Dark Journey Home

by Cherie Shaw

  Lord Beckford led his wife into the small Western Union office across the road from the stage stop, leaving Logan, Olivia, and Logan’s father to their privacy for the moment. Claude and his wife were anxious to meet Logan’s parents, but they would have all winter to get acquainted, and now Claude wanted to see if any telegrams were awaiting their arrival and he was not disappointed. Seth Wakefield had made sure the wires were safely kept for his guests.

  Two messages were from Garth, and a long wire from Ricardo at the Triple-B. One missive was especially addressed to Olivia, this one from Maria. Claude knew his niece would be ecstatic to hear from her dear friend, as she had missed her terribly.

  The first wire from Garth, asked rather bluntly if Olivia, “had married that ‘cowboy’ yet, or is she still playing hard to get?” The missive from Ricardo was short and to the point, stating briefly as possible, that the ranch was being run smoothly. Chester Burns had proven to be a capable foreman, and had been telling many colorful stories about the late Sam Beckford, the original owner, but that he would have to wait until he returned in the spring to hear those tales.

  Ricardo also briefly stated that the cook, Hank Chavez, was sweet on Consuelo, who had returned to the ‘Triple-B’, as housekeeper again. Trudy Perkins and Cougar Olson had married, and Olson was now running the Perkins’ ranch, making many improvements on the place. Also Sheriff Denton had wed Lulu Haskell, though she was still helping out, now and again, at her sister’s Mercantile. While rather enjoying her new status as wife of the Sheriff, she was also proving to be a good helpmate to him, and a loyal citizen. .

  Last, but not least, in Ricardo’s wire. “My Maria, she is gaining beauty, as never before, as well as mucho weight. Mi amigo, you will congratulate me, no? As in the spring, and at her age, my Maria will make me a father.”

  Claude read the missive over again, to make sure he had read it right, then read the last sentence, “Maria has sent the Señorita Olivia a wire telling her of the coming event. She knew that if the Señorita had known of her condition before you left for Wyoming, you would not have been able to drag the Señorita Olivia away. So we sent the wires on ahead for you to receive once you arrived in the Wyoming territory. We all look forward to seeing you in the spring.”

  There was one more telegram, this one also from Ricardo, though addressed to Logan. Claude pocketed the wires, then turned to Amelia, his blue eyes twinkling, and said, “Perhaps, my dear, we should go to meet Logan Wakefield’s father now, the wires can wait until we are settled at the ranch, then we’ll all be needing to sit down with a hot drink before finishing the reading of them.”

  Amelia looked up into her husband’s twinkling blue eyes, and laughingly winked a brown eye at him, before saying, “You old fool, you know something now, don’t you?”

  Claude grinned, saying, “Hush, my love, it can wait.” As the snow continued to fall, he led her outside, and across the snow-packed road, noting their luggage had been loaded into a wagon, then quickly covered with a tarp. Logan stood happily hugging Olivia, while Seth Wakefield, grinning from ear to ear, many years of anguish suddenly wiped from his memory, felt ten years younger. His son’s long journey home was ended.

  EPILOGUE

  Seth and Cassandra Wakefield welcomed their future daughter-in-law with open arms. She would be the daughter they’d never had. Olivia’s uncle Claude and Amelia took to Logan’s parents immediately.

  The blizzard, that had been threatening, hit the valley and mountains, with a vengeance, the day after their arrival, coating the whole countryside with a wonderland of sparkling white, as far as the eye could see. All passes were closed, allowing for travel to the town of Freeman, on horseback, or by horse-drawn sleigh only. Supplies had been laid in for the winter months, and firewood was plentiful.

  Logan worked hard around the ranch, and was glad to see his three former shipmates working for his pa. Claude enjoyed tending the horses, thinking of his thoroughbreds back at Beckford Manor. He and Amelia would travel back to England the next year to see more than a few raised eyebrows and disappointed old maids due to his marriage to Amelia. He would also visit Garth and his wife, Bridgett, and their new baby son, then return to Texas.

  The winter in Wyoming was long and cold, but with the weekly sleigh rides, and the enjoyable evenings spent in front of the gigantic fireplace in the parlor of the large rambling ranch house, the months flew by. Claude proved to be an entertaining guest, with his charming British accent and the exciting seafaring tales of his youth, which he told to a captive audience each evening before a roaring fire in the fireplace. Even Olivia said she’d never heard such tales from her uncle.

  Before they knew it, spring had come, the snow was melting, birds were singing, and the valley was in bloom. It was time to plan for the wedding ceremony of Olivia and Logan before returning to the Triple-B ranch in Texas. After much thought, and coaxing from their guests, Logan’s parents would follow later in the summer, after leasing out their ranch and packing their belongings. They would not be separated from their son again, and would make their home in Texas, leasing land from the ‘Triple-B’.

  It was a beautiful ceremony. Olivia wore Cassandra’s white gown, with just a few alterations, and Logan and Olivia were wed in the ranch house parlor, by the parson from Freeman. Many residents and neighbors attended the reception which followed, some bringing homemade gifts, which the couple would treasure forever. Claude gave away the bride, Amelia was matron of honor. Logan’s three shipmates were his ‘best’ men, all three standing up with him throughout the ceremony. Logan couldn’t take his eyes off his bride throughout the afternoon, and Olivia thought Logan had never looked so handsome, in his gray tailored western suit with his green eyes shining like emeralds.

  Theirs would be a long, and happy marriage; with Logan proving to be a hard-working, loving and devoted, husband, with even hardships bringing them closer together. Olivia was happier than she’d ever been in her life.

  The trip back to the ‘Triple-B’ ranch in Texas went smoothly, and they were back before they knew it, just in time to welcome the new son of Maria and Ricardo, little Ricardo. An only child, the handsome olive-skinned youngster quickly became the pride and joy of the whole population of the ranch. If one person wasn’t spoiling him, ten others were.

  The years flew by, and as Logan’s parents had leased a few acres of land from the ranch, they were nearby when Olivia gave birth to her and Logan’s first child, a girl. Dark haired, like her father, they immediately named her Maria, after her dear friend.

  Olivia loved the ‘Triple-B’, and although she and Logan had planned, one day, to travel back to England, and visit Beckford Manor, they never made the trip, so caught up with running the ranch, and loving every minute of raising their children.

  Born a year after little Maria, Olivia had another daughter, a blonde, with blue eyes, like herself, and naming the child after Amelia, made her aunt a happy woman. The third daughter, a year after that, was named after Logan’s mother, Cassandra.

  Finally, five years after their last daughter was born, they had a son, a duplicate of Logan, with the tiny baby’s bright green eyes, thick dark hair, and charming ways, he could only grow up to be a heart-breaker. This one, they would have to watch. It was not only Logan, who passed out cigars this time, but every man on the ranch was passing them out too. Claude and Seth, had ridden to town, the day after the birth, and handed out bags full of the long Cuban cigars.

  Through the years, the tall youngster of Maria and Ricardo, little Ricardo, grew like a weed, and he and Logan and Olivia’s daughters, and their one son, whom they had named after Logan’s father, Seth, were inseparable. They played with the other children on the ranch, but their closeness to each other, could not be denied. Little Ricardo grew to be a six-foot, four inches tall, handsome vaquero. After attending college back east, for only two years, he returned to the ‘Triple-B’ to marry the Wakefield’s oldest daughter, Maria.

  Through the years, two m
ore wings were added to the ranch house. Also the ranch itself grew in size, making it more of a small town than a working ranch. More and more buildings went up, some of the ranch hands also raising families. Even a general store was opened, and then a schoolhouse built, soon after, a church. Claude and Amelia each lived a long life, and in later years, sat on the front patio enjoying the sunsets, and the activity around the courtyard, watching, as they put it, “their grandchildren grow”.

  The ‘Triple-B’ had been such a success that eventually, being more of a town now, than a ranch, it was re-named ‘Loganville’, after Logan, who had put many hours a day into the planning and running of the place. Olivia had insisted that it be named such, and Logan, secretly pleased, had also learned not to argue with his determined wife.

  Olivia’s brother Garth, and his wife, Bridgett, visited the ranch, about once every five years, with their growing family. They had quit their side-line, working for the British government, though Garth still ran the Beckford shipping industry.

  Maria and Ricardo were so close to the Wakefields that they were considered family, and they built their home on an acre near the main hacienda, though they spent most of their time with Olivia and Logan, and their children. Maria still enjoyed the preparation of her spicy Mexican dishes. She and Ricardo never did get to Mexico.

  End

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Cherie Shaw is a writer/artist and was born and raised in the Midwest. Her mother was also an author and her father, a cowboy/deputy sheriff. Cherie has been writing short stories, poems, and children’s verses since she was a child. She currently resides in southern Arizona.

  Table of Contents

  Dark Journey Home By Cherie Shaw

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  EPILOGUE