Jess Harper, a Civil War vet,was traveling through the west trying to make a life for himself after the war. Jess was robbed by three traveling companions. He found them, killed two, retrieved his possessions, then let the third one, Charlie, leave. Charlie later caught up with Jess, shot him in the back, then aimed a gun at him as he was lying on the ground. Jess was saved by a settler, Abe Klein, and his daughter Helga. While recovering with the Kleins, Jess fell for and marries Helga. When Helga became pregnant, she found an Native woman called Oota, to help with the birth and the baby. Helga delivers a baby girl. In the last chapter it was revealed that Jess has been telling his story to Abe's nephew.

Previously: “But here, now. I've just been rambling on all this time. You said there was something you wanted to tell me about Abe?”


“Yes sir, Mr. Harper, I did. Actually it wasn't so much about him as about what he did. See, it was because of him that I was able to go to school in the first place. Same for my two younger brothers as well. Apparently Abe found gold out here somewhere but was afraid to let anyone around here know about it. He'd seen how gold fever could affect people, seen people and places torn apart by greed and corruption. He didn't want the same thing to happen to this place as had happened in others. Seeing how nice it is around here, I can see what he meant. There have been a lot of towns in this country rise and fall because of that precious metal, and Abe had seen too much of what people are capable of. From what he had to say, you've seen your share as well.”

“Well ain't that something? Abe never told me anything about that. Although I did wonder from time to time how he was always able to go into town and get supplies any time he wanted. I just figured he was pretty good at trading the furs we collected and tools he made for what we needed. I knew that there was a little bit of gold found from time to time around here, but everyone seemed to think it washed down from a lot further upstream, up closer to Denver. I guess he must have sent most of what he found back home to his sister then? That's good to hear. We didn't need it, so I'm glad you and your family got some use out of it.”

“That's the thing Mr. Harper. He didn't just want to help out my brothers and me. He sent a lot of gold back east over the years and my mother was a pretty shrewd investor. She followed Abe's wishes and set things up so everything would be divided up after the last of us finished school. I've got papers here covering your share of everything. You can have the money wired to the bank in Denver if you like. Your part is the biggest share since my brothers and I deducted the cost of our tuition from our part. We won't really miss it, over the years Mother's investments have done very well indeed.”

“What are you talking about? I don't really need anything, and my Mary is doing just fine with her family. I wouldn't know what to do with any more than I've got right here.”

“Well Mr. Harper, you may see it that way, but Abe's wishes were very clear. I doubt if he understood just how much money would be available when the time came, but he insisted that you and your family were to get an equal share. You can do as you like after the transfer is made, but Abe wanted you to have it.”

“That sure was nice of old Abe, I guess Mary and her young man could find something to do with a few extra dollars. Maybe they could get one of those fancy buggy's you rode up in. And Mary always has been one to take in strays, animals and humans both. She has a big heart and can't stand to see anything suffering. I imagine she could put anything Abe left us to good use. How much are you talking about anyway?

"As you can see right here on the papers I brought you Mr. Harper, your share comes to just over $370,000.00. I imagine if you don't want it, your daughter could help a lot of strays."

“Are you serious, Mr.? I wouldn't know what to do with that kind of money. Why don't you just go ahead and see about sending it to my Mary. I reckon she and her man can figure out what to do with it.

“Would you like some blackberry wine? Abe taught me to make it but I don't think I ever made it as good as he did. I still think it's not bad though.”

“I'd love some Mr. Harper. My mother used to make that too, said Uncle Abe made it better than anyone else though, so I wouldn't worry too much about how yours might compare.”

“Please, call me Jess. Nobody calls me Mr. Harper. I'll be back in just a minute.”

My name is Joshua Klein. I guess it's up to me to finish Jess's story. I don't know how old he was but he sure saw a lot of history in this country. People hardly even think about the Civil War anymore. We've come a long way since then. We still have our problems but I can only hope that there are more people like Jess and my Uncle Abe in the world.

I heard a noise in the cabin and went inside to see what happened. I found Jess on the floor next to a table with a bottle of wine and two glasses on it. He had an old, battered tin cup in his hand. I guess he wanted to show it to me for some reason. There was an empty space on the mantle, like that was where he kept it. I had to wonder if that old cup meant something special to him since he kept it around, and most of the things in the cabin were a lot newer and nicer. I thought maybe it was the same one he mentioned early in his story, about surviving a storm and being glad he, at least, still had his tin cup.

I buried him next to Abe, Helga, and Oota. I don't know what religion he followed. He had a crucifix over his mantel, but he wore a Star of David necklace. I went ahead and had both put on his headstone. I thought that little plot behind the cabin said a lot about this country. Buried there were two Jews, a Christian, and a Native American.