Once they began chowing down, Jake smiled at Sara who started cutting her steak before he suggested that she should eat.
Jake was famished but delayed his own supper as he began his narrative. He didn’t diminish his almost fatal mistake by continuing to ride to Woman’s Breast even though he couldn’t see more than fifty yards in front of his horse’s nose. But it was his description of what he’d found when he entered the saddlery that stopped each of the men from taking another bite.
“That gun was hit by lightnin’?” exclaimed Lone Bill Riker.
“When that bolt hit, it scared the daylights out of the sorrel and when he reared, I thought I’d been shot because I was tossed out of the saddle to my right. I didn’t hear the gun or the ammunition in Dave’s pockets explode because my ears were still ringing from the thunder. If I had only found the damaged rifle, I would have put it down to just a flaw in the gun. But when I saw Dave’s middle and then spotted the empty brass all over the place, I knew what had happened."
Al Pope said, "That musta been kinda spooky when you figgered it out.”
“I didn’t think of how eerie it was until Sheriff Zendt mentioned the coincidence that the man who had murdered my parents was about to use my father’s rifle to shoot me when he was struck by a bolt of lightning.”
John Hatcher asked, “Do you reckon your pa hurled that bolt down from heaven to stop him?”
Jake smiled as he replied, “I guess that assumes that my father is in heaven in the first place. I’ll answer any more questions tomorrow, but right now, I’m going to finally devour my steak.”
_____
An hour later, Sara and Jake returned to their bed to get some much-needed sleep. He’d left the Martini-Henry with the boys so they could admire it for a while, but tomorrow, he’d hang it in the office where his father had left it.
He was holding Sara close when she softly said, “Jake, about that coincidence with the lightning...”
Jake smiled then kissed her on her forehead before saying, “I know. It sounds like more than a coincidence, and I’ll admit that when Arv mentioned it, it spooked me a bit.”
“Then I’m probably going to make it worse. Yesterday afternoon, when I saw the storm clouds on the horizon, I began closing all the windows. When I was in the office, I looked at your father’s desk and chair and asked him to use all of his power to protect you.”
After a short pause, Jake replied, “I guess he was listening after all.”
“When we have our first son, do you want to name him after your father?”
Jake chuckled then said, “No. One of the few things I understood about my father was that he hated his name, whether it was Chester or Chet. All of the men called him boss or Mister Elliott and even my mother addressed him as dear or my husband. I was about seven years old when I asked him why no one used his first name and he told me he just didn’t like it.
“I knew his middle name was James, so I asked him why he didn’t just use his initials like some men did. He told me that he didn’t want to be called C.J. because it sounded pretentious. I had to ask my mother what pretentious meant. She explained the meaning and then told me that my father was the one who suggested my name. It’s not short for Jacob either. He named my younger brothers Sam and Mack as well because they were manly names. The only other name he suggested to my mother before Mack died was Matt. He didn’t want it to be Matthew, just Matt.”
“Then we’ll name him Matt. Is that alright?”
“I think it’s a good name.”
She snuggled closer and whispered, “When I asked your father to protect you, I also told him that I wanted to fill the house with his grandchildren.”
Jake smiled as he said, “I’ll do all I can to make that happen, Mrs. Elliott.”
_____
The next day, Jake moved the stolen money into the safe after he let Sara count it and add it to the ledger.
Then it was a long question and answer period with the men before Jack convinced them to get to work.
When they returned to the house, Jake carried the Martini-Henry and the Sharps while Sara brought his father’s Winchester. After restoring the guns to their previous spaces in the office, they walked to the barn. They saddled Mars and Vulcan then rode down the access road to head into Fort Benton. Jake was trailing the gray gelding and was enormously grateful for Mars’ relatively smooth gait. He’d confessed his reason for giving the horse to Kay during breakfast and hoped that she wouldn’t be offended. While she hadn’t laughed, her giggling eyes announced her approval.
Their first stop after entering the town was #12 Missouri Avenue. After they dismounted, Jake detached the gray gelding’s trail rope from Mars and tied it to the hitching post.
He then took Sara’s hand and stepped down the walkway. Jake was about to knock on the door when Sara laughed before she turned the knob and swung it open.
They passed through the foyer but stopped in the parlor as Sara shouted, “Kay, Jake and I brought you a present!”
They heard rapid footsteps coming down the hall and for a moment, Jake thought that Kay had not only lost twenty pounds but added an extra inch or two of height.
Sara smiled and asked, “Is my sister in, Hanna?”
Hanna Marsden returned her
