Chapter 62

“ELI! You’re back. Did you get the last one? Dal said you thought there was a woman with them too,” Sam Connor greeted his grandson when he came through the back door, stomping the mud off his feet.

Eli was soaked, his buckskins wet and clinging to his body, his moccasins filled with mud and water. He hadn’t even put his long coat on when he left Young’s Store. The back of his coat was shot out anyway.

“They’re all taken care of, Grandpa. How’s Grandma? She alright after all this?” He answered, not telling him he had to kill the woman too.

“Eli, she’s up front and she has an audience like you wouldn’t believe. I swear your grandma is just about to get up out of that wheelchair and walk, she’s so worked up over this.”

“Well, I’m sure glad she’s alright. I just knew when she grabbed that shotgun and pulled it down, she was a goner. Then when the smoke cleared and I saw she was covered in blood, I think my heart stopped for a second or two until she looked up and smiled.”

“Eli, I have never in my life seen anyone, not even your daddy, react like that and do what you did today. My God, Son, you were like a mad man. Like a wild animal stalking prey when you went after that bunch!” Sam Connor told his grandson.

They were in the back room and Sam had closed the doors then fastened them so Eli could get his wet buckskins off and dress in dry set of clothes. Sam handed him a cloth so he could dry off and wipe his feet while they talked as he dressed.

“Grandpa, I hope I never have to go through anything like that again with my family at risk. I was afraid that you and Grandma were going to be shot or even killed and I was even more scared that I’d make a wrong move that would cause you both to be in harm’s way.”

“That wasn’t what I saw happening! My God, Eli, you went flying through the curtains into this back room, rolling and tumbling, and killing men left and right. I just knew you were going to be shot. Then when we thought it was all over, you jumped up and ran out the back door without telling us anything. That’s when Dal told us he thought there was a woman with them and that you had wounded her.

“Was there a woman?

“Did you kill her too, Eli?”

“Grandpa, I hope you and grandma don’t think bad of me. I was so afraid that because of me, the two of you may get hurt or killed.

“There was a woman with them. They spotted me on the train and I had a feeling there was something strange about them. The woman carried a red leather traveling bag and when I walked in the store and saw that red traveling bag up front, I knew they were here and had already taken Grandma. I knew I couldn’t let them hurt either of you.”

“Eli, you scared the heck out of me when you threw that jar of pickles and busted it. I thought at first that man had just shot at me! Then I looked around and you had killed him before he could kill you. Son, you may be a boy, but today, you became a man!”

“Thanks Grandpa. I reckon the things Dad and the other men taught us Bucks, made me react and do what had to be done. I’m just so thankful you and Grandma are alright.”

“Eli, we’re fine. Now stop worrying about us. When you get those dry clothes on, you may as well go on in there and face that circus your Grandma has going on around her. I think there must be at least twenty folks in there, listening to her tell all about her hero grandson. You’d think they’d stay home in all this rain. I’ll never understand how a whole town can hear about something like this in just a matter of minutes!”

“Here comes my grandson now,” Gladys Connor said as Eli walked through the curtains into the front of the store.

“Eli, come on in here and meet these folks who came out in the storm to see what the shootout was all about here in the store this morning,” Gladys Connor said as she waved him over.

Sam had helped her wash the blood off her face, hands, and arms, then put on a clean dress and fix her hair. She knew there would be lots of folks come over this morning to hear about the shootout they’d had in their store and the attempted kidnapping of their grandson.

Eli walked over to her wheelchair as she held her arms up toward him. He knelt beside her and they hugged. He was happy to let her have this time and let her tell her very own version of the trouble they’d had. She was happy and she was full of energy as she laughed and told the folks over and over all about how her grandson had saved them all from sure death.

By late afternoon, the clouds had broken and the rain stopped except for a few brief showers that came while the sun was still shining. Just at sundown as the western skies cleared, there were two brilliant rainbows, one inside the other - east of Boones Crossing.

Sam, Dal, and Eli stood on the porch beside Gladys’ wheelchair as they admired the colors and the beauty of The Maker’s artistry.

“Mary always loved to see a rainbow when she was a little girl. She said she wished she could climb upon one and swing from it like a tree limb. I reckon she’s up there now, just swinging high and singing her little songs,” Gladys said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Before bedtime, Gladys Connor asked Eli to come with her to her bedroom, she needed to talk to him. He followed her as Sam locked the store up for the day. Gladys rolled her wheelchair over to a footlocker where she lifted the lid, taking a small, flat wooden box out before closing the lid.

“Eli, I want you to take this with you when you leave, and read these papers in this box when you have time. This is Sam’s and my wills. Take them home with you and put them up to keep. We have already willed you all our belongings, even the store and contents. Sam told me that you and he already had a talk, but I just want to tell you again that I love you. You have made me so happy, Eli. You have given me strength in my last days. Now I am at peace.”

“Grandma, I don’t know what to say. Grandpa told me about your pain and I hate that I caused all this to happen when I came to see you. I love you, Grandma, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Please don’t be sad, Eli. Sam and I are alright. We both love you. We know you will grow up to be just like your daddy and that’s enough for us. I need to rest now, Eli. The excitement of today has just about worn me down. I wouldn’t have missed it though. We sure did show those kidnappers, didn’t we?”

“We sure did, Grandma. You get some rest. I love you, Grandma.”

“I love you too, Eli. I’ll be alright and I’ll rest good now that I’m not worried anymore.”

During the early morning hours, Sam Connor stood beside Eli’s cot, reaching out to touch his shoulder to wake him.

“Grandpa?” Eli said as he quickly rose up in bed, sensing someone near his bed.

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Eli asked as he sat on the side of the bed and looked up at his grandpa’s face in the lamplight.

“Yes, Eli. She’s gone, but she left happy and she’s not hurting now.”

“Oh Grandpa, I’m so sorry. I hate all this happened because of me and she’s gone already.”

“Eli, your grandma had more fun and more enjoyment these past two days than she’s had since she saw Mary and your daddy get married right here in this store.

“She woke me up a little while ago, mumbling something. She has always mumbled in her sleep though. Then she started talking aloud and I lit the lamp by the bedside.

“She was talking to your Momma, Eli! She told Mary to hold her hand, that she was scared to stand up and try to walk after all these years. Then she was quiet. She was gone just like that, Eli,” Sam Connor said as he slumped to the cot to sit beside his grandson. They held each other as both of them cried.

“Eli, we have to stop this and be happy for her,” Sam said, standing abruptly. “I promised her that I wouldn’t cry when she left me. She’s always told me that I was not to worry about her, just be happy that she was with Mary and that we’d had such a good life together.”

“I’ll make us a pot of coffee, Grandpa. It’ll be light in an hour or so. I’ll be here with you and we’ll both be alright. If Grandma was that strong when she left here with my Momma, then the least you and I can do is be happy for both of them.”

“Thank you, Eli. I’m so glad you’re here with me now. I’m glad too that you got to come back and spend some time with your Grandma.

“She loved me way more than I could ever deserve, and she loved Mary more than you’ll ever know. But Eli, your Grandma worshipped you! You’re a part of her daughter and she always said after that first time she saw you, that she could see Mary in your eyes.

“You make the coffee and I’ll go down to get Horace Thompson, he’s the undertaker. We’ll help him carry Gladys to the hearse. Then we’ll start telling the folks here in town about her passing.”

“Grandpa, are you alright? You sound different.”

“I’m alright, Eli. I made her a promise long ago and I’ll not break it. I’ll miss her but I’ll not sit and weep now that she’s gone. She doesn’t hurt anymore and I have to feel good about that.

“I’ll be back by the time the coffee perks.”

Sam Connor dressed in his pants and boots, then pulled a light coat on before he walked out the back door carrying a lantern.

Just as Sam had said, he was back in a matter of minutes and Eli heard him stomping the mud off his feet on the back porch. He poured both of them a mug of hot coffee and they sat at the small table, drinking coffee, talking about Gladys Connor; laughing at the way she had carried on after all the violence had settled down the day before.

They heard the horse drawn carriage at the back and Sam opened the door to let two men dressed in black suits enter.

Eli stayed until the end of the week just as he’d planned. They buried his Grandma Connor in the town cemetery after her funeral services at the small church. The whole town attended the services, with folks that lived within traveling distance of Boones Crossing coming from miles around.

“Grandpa, I wish you would change your mind and come back with me. You know Dad would love to have you there and the rest of us would too.”

“Eli, I can’t leave her. I’ll stay here with her, just as I have since the day we met. Don’t feel bad for me. I’ll be alright, and when we get settled back down around here, I may catch a train and surprise all of you with a visit to Crow Ridge.”

“Please do, Grandpa. That would be special.”

“Tell your dad to bring all of you back up here sometime. I’d like to see all of you and the town would love to have you come back again too.”

“I will Grandpa. I love you!”

“I love you too, Eli Crow Junior. I can rest easy now. I know you are more than capable of taking care of yourself and your dad if ever the need arises. Gladys and I saw our grandson become a man this week. She left here knowing you’d be alright now.

“No man will ever take you down!”

“Marshal Hopkins, I know you’ll look out for my Grandpa after I’m gone. I hope you’ll let me know if I ever need to come back to take care of him.”

“Eli, Sam and me will be alright. We’ll both miss Gladys, but I’ll watch over him for you. Tell your daddy I said hi. Give that sweet little girl of yours a big hug for me. I hope she gets to come with you the next time you come back.”

“I’ll make sure she does, Marshal. I wish things could have been different this time when I came back. I feel good, yet I feel bad at the same time.”

“I know that same feeling, Eli. You take care and always remember, you are loved in this town - by me, Sam and the others who know of you.”

“I love you too, Marshal. I feel like I came here alone just to finish growing up. Thank you for giving me what you gave my dad all those years ago. I’ll always remember you for that and I’ll teach my son the things you’ve shared with my dad and me.

“I feel sad because I lost my Grandma, but I feel good about seeing her so happy.”

“Just remember the happy times, Eli. The hurt and the sad memories will fade away with time. You be careful on your trip home. I hope there’s not any more folks on that train fool enough to try and take you down.”

The whistle was blowing and the conductor was waving for Eli to hurry and board the train.

Eli turned and hugged Sam Connors, then grabbed Dal Hopkins in a hug. The big iron wheels were already rolling when he ran with his traveling bag to grab the handrail and swing up to the rear platform of the Pullman.

He dropped his bag on the rear platform and while holding onto the rail with one hand Eli leaned out, waving for as long as he could see the two men. They stood on the wooden platform waving back at him with their arms raised overhead until the train was out of sight.