JULY 4, 1861

"Melissa where are you going?" Jedidiah asked as he saw her leading her horse out of the barn.

"I'm going for a ride." She replied.

"Well, I was going for a ride, too. How about we ride together?" He suggested. Melissa really had a certain destination in mind, but how could she get out of riding with Tally without telling him where she was going? Because undoubtedly he would want to know why she was going to see Michael. Since no quick explanation came to mind she had to accept, so she nodded her head and mounted Braids. "Good" Jedidiah was pleased that she had accepted. He hadn't been spending as much time with her as he wanted. He had been spending all his time with Jewel trying to help her to remember who she was. But none of his tactics seemed to be working. He was feeling very disappointed that he couldn't jar her memory.

Riding along, Melissa was getting tired of the silence between them, and she wanted to get rid of him, so that she could go over to Michael’s home. "Tal--J--you know I don't know which name I'm suppose to call you by now."

Melissa's voice brought him back to the here and now, and he decided not to dwell on his sister's problems right now and just enjoy being with his younger sister. "You can use either one. I'm used to both, so I'll respond to either one. Which name do you like?" He smiled.

"Well, I'm used to Tally."

"Then you can keep calling me that if you like."

Melissa nodded. She'd much rather call him Tally because that name started with a different letter than 'J'. Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't been giving a name that started with 'J' like her other siblings. She felt more bonded with her brother by using his name Tally than Jedidiah.

"I've been meaning to talk with you. You know a brother and sisterly talk. You know that you can always come to me with any problem, any problem at all. I'm here for you just like I am for Jacy and Jewel. I just want you to know that. If you need me for anything, all you have to do is ask."

Melissa wasn’t going to tell her brother about Michael. She was sure he didn’t know anything about her and Michael being really good friends. But she was having trouble dealing with what she had done and what she should do. "Well, I do kind of need some advice."

"Sure, go ahead, I'm all ears, and I'll try to give you the best advice possible that I can." Jedidiah was eager to be of help to someone since he was failing with Jewel.

"I don't know how to reconcile with Michael. We were really good friends. I was . . . well I was a fool to fall for Jake. I feel terrible."

Jedidiah knew she was feeling really bad about what she had done. And by the way she said that they were really good friends, he could tell that she meant something a little bit more than that. "I think the best thing that you could do is to go over there and apologize to Michael."

"Do you think he will accept my apology?" Melissa had been thinking about going over to tell Michael she was sorry, but she just couldn't get up the nerve to do it, at least not until today when she had decided that after she had finished her chores that she would go. But she was terribly afraid that he might not want to be friends any more, and she still had feelings for him.

"I think that if he really likes you that he will understand, that he will forgive you, and he might even ask you to the firework celebration. And if he doesn't ask you, then I'll be your escort instead."

Melissa smiled at that. "What about Samantha?"

"I'm sure she won't mind if you come along with us." He stopped his horse and looked at Melissa, and Melissa stopped Braids. "Sam likes you, you know that don't you?"

"Yeah, it's just that we haven't spent any time together. I would like to get to know her better. Who knows she might become my sister-in-law someday."

"Hey now don't go planning anything. I'm not ready to settle down yet. I have plans, big plans that I want to accomplish, and I'm not ready to think about marriage yet. Even though it might be on your sister, Jacy's mind, it's not on mine." Jedidiah wasn't blind. He had seen how Jacy and Jimmy were together. He didn't understand because he thought that she had been in love with Cody, but he would stand behind her whomever she decided to be with.

"Well, I might as well go and get it over with. I think I will go over and tell Michael I'm sorry. I hope you're right. I hope he will forgive me and still like me. I think I'll head over there right now if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind." He watched as Melissa reined her horse around and headed off for Michael's home. He hoped that Michael would forgive her. She truly was a good girl. She had just been misguided at a young and impressionable age. If only he had been there. If only she had known that he was her brother then maybe her running off with Jake could have been avoided.

Melissa slowed Braids as she came on to the Johnson's property. She wanted to see him and be friends again but she was afraid that he didn't like her any more. Ever so slowly she rode Braids up to the house. She was about ready to lose her nerve and leave when Stephen saw her. He called and waved to her and walked up to her from the barn. "Good afternoon, Melissa. Have you come to see Michael?"

"Yes Mr. Johnson, I have, but if he isn't here or if he's busy, I can come back later."

"No, he's not busy. The last time I saw him, he was inside the barn cleaning stalls. I'll go get him for you, alright?" Melissa nodded.

Melissa watched Mr. Johnson enter the barn and then she started looking any where other than the barn. She didn't want to watch Michael come out of the barn and walk up to her. She was afraid of how he was going to respond to her. She waited and waited wondering when Michael was going to come. Finally, she got tired of looking out at the pastures and clear blue sky, so she turned around to look at the barn to see if Michael had come out of it yet. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Michael just standing there looking at her a few feet from her horse. Melissa swallowed to get her mouth moist enough to talk. "Uh . . . I came by to see you. How are you?" Melissa tried her best to smile, but it didn't stay on her face long. She was nervous and afraid of what Michael would say. 

A little surprised to see her because she hadn’t really talked to him hardly at all lately, he studied her face wondering why she was here. “I’m fine. How are you?”

“Fine!” She glanced at the ground and then back to him hoping that he would say something else.

“Why are you here?”

“I was passing through on my way to town.” Even though it was lame it was the first thing she could think of. She felt awful that she had hurt him.

Michael looked down at the ground, and he kicked a stone. He still liked Melissa, but he was hurt that she had taken off with someone. He thought that she had really liked him. Now he didn’t know what to think.

“I’m sorry, Michael. I know I hurt you and I feel really bad about it. I was a fool. I shouldn’t have run away. I wasn’t really in love with Jake. I was infatuated by him. He, as they say, turned my head. But when we were on the road, I realized that I wasn’t really in love with him. I was just using him to get away from here because I was mad at my sister. I realized that I liked you more and that I wanted to be with you. I was going to come back and that’s when something spooked the horses and we went over the cliff. Please Michael can you ever forgive me.”

Michael was having a hard time understanding what she was saying because she was saying it so fast and tears was running down her face as she cried and babbled on. “Come here! COME HERE!” He commanded as he got closer to Braids, and he held out his arms.

Melissa eagerly jumped down off of Braids and flew into his arms where he held her tightly and said, “It’s ok. We’re still friends. I still like you. Shhh! Don’t cry. It’s ok.” He rubbed her back and her tears began to subside.

Finally Melissa looked up into his face and gave him a little smile. “Really?”

Michael nodded, “Really.” He took out his handkerchief and wiped her face. She smiled again. “You know there’s going to be a fireworks display in town tomorrow night.” Melissa nodded her head. “Would you go with me?”

Melissa’s smile brightened, and she nodded. “I’d like that very much.”

“Well, I have to get back to cleaning out the stalls.”

“Well, I should get back home, but I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Melissa wanted to make sure she hadn’t heard him wrong when he asked her to go see the fireworks with him.

“Tomorrow, I’ll pick you up around 6, ok?”

“Yes, that would be great.” Melissa replied and then she turned Braids around and headed for home.

Michael watched her leave and then went back into the barn with a smile on his face.

Melissa stopped in town because she didn't want to go straight home. She was feeling very happy, and she wanted to tell someone. As she rode into town, she saw Tally entering the saloon. She wanted to tell him, but she had never been in the saloon before. She read the sign, 'The Rusty Trigger'. She wondered since it had new owners if the name was going to change or if it was going to stay the same.

Melissa dropped off Braids and looped the reins around the hitching pole. She wondered why Tally was in the saloon. He must have some sort of business going on, she thought. For she had never known him to go into the saloon before, but of course he had worked in the bordello, so that could have been why. She pushed the swinging doors in a little so that she could see inside. She saw Tally standing at the bar talking with Richard.

When Richard's eyes starred past Tally towards the door of the saloon, Tally turned to see what he was starring at. He smiled as he saw his little sister. He motioned for her to come in. Melissa was surprised when he did. She walked in glancing around the room. There were several men over in one corner playing poker, and there were a couple of men having drinks at a table and a few men down at the other end of the bar. She didn't recognize any of them. The saloon wasn't packed like it used to be on a Friday night. Of course it might still be to early. It would probably get lots more men in it later on.

"So Melissa want do you think of Richard's saloon?" Jedidiah asked.

"It's nice." It was the only thing that Melissa could think to say.

"Nice, huh?" Jedidiah smirked. He knew Melissa had never been in a saloon before. Melissa nodded. "So what brings you here?" Jedidiah realized that Melissa had been crying because her eyes were red. "Is something wrong?" His smile faded and he became concerned. Had Michael hurt her? Melissa blushed cause she was thinking about Michael and how he had held her while she had cried her heart out. Melissa shook her head. "Does that mean that you and Michael are on speaking terms again?" Melissa nodded. "Well, then I think we should celebrate. The first thought that ran through Melissa's mind was that he was going to buy her a beer. She had never had one before, but she always wondered what it tasted like. "Richard, two sarsaparillas please."

"Coming right up!" Richard soon placed a drink down in front of both of them. Melissa wasn't sure about this. What the heck was a sarsaparilla?

Jedidiah picked up the glass and held it to Melissa. She took it. He then picked up his glass. He clicked both glasses together and said, "To better things, good times and new beginnings!" Melissa nodded and took a sip of her sarsaparilla. It was good. After they finished their drinks, they rode home together.

As Jedidiah was leaving he called back to Richard, "I'll discuss that matter with you later, ok?"

Richard nodded. "Alright."