KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

WHN Enter Mark Twain

Written by Lynne (LJ and Adam) and Katja (Rosemary and Pa)


Rosemary

I had missed most of what had happened in town with that Mr. Clemens, or Mr. Mark Twain, as he now calls himself. Funny that people can have two names. I know Papa told me about writers often using pen names, but I never met a writer before. And I thought it was really exciting I got to see him off. Earlier he had already called me beautiful and I was very flattered. He was such an extraordinary man.

I was starting to feel a little safer at the ranch. Hop Sing was just so nice to me and Mr. Cartwright made me feel right at home. He gave me my own room and clothes and he almost treated me like one of the family. He said they would try to find out if there were relatives I could stay with, but that I could stay with them as long as was needed.

The first week seemed like a holiday and I tried to enjoy it, even though I missed Papa. Then after a week they decided I should go to school in Virginia City with Little Joe. I didn’t really mind going to school, as I have always loved learning, maybe because Papa made it all so interesting.

Little Joe was not as keen on school though. He started telling me horror stories about their teacher, called her old Jonesy, until Mr. Cartwright stopped him. He didn’t think it was funny talking about a teacher like that and even though I really liked Little Joe, I agreed with him. Of course that was before I met old Jonesy. She was nice, but there was also something about her that was odd.

Little Joe was really nice to me and introduced me to his friends at school, making sure I fitted in and that no one would give me a hard time. It was really sweet of him. As the daughter of a teacher, I had been teased in the past and it hadn’t been fun. I had the feeling Little Joe liked having a sort of younger sister around to protect. Mind you, I’m only one year younger!

As the days went by and we talked more, I started to trust this family and especially Little Joe, and I knew I couldn’t keep this secret all to myself much longer. You see, I hadn’t told them everything when I first got here. I didn’t tell a lie, of course, I have been taught better; Papa always said the truth can never be as bad as a lie, and he’s right. But I didn’t tell the complete truth either. I couldn’t. There was too much at risk.

Fact was that I knew or suspected why Papa had been killed. You see we didn’t just come to look for silver, Papa had a claim to a rich silver vein and he had already been threatened because of it. Of course he hadn’t told me that, but well, you can’t help hearing things when you’re in a wagon, can you? I think it was some distant cousin who wanted Papa to share with him and Papa refused. Papa got really upset about it and told him to get lost. That’s when I heard the man threatening him. He told Papa he would get that silver one way or the other.

I never could hide things from Papa, so of course he noticed how scared I was. He didn’t even scold me for eavesdropping; he just told me not to worry about it. But how could I do that? That man who had threatened him had sounded very convincing. I knew he meant every word.

And then after Papa was killed the local sheriff and the judge had talked to me. They said Papa’s claim was still there and legal and as his only heir I inherited it, but since I’m only 14 I can’t have it yet. But that wasn’t even the worst news. Because there was no relative (I wasn’t going to tell them about that cousin, of course), I was to go to an orphanage until either one turned up or I turned 18. I knew Papa’s killer knew he had a daughter and I knew he’d come looking for me, so I asked to go to the outhouse and took off. I even got some clothes to look like a boy, knowing they would be looking for a girl.

So anyway one day as Little Joe and I were riding back home we stopped at the creek and sat down for a while. We had some time to spare, because Miss Jones had let us off early. I had already found out that Little Joe was in trouble at school a lot and was usually worried about notes or coming home late. Having seen that look on Mr. Cartwright’s face, I couldn’t blame Little Joe for being worried.

But this time he wasn’t worried, he was just skipping stones over the water and while I was watching him, I suddenly told him the whole story. I knew it wasn’t fair to dump it on him, but I was so tired of keeping it inside, I had to tell someone, and I trusted him more than anyone else, I guess.


Little Joe

It was so funny the way that Rosemary arrived at our ranch, thrown over my eldest brother Adam’s saddle. He thought he’d found a boy on our property and brought him home to find out what he was doing on our land. But after he’d gone for a bath and Hop Sing had burned his clothes, we found out that he was a she, a young girl, about my age.
Of course I had to tease big brother about the mistake; after all he’s got a reputation for being a bit of a lady’s man and so it was rather laughable that he thought he’d caught a boy.

I was all set to go out to the wash house and check her out for myself, but Pa held onto my arm and made me stay at the supper table, where I continued to giggle, much to the embarrassment of Adam.

However, when Rosemary did join us, wrapped in a blanket, the story she told, wiped the smile off my face. Poor girl had come out to Nevada, with her schoolteacher father, who was hoping to make his fortune prospecting for silver. They had camped by the Truckee river and after Rosemary had gone to sleep, someone came to their camp and killed her father. She didn’t know who or why and was lucky not to have been killed, too, but something must have disturbed the killer, before he discovered her, hiding under a pile of blankets in the wagon. It was probably the arrival of the two men, who took her into town and helped her arrange her father’s funeral.

Afterwards, with no relatives coming forward to claim her, Rosemary was placed in the orphanage, a pretty grim place, by all accounts. They told her she would havta stay there until a relative could be found, but she decided to run off. I told her that was very brave of her and what I would’ve done, too.

Anyway, it was decided that she could stay with us until someone claimed her and I was real glad about this piece of news. I don’t have a sister and my next brother up from me is six years older, but Rosemary is only one year younger than me and so I could pal around with her.

Hop Sing took her into town and bought her some clothes; turned out that she quite likes wearing dresses and I gotta admit that she looks kinda cute in them. But I was hoping that she was gonna be more of a tomboy, like my friend Sarah, whom I’ve known since we were babies.

For the first week, Rosemary stayed pretty close to the house. Obviously she was sad, cos she’d just lost her father. I knew what that was like, as my Mama died when I was five and so I tried to help her as much as I could. I even told her that she could share my Pa, as he’s pretty good when you are sad, and gives you lots of fuss and hugs and back rubs. She smiled at this and did borrow him, a couple of times, and Pa didn’t let her down. He’s faced plenty of tragedy, too, and so was happy to give her a cuddle and a shoulder to cry on.

When she was feeling a bit better, Pa suggested that he enrolled her in school with me. Now if I’d been her, I’d have been happy to put that off for as long as possible, but she was real keen to start going. Girls are weird like that, but I still liked having her around.

I thought I oughta prepare her for her first meeting with Jonesy, our teacher. I told Rosemary that she was a bit of a tyrant and that she worked us real hard. Pa chewed me out for saying all that, said I was gonna scare Rosemary before she even got to school, but I thought it was my duty to let her know what she was letting herself in for.

I might have laid it on a bit too thick, cos Rosemary looked very scared on her first day, but all was well. I introduced her to my friends and she soon began to relax.
She’s very smart and ended up doing the same work as me, even though she’s younger. This has been a great help to me, as we have the same homework and she can tell me the answers. I still make the odd mistake, though, cos I don’t want Pa or Jonesy to get suspicious and they sure would if I suddenly started getting A for every piece of work I did; I’m more a C average kinda student.

We were settling down into a nice routine. Rosemary was happy to do her share of chores; I did try it on, at first and had her doing some of mine, too. Big brother Adam caught on to that one and warned me that he would be telling Pa if I didn’t do my own work from then on, and so I stopped getting Rosemary to do it.

The one thing I did find rather difficult to remember, was that we had to be a bit more careful about our state of dress, now that there was a girl in the house. Before, cos it was a house of men only, no one much cared if you walked from the wash house to your room, wearing only a towel, or even nothing, and we often go skinny dipping, but that’s had to stop since Rosemary’s been around. However, I did forget a few days ago. Now, in the middle of the night, I had one of my nightmares (I have ‘em occasionally) and I ended up getting in Adam’s bed. It’s the only place where I feel safe and has been ever since I first started having nightmares, when I was tiny.

The next morning, I woke up, realised that it was getting late and so I jumped out of Adam’s bed and ran along the landing to my room, stripping off, and discarding, my nightshirt, as I ran. Just as I did so, Rosemary came out of her room and there was me, standing in my birthday suit. She screamed (didn’t think it was that bad a sight), and ran back in her room. Pa came out of his room, guessed what had happened, slapped me on my bare butt and warned me there would be plenty more to follow that one slap, if I didn’t remember to cover up, in future. Boy, was my face red when I met Rosemary at the breakfast table, a bit later, but she was very nice and said nothing about it. Adam said afterwards that she said nothing cos there was nothing to see, but I said that was because it was very cold that morning.

After that, things settled down and I was enjoying having her around. We got on real well and we often went for rides and talked to each other, about all kinds of things. I guessed that there was something troubling her, as we rode home from school on this particular day, but decided to wait for her to tell me, in her own time.

When she did, I havta admit I was a bit shocked. She was sure that her father had been killed by some distant relative, who was hoping to inherit the silver mine that was being held in trust for Rosemary. I said, straightaway, that we needed to tell Pa about this and the sheriff, but she seemed reluctant to do so. She said she had no proof and without it, no one would believe her. All she’d heard was a rather muffled conversation between her father and a man. She never saw him, or could remember anything significant about him and so I had to agree it was all pretty hopeless.


Rosemary

I was glad I had finally told someone what had happened. Little Joe was ready to tell his Pa and the sheriff, but I’m glad I managed to convince him that it wasn’t such a good idea. For starters I didn’t have any proof. And who would believe a 14-year-old girl who had just lost her Papa? They would just say I was overcome with grief. But more important I told everyone I didn’t know of any relatives, yes I know it was a lie and I don’t lie, but I had to this time. Papa would understand.

But if they knew there was a cousin and didn’t believe my story they might start looking and find him. And I might end up in real danger. Oh I know I’m not making any sense, but I was scared. And so I was relieved when Little Joe promised he wouldn’t tell anyone.

I kind of liked the after school routine on the ranch. Once we were home, we first went inside  and Hop Sing always had a snack and some milk for us, that day he had even made us some cocoa, which was really good. And Mr. Cartwright was at home too, so we sat there for a while talking about school. I had already noticed Little Joe disliked talking about school as much as going to school, but Mr. Cartwright always asked us about homework and about what we’d learned that day. I tried to give most of the answers so Little Joe didn’t have to, but sometimes he insisted Little Joe answered for himself.

Talking about school wasn’t a problem for me, but for Little Joe every question could lead to trouble and so I understood his reluctance. But today he had nothing to worry about. He hadn’t been in trouble all day and he had some good grades to show his Pa. Of course he had copied most of the answers from me, but still. Oh I know I shouldn’t let him copy them, but he would look at me with those eyes and I would just melt and give them anyway. I just hoped we wouldn’t get caught.

Mr. Cartwright was really nice. As I walked passed him when we were going outside to do our chores, he pulled me onto his lap for a moment and asked me how I would feel about calling him Uncle Ben instead of Mr. Cartwright, especially since it seemed I would be there for a while. I couldn’t help myself, I just gave him a hug and whispered thank you in his ear. It made me feel part of the family. He just kissed me on my hair and send me outside with a pat on my bottom. I almost skipped over to the barn.

The chores weren’t all that bad and when Adam came in we were almost finished. He made some remark about me being a good influence on his little brother, which didn’t sit well with Little Joe. I wished he hadn’t said that and was afraid Little Joe would retort, but he didn’t. He just looked at his brother and went back to work. That was really good of him. I gave him a grin and as soon as Adam left the barn, he started imitating his big brother, making me giggle. He was so good at it. He sounded exactly like him. Oh it was so good to laugh like that.

We kind of hurried through the rest of the chores all the while laughing and making jokes. Just before we were about to leave the barn I snuck up on him and dropped some oats down the back of his shirt and ran off. He chased me through the yard into the house, which earned us a warning from Uncle Ben, but I was in too good a mood to let that scare me. Besides you could see his eyes twinkling so I knew he was actually enjoying seeing us like this.

Just as we sat down for supper we heard a horse in the yard and Uncle Ben went out to look who it was. He came back with a strange man, who immediately came over to me and started hugging me, telling me how glad he was he finally found me.

When Uncle Ben calmly asked who he was, he told us he was my Mama’s cousin, Josh. He had been informed of Papa’s death and had been looking for me for weeks. He had already filed for custody and would be happy to take care of his cousin’s little girl. I know I should have been happy about it, but somehow I couldn’t be.

There was one good thing though: Josh told us he was moving to Virginia City for his business and so I would still be able to see the family. And of course he would let Uncle Ben check up on his background first. He said it was very commendable that he was looking out for me like that. He was glad I had been in such good hands. I wished I felt the same about my future.


Little Joe

I was really enjoying having a ‘little sister’ about the place and the fact that she was real clever at school work, was a definite bonus. But it wasn’t the only reason I liked having her around; she was fun to be with and she always understood my rather odd sense of humour, much quicker than Pa or my brothers did. Pa liked her being around, too. I guess he might have liked to have had a daughter; never really thought about it before. He liked making a fuss of her and said she could call him ‘Uncle Ben’, he’s a real softy, really.

School wasn’t so bad, either, now that Rosemary was along, at least I was able to keep Jonesy off my back by doing a bit better with my grades, thanks to Rosemary. My friends liked her, as well, especially Mitch, who was quite smitten, I think. Of course, he denied it, as we all do if one of us likes a girl, and threatened to pound the next person who suggested it, but I knew the signs. Mitch and me had been friends practically from the cradle and I knew him almost as well as I knew my brothers.

Even doing chores was more fun with someone your own age alongside of you and we fooled around a bit, making them not seem like chores, but still getting them done. Of course, big brother Adam had to comment on the fact that Rosemary was proving to be a good influence on me, but I couldn’t really deny it. I hadn’t been in as much trouble since she came to stay with us.

I was a mite worried, though, when she told me about that man, threatening her father. I wanted her to tell the sheriff, or at least, Pa, but she didn’t want to, without more proof. She got rather upset talking about it and so I dropped the subject and tried to push it to the back of my mind. I’m good at doing that, usually with school projects, and then I forget about ‘em, until the night before they are due in, when I realise I havta do six weeks work in one night! Rosemary wouldn’t discuss it anymore and so I didn’t, either, and I’d almost forgot about the reason why she had come to stay with us; she was just Rosemary and she lived in my house.

Therefore, it was a bit of a shock when this guy arrived, as we were eating supper, and said he was her mother’s cousin. Obviously, she didn’t recognise him. She’d told me that her mother was dead and presumably, she didn’t see any of her family. He seemed okay, but I was glad that Pa didn’t let Rosemary go with him straight away. He said he was happy for Pa to check him out, first, and so it was decided that he would book into the International, in town, and wait until Pa could confirm who he was.

Rosemary looked a bit shocked; I guess, like me, she was hoping that she could  carry on living on the Ponderosa, although I guess it will be nice for her to be with a relative, even if she don’t know him, yet. They say blood’s thicker than water and I guess that means you’re supposed to be closer to family than you are to friends. Well, that’s true with our family, but it don’t always follow. I mean, I’ve got pals, at school, who don’t get on with their families, at all.

Anyway, for the time being, she was gonna continue to live with us, and even when she moved in with Josh, she was, at least, gonna be staying in Virginia City and going to school with me.


Rosemary

I think I was in shock most of the evening. But after talking to Uncle Ben I felt much better. He is really easy to talk to when something is bothering you. He immediately understood I was a little reluctant to go through yet another change in my life, but he reassured me that they wouldn’t just let me go with Josh. They would make sure I was okay and I was close by and could always come to visit if I did move in with him.

Little Joe reminded me that we would still be able to go to school together and finally I started to feel a little better about the situation. I was still a little scared, but it would also be good to be able to talk to someone who had known my Mama. Papa hadn’t always found it easy to talk about her and there were so many questions I wanted to ask Uncle Josh, as he suggested I called him.

For about a week nothing changed. Uncle Josh came by every other day to talk to me and to the family and I must admit that he did seem very nice. He even joked around with Little Joe and me. And so when after that week the papers arrived, confirming he was who he said he was, I was almost happy we were related.

He had already been looking for a house in town and shortly after the papers arrived he found one. It was a little house at the edge of town and he came to the ranch all excited, happy to be able to offer me a home. I think he was also happy he could finally move out of the hotel. He told us he was getting tired of the noise there.

I was a bit sad when I left the family that had been mine for a few weeks, but also excited, and I wasn’t going far anyway. Of course there were lots of hugs and good wishes and when I caught Little Joe looking a little sad, I told him he could still be my big brother, which he seemed to like. I meant it too.

My new room was very nice and Uncle Josh had done his best to furnish it to fit a girl and although the first supper was a bit awkward, it was nice and we talked a bit. He talked about Papa most of the time and I was a bit wary of asking questions about Mama. I didn’t want to upset him or open up old wounds. But I so much wanted to know about her and so just before I went to bed I blurted out if he thought I looked like my Mama.

He looked at me, a bit surprised, and told me I reminded him a lot of her. There was something strange about the look on his face, but I thought maybe it hurt him thinking about her and I didn’t ask any more questions. He changed the subject to Papa again, talking about how fortunate he had been with that claim and how fortunate I was. He expressed his worries about the claim though, because without proper management the claim could be worthless by the time I turned 21. But he reassured me he would make sure I had nothing to worry about. I don’t know why, but that did worry me.

As I was lying in bed I half expected him to come tuck me in, like Uncle Ben did. Uncle Ben even checked up on Adam and he’s 27. He told me, he always worries about all his sons and can’t rest until he knows they’re all safe. I thought that was so sweet and I hoped Uncle Josh would do the same, but he didn’t come. Instead I heard the door open a little later and he left. I lay awake for hours, not knowing where he was and a bit scared of being all alone in this strange house. Finally I heard him come back. I think he must have bumped into something, because I heard him stumble a bit. I heard him go into his bedroom and then I think I must have fallen asleep, because after that I don’t remember anything until I woke up.

Uncle Josh was still fast asleep and I went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I made eggs and coffee and flapjacks and all sorts of things. I didn’t know what he liked so I thought I’d make everything I knew how to make. I went into his bedroom to wake him up and he was sprawled out on the bed, still dressed. I tried to wake him up, but he just grumbled and didn’t get up.

I tried again, but I knew it was getting late and I had to go to school. Miss Jones didn’t like tardiness. I didn’t want to leave the kitchen a mess though, so by the time I got to school everyone was already inside and Miss Jones had just begun. I hated being late, it’s embarrassing. Fortunately Miss Jones wasn’t in a bad mood and so I didn’t get punished; she just scolded me and sent me to my place. I sat down next to Little Joe, who looked at me questioningly. I whispered to him that I’d tell him about it at recess and gave him a smile to reassure him everything was okay.


Little Joe

I was real shocked when Rosemary’s Uncle Josh turned up and said he wanted her to live with him. I mean she hadn’t been with us long, but I was beginning to think of her as a member of our family, not as a stranger. Oh, I know that she wasn’t gonna be far away and I was still gonna see her at school, but she wasn’t gonna be at the breakfast table with me, sharing some silly joke that no one else could appreciate. And we weren’t gonna be doing our homework together, or sitting in each other’s room, plotting some prank to pull on Miss Jones, or on one of our fellow students. I even liked the way that Pa treated her, well, like he does me, really, tickling her, or swatting her on the butt and giving her a hug, when she needed it. I thought I might be a bit jealous, but I wasn’t. It just proved that love grows, if there’s more people to give it to, as Pa didn’t love me less, but he was beginning to love Rosemary as well, like we all were.

On the day that she actually left, I felt real sad, but I tried to be cheerful, as I knew it was hard for her. I mean, going to live with a perfect stranger, must have been tough, but she’d done it with us and so I suppose she’d cope again.

Joshua Barclay seemed nice enough. Before Rosemary moved in with him, he came over to visit quite a lot. He went out of his way to be friendly to me, too, asked what I was interested in, and came and looked at the new horses with me, in the upper corral. He said that I would always be welcome in their house and so I tried to like him, but there was something that I couldn’t put my finger on, that bothered me. Maybe it was because he was trying too hard to be nice to me; I dunno, but he made me uneasy.

Of course, I didn’t say any of this to Rosemary, cos I didn’t wanna upset her and she was trying so hard to be positive about it all. So I helped her pack and waved her off, promising that I would still be her big brother, if she needed me.

After she left, I moped around the house, until Pa said it was time I was in bed. I went upstairs and as I passed Rosemary’s room, I felt real sad that she wasn’t there anymore. When Pa came in to say goodnight, he could tell I was upset and he gave me a hug and tried to reassure me that all would be well, but I still had that feeling, deep down in the pit of my stomach, that Uncle Josh was not as nice as he seemed to be.


That next morning, at school, I eagerly awaited Rosemary’s arrival and was a bit worried when she was late. I hoped that this didn’t mean that something was wrong and I was very relieved when she finally turned up. She looked a bit upset, but I put that down to the fact that she was worried that Miss Jones might be mad with her, and she smiled at me and said we’d talk at recess.


Rosemary

Recess was short, but just long enough to tell Joe everything that had happened since I left the ranch. I told him about my new room and the house and about supper last night. That Uncle Josh had said I reminded him of Mama and that we’d talked a lot about Papa.

I was a bit hesitant about telling him about hearing Uncle Josh stumble in and not wanting to get up this morning. After all, maybe he had just been very tired or sick. But he didn’t look ill last night and this morning he didn’t look like someone who had a fever or something like that. Not like Papa a while ago when he was ill and had to stay in bed.

But he didn’t look well either. He looked like he would be sick any second. And I was a bit worried about him.

It felt good telling Little Joe everything. Somehow telling him made it sound not as bad as it looked this morning. I had a feeling Little Joe was a little too silent though, as if he knew something, but wasn’t telling me. He did tell me not to worry about Uncle Josh, he would be fine. I wondered what made him say that, but I didn’t ask. Didn’t get the chance to ask as Miss Jones rang the bell and we had to go inside again.

I was glad I had done my homework early yesterday, so my essay and my sums were finished. After being late this morning I didn’t want to be in trouble again. We had to hand in our homework for grading and Miss Jones gave us our assignments for the rest of the morning. It wasn’t that difficult and I started writing, all the while thinking about Uncle Josh and about the Ponderosa and Uncle Ben. I realized I wished I could go home with Little Joe to the ranch. I really wanted to talk to Uncle Ben. I sighed. I knew I had to go straight home after school though, there was homework to be done and cooking and I needed to know if Uncle Josh was okay.


Little Joe

When I got the chance to talk to Rosemary, at recess, she began telling me about everything that had happened, since she left the ranch. I don’t know what it was, but I got the impression that she wasn’t as happy as she was trying to make me think she was. She kept her main bit of news until last and then said that Josh had seemed to be poorly, that morning. As she described what was the matter with him, I guessed that he was suffering from a major hangover, but she didn’t realise this. That girl had led a very sheltered life, even I knew how you acted when you had a hangover; I had two older brothers, and I’d had a couple, myself. Now I know I’m a mite young and shouldn’t have tasted the demon drink, but boys will be boys, and I had.

I was gonna tell her, but I decided not to. It might just have been a ‘one off’ and I didn’t wanna be the one to label Josh a drunk, if it was the case that he’d just over indulged, on one night. She looked in need of some cheering up and I suggested that she come over to the ranch, after school. She refused, saying that she had to get home to check on Josh. However, the next day was Saturday and so I said I’d come and call for her and we could do something. That seemed to make her happy; I think she was a bit worried about spending the entire day with just her Uncle Josh. I said that it was time for some fun and she laughed, as she knows that usually means I’m thinking up some mischief. By the time I left her, at the end of the school day, she was more like her old self and I said I’d be round to collect her, after morning chores.

I didn’t say anything to Pa about Rosemary and Josh, as I didn’t wanna worry him. I knew that he would be feeling responsible for her and if he thought she was unhappy, he would want to get involved. I hoped that once they got used to living with each other, things would settle down, and decided it was best not to be getting too concerned, just yet.


The next morning I went to call for her and she was sitting on the porch steps, as I rode up. She smiled when she saw me and we went over to collect her horse, but I got the feeling that she was still not that happy. There was no sign of Josh and I didn’t ask after him.

Once we were away from the house, she cheered up a bit and we rode up to the cave, the recognised meeting place, on the Ponderosa, for me and my friends. Mitch was already there and he seemed pleased to see Rosemary; he blushed as he helped her down off her horse. Seth and Johnny soon arrived and finally, Sarah, apologising for being late. She said her Pa had made her get changed before she left home, as she was wearing an old cut down pair of his pants, and he didn’t approve of his daughter looking like a boy. I didn’t understand this remark, as she was still wearing them, but she explained that she had put on a skirt, to please her father, but then changed again, before she met us. Rosemary was rather envious, as she liked to wear pants, too, but didn’t think Josh would allow her to, and so I said I would bring her a pair of mine and leave them in the cave. That way she could change when she got there and Josh need not know.

We spent a good while discussing what we were gonna do and while we talked, we ate some of the food that we had brought from home, to keep us going through the day. Seth thought it was about time that we woke up the citizens of Virginia City and gave them a bit of a scare, but it took a while to come up with a good plan. Then I hit on this idea and I told the others and they all thought it sounded like fun. We began to prepare for our prank. The first thing we had to do was make a dummy. Fortunately, we all kept items of clothing and blankets in the cave and we were soon able to put together a reasonable looking body. The plan was that a couple of us would ride into town and say that we had seen a body in the river. We’d get some people to come with us and as we got close to the river, another of us would drop the dummy in the water. Then we’d all start yelling and screaming and leave the rescue party to fish out the poor unfortunate victim. Of course we would make sure we were well away, but still able to watch the action, before they found out that they had been fooled.

It worked like clockwork. Sarah and Rosemary rode into town, playing the part of two hysterical girls, and they went to the sheriff’s office and told their story. About half a dozen men came hightailing it out to the river and me and Johnny threw the dummy into the water and then made sure we were well outta sight, with Seth and Mitch. The girls broke away from the rescue party and joined us and we just about split our sides, watching the brave men of Virginia City, saving a bundle of rags, especially when one of the men, Walt Williams, fell headfirst into the water and then started yelling that he couldn’t swim. Silly fool, why did he offer to help, knowing that he couldn’t swim? Anyway, they ended up mounting a real rescue, to save him. It was a great prank, but trouble was, we stayed around to enjoy the fun, for just a little bit too long, and before we were able to make our escape, we were busted.

The day ended, not as good as it had started, as we were all dragged home to our parents. I  spent the rest of the day, in my room, nursing a sore backside, and I guess that the others did the same. I wondered what would happen to Rosemary; she had no idea what to expect from her Uncle Josh, as they were virtual strangers. As we rode home, I apologised to her and said I hoped that she would be okay. She looked a bit worried, but said that whatever happened, it had been worth it, as the prank was a brilliant one.


Rosemary

When Little Joe picked me up that morning, I didn’t want to talk about what had happened the night before. I don’t understand it; all Uncle Josh could talk about was Papa and his claim. At the ranch he had seemed so nice, but in his house in town he was a different man. He was moody and there was no warmth in his voice. I had a feeling he didn’t care about me at all.

And while he was eating the supper that I made, he was mumbling and there was something in his voice. I couldn’t pin it down, but it made me feel cold inside. Like you feel about a very bad memory.

And the rest of the night was like the first one. He left the house and came back, stumbling, when I was in bed. I no longer thought he was sick, but remembered that man who had stumbled into our camp. Papa had told me he was drunk. I thought that’s what was wrong with Uncle Josh too, but I wasn’t sure.

So the next morning, I didn’t even bother making us breakfast, just had some toast myself and went outside to wait for Little Joe, on the porch. Oh, we had such a great day. I had the feeling Mitch kind of fancied me and he was so nice to me. I liked him very much.

Oh and Sarah was such great fun. I never met a girl like her and I wanted to be as carefree as she was, wear pants too. I didn’t say a thing, but somehow Little Joe seemed to understand how I felt and promised me a pair of his old pants. I was so excited about that. You couldn’t do the things I wanted to do when you are wearing a dress.

Oh and Little Joe thought up the best prank ever. Sarah and me had such fun going into town all hysterical, crying about a body in the river. And when that other man fell in the water, I had a lot of trouble stifling my giggles. It was just too funny.

Okay, it wasn’t so funny when they caught us. Little Joe seemed a bit resigned about it, almost philosophical. I guess he’s used to being in trouble, even though he probably didn’t like the prospect of the tanning Uncle Ben was bound to give him. But I didn’t know my Uncle Josh well enough to know what he would do. Part of me wished I was still living on the ranch. At least I’d know what to expect and I knew Uncle Ben was good on forgiving and hugs too. But the prank was worth any trouble we’d be in.

One of the men brought me to Josh’s house and the closer we came, the more nervous I got. When Uncle Josh opened the door and heard the story, I could see the anger in his eyes. He started lecturing me right there on the porch, in front of that man, and I didn’t really know what to say, so I just looked down.

When the man left us, so Uncle Josh could, as he called it “take care of his ward”, he pushed me inside and started yelling at me for messing up his plans. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. He kept yelling at me, but he didn’t make any sense. I thought he would be angry for worrying half the town, but he seemed more upset over some sort of plan.

He sent me to my room, telling me he didn’t want to see me and I was happy to be able to escape. I lay down on my bed and tried to make sense of it all. The things he said, how I felt every time I heard him talk, especially about Papa and the claim, made me uneasy. I still couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something wrong.

Just when I thought he’d left the house again, he came into my room. He said it wouldn’t do if I were the only one of the pranksters being able to sit comfortably in church tomorrow. I know I deserved the tanning he gave me and I knew the others would have gotten the same, but I realised I didn’t get it for the prank. He did it so no one would think he wasn’t doing his job as my guardian. That’s when I knew he didn’t care about me at all and that hurt much more than the tanning.

Later that evening I was lying on my bed, hungry, as I hadn’t dared leave my room and he hadn’t called me for supper, and I don’t know, it was as if something clicked in my mind. Well, not exactly clicked, but it was like the start of knowing, if you know what I mean. I knew I’d heard his voice before. Especially when he was mumbling or yelling and all that talk about Papa and the claim and the fact that I didn’t remember Papa ever telling me Mama had a cousin called Josh. All that sort of came together in my head. What if this man wasn’t who he said he was? What if all he wanted was Papa’s claim? And that voice. Could he be…..oh I know I shouldn’t think it, but maybe he was the man in the camp arguing with Papa. The one that…….but maybe I was imagining things. I decided I needed to talk to Little Joe. Tell him everything, maybe he’d know what to do. I hoped we would be able to talk at church the next day.


Little Joe

I was not sure about the reception I was gonna receive from Rosemary, when I saw her at church, the next day. If Josh had tanned her for her part in the prank, then she might be mad with me, for getting her in trouble.
Turned out he had punished her, but she wasn’t mad, more scared, I thought. I tried to find out what was bothering her, before the service, but didn’t get the chance.
I fidgeted, as the reverend delivered the longest sermon ever, well it seemed to me like it was. Pa tapped me on the leg, a couple of times and told me to keep still. He thought it was the effect of the tanning that was making me wriggle in my seat, but it was just that I was anxious to talk to Rosemary.

I rushed over to her, once we got outside, and we went behind the church, where we could talk in private. She told me what had taken place at her house and that she now suspected that Josh might not be a relative, after all. I was surprised, as Pa had checked him out, before allowing Rosemary to go and live with him. She then went on to say that even if he was related, he definitely wasn’t interested in caring for her, he was just after the mine.
She had now realised that her Uncle Josh liked to drink a lot, but what was worse was the fact that she was now nearly certain that he was the man who had visited their camp and might be her father’s murderer.

As soon as she told me that, I wanted to go and tell Pa. There was no way I could just let her go back to that house; her life was in danger. I could tell that she very much wanted to come to the Ponderosa with me, but she said that we had no proof of what she was saying. If we told Pa and he confronted Mr Barclay, the man would just deny it and likely say that it was just a young girl’s imagination, working overtime.

I knew she was right and could see that until we had more evidence, we were gonna have a hard time proving anything. Yet I still wasn’t happy about her going back to the house with him. After being in trouble, the day before, I doubted if Pa would let me go to Rosemary’s house for the afternoon, either, but decided to give it a go. Rosemary came with me, to ask permission and found the perfect excuse for us spending the afternoon together. Pa was reluctant to let me, until Rosemary told him that we had some schoolwork to do together. This was not a lie, as Miss Jones had said that we could work in pairs on our history project, but I hadn’t intended on doing any of it just yet. Pa agreed and although I could see that Mr Barclay was not happy, he said it was okay for me to go. Adam said he would come and pick me up, as I didn’t have Cooch with me, and then we left for Rosemary’s house.

As soon as we got there, we headed for her room. I expected Josh to object, but he said nothing, proving yet again that he had no thought for Rosemary herself, just for what she was going to inherit. After all, it was not the done thing for a girl to take a boy up to her bedroom. However, I was glad that such things didn’t seem to bother her Uncle Josh, as it gave us the opportunity to talk in private. I asked Rosemary to explain, once again, all the things that had made her become suspicious of  him. She was rather embarrassed about it, as she knew that none of it amounted to much, but I could see the fear in her eyes and I knew that she was convinced that he was a dangerous man.

I felt that Rosemary was expecting me to come up with all the answers. To be honest I didn’t have a clue what to do, other than to get her away from him, and I didn’t even know how to do that. She said that she would be okay, but I wasn’t convinced. We spent the afternoon trying to think of ways to trap him into admitting what he was planning to do, but nothing came to mind.

As we talked, we were not aware that he was listening at the door. When he came into the room and said that he was going to take me home, I was a bit surprised, but not that bothered, as I didn’t feel that I was in any danger. I reminded him that my brother was coming to get me, but he said he had spoken to Adam, before the family had left for the ranch, and told him that he would bring me back. He said he would go and hitch up the team and while he was out of the house, I suggested to Rosemary that she came with us. Once we got to the ranch, we would think of a way of keeping her there.

Barclay raised no objections to Rosemary coming with us, in fact he said that he had been about to suggest it himself, as he didn’t like leaving her alone. This remark should have caused alarm bells to go off in my head, because I knew that he had left her when he’d been out drinking. However, I was so relieved to have got the chance to take her with us, I didn’t really think about it, too much.

We got aboard the buggy and headed out for the ranch, but suddenly he turned off the road and took us in another direction. When I queried this, he pulled out his gun and told us that he’d overheard our conversation and now that he knew we were onto his plans, he had no choice but to dispose of us. He actually used that word and it caused chills to go down my spine. It sounded like he thought of us as no more than some trash to be thrown away and proved to us, if we needed proof, that this man had no qualms about killing anyone who got in his way. He tied us up and then we carried on with our journey, until we reached Rosemary’s silver mine. Barclay untied us and led us to the entrance of the mine. He said that our death was going to look like an accident; two youngsters exploring a mine, deciding to try their hand at some blasting and ending up being caught in the explosion.
I looked around for something I could use as a weapon to try and fight back. I knew that once he had us inside the mine, our chances of escaping were practically nil. I saw a pickaxe propped up by the entrance and made a grab for it, but he was too quick for me and, using the butt of his gun, he knocked me out. The last thing I remember was the look of horror on Rosemary’s face and then I must’ve lost consciousness.


Rosemary

It’s strange. I know I was very scared when Uncle Josh um…..Mr. Barclay if that was his real name, pulled out his gun, but part of me was relieved to know this man wasn’t a relative after all. My relief was short-lived. To be disposed of didn’t sound like a good thing, to say the least, and I didn’t have a clue how to get out of this.

We didn’t want to go into the mine, but it’s amazing what you do when someone points a gun at you. Somehow you keep hoping to get out of the situation, so you don’t want to risk getting shot. I never thought about that before and I can’t believe I thought about those things then, but somehow thoughts like those kept popping into my mind.

All my hope was crushed when Little Joe was hit on the head and blacked out. I rushed over to him, to see how badly hurt he was. And when I looked up the man was gone. Only moments later there was a big explosion that shook the ground. Rocks started falling down and I just knew we had to get out of there. I tried to pull Little Joe out of the way, but it was hard, as he was still unconscious. And I couldn’t wake him up.

It was too late anyway. Everything went so fast. Large rocks fell down across the entrance and within seconds we were trapped. I wasn’t scared of the dark, but I was scared we wouldn’t get out. And I was scared because Little Joe still hadn’t come to.

I remembered that pickaxe Little Joe had wanted to grab and on my hands and knees I crawled to where the entrance had been. I don’t know how, but I managed to find it and I took it in both hands, as I got to my feet. It was hard in the dark, but I slammed the axe at the rocks that were blocking the entrance. If it didn’t get us out, maybe someone would hear it.

I missed the first time, twirled around and fell to the ground, hurting my knees as I did so. I scrambled back to my feet and judging the distance again, I now held the axe above my head and carefully let it fall into the wall of rocks, making sure I wouldn’t hit myself if I had misjudged again. I hadn’t, but it didn’t make an impression, of course. I used more strength and started hitting the rocks over and over again. It seemed like I tried forever, but it didn’t bring me any further and I got so tired and frustrated. And breathing became harder too. I sank down on the floor and started to cry.


Adam

After leaving Joe at the church with Rosemary and Barclay, the rest of us enjoyed a peaceful, Sunday afternoon. However, I was a little bit worried about my youngest brother, as the look on his face, as we rode away, indicated that something was bothering him. I hoped that I was wrong, but that look usually led to trouble and, as I was going to be the one picking him up, I wondered if I might get sucked into it.

I left home a bit earlier than I needed to, as I thought I would treat myself to a beer in the Bucket of Blood. I did so, and caught up with the latest gossip; if you ever want to know what’s going on in Virginia City, look no further than Bruno, the barman. He reckons that he knows about people’s problems, before they do! And I think he’s right.

After I had enjoyed the beer and the chat, I went along to the Barclay house, to collect Joe. By now, it was dark and so I was surprised to see that there weren’t any lamps burning; the house was in darkness. I knocked on the door, but didn’t expect to get an answer and I wasn’t disappointed. Mind you, I was puzzled, as there should have been someone in, even if it was only my little brother.

I hung around on the porch for a while, but was just about to leave, when Barclay arrived in the buggy. He said that he had been out looking for Rosemary and Joe, but hadn’t been able to find them. He told me that he’d popped out earlier, to visit an acquaintance, and when he’d returned, the children were missing. He had no idea where they’d gone and had been searching for them, for the past couple of hours. He’d decided to return to the house, as he knew that I was coming to collect Joe and he thought I might have a better idea as to where they had gone. I asked if they were on foot, or riding, and he said that they were on foot. I didn’t think that they would have strayed too far, in that case, and suggested the names of a couple of Joe’s friends who either lived in town, or close by. I was annoyed that, once again, my baby brother had been unable to stay put, as I wasn’t looking forward to spending the evening tracking him down. I told Barclay that I would check out the most likely places and if I found Rosemary, I would fetch her home. He seemed quite happy with this arrangement and didn’t appear to be that bothered that she was missing. He didn’t say that he would carry on searching, himself, just said he would wait at the house, in case they returned, or I found them.

I left, telling him that if I didn’t find Rosemary and Joe at any of the places I’d mentioned, I would return home and get my father, brother and some of the hands, and we would mount a proper search. He just nodded at me and went into the house.

His attitude concerned me, but I was more worried about finding Joe and Rosemary, and so I pushed my concerns to the back of my mind and concentrated on tracking down my wayward brother. However, despite checking at Johnny’s, Mitch’s, Seth’s and Sarah’s, I had no luck, and so headed for home, not looking forward to having to break the news to Pa that Joe was missing.


Ben

Adam had been gone a long time and I was beginning to get worried. I knew it was probably nothing, well, nothing more than you could expect from Joseph, but still I was getting more and more worried as the minutes ticked away.

Finally Adam returned, but he was alone and the look on his face told me there was trouble. I was right. It was so typical for my youngest to just take off and not keep track of time. He never thought of how worried I would be, until it was too late.

And worried I was. From what Adam told me Joe and Rosemary had been missing for hours and weren’t in town. That meant they could be just about anywhere and anything might have happened. And Joe had been in enough trouble the day before to try and test my patience again. Maybe he would have gone out with Rosemary, but he would have made sure they’d be back in time. He certainly wouldn’t still be out in the dark. I was sure of that.

I immediately called Hoss and saddled Buck, as Adam went and got the men to help us search for the children. We organised ourselves, split up in groups, to cover more of the area, and started searching.

We had already looked in several places when Adam and I stumbled on old Jeb, or crazy Jeb as he was called, who was night fishing in the creek. As we’d done with everyone we met (not that many people unfortunately) we asked him if he had seen Joe and Rosemary. He looked at us not really understanding what we meant. Sure he’d seen the kids, right in the buggy with that nice Mr. Barclay.

Adam and I exchanged worried looks. I suddenly had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was something really wrong here. Josh had told Adam something totally different. We thanked Jeb, promised him a drink next time in town, met up with Hoss, and, without talking, we all knew where we were heading next: Joshua Barclay’s house.

He was still in the house when we got there and to be honest we barged in and weren’t very patient. We were all ready to beat the information out of him, if necessary. However, that wasn’t necessary, like all cowards Josh spilled everything within minutes, after we started interrogating him.

We didn’t wait for the entire story, at the moment all we were interested in was finding the children. Josh led us straight to the mine and with the help of the men we started to clear the entrance, praying that the children were all right.


Little Joe

When I came to, I almost wished that I was unconscious again. My head was pounding and I could hear the sound of rocks and earth falling all around me. I was aware that Rosemary was trying to shield me from the worst of it and I just prayed that nothing too large would fall on top of us. We were lucky, because nothing did, but we were both covered in dust, which caused us to cough and made our eyes water. The silence, after all the noise, was eerie, and it made me shiver. Unless we were discovered quite soon, this mine was going to become our tomb. I could tell, very quickly, that the air was in short supply, as it became harder to breathe.

I tried to stand up, but my head hurt too much and I felt my legs give out under me, so I returned to the ground. Rosemary was trying to dig us out with the pickaxe, but she wasn’t doing too well and I suggested that she had a rest, to save the air. I told her that I would sit down for a little while and then I would take a turn with the axe, and she agreed.

We both sat on the ground, saying little, and I realised that she was crying. I managed to move closer to her and I put my arm around her shoulder and tried to console her, although it was hard knowing what to say. After all, she now knew that the only relative she had left, if he was indeed a relative, was the man who had murdered her father, and tried to kill her, and me. It was not a nice thought and it was hard to say anything positive, to try and cheer her up.

I was beginning to panic, too, as I hated being in the dark. It brought back all the bad memories of those first few weeks after Mama died and how Pa had been so distant with us all. Now he was being distant again, but this time there was a solid barrier separating us and it wasn’t going to be that easy to break it down. The thought of never seeing him and my brothers again, brought tears to my eyes and I was glad, just at that moment, that it was dark and Rosemary couldn’t see me cry, as I needed to be strong for her.

I took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. I knew that Adam would have gone to Barclay’s house to collect me, when I failed to arrive home in time for supper. When he found that I wasn’t there, he was likely to have started searching for me. He was sure to have questioned Barclay and would have wanted to speak to Rosemary, as well. When he discovered that she was missing, too, that would really have started the alarm bells ringing in his head. I hoped that Adam wouldn’t just think we had gone off on some kid’s prank and would realise that this was serious. I cursed myself for having done so many dumb stunts in the past, in case this prevented my brother from treating my disappearance, seriously enough.

After a while, I was able to stand and I took hold of the pickaxe and started hacking away at the rocks. Like Rosemary, I wasn’t making much of an impact, but at least I felt I was doing something to get us out. I couldn’t work for too long though, as the air was getting very thick and stale and the more effort I put into hitting the rock, the harder it became to breathe.
Rosemary took another turn, but we hardly made a dent in the wall.

We sat down to rest and I told her that I was sure that Adam would be looking for us. My big brother had never let me down before and I just knew he wouldn’t now. I don’t know if I managed to convince Rosemary, but I certainly felt a lot better for having said the words out loud: Adam was going to get us out, I knew he was.

As if to back up my words, as we sat there, I thought I could hear a hammering sound. At first, I wasn’t sure and I got Rosemary to listen, too. She said she couldn’t hear anything, but then she suddenly jumped up and started yelling that she could, after all. I got up, rather more slowly than she did, and we both listened again. Sure enough, someone was on the other side of the rock fall, trying to get through.


Rosemary

I could tell Little Joe was as scared as I was, maybe even more, because even though he didn’t say it, I could tell that on top of everything else he was afraid of the dark. And still he was trying to comfort me. I thought that was just the sweetest thing anyone ever did for me.

And in a way it felt good feeling his arm around me, hearing him tell me he was sure Adam was going to get us out. And after hacking with that axe, for what seemed like ages, I really needed to hear that. It didn’t matter if we both knew we were only hoping it. Just hearing him say that, helped.

When he said he heard a hammering sound I thought it was his imagination running away with him, but when I listened closely, I could hear it too. An unmistakable hammering sound. It was the most beautiful sound I could imagine.

I think we were both yelling and jumping up and down. Rescue was on its way! I felt tears running over my cheeks again, but I didn’t care, they were tears of relief this time. Everything was going to be alright now.

It took them a while, much longer than I would have liked, but as soon as light was coming through and we could hear Uncle Ben tell us to hold on, that he’d have us out in no time, it didn’t matter anymore.

It felt so good to be pulled out from that mine and feel Uncle Ben’s arms around me and after that Adam’s and Hoss’. Little Joe was pulled out right after me and went through the same ritual of hugs and kisses. He didn’t even try to put up a front for me. I think he was just too happy to feel those arms again.

Suddenly Hoss spun around to the buggy where my so called cousin was sitting, guarded by one of the men. Hoss sure seemed mad, he advanced on ‘Uncle Josh’ with his fists clenched and I’m sure if Adam and Uncle Ben hadn’t stopped him, he would have given him quite a beating.

They didn’t even have to use force to get the answers we wanted. ‘Uncle Josh’ was so scared that he started talking non-stop. Told us all. How he had received Papa’s letter about the claim. About his money problems and his threatening creditors. He told us how he found us and tried to convince Papa to share, but Papa refused.

When he told us how he had killed Papa, I didn’t want to listen anymore. I couldn’t just stand there listening to that man talking about it. And I didn’t have to listen to know what his plans had been for me. So I turned and ran out of hearing distance. I thought I didn’t have any more tears left in me, but somehow they kept coming. I was glad I was alone for a few minutes.

Later Hoss took Joe and me to the ranch and Uncle Ben and Adam took Josh Barclay, who turned out to be my mother’s cousin, after all, although I would never again think of him as a relative, over to the jail, where he would stay, until his trial.

Of course I had to testify against him, but his own confession was already enough to hang him for murder. I was just glad I wouldn’t have to see him again and even more glad when Uncle Ben brought my things back with him from town. I was going to stay on the ranch. Well, at least until another relative turned up. I hoped they stayed away forever…….well, maybe not, it would be good to know I do have honest and nice family members just like Little Joe has.


Little Joe

The joy I felt when I realised that we were going to be rescued was indescribable and as the minutes ticked by, I grew more impatient to see my family again, clawing at the rocks with my bare hands. Suddenly, there in front of us was an opening and Pa was reaching out his arms to us. I acted the proper gentleman and helped Rosemary to safety first, but I was desperate to get to Pa. As soon as I did, I fell into his arms and he hugged me close, with Hoss and Adam hovering anxiously around us, wanting to get in on the hugs, too.

Then I saw Barclay sitting in the buggy and I wanted to get my revenge. However, Hoss was the first in line, and all I can say is that Barclay was one lucky fella, as my big brother was ready to flatten him, but Pa wouldn’t let him. I know Pa was right, it was best to let the law deal with Barclay and I knew he was gonna hang, for killing Rosemary’s father, but I still would’ve liked to have seen Hoss pound him into the ground. He had calmly driven me and Rosemary to our deaths and then waited at home to receive the ‘sad’ news that his cousin’s daughter was dead. He was obviously gonna play the grieving relative for a while and then pocket the proceeds of the mine and hightail it outta Virginia City.

Pa and Adam took him into the sheriff and Hoss took Rosemary and me back to the Ponderosa. We both had a bath, a good meal and then went to bed. My head was fine by then, no long term effects of being knocked out and after a few hours sleep, we both felt a lot better.
I tried to keep Rosemary occupied, as I knew it must have been hard for her to take in the news that her mother’s cousin had killed her father. She asked to spend some time alone and I left her in her room, as I knew that she needed to get things straight in her mind.

By the time that Pa and Adam returned from town, Rosemary was a bit calmer. Pa said that she could stay with us until it was decided what was going to happen next. We wondered if she had any more relatives, although after her experience with Barclay, I expect she was hoping that she didn’t.


Once the trial had taken place and Barclay had been escorted to Carson City, to be executed, things began to get back to normal. Rosemary and I returned to school and we were soon getting a reputation for being a pair of pranksters. Rosemary even ended up getting a spanking from Pa, after she had put frog spawn in Miss Jones’ bottle of lemonade.

I was enjoying having Rosemary back at the ranch, but knew that it would be better for her if she could be living with her own family. Pa had made some more enquiries, but so far no one had come forward.

Then, one day, as we rode into the yard, a lady came out of the house to greet us. Rosemary didn’t recognise her, but she said she was her aunt. It turned out that she was Rosemary’s father’s sister. She had not seen her brother since she was a young girl, as he had fallen out with their father and left home. It was only by chance that she found out about Rosemary. There had been a write up in several newspapers about the trial and Rosemary’s name and those of her parents, had been mentioned. Melanie Lawson, for that was her name, seemed like a really nice lady and Pa said that he would check out her story. She understood the need to be absolutely sure, after the experience with Barclay, and didn’t try to ingratiate herself with Rosemary, but was happy to answer any of her questions.
After doing extensive checks, Pa and Mr Wood, Pa’s lawyer, were convinced that she was who she said she was. Melanie could see that Rosemary really wanted to stay in Virginia City and as she had no real ties where she was living, Melanie was happy to move. This meant that Rosemary and I could still see each other and that made me happy, too.

It took a while for Melanie to sell her house and find a new one in Virginia City and so Rosemary continued to live with us, for a bit longer.

When the day finally arrived on which she was going to move out, I was pretty upset, but I had to admit that Rosemary was the happiest she had been, since I met her. She got on so well with her Aunt and I knew that she would have a good life living with her. Therefore, I couldn’t be too sad about her going, and so I managed to put on a brave face and even pretended I was glad she was moving out. No one fell for that, though, and, as their carriage disappeared from view, Pa put his arm round me and gave me a hug. I knew that I was still going to be able to be her friend and it was good that she now had family to care for her. I knew how important that was and so I cheered up a bit. I really hoped that Rosemary would be able to put all the bad stuff behind her and start to enjoy life again, after all we all deserved that, didn’t we?

THE END

December 2002


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