The Way Home

All of that happened a little over a year ago. Since then, Andy had gone off to school and Mister Jonesy brought him to Kane to visit me an� Tuck on their way to Saint Louis. They had stayed two days and caught me up on all that�d been happenin� with Jess an� Slim an� the ranch.

After I returned from Laramie, Jake was put on trial and found guilty of robbery and two counts of murder. He asked me to come visit him when he was in prison. They was gonna execute him the next day an� I guess he got religion or somethin� �cause he told me where I could find the money he stole. He also finally confessed that Sheriff Cal never had nothin� to do with that robbery. It was all his idea, and he scared Early into goin� along with it.

Anyways, I went an� got the money an� turned it in to the mining company. They give me a nice reward for doin� that. Part of that reward money is why Andy was able to git to that nice school in Saint Louis.

Jess had written a couple of times, but he�s almost as bad at writin� as I am. This time I was writin� with the best news an� I could count on the fact that I�d be seein� my friends again real soon.

I closed the envelope an� carefully wrote on the outside, �Jess Harper and Slim Sherman, Sherman Ranch, Laramie, Wyoming�. I had to hurry �cause the stage was about to leave, so I grabbed my hat and darted out of my office. Mister Truman was loading the last of the luggage on the top of the stage.

He hopped down and turned to me. �You got a letter to go out, sheriff?�

�I sure do, Mister Truman. Will you take this to Cheyenne an� see that it gets on the Laramie stage?�

He took the letter and read the address. �Another letter to Jess? You invitin� him to the wedding, sheriff?�

�I sure am.� I was proud as punch to be able to say it. I�m the last person I would ever suspect of gettin� hitched, no how, no way. But, when I met my little Jenny, my whole outlook changed, along with life as I knew it.

�Why don�t you just send him a telegram?�

�Naw, I got time. �Sides, telegrams is for bad news. This is the good kind.�

Mister Truman nodded his shaggy head and smiled. �It sure is, sheriff. It�s the best kind.�

He stuck my letter in his vest pocket and then turned and climbed up to the driver�s seat.

I stood and watched the stage pull away, then I turned an� headed back to my office. It seems I found my niche here at the sheriff�s office in Kane County. The people had hired me as interim sheriff, and then duly elected me six months later. I didn�t know how a body like myself could change so much in a year�s time, but I�m livin� proof that miracles do happen.

I met my Jenny four months ago an� we decided to get married just last night. Jenny was my own private miracle. Actually, if the truth were to be known, she fell in love with my horse before she ever noticed me. When I proposed, and she accepted, I told her she was only marrying me for my horse. Her response was, �You�re absolutely right, and don�t you forget it, mister.�

I never knew my heart, an� my life, could be so full. An� now, Jess an� Slim will be here before the month is out. Before I reached my office, I had to run an errand, so I turned an� headed the other way. I had to go an� tell Tuck the good news.