them for being such an absolute joy in her life.
At Christmas, Cassie decorated the lodge and all of the children came home. When Matthew showed up driving a Model A town car, Mirisa knew that her world was becoming a distant memory. Matthew finally talked her into going for a ride and had Meeks get in the driver’s seat. Matthew climbed in back just to make sure they didn’t drive off the road. It was a great Christmas and when Matthew handed Mirisa the keys to the car she laughed but they would frequently drive it the mile to the Crossroads where they would have dinner or attend church. Cassie always smiled because they loved the horn more than anything.
The spring of 1928 was probably the prettiest one that they had seen in a long time. The flowers were in full bloom and on the night of the crescent moon in April, Meeks held Mirisa close as they both passed away in their sleep.
Conrad stood at the French door thinking about Mirisa’s journey and he gave her the last wish to ride with all of them one last time.
Dominic and Garnett were patiently waiting as James put on his hat and reached up taking Dominic’s cigar to light his before mounting his horse. Meeks held the reins to Mirisa’s horse as she came out of the house tying her hair back. She kissed him sweetly then mounted her horse. The skies were clear with a promise of a great night ride. It had been a long time. They headed north across the river and into the valley riding with the wind in their faces and in the formation that was so much a part of them. It was nice to be young, strong and in love.
The End!
GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY
The Visitor_The Final Ride 1875_1928 Page 28
