The
PullThe
PullThe prequel to The Welcome Party
The small group of people he had come to call family was assembled on the walkway outside the general store waiting for the stagecoach to arrive. It was a simple enough thing to do but the reason they were waiting was anything but simple, in fact it was heartbreaking. The stage was going to take him home.
Home. That one word used to bring back such pleasant memories: dogwood trees blooming, plantations on lush lawns, the Chesapeake Bay. He could go on and on. He wasn’t even sure if those things held the same meaning to him anymore. It didn’t matter, he’d made his decision and now he would have to live with it, alone.
He quickly glanced around at the people he’d grown to count on and to love. There were no more words to be said, no more tears to be cried, and no more arguments to be argued. There was only a dull ache in each of their stomach’s as once more one of their own was leaving town. As with Cody and Jimmy, it was voluntarily but the difference was the high price he had to pay.
Virginia was calling all of her sons home to fight for her. For so long, he had wrestled with the pull he felt from all those miles but he’d finally lost the battle inside him. He might not have had the best of childhood’s living there but growing up in that part of the country had made him who he was today, had instilled in him the values he carried with him each and every day. How could he ignore all that? It was simple – he looked to his right where the most precious person in the entire world to him was leaning against the porch post, arms wrapped tightly around her. She hadn’t met his eyes in over five minutes; that was five less minutes of memories he had to take with him.
Please, Lou, he silently pleaded. We’ve both said all we had to but you know I can’t change my mind. I need to do this. He reached out to touch her shoulder then pulled his hand back. They had said their good-byes to each other all last night so they wouldn’t have to do it in front of the others. He had made sure she was well taken care of before he had even announced his intention of going across the country. Teaspoon, Rachel and Buck were all nearby to keep her company and she would be working part time with Rachel at the school house to bring in extra money. She had what she’d saved from riding to live off of and he had made sure she had a place to call home. He’d bought, with the money he’d saved plus a loan from Teaspoon, a ranch just outside of town. When he got home from fighting he promised her they would start that horse ranch they always talked about owning.
When he got home … How could he come home when he was going home? Or was he leaving the real and only home he’d ever had to return to something he didn’t know anymore? As they all turned toward a noise coming from down the street, he realized the long lonely ride would afford him time to ponder on those and many other questions that kept surfacing in his mind.
He shook hands with then hugged Teaspoon and Buck, received a kiss from Rachel then turned toward the person he’d opened his heart and soul to. She didn’t let him down; with tears streaming down both their faces they confessed their love for one another as their arms held on to each other for dear life. His lips sore from kissing his love, he finally started moving toward the step of the coach then stopped as he felt the resistance placed on his arm. He had to go now or he never would. He pleaded with his family to take hold of her so he could leave.
Sitting in the seat, staring down at her small form huddled against the man who had been like a father to them, he thought back to the day he had left Virginia behind. It had been such a hard decision to make, to leave his home and try to make it somewhere else, but he had succeeded and was proud of that. Now he was leaving another home, a bigger home thanks to the people who were there to see him off.
The stagecoach lurched forward. He leaned out the window so as to see her for as long as he could. She had broken free of the hold Teaspoon had on her and was walking slowly after the coach. Finally she just stopped and stood still, fingers over her lips as if trying to stop her thoughts from becoming words.
Suddenly he couldn’t see her anymore but he still didn’t turn around
in the seat. He wouldn’t until the whole town of Rock Creek was out of
his sight. As his mind drifted from the life he had in Virginia to the life
he had in Rock Creek, he wondered if he would have a home to return to. And
the scary part of that was that he didn’t know if he meant returning to
Virginia or returning to Rock Creek.