walked the seven miles from the Red Cliff train station to his father’s farm.
His brother was out feeding the pigs, and was the first to see him. He reacted in great surprise at seeing his older brother coming down the road toward him. “Abner? Is that you?”
Abner held his hand out toward Aaron. “Don’t disturb yourself. I know that I walked away from my inheritance. I know the farm is yours. I want only to be treated as a hired hand.”
Aaron smiled. “Come with me to see Pop.”
Abner followed his brother into the machine shed, where their father was working on a plow shear.
“Pop, look who is here,” Aaron said.
Arnold Purvis looked up to see who Aaron had brought to him. There was only a second’s hesitation before his face was wreathed by a huge smile.
“Abner? Abner, my boy! You have come home!” Arnold cried excitedly, getting up from the workbench and hurrying over to embrace his son.
“Aaron, run quickly to tell your mother. Tell her I will kill a hen, so she can make chicken and dumplings.” The elder Purvis looked back at Abner. “I know that is your favorite meal.”
“Pop I’ve already told Aaron. I’ve no wish to deprive him of the inheritance. The farm shall rightly be his.”
The elder Purvis looked at Aaron with a confused expression on his face. “You haven’t told him?”
“No, Pop. I haven’t told him.”
“Told me what?” Purvis asked.
“Abner, I have an appointment to West Point. I’ll be leaving soon. I don’t want the farm. It’s all yours.”
“Welcome back, son,” Arnold said with a wide grin.
Luke had suggested they get married in the Colorado Social Club. Jenny was hesitant at first, but then she thought,
Adele had gone all out to decorate the club, and insisted the girls dress demurely as if they were going to church.
Father Pyron of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church had never been in Adele’s establishment before. While he was drinking a cup of coffee before the ceremony, he admitted he was looking forward to it. “I always wanted to know what this place looked like inside. This way I can come here without compromising myself.”
Father Pyron wasn’t the only one whose appearance in the club had caused no small degree of curiosity. Troy, Julius, and Pete were also there, the first time anyone of their color had ever set foot through the doors.
Senator Daniels and Millie were there. Becky was very proud to serve as Jenny’s flower girl. Also in attendance was Herbert Bailey, who was no longer a railroad conductor, having been rehired as a telegrapher for the town of Higbee.
Smoke, Matt, and Duff were present for the wedding, and Duff had volunteered to play Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” on his pipes. It was the first time anyone had heard the traditional wedding song played on the pipes, and so beautifully was it played there wasn’t a single dry eye among the girls of the Colorado Social Club.
After the wedding, everyone went down to the train depot to wish the happy couple well as they left by train on the first leg of their wedding trip.
“Where in the world is Samoa?” Adele asked. “And why do they want to go there?”
Nobody had an answer.
As Smoke turned to leave the depot, he thought he saw an old man dressed in buckskin, carrying a long- barreled, Hawkens .50 caliber buffalo rifle and wearing a coonskin cap.
When he blinked, the man was gone.
EPILOGUE
“Attention, passengers, the runways have been cleared, and the airport is now open. Please check with the schedule board to learn the status of your flight.” The announcement came over the speaker.
“I fully recovered from my illness, whatever it was, and never had another recurrence,” Rebecca said, completing the story of that Christmas, sixty-eight years ago.
“And your father went on to become governor,” Margaret pointed out.
“That’s right, he served two terms as governor, then in 1912, he was very nearly selected as the Vice Presidential candidate for Mr. Roosevelt. After that, he gave up politics and became a successful businessman in Denver.”
“Speaking of successful, your life has been a steady string of successes. You have been a schoolteacher, a college professor, an accomplished author, and finally the United States Ambassador to Greece.”
“Yes, my life has been blessed,” Rebecca agreed.
“Mrs. Robison, in the story you just told, you met Mr. Jensen and Mr. MacAllister out on the mountain as they were coming to rescue the passengers.”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not possible, is it? I mean, particularly when Matt Jensen said that you were in a coma, and that you never left the train.”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” Rebecca replied. “But I clearly remembered seeing Mr. Jensen and Mr. MacAllister out on the trail. It was probably a dream, but if it was, Mr. Jensen had the same dream, because he remembered seeing me out on the trail, as well.”
“You also said someone named Preacher came to see you while you were in a coma and told you that you would be all right. Was that just a dream?”
An enigmatic smile spread across Rebecca’s face. “I don’t know. Was it? I’m still here, nearly seventy years later.”
A uniformed airport attendant walked over to where Rebecca and Margaret were having their discussion. “Mrs. Robison, we are now loading first-class passengers for your flight to Denver.”
“Thank you, young man.”
“Will you need help in boarding?”
“No, thank you, I’m still quite mobile.” Rebecca got up then, but before she left the lounge, she looked back. “Margaret, your young man is going to propose to you over dinner tonight. Say yes. You will have a wonderful marriage.”
“What?” Margaret gasped.
“Merry Christmas, dear,” the old lady said as she turned and walked toward the boarding gate.
THE JENSEN FAMILY SAGA CONTINUES
