Kid drove the buckboard towards Sweetwater, his beloved paint mare, Katy, hitched to the back. None of the travelers had spoken since pulling out of the yard of the PX Ranch.

Glancing furtively at the woman beside him on the bench, Kid wondered where she and the boy had been for all those years and more importantly why was she here now.

Stopping in front of the hotel, Kid helped Miss Crane down and watched Jackson climb the steps without a look back.

“Thank you, Mr…”

“McCloud,” Kid interrupted quickly. “I go by McCloud now.”

“Very progressive, taking your wife’s family name,” she replied in a dismissive manner. “I think I’ll see Jackson to his room and then we should talk.”

Kid pursed his lips and nodded his head. He knew they would have to sit down eventually. Looking up at the porch to see Jackson staring back at him, Kid was unnerved by how obvious the similarities in their features were, even in the dark. It was no wonder that Lou passed out after just one glimpse of him.

“Miss Crane,” he heard himself call out.

She stopped only two steps from the porch and turned around. “Yes, Mr. McCloud.”

Kid hesitated. He knew what he wanted to say, but didn’t know how to make himself say it out loud.

“Mr. McCloud, it’s late. We can talk after Jackson is in bed.” Her aggravation was evident in her tone of voice.

“Miss Crane,” he stuttered again. “I think I’ll take Jackson to his room.”

Esther Crane was stunned. She hadn’t expected parental acceptance from him, much less parental involvement.

If Jackson was surprised, he didn’t let on. He showed no emotion and fell into place beside Kid as he opened the hotel door.

“I’ll wait in the parlor, Mr. McCloud.” She called to his back. “Don’t take all night.”

Once upstairs, Kid opened the door to the room and stepped aside so Jackson could pass through first.

The boy brushed a wayward piece of hair out of his eyes, but didn’t move forward. Kid could hear him muttering under his breath.

“Come again? I didn’t hear you.”

“I said you can go now, I’ll be fine by myself.”

It was a clear attempt at sending him away, but Kid ignored it. “Well, I was hopin’ you and me could talk for a bit. You know, man to man.” He gave the boy a smile and tried to give his voice an upbeat lift.

“Oh hell! Don’t go trying that father and son stuff on me now,” swore Jackson.

“Hey! Watch your mouth, young man.”

“So, are you gonna punish me now?” The boy arched his brow in challenge.

Kid crossed his arms across his chest and sighed. It was obvious that taking a role in the boy’s life now would be made more complicated by his reluctance to let him in. “I should, you know. There’s no need to speak to people like that.”

“What do you care? I’m dropped on your doorstep and suddenly you want to be my daddy? Hell, how do I know you really are my father?”

Kid knew that the child’s frustration came from seeing the truth right before him. It was as noticeable to Jackson, even at his young age, as it was to the adults around him. They were cut from the same cloth.

Kid followed Jackson into the room, turning up the oil lamps. Pulling a chair over to the bed, he sat down facing the scowling boy. He needed to find a way to make some peace so they could build from there. “Listen, I’m not asking you to like me right now, but I am asking you to believe me when I tell you that I am your father. I can see me in you and I’m suspectin’ you can see it too. I’m gonna go talk to Miss Crane after this and talk about the situation.”

“She’s just here to leave me, you know.”

“I doubt she was planning to just leave you behind.”

“No, she is,” he said very matter-of-factly. “Said so herself when we were in St. Joe. She was checkin’ out the orphanage there in case you didn’t take me in. That’s where we’re going again when we leave here.”

Kid knew the St. Joseph’s Mission School and Orphanage all to well. It was where Lou and her siblings spent too many years of their lives. He recalled the decrepit condition it was in many years ago when they were finally able to bring Teresa and Jeremiah home. He could not imagine the poor condition it was in now.

“She told you that? Miss Crane said she was leaving you there?”

“Heard her tell the nun we’d be back day after tomorrow.”

Fearing that the child would suffer the rest of his early years like he had, Kid made the life altering decision without hesitation. “There’s no need to worry about that. You’re gonna stay here, in Sweetwater, with me.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Well, isn’t that mighty noble of you?”

“I mean it. I’m takin’ responsibility, like I should have done many years ago.”

The firmness of Kid’s conviction took some of the bite out of the boy. His head bent to the floor, Jackson pulled intently on a loose thread on the blanket. “Why didn’t you?”

Kid had no ready answer. He leaned forward, and placing his elbows on his knees he held his head in his hands. “To be honest, I tried. Pretty much from the first when I found out about you, but I didn’t know where to find you. The letter your mother left me told me where your Aunt and Uncle lived, but by the time I tried there, you’d all moved on. I’ve tried on and off for over seven years to find you, but without any luck. Eventually it was easier not to look.”

Jackson gave a terse nod. “Guess you never told your family about me.”

Kid closed his eyes and pictured Lou lying on the floor of the foyer like a crumpled rag doll. “No. I never told her.”

“Your Mrs. was real surprised.”

“You could say that. Listen, you’d better get to bed. It’s been a long day for all of us. I’m going to speak with Miss Crane, but I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.”

“Not going home tonight?”

Kid turned as he exited the room. “I think I’ll be a while still, so I thought it best if I got a room here tonight.” He tried to act nonchalantly, but knew the boy had heard his and Lou’s argument, as well as her decision to kick him out.

“Might be for the best anyway.”

Kid smiled at the wisdom of a boy who had only just turned eleven years old. “Might be. Goodnight, Jackson.”

“Goodnight, sir.” The ‘sir’ came awkwardly and Jackson looked up to the doorway at Kid, his face looking even younger than its years. “What should I call you now?”

Kid was caught off guard. He hadn’t given the new dynamics of the relationship any thought. “Why don’t you call me Kid. That’s what everyone else calls me.”

Jackson shrugged his shoulders. “Silly name, but okay. Goodnight, Kid.”

Closing the door behind him, Kid leaned against it and tried to steady his breathing. He had cleared one obstacle by forging a tentative truce with the child. Now he had to settle the terms with his guardian and find a way to make his family whole again.

‘I took the liberty of ordering us some tea.”

“That’s fine.” Kid seated himself at the low table opposite Miss Crane. He didn’t bother with the steaming cup before him.

She sipped deliberately before speaking, the words sounding insincere. “I didn’t mean to alarm your wife earlier. Before I knew it, she had fainted to the floor.”

“You think it might have been because of the way you just showed up at my ranch, Miss Crane? Don’t you think there might have been a better way to handle this? Maybe you could have sent a letter or telegram first? I know we get mail here in Sweetwater. Hell, I used to deliver it!” he growled. He was growing more aggravated with the situation. It all could have been avoided if the woman had just put a little more thought into it.

“Well, it’s taken me quite a while to find you.”

“How could it have been that hard? I’ve been living right here in Sweetwater for over six years. Same place as I lived when I was a Pony Express rider.”

“Mr. McCloud, you need to realize I was looking for you under a different name.”

“I haven’t used that name since the day I left Virginia.”

“That’s all fine and good, but all of the paperwork has you named as you were then.” Miss Crane started to dig in her purse, not resting until she had pulled a folded pile of papers out and presented them to the Kid. “You’ll see it’s all in order. The top piece is Jackson’s birth certificate. That is you listed as the father, isn’t it?”

There was no response. Kid’s hands began to tremble as he looked down at the well-worn paper. Seeing the physical resemblance was one thing, but seeing it spelled out on paper had a certain finality to it.

“After the certificate is the Last Will & Testament of Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp. It clearly says the child is to be returned to Mrs. Maxwell or to you in the event of their death.”

“When did they pass on?” he asked, still not pulling his eyes away from the birth certificate he held. Looking closely, he saw that Jackson had been given her family name even on the certificate.

“It was the summer of ’63. Mr. Beauchamp died for the cause, Mrs. Beauchamp of a broken heart. They left their nephew to my care until either you or Mrs. Maxwell could be found.”

Kid didn’t hear the details Miss Crane provided, only the date and the fact that it was now five years since Jackson had been put in her care. “Are you telling me that you’ve spent the last five years looking for me? And this is the best you could do? Now, after all that time had gone by?”

Esther Crane would not let Kid scold her. She had done her best by the boy, but now it was time for her to step aside. “I tried to find you immediately after their deaths, but you were nowhere to be found. After a while, Jackson and I fell into a routine, but recently I decided to try again, for the sake of the boy.”

The woman disgusted Kid. It was easy to see her motivation. “The money ran out, I’m assuming.” He felt no need to be tactful with her.

“It’s not easy raising a boy on your own, never mind when he’s not even yours. I did the best I could with the money I was left in the will, but I’m just Mr. Beauchamp’s cousin, there were never any provisions made for me beyond being his guardian until you could be located. Who knew it would take so long?”

“So what you’re telling me is that you no longer want to care for Jackson, you’re leaving him with me, and you would like some money for your troubles? Did I miss anything?” Kid stood up abruptly, finished with their conversation.

“No, you’ve mentioned all the essentials.” Esther refused to stand and argue with the Kid. She was a proper Southern lady after all.

“Fine then, we’ll go to the bank after breakfast. I’ll see to your stage ticket and some money for your expenditures, but I want a guarantee of one thing.”

Delighted at the prospect of having some money in her pocket, Esther nodded her willingness to work with him.

“I want papers signed tomorrow sayin’ that I have rightful custody of Jackson and I want your personal guarantee that I will not see you back here. Ever.”

“Are you saying that you want to keep Jackson, Mr. McCloud?” Miss Crane’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“Why is that so hard to believe? Why did you ever think I wouldn’t take my own son in?”

“Well, if you’ll excuse me for being so bold.”

“Neither my approval nor disapproval has stopped you yet.”

Esther Crane ignored the Kid’s blatant jab at her outspoken nature. “It just seems that with you already having an established family, you might not want to upset the balance - you know, rock the boat so to say.”

His mind turning back to his wife’s devastated face when he told her the truth about being Jackson’s father, Kid started to exit the parlor. “Miss Crane, it’s my boat to worry about, not yours. Good evening.”

Climbing the stairs to the room he had rented before meeting with Miss Crane, Kid’s mind wandered between the irony of his early morning conversation with Lou and the prospects for his future. It felt like it was longer than only that morning when Lou had questioned his desire for a son. He wasn’t lying when he’d said he’d never once wished any of his daughters had been born sons, yet in the back of his mind and at the bottom recesses of his heart, he knew that it was because he already had a son out in the world somewhere that he very much wanted to know.

Now that the opportunity had presented itself, he found he was unsure of what to do with an eleven-year-old boy as well as being unsure if he would have to do it alone.

Chapter Five