Showdown in the Rocky Mountains – Extended Epilogue

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It had been over five years since the Keller family had settled in Butte. It was a fine little town, generally peaceful. Nobody survived to persecute the family, so there’d been no reason to leave. California remained a tantalizing prospect for their children, but not for them.

In those five years, Ruth had grown into a fine and admirable daughter. She was smart, inquisitive, humorous. She was not given to tantrums or tears, and Kathy attributed that to her husband’s strong parenting and to the child’s own tumultuous past. Though she had been an infant when she’d been introduced to the Kellers, and she had no real memory of what had occurred in her first difficult year, she had an inner strength, a courage which made her parents proud and impressed those around her.

Stephen had become one of Butte’s most respected businessmen. His small shop had gone on to sell all manner of things, amusements and toys, and other things for men and women both. His shop had become the most popular and most profitable in Butte, nearly in all of Montana. Some people walked into the store with tales of being lured there from nearby Helena.

It had happened so often that Stephen had been coaxed out to Butte’s sister city to investigate opening a second store there, to bare their name. It would be a new and unique way to do business. But Stephen called it the way of the future. He’d told stories of his visions of big stores with different departments which would have different types of items. The idea would be that anybody could get everything they need in a single store.

It seemed impossible, but Stephen Keller was a man who was used to facing the impossible and overcoming it. But it took him out of town, and that made Kathy nervous.

There had been too much trauma in her life. Though their lives had finally calmed down, it was a rare night that Kathy didn’t have nightmares about her time in captivity. She was haunted by the looming threats, by the possibility of things which never even happened. But that didn’t matter. They happened in her dreams, and that was almost just as bad.

She hadn’t told Stephen. Kathy was ready to take her internal turmoil as a natural result of what she’d been through. Stephen had done all any man could do, and much more than most, to protect and preserve her, to deliver her to a safe and happy life. All the man wanted was to ensure her safety, and that of their adopted child. He deserved to be protected from her lingering horrors.

He had lingering horrors of his own, after all.

Stephen was a man of conscience, and his inability to sire a child of his own had been a lingering cloud over his head, a horror of his own. He wanted so much to have a child of his own, and Kathy had wanted to give that to him. The man had gone on to assume all the responsibility for their situation. Kathy had tried to convince him otherwise, but he was stalwart on the subject.

Kathy had often thought he accepted the blame for that so that she wouldn’t have to. But Kathy knew that she was likely to blame, if there was blame to be cast, at least as much as Stephen was. She’d always considered him a strapping man, and there was no reason he couldn’t give her children. Privately, Kathy had accepted the blame, though she would not dishonor her husband by saying so.

With little Ruth, the question had been moot for some time. The couple had poured their energies into raising her into healthy vitality, and their efforts had brought a sparkling light to Butte, to their own lives.

The girl was eager to learn and dedicated to the couple she knew as her parents. She was too young to understand the issues of parentage, but that hardly mattered. Family was family, and that was just what the Kellers were.

At almost six years old, Ruth was finally of school age. Stephen had hoped to be there on that day to walk the girl to school along with his wife, but his thriving business and a matter of timing had him called to Helena.

So Kathy’s excitement welled up in her heart and soul with only her daughter to share it with.

“Aren’t you excited for your first day of school?”

“Very excited,” the girl said, more articulate than any child Kathy had ever come across. “But…nervous too, Mommy.”

“I know, honey, but you don’t have any reason to be nervous. All the other kids, they’re nervous too. So the more you’re calm and relaxed and friendly, the more the other kids will be the same way. Right?”

The little girl flashed that smile which Kathy had come to love so much. She nodded eagerly, but Kathy said, “Use your words.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

A cluster of knocks fell on the door. Kathy was not expecting anyone, and her first thoughts were of bad news of Stephen. Traveling was dangerous, as they’d both come to learn all too well.

Kathy stood up and walked slowly to the door, leaving Ruth standing nearer to the kitchen.

She asked through the door, “Yes?”

“Missus Keller? Missus Katherine Keller?”

“That’s right.”

“My name’s Jacobs.” Kathy thought, Jacobs? The name rang with dreaded familiarity, but the recollection came back fast and hard. Jacobs! “I’m here for my niece!”

Kathy turned to Ruth. “Go to your room, honey. Go in and close the door.”

“Mommy? What about school?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Kathy said, ushering the little girl to her room down the hall. “You just keep this door closed, you understand?” She nodded. “Use your words.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Good girl.” Kathy sat the girl on her bed and closed the bedroom door behind her before crossing back to the front door, more knocks falling harder and louder.

“Yes, yes,” Kathy said, “I’m coming!” She arrived at the door and opened it, an unfamiliar man standing on the other side. He was big, unappealing, smelling of liquor and labor. His big face was covered by a red beard, matching hair thinning on his round head.

“Yer Katherine Keller?”

“I am.”

“And you claim to be raising my niece as your own? Her name is…Ruth? Ruth Jacobs?”

Kathy was slow to answer the man. “Why do you ask it so?”

“Because I give you the chance to do the right thing,” the man said.

Kathy demanded, “What proof do you have of your claim?” Her voice was strong and steady, arms crossed across her chest.

“Her parents were called Myra and Abraham. Myra was my sister, and that makes me the child’s rightful parent.”

“That would be for a court to decide,” Kathy said. She’d faced down big, ugly men before. And she knew a criminal when she came so close to one. She’d had such men in her home, there in ambush to do her harm. She would never go through that again, not at the hands of the man before her or any other.

“And by what given name shall I report you to my husband?”

“Archibald,” the man said, “if that’s anything to you! And as for these courts, if you demand it, I’ll drag you and your shop-keep husband into the courts, and see every penny you have is turned over to me for the harm you’ve caused! Can you imagine the years I’ve spent in this turmoil? Wondering every minute of the day whatever became of my adored niece. She’s the progeny of my only sister, after all. Have you no heart, woman?”

“You’ve no claim on my deference,” Kathy was quick to say. “But I can promise you this, Mr. Archibald Jacobs, that you will not leave this house with that girl in tow. You may send whatever lawyers you wish, and my husband and I will face you in a court of law, but —”

“Courts,” the man repeated. “Why don’t we forget the matter of the courts? Give me the child now…or give me recompense for my loss!”

That sent a cold shock through Kathy’s body, mind, and soul. “Recompense?”

“It’s my right,” Archibald said.

“You’ll have whatever rights a jury will decide.”

“I’ll have five thousand dollars,” Archibald said. “And I’ll take the child until the money is paid.”

“The money is—? What you’re talking about is kidnapping. You wish to hold the child hostage against a ransom?”

“That’s only the way you see it,” Archibald said. “But I am the child’s natural-born family.”

“You’ll have to prove that to me, and to my husband when he returns. In fact, I suggest we table this entire subject until his return.”

Archibald shook his big, round head. “If you insist, madam. But the child leaves with me.”

“She does nothing of the sort,” Kathy said. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end to see the man before her, a mountain of muscle and bone, fat and hair. “I’ll have you leave my house and not return without a sheriff or a warrant or some other official orders. And when I have my husband with me—”

“I guess I ain’t made myself clear,” Archibald said. “It’s the money or the girl, and I’ll have my portion now!” He drew a Colt pistol from the holster on his gun belt. Kathy stepped back, hands raised instinctively to her shoulders.

“What are you—?”

“I tried to be nice about this, lady, but you ain’t givin’ me no choice. Now we’re gonna go down to that bank in town and yer gonna empty out whatever you got, with no limit to five thousand either. And I’ll take it in gold.”

“You’re…you’re not related to Ruth at all,” Kathy said. “You just want my husband’s money.”

Archibald looked Kathy over with a wicked grin under this thick, tangled beard. “Maybe I want more than just his money after all.”

Kathy gasped. “My child is in the next room!”

“Then let’s just get to the bank and take care of this little matter ‘fore she’s any the wiser.”

Kathy nodded, glancing around. There was no way of getting to the family Winchester rifle in the living room closet. There was no way to overpower the man, even with Kathy’s reasonable skills at self-defense. She had more to protect than herself, however. And she could not risk violence coming to her adored Ruth.

“Very well then,” Kathy said, “it’s only money, after all.”

“That’s right,” Archibald said. Though it struck Kathy then that this was not likely his real name, first or last.

“I…I can’t just leave her alone here. If she came out to find me gone….”

“We’ll take her along then,” Archibald said. He seemed to read Kathy’s expression. “You can hold her hand if it’ll make you feel right on it. Once I get the money, I’ll leave y’both in peace.”

“How can I know that? How do I know you won’t come back for more?”

Archibald shrugged. “Next time, yer husband might be ‘round.” The plan became clear. The man knew Stephen and his successful shop. He knew Stephen had gone out of town, and he waited until then to strike. He knew Ruth’s last name and other information about her. That meant the man was clever, conniving. He could be smart enough to disappear and not want to face Stephen in a contest.

But what the man hadn’t seemed to consider was that Stephen would find a way to come after him. With a reputation for weakness, they would soon become targets for every scoundrel and thief, kidnapper, and rapist in the whole of the Montana Territory. Kathy wanted to deal with the man herself, and if she had been alone she would have done. But the child had to be secured and preserved at any cost. She would let Stephen decide how to handle the matter when he returned from Helena.

If he does, Kathy had to think. The territory was still dangerous, the journey perilous for any man, even for Stephen with his hired guns in escort. Nothing was certain, nor would it ever be. Nobody was entirely safe, nor would they ever be.

Archibald said, “Call the girl then, and our chore will be good as done.”

“I will,” Kathy said, eyes on that deadly weapon in the man’s grip. “But first…please…the gun. It’ll frighten her.”

“She’d be well to be frightened.”

“I…how do you think that will be at the bank, with my child in tears?” Without waiting for an answer, Kathy offered, “Let me walk her to school, as I’d intended. She’s so excited about it, and the morning will pass for her without incident. I’ll go with you to the bank afterward.”

Archibald seemed to give it some thought.

Kathy went on, “You’ll have your money, and you’ll be able to ride off in peace. I won’t raise an issue, you have my word.”

But the big man remained unconvinced. He seemed to want the child within his reach to use as a human shield. It was too easy for Kathy to imagine the big man taking the gold and then grabbing the child as well, to hold for even greater ransom later. Kathy knew captivity all too well, and she would not allow her adored, adopted daughter to fall into such a condition.

Kathy asked him, “Did you imagine I might be able to overtake you? A man of your size and strength?” Archibald seemed dubious as he considered. “I’ll tell Ruth you’re a friend of her father’s, here to walk us to school for the utmost security. After that…we’ll do as you wish.”

Archibald looked her over. “After the bank, and the gold,” he said, looking her body over and grinning. “We come back here. House’ll be quiet, no girl around.”

There was no doubting his intentions, the conditions of his negotiation. Kathy braced herself. She would never allow such a thing. She would fight him to the death before she would compromise her virtue. But there was time to work that out, time to find some way to distract the man before he took his sultry ransom in coin she knew.

“I won’t struggle,” was all Kathy needed to say. Archibald slowly holstered his pistol and stepped back a bit, gesturing toward the bedroom down the hall.

“Call her out then.”

Kathy nodded. She cleared her throat and forced a casual tone. “Come on out, Ruth.” The door did not open, no sound indicating the girl’s appearance. “Ruth, it’s okay, honey, this man is a friend of your father’s.”

Getting no answer, Archie took a step toward the hall, as if to retrieve her himself. “Please,” Kathy said. “She’s a shy child. I’ll retrieve her.”

“No, me.”

“If you burst in there,” Kathy said, “you’ll frighten her. She’ll be too upset for school, your whole…our whole agreement will fall apart. Let me calm, her and you’ll have what you want.”

Archibald seemed confounded, bemused, frustrated. “Kids,” he muttered before saying, “you go first, I’ll follow, make sure you don’t pull no tricks.”

Kathy nodded, unable to contradict the man, bigger and still armed even if his pistol was holstered. She turned to walk down the hall toward the child’s bedroom. “Ruth? It’s Mommy, I’m coming in, okay? A friend of your father’s is here to walk us to school, isn’t that wonderful?”

She arrived at the bedroom door and reached for the latch. With a click, the door opened in front of her. The hinges creaked as she eased the door forward, the room silent on the other side.

“Ruth?” Kathy stepped into the room, the girl nowhere in sight. And the window was open, the cool spring breeze pushing the drapes inward. “Ruth?” Kathy’s heart beat faster to see that the girl had seemed to have escaped.

That’s my girl, Kathy thought.

Archibald stepped past Kathy and into the room to look around, clearly angry with the unexpected turn. But it wouldn’t be the only one. Kathy saw her moment and acted, grabbing one of the Colt pistols from Archibald’s gun belt. She backed up, quickly aiming the gun and him and pulling the hammer back.

Archibald lunged at her to retrieve the gun. Kathy’s finger acted on instinct, the fighter in her overtaking the demure, civilized housewife and mother she’d happily become.

Bang! Archibald stopped in his charge, but momentum tipped him forward. He collapsed to the floor, hands on his belly. Kathy stepped back, the gun still fixed on his big body. It had been a lethal shot, and big as the man was, he was not getting up again.

Kathy backed out of the house and left him to go fetch the sheriff and find her daughter. Ruth had been hiding not far from the house, watching from behind a spruce tree. By the time the sheriff arrived, the man who’d called himself Archibald Jacobs had expired. Kathy calmed Ruth and rewarded her for her keenness of wit and wiles. She said nothing of the man’s death, and scrubbed the blood from the floor before covering the area with a carpet before bringing the girl back into the house.

There was no further incident before Stephen returned. He was agitated to hear the tale, but proud of his wife and their adopted daughter. Things had gone well in Helena, and word soon spread that the lady of the Keller home was every bit as dangerous as her fabled husband. They lived peaceably from that time onward.

Though their lives would not be quiet. A strange stirring in her belly brought Kathy to the doctor, and the news of their first child together was received with their mutual joy. The time had finally come, and the family Keller could flourish as it had always been meant to do and would go on doing for generations to come.

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Grab my new series, "Legends of the Lawless Frontier", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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