The Blood of Jeb O'Hearn, Part Ii

...Floyd still looked at Beverly, he knew that her words rang true. He said,"Stay in the ranch, sell off cows, that aught for the winter keep you." He turned and he left her, his heart a-rage, and made for the town to get a horse. As he walked away, he heard her say "I will pray for your Floyd, of course." For the next year he road about searching for O'Hearn's bloody trail. But after time tracing countless leads, he felt instead like he was chasing his tail. For O'Hearn he never stayed put long, and hid his tracks with the best, with a year gone by and nothing gained, Floyd returned home for a rest. Beverly greeted him when he came, and gladly she did show him in. He saw she'd yet sold only four cows to pay for her house-keeping. For days he slept and loafed about, watching the joyous, young Mary play. While Beverly endlessly fussed over him, it left him sorely tempted to stay. So much so that despite the rage, the desire to seek his revenge, his week at home became two, then three He could not bring it to an end. One night at dinner, brooding hard over whether or not he should go, he looked up and realized suddenly that he'd rather stay with the widow. She seemed then to know his deepest thoughts as she gently rose up to her feet, and said,"I'll be back in just a short bit, it's far time young Mary went to sleep." Off she went to his old back room, to put the her tired, little girl down. When she returned a half-hour had passed, and she wore neither a dress nor a gown. Floyd nearly then choked on his drink, seeing her curves in the candlelight. He tried to speak, to say anything, but his throat was seized up real tight. Beverly did smile softly at the sight, at the young man stammered and stunned. She took his his hand and said to him "Relax, I'll teach you how it's done." He let himself be led slowly away, into his father's old bedroom, and spent the night warm within her arms losing all thoughts of vengeance and doom... CONCLUDES IN PART III.