This chapter sort of ran away with me and ended up being longer than I expected it to be. The section in italics is a flashback. I know it seems a little slow going, and I honestly don't know how to fix that, given the direction I want this story to go. It's not completed, and I'm making most of it up as I go along.

TheEpicPoetofAsgard - Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Just after sunrise the next morning, Jack went outside to the barn. His father's stallion snorted angrily inside the barn when he approached. He knew the horse was unhappy about being stuck in the barn all night. He walked around to the back of the barn, climbing the fence that kept the cows corralled behind the barn. Jack opened the back doors of the barn and stepped inside. First, he grabbed the saddle that was lying on the ground before he stepped into the stall with the horse. The horse remained surprisingly motionless as Jack made sure the saddle was secure. Jack wanted the horse to be ready once he returned from going inside to tell his mother he was leaving. The black stallion stomped its foot as he unlatched the stall door. Jack grabbed for the horse's reigns. The stallion tore out of the stall in a flash.

It half dragged Jack out of the barn. Jack was forced to let go of the reigns as he stumbled and fell face down into the dirt. Jack grumbled as he got up and dusted the dirt off of himself. The horse whinnied happily when it circled back around toward him. It almost sounded as though the horse was laughing at him.

"Don't make me regret not selling you, Comanche," Jack told the horse. The stallion neighed happily again, still seeming to enjoy Jack's frustration.

The few cows began to finally pay attention to the commotion in their corral. They voiced their annoyance at the early morning disturbance. Jack glared at all of the animals before climbing back over the fence and heading inside. For now, he would let the horse run off some of its pent up energy before trying to ride it to the MacFarlane Ranch.

He stepped inside and was surprised to find his mother actually out of her bedroom. She barely acknowledged him when she walked by to the living room. Jack paused for a moment before approaching her.

"I'm going to head over to the MacFarlane's ranch. It may take me a few hours depending on which way I go," he looked down at where she sat on the couch. "If the river is low enough, I'll try to cross at Montana Ford so it won't take as long."

She merely nodded to show she heard him. Her eyes remained focused straight ahead on the fireplace. Jack knelt in front of her.

"Ma," he took hold of her hands. "Will you be okay by yourself for a little while?"

"I'll be fine, Jack," she told him. "Go on."

"Are you sure?"

"Go, Jack," she pulled her hands away from his. "We need the money. Go."

Jack heaved a sigh before straightening up. "I'll be back late tonight."

He leaned down and hugged his mother. She made no attempt to hug him back. That was something about her that had changed not long after Jack's father had died. For a while, they comforted each other. Then one day she just stopped trying to comfort him when she would see him struggling in the aftermath. Abigail failed to realize that she was hurting her son by withdrawing like she had. Jack wished things could go back to the way they had been before those government men showed up. Back to when his mother smiled every day, his father's laughter echoed through the house, and Jack felt like his life was beginning to be normal. He missed to those days so much it hurt sometimes.

But he couldn't show that. He had to remain strong. His mother needed him to.

Jack waited a moment in case his mother had something else to say. She kept quiet. Jack took it as a sign the conversation was over and that he needed to get going. He hurried into his room to grab his gun holsters and his knife. Travelling alone was dangerous most of the time. Thieves, cattle rustlers, and gang members always targeted those riding a trail alone. Then there was the wildlife that lurked in the shadows. Grizzly bears. Cougars. Wolves. Jack sometimes wondered if the entire world was that dangerous.

He picked his father's hat up from the desk in his room and put it on. He put his revolver in the holster at his hip, put his hunting knife in the holster on the opposite hip, and slung his rifle over his back. Jack thought that maybe on the way back he could do a little hunting too and make a quick trip to Manzanita Post to trade furs and meat for money.

Jack exited the house without another word to his mother. She wouldn't have paid any attention anyway. He was worried about leaving her alone, but he had no other option. The only people he remotely knew nearby were the few hunters he crossed paths with at Manzanita Post. Most of the time when he had met them, it was late evening and the men were gathered around a campfire sharing tales of the one that got away. He knew some of their names, but that was about all he knew. He wasn't sure he'd trust any of them to come to the house to check on his mother. Some men out there would take advantage of a woman who couldn't fight back.

He approached the corral to figure out which one of the cows he would take. A light brown cow that was the last remaining survivor of the herd Jack and his father originally got from Bonnie seemed like the right choice. Jack climbed the fence and went back inside the barn through the doors he left open. He grabbed a length of rope off the work bench and went back outside.

It took him a couple tries to successfully lasso the cow. The animal bellowed loudly as the rest of the tiny herd simply watched Jack. He kept his eyes on the bull on the opposite side of the corral. It had tried to charge at him once. This time, it ignored him. Jack kept a tight hold on his end of the lasso and whistled for his father's stallion to come over. The horse raised its head to look at him. It stayed where it was. Jack whistled again.

"Get over here, you dumb animal!" Jack yelled at it. The horse snorted a reply before slowly walking over to stand beside him. "I don't know why my Pa thought you were such a great horse. You're a pain in the ass."

Jack tied the loose end of the rope to the horn of the horse's saddle. He grabbed the reigns to lead the horse toward the gate. He wanted to make sure the cow would follow. Usually, he would simply herd the cattle where he wanted them, but with only one cow, that was a little difficult. Cows often followed each other, and one single cow never went where it was directed.

The cow grudgingly followed the horse. Jack swiftly opened the gate and led the animals out. Once he made sure the gate was secure again, he mounted his stallion. He nudged his heels against the horse's sides to get it going.

Warm sunlight covered the plains as a gentle breeze blew. Jack felt momentarily peaceful out there on the prairie. Out there, he was away from all of his troubles. He could let his mind wander as he took in nature's beauty and, often, it's cruelty. He observed a wolf back way up on a hill to the north as they chased after an elk. A lone fox chased after a rabbit nearby. Everything on the prairie simply lived its life by trying to survive from the moment it woke up to the moment it went to sleep every day.

Jack gave a brief glance over his shoulder toward the east when he heard the distant rumbling of thunder. A storm brewed on the horizon that would surely hit within the next few hours. He spurred his horse on. The cow would occasionally bellow as it had to follow along. Jack had to ride a lot more slowly than usual because of the cow. It could not keep up with the horse at full gallop, much to Jack's annoyance.

He rode past the railroad camp and headed west toward the river. During the summer, the river sometimes got low enough to expose a shallow area known as the Montana Ford where it could be crossed without having to take the long way around through Thieves' Landing to reach the MacFarlane Ranch. A few riders that passed him gave an odd look to the young man pulling a single cow along. Jack acknowledged them with a wave or a simple 'hello' if they spoke to him. Relief washed over him when he saw that the river was low enough for his horse and the cow to cross. The horse stopped at the water's edge as though it wasn't sure it was safe enough to cross.

"Come on, you stupid horse," Jack kicked his heels against the horse's side. "You crossed this river for Pa when we herded those cattle that first time. Now go!"

He sharply flicked the reigns. The stallion snorted and shook its head. Its behavior began to make the cow uneasy. Jack fought back a stream of curses he wanted to let fly.

"Comanche," he muttered the horse's name angrily. "I swear if you don't start listening to me, I will sell you and buy me a horse that will."

Comanche shook his head and snorted loudly. Jack spurred the horse hard in the side. With one more snort, Comanche obeyed his rider and slowly crossed the river. Jack flicked the reigns to make the horse canter along the trail just up the embankment from the river. The cow struggled to keep the pace until Jack finally made the horse slow to a fast walk as they arrived at the MacFarlane Ranch.

A ranch hand ran up as Jack stopped his horse near the ranch's cattle pen. Jack remembered him from previous visits. "What brings you here, Mr. Marston?" the ranch hand questioned.

"Hey, Noah," he greeted the older man then pointed toward the tired cow the stood just beside his stallion. "I've brought this cow here to sell to Miss MacFarlane."

"Ah," Noah said thoughtfully before pointing to the large house located on the far end of the road. "She should be in her house. If you want, I can take care of that there cow until you talk to her." Noah frowned as he surveyed the animal Jack had brought. "Did you drag it here? It looks exhausted."

"Well, I tried to hurry here as fast as I could," Jack admitted. He untied the rope from the saddle horn. "A few times I might've forgot it couldn't run as fast as my horse."

"You've got to learn to treat animals better, Mr. Marston," Noah said, shaking his head as he took the loose end of the rope from Jack. "You're lucky the poor thing didn't keel over."

It was then that Jack really looked at the animal. The cow wasn't sickly thin, but it was thin enough to just barely see the outline of its ribs and hip bones under the skin. Realization hit that the rest of the herd might look like that. He had failed to notice the herd's condition. His father's ranch continued to fall apart, and Jack had not been paying attention to the very lifeline it depended on.

Jack just nodded at Noah before making his horse walk down the road in the center of the ranch. He headed for the opposite side of the property, where a large two-story home stood. He hitched his horse to a post beside the foreman's office before walking across the road to the house. Bonnie was sitting in a wooden chair on the wrap-around porch.

"Well, look who it is!" Bonnie quickly stood up to greet Jack.

She reached out to shake his hand before she simply pulled him into a quick hug. Jack hesitated to hug her back. The act of affection felt so foreign to him now. He half-heartedly hugged her back. Bonnie's smile faded slightly.

"Has something happened?" she asked quickly.

"No, ma'am," he answered. "I come by to see if I could sell one of our cows to you."

"You travelled all this way to sell just one cow?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. "Why just one?"

"Because we don't have many left, Miss MacFarlane," he told her honestly. "Many didn't survive the winter. I'm not even sure the rest will survive this upcoming winter."

"I hate to hear that, Jack," Bonnie gave him a sympathetic smile. "Did you want to stay a while? My father should be back soon. I'm sure he'd love to see you too. And about that cow…"

Bonnie suddenly disappeared into the house. Jack waited for her on the porch. She returned a moment later with money in her hand. She handed it to Jack. He took it and was shocked when he counted it.

"Miss MacFarlane, that's fifteen dollars more than you've ever paid me for a cow," he looked at her. "I can't take that much."

"You need the money," she said simply.

"I don't want you taking pity on me, Miss MacFarlane."

"Jack," Bonnie sighed heavily. "It's not pity. I know it doesn't seem like it, but my father and I are doing pretty well now. I have the money to help you. Do you remember when I came to Beecher's Hope after I had received the letter from you that your father had died?"

"How could I forget?" Jack questioned. "I remember it like it was yesterday."

Jack stood on the porch of his home in Beecher's Hope. Bonnie and Drew MacFarlane were talking to his mother inside. Jack headed for the barn when he heard someone calling his name. It didn't take long for Bonnie to fall into step beside him. They both walked toward the hill behind the corral. Without having to ask, Jack knew Bonnie wanted to at least see his father's grave.

He always thought she was a bit peculiar to be a woman. She wore pants and had no problems doing work that a man typically would do. Most women Jack knew, including his mother, wore skirts or dresses and did work inside the home. They didn't go outside to help build a barn, herd cattle, break horses, or anything else that a man would do. Of course, Jack had only seen Bonnie herd cattle that one day he and his father got their first herd of cattle from the MacFarlane Ranch. The rest of Bonnie's skills he had heard about from his father one day when Jack asked him about her.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Bonnie said quietly. "I know it's not going to change anything, but I really am. Your father was a great man."

"Thanks, Miss MacFarlane," Jack couldn't bring himself to look at her. The woman cared about his father as much as his own mother did. "I heard a lot about you from my Pa, you know. He said you'd make a great rancher's wife."

"He told me that once too," Bonnie laughed lightly. "I hope he said good things about me then."

"Always did," Jack smiled. "He always said he hoped this ranch would be like yours one day."

"It has the potential," Bonnie looked around. "There's plenty of space here for more cattle. A large barn like the one on my ranch. I'd almost be bold enough to guess you could even start catching some of those wild mustangs around here that my father and I saw on the ride over and start selling those too. Wild mustangs can bring in a lot of money if you break them, you know."

"I wouldn't know where to start with those," Jack sighed. "My Pa never really taught me how to break them. I've heard rumors he was pretty good at it though. That's how he got Comanche."

"Comanche? Is that the black stallion?"

"Yeah, he was a wild mustang that Pa captured one day."

"Oh," Bonnie paused a moment before speaking again to change the subject. "Your Ma is taking it hard, huh?"

"Yes, she is," Jack sighed heavily. "When she spoke to you and your father… that's the most she's said since…"

"These things take time," Bonnie's voice suddenly cracked as they reached the top of the hill. "Your father was a remarkable man. I've never known an outlaw to try to change like he did. I know he did what he did to give you the life he and your mother never had."

Jack felt his resolve slip. "Those damn government men ruined all of that though! Everything he worked for was for nothing! Why couldn't they leave us alone? Why did they have to kill him? I have half a mind to hunt down Edgar Ross and kill him myself!"

Bonnie let out a startled gasp. "Jack, no…. That's not going to solve anything. You know as well as I do that if you did that, then you'd be a wanted man with a bounty on your head. They wouldn't show you any mercy. They'd kill you on the spot."

"Being dead would be better than—"

His retort ended abruptly as Bonnie's hand connected with his cheek. Jack rubbed his cheek where Bonnie slapped him. Bonnie glared at him.

"You'd really throw away all your father did for you?" Bonnie gestured with one hand at the surrounding land. "I'd suggest you rethink all of that, Mr. Marston. Would being dead really solve anything? This here ranch would fail. Your mother would be left behind with nothing. Is that what you want? To leave your mother alone like that, with her last remaining family member dead at the hands of the government?"

Jack could barely believe Bonnie went off on him like that. She continued to glare him like only an enraged woman could. She put her hands on her hips. Jack realized that she was right, in a way. He didn't want to leave his mother behind that way, but he knew one way or another, Edgar Ross needed to pay for what he had done.

"No," Jack shook his head. "I don't want to leave Ma like that."

"Then please don't go out for revenge," Bonnie pleaded. "It wouldn't solve anything. Killing Edgar Ross wouldn't bring your father back."

"Don't you believe he deserves to pay for what he did?"

"Of course I do," Bonnie's tone filled with bitterness. "The minute your father told me about why he was hunting down those old gang members, I knew Edgar Ross was a damn snake. The bastard deserves nothing less than to be hanged from the highest tree with the shortest rope."

"I didn't know such a pretty lady could have such a dirty mouth," Jack cracked a smile.

"When you grow up as the only daughter in a house full of sons, you eventually pick up un-ladylike habits," Bonnie smiled back.

She suddenly looked past Jack to where two graves were. Jack turned to follow her gaze to his father's grave. He walked with her to the grave. Jack had hand built the wooden crosses that marked his father's grave and Uncle's grave.

"Oh, John," Bonnie's tone softened to a level Jack had never heard before. "You just couldn't quite get away from that outlaw life, could you?"

Jack started to say something when Bonnie suddenly dropped to her knees at his father's grave. He wasn't sure how to really comfort the upset woman so he stepped a little closer to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Miss MacFarlane," Jack gently squeezed her shoulder. "I'll leave you alone for a few minutes."

"Okay," she said tearfully.

Jack walked back down the hill to leave the grieving woman alone in peace. He could hear her talking to his father's grave as though the man was sitting right in front of her..

"I made a promise to your father that day," Bonnie's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "I promised him that I'd look out for you and Abigail. Your father helped me a lot while he stayed here, and I at least owe it to him to help his family."

"I appreciate it, Miss MacFarlane." Jack put the money she gave him in his pants pocket.

"It's Bonnie," she flashed him a smile. "You're just like your father, you know. He never would call me by my first name either."

"Sorry, Miss—" Jack chuckled. "Sorry, Bonnie."

"That's better," she smiled. But her smile faded quickly. "How's your mother?"

"She's getting worse," Jack saw no reason to try to make it seem like things were improving at home. "I think she's giving up. It took me an hour to convince her to come out of her room to join me at the table to eat a couple days ago. I know I'm not a good cook, but I do what I can. "

"You cook?" Bonnie raised a brow. "Well, I'll be. I didn't think it was possible for any boy your age to take up that skill."

"Very funny, Miss MacFarlane," Jack grinned at Bonnie's slight annoyance at him not calling her by her first name. "It was either learn to cook for myself or starve. I can only imagine what Pa would say if he could see me in the kitchen in front of that stove cooking dinner for me and Ma."

"He'd probably come in, hand you a rifle, and tell you to go hunting just to get you to do something 'manly'," Bonnie laughed. "Actually, he might have walked into the kitchen and suddenly thought he'd gone mad."

"He might've wondered if he'd accidentally had one of Nigel West Dickens' crazy elixirs," Jack joked before he started laughing.

"It's good to see you smiling," Bonnie commented. A serious air fell over the two of them. "Jack, if you and your Ma ever need anything, you know you can ask me or my father for help, right?"

"I know," he nodded. "We're doing okay."

"Running a ranch isn't easy," she pointed out toward her large property that had its own train depot, general store, and even a small doctor's office alone with a few small cabins where ranch hands and their families lived. "This didn't happen overnight. It took a lot of work. I know it might look hopeless over there at Beecher's Hope at times, but if you're anything like your father, you'll find a way to make it work."

"I hope so."

"If you don't plan on staying, you might want to hurry home," Bonnie pointed toward the east. "By the looks of those clouds, there's a nasty storm headed this way."

"I think I'll stay," Jack told her without hesitation.

"What about your mother?"

"Maybe I shouldn't stay then."

"Tell you what, if you want to stay, how about I send Noah over to Beecher's Hope to keep her company?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Are you afraid of how she'll react to seeing him? Or are you just afraid of the idea of her being home alone with some man?"

"I guess I just don't like the idea of another man being with her when she's the way she is."

"Noah is a good man," Bonnie countered. "He wouldn't dare hurt your mother. He's worked here on this ranch for years, even before I was born. I'd trust him with my own mother if she was still with us."

"Well, if you think he'll be okay riding straight into that storm, I guess it's okay."

"I could send Noah with one of the wagons. Your mother could come visit for a while. It might do her some good to get away from Beecher's Hope for a day or two."

"She had a fit the last time I tried to get her to leave that house," Jack replied. "She would do the same to Noah if he tried to convince her to leave. Ma just doesn't want to leave the house anymore. Just tell Noah to tell Ma right away that he's one of my friends so she won't be scared of him."

"All right," Bonnie smiled. "I'll go ask Noah to ride on over there. I'll make sure to tell him what you said. If you'd like to rest a while before my father gets back, feel free to stay in that cabin closest to the horse corral. It's the one your father stayed in."

Bonnie hurried off to search for Noah. Jack remained on the porch for a moment. He surveyed the ranch. Would Beecher's Hope ever become like it? Could it even become anything like the MacFarlane Ranch? Jack had no idea what it took to even run one. His father really hadn't had much of an idea either, but at least he had known some of the basics. Jack never had the chance to truly learn those basics from his father. He began to wonder if he was even cut out to be a rancher. Maybe his father had been wrong about the kind of life Jack needed to live.

Maybe one day he would figure out just where he belonged.