Jake turned away from the window and soon left the room. He hadn’t had lunch but wasn’t hungry. He stopped at the front desk and asked the clerk if there was a jewelry shop nearby.
Ten minutes later, he entered Michel’s Fine Jewelry where he spent even less time selecting the wedding band set. After leaving the shop, Jake headed to the Western Union office which was easily found by looking for the overhead wires. The wires leaving Helena didn’t use the same route he’d taken. One branch headed south then snaked east before following a long, curving path that eventually arrived at Fort Benton while the other headed west before curving north to Fort Shaw. He had no idea why they’d chosen those routes, but it didn’t matter as long as they worked.
He entered the fairly large telegraph office and after stopping at one of the two wide shelves, he wrote his message to Sara. After he finished, he briefly thought about sending one to Dave, but didn’t even take a second blank sheet of paper from the stack. He figured Dave could run the ranch well enough in his absence without knowing that he’d be returning in a couple of days.
After paying his sixty cents, Jake left the Western Union office and headed back to the hotel. He wanted to make use of the bath that had cost him an extra dollar before he visited the hotel restaurant for dinner.
_____
A clean and well-fed Jake Elliott pulled back the heavy quilts of his large, comfortable bed shortly after the sun set. He wanted to have a good night’s sleep because he’d be leaving Helena tomorrow morning. As much as he wanted to return to see Sara again, he wasn’t about to risk overstressing Mars and Vulcan. It had taken him four days to reach Helena, but he wasn’t going to make any detours on his return trip. So, he expected to reach the Elk by mid-day on Monday, the first of August.
Once he decided to end his search, Jake also convinced himself that his father would never show his face on the ranch again. When he returned, he’d take over operation of the ranch, but would talk to Jerome Wright as soon as possible. He didn’t know how long his father would have to remain absent before he could legally be declared the owner of the Elk, but the clock had started on the second of July.
_____
Jake rode out of Helena a little after nine o’clock the next morning. Mars and Vulcan were well-fed, well-rested and seemed as anxious to get home as he was.
Helena soon disappeared from sight and about an hour after leaving the territorial capital, Jake passed through Silver City. Knowing what to expect of the terrain ahead would help speed his journey. It was a Saturday, so he didn’t expect to see as much traffic coming from Fort Shaw. He had a clear road in both directions when Silver City faded out of sight.
As he descended to the narrow plain, Jake wondered if he’d encounter the two deserters as he headed north. If he did, they’d be on foot with empty stomachs. Maybe they headed back to Fort Shaw after inventing an excuse for their absence.
He waved goodbye to the Missouri River after he reached the first pass just before noon. He’d stop to rest the horses and have a quick lunch when he reached the second. Jake was so pleased with his progress that he began to believe he might even make it back before sunset tomorrow. But for now, it was just a hopeful possibility.
_____
Sara was walking back to the house after spending all morning with Kay. While she suspected that Kay still wasn’t pleased with Jake’s new status as her beau, Kay had seemed to be more willing to accept it.
She had just turned down Fourth Street when she spotted Jimmy Woodley stepping onto the porch of her family home. Knowing that Jimmy was one of the three boys that delivered telegrams for Western Union pushed her into a jog. She watched him knock on the door and just as she reached the edge of her front yard, her mother opened the door.
“Mama! Is it for me?” she shouted as she continued trotting to the front gate.
Jimmy turned away from her mother just as Sara swung through the open gate and finally slowed.
Priscilla didn’t even bother asking Jimmy the name of the telegram’s intended recipient but took a nickel from her dress pocket then waited for Sara to step onto the porch.
Sara was breathing heavily as she climbed the three steps, but she didn’t care about her lack of oxygen when Jimmy handed her the message.
Sara huffed, “Thank…you…Jimmy,” as she accepted the telegram.
Jimmy grinned and was about to leave when Priscilla said, “Jimmy, this is for you,” and gave him the nickel.
He was still grinning as he clutched the five-cent piece and exclaimed, “Thank you, ma’am!” then hurried down the steps.
Sara’s breathing had returned to normal before she smiled at her mother and said, “I’m going to read this in my room. Okay, Mama?”
“I’d be surprised if you shared it with me, dear.”
Sara gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying into the house then climbing the stairs to her room. She hoped that she would soon read that Jake was coming home and didn’t care if he’d found his father or not.
After rushing into her room and closing the door, she sat on her bed and carefully opened the telegram.
She closed her eyes for just a few seconds before she read:
SARA SMITH 26 FOURTH ST FT BENTON MONT TERR
