Epilogue
Life on the ranch slowed down considerably. Sally and Silas took up with one another quickly. While Silas claimed it was love at first sight, Sally persisted that she fell in love with him even before she’d laid eyes on him. When she read the words he wrote to Beechtree, that was the moment she fell in love.
Sally and Silas fit each other like jigsaw pieces. Sally was easily impressionable, feeling her emotions strongly and displaying them broadly while Silas, still quiet and reserved, was her steady rock. With the money she had saved, Sally opened a boardinghouse for women and children. It was nothing like Beechtree’s. Sally was conscious to not run her establishment in any way similar. The boardinghouse was for women who came out West to find new lives for themselves and their children, a safe space for these women to find their way without the pressure to marry immediately or turn to working in a brothel.
On the first floor, Sally ran a full service restaurant for men who wanted a home cooked meal, but had not yet found a wife to supply them with that luxury. The women who stayed in the boardinghouse had the option of paying for room and board up front or working in the restaurant to pay for their stay. The set up proved to be profitable and beneficial for everyone. Single men were able to interact with these women in a casual atmosphere, which led to many courtships and subsequent marriages.
The town of Sonora was growing. There were more children living in the town now that it only made sense to build a schoolhouse. Henry donated money and built a sturdy one room schoolhouse. It made perfect sense for Silas to be the town’s schoolteacher since he was the most well read and worked brilliantly with children.
He taught his classes using techniques that differed greatly from what his teacher in Mexico had utilized. He sought to bring out each child’s individuality and independence. Classes were often held outside in nature. His students, some of whom had never been in a classroom environment before, thrived under his instruction.
Sally became pregnant with Silas’s child. He welcomed the news happily. Silas asked Sally to marry him months before, but Sally refused. He continued to ask her every single day. It became a habit of his every morning they woke together. It wasn’t until her seventh month of pregnancy when her belly ballooned in front of her, did she finally agree.
“Will you marry me, my sweet Sally?” Silas whispered in her ear while she laid in his arms.
“Yes,” Sally murmured.
Accustomed to Sally’s habitual denial, Silas was uncertain if he’d heard her correctly. “What?”
“Yes,” Sally said turning over to face him maneuvering her large belly.
Silas jumped up on the bed screaming, “Yes! She said yes!” Sally laughed at his excitement.
The Judge married them in a ceremony similar to the one Daisy and Henry had. Sally beamed and glowed in her white lace dress while Silas stood proudly with his very pregnant wife. Their love was official. Silas’s dreams had all come true. He stopped dreaming in the past about the girl Anjelica he once knew, finally understanding the woman he was meant for was finally here.
After the dust had cleared with the Espinosa brothers, Buster and Bellamy returned to Sonora. Henry held a small memorial for Wiley at the ranch. Buster and Bellamy took Wiley’s death hard and reexamined their lives as bandits. From the money from the train and the reward money for capturing the Espinosas, Henry, Buster, and Bellamy could live normal lives. The train robbery was the heist of a lifetime. They successfully pulled it off, and if it wasn’t for the Espinosas greed, Wiley would have still been there with them.
Buster and Bellamy found two nice girls staying at Sally’s boardinghouse: Jenny and Laura. They were genteel girls like Daisy, who were looking for a calm peaceful home to build with kind men. Wiley’s death softened Buster and Bellamy. The violent turgor that ran beneath their skin quieted. They wanted simplicity just like the girls.
Rhett returned to Charleston to find his wife, Nelly pregnant. Rhett wondered how that could be possible since their lovemaking was mechanical and bland. Children can be made out of any kind of conditions: even if the parents were not particular in love with each other. Rhett was ill-prepared for the arrival of his daughter. He spent Nelly’s pregnancy in denial that he was to be a father. His lethargy grew. He roused in the evenings and caroused all night in saloons.
When Nelly gave birth to his daughter Rhett’s conviction to have very little to do with his daughter changed. He fell in love with his daughter, Celia, instantly at the sight of her little round face. The joy of his child ignited his respect for Nelly that gradually grew into love. Celia was like her mother, kind and quiet, with large blue eyes. He realized that to Nelly their pairing hadn’t been ideal for her either. Both of their parents had orchestrated their marital contract to better their own lives.
Rhett became a good father and a loyal husband. He realized how selfish he had been his entire life. He was ashamed that he had made nothing of himself. Unfortunately, his father’s department store hemorrhaged money. Charleston was not a city that wanted big city ideas. Residents felt that the department store was a monstrosity and preferred to buy their goods from small boutiques and shops. The failed business venture destroyed Nelly’s parents as well. The Hampton and Calhoun families were ruined. There wasn’t any money left.
Rhett learned a trade, blacksmithing, to support his wife and daughter. Rhett and Nelly were poor and no longer part of the upper crust of genteel society, but they had each other and their children. Nelly went on to give birth to three more children: two more girls and one boy. Rhett’s children were his pride and joy.
Rhett thought about how he treated Daisy. He denied her in the name of money, which he or his family no longer had. Daisy had been a good woman to him. He hoped in his heart that she was happy. He was ashamed that he had asked her to be his mistress, when she was a woman who was worth so much more than that.
Rhett came home tired every night from his work. He woke early and slept late. He barely had time to engage in alcohol consumption or other lackadaisical frivolities. His nights of carefree partying were over, but he had never been more satisfied with life. He thought about how he held Daisy’s hands in disgust noticing how rough and worn they had become. His own hands were roughened with calluses.
Dinah, did indeed, return to Sonora after several years in an insane asylum. Dinah took up residence in Sally’s boardinghouse. She learned what things triggered her behaviors and worked to keep her life balanced and simple. She did not engage in gambling or drinking, which she learned are activities that led to bouts of mania and later dense despondency. She kept to herself and stopped searching out men who were on the wrong side of the law.
Dinah was more stable in her emotions. They key was keeping her life on an even slope. Her mind rested when she needed it to. Her despondent sorrows left her alone, for the most part. There were times when no amount of symmetry could prevent her spells. She’d wrestle with her speeding thoughts and worries and holed herself up in her room until it passed.
She became a part of Lilah and Tallulah’s life. She saw them regularly often visiting the ranch or when they were older, the girls came to see her. Dinah’s relationship with her daughters grew easier when they were older when the pressure of caring for and being responsible for them diminished. Lilah and Tallulah transformed before her eyes into beautiful intelligent women. A fear was that they would have Dinah’s mental issues, but Lilah and Tallulah were fortunate enough to not suffer their mother’s sickness.
Daisy’s first pregnancy was an uncomfortable one. The exhaustion from her first trimester stretched out the entire pregnancy. Daisy shuffled from day to day in a daze of fatigue. She didn’t have morning sickness; she was ill all day long. She struggled to keep her eyes open. As long as she was moving, she managed to stay awake, but if she sat for a few minutes to rest her eyes, it would turn into a long foggy nap.
Daisy gave birth to a baby boy, who they named Henry. His nickname was Hank Junior. Hank Junior was a bubbly little boy with fat chubby cheeks. His big sisters Lilah and Tallulah doted on him, both pleased to have a baby brother. The book, “Little Men,” stirred their imaginations. They wondered which character Hank Junior would grow up to be from the book: Nat, Dan, Demi, Tommy? In the meantime, they carried their little brother with them and when acting out scenes from the book, little Hank unknowingly played various characters. He was a wonderful addition to their drama troupe.
Rachel and Jack, Henry and Daisy’s two other children, came later. Lilah and Tallulah were just as excited about each of their arrivals as their first baby brother. Rachel was quiet and shy and loved horses. Jack was loud and boisterous like his big sister Tallulah. Lilah and Tallulah’s theatrical productions grew with the addition of their new sister and brothers.
Lilah and Tallulah both went to college as Henry dreamed. In fact, all his children attended university. Both his eldest daughters attended University of California at Berkeley. Lilah became a playwright, writing thrilling and whimsical plays about women in modern times. She met a man in college, a businessman who adored Lilah’s independent spirit. He headed a successful drug company, Birdie’s Little Pills, that were popular for curing headaches, constipation, and dyspepsia.
Tallulah became a choreographer. Her affinity to dancing and twirling shone through. She choreographed synchronized routines for chorus lines. She started the famous chorus line that later grew into The Rockettes. Tallulah met a quiet rancher, like her father, and gave up Broadway to stay home and take care of their two children. Tallulah later taught dance to young girls in a small dancing school she founded.
Henry became a hero for capturing the Espinosas who the US Calvary tried to hunt down for years. His notoriety as a hero stayed with him throughout his life. He was later elected mayor of Sonora. This didn’t happen until several years later when Lilah and Tallulah were married with their own children and his three younger children were in their teens.
On the night that Daisy gave birth to their son, Hank Junior. Henry had been reading and writing with Betsy long enough to finally feel confident he could write his wife a letter for the first time.
Dear Daisy,
We first met through a letter. At the time, I could not read or write. Today, on the birth of our son, I write to you in my handwriting and with my heart. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your tenderness. Thank you for being my wife and the mother of my children. You have made me a very happy man.
Your Henry
She cried when she read his words and was touched by his will to learn how to read and write. She was pleased by his determination. She kept the letter in a special box along with the letter Henry and Silas wrote to Beechtree and the very first letter they wrote to her. Their love started with a simple letter and an enduring hope for love.