Epilogue
It was snowing again. The flakes were falling from the gray clouds in a lazy fashion, and this time, they were accumulating on the ground in drifts and piles, not melting almost straight away. It was a perfect Christmas Day.
Michael had been up for ages. He’d found that sleeping was difficult today, and not because he was worried about bandits or the quality of the copper, or even running the smelter. What he was worried about was something completely different.
He paced in his tent, talking to himself.
“Emily,” he said and then his mind went blank, and he couldn’t think of another thing to say. He swore. “How do people do this?”
The little velvet box sat on his cot, staring at him.
Perhaps that was the problem. His mother’s ring with the ruby and the diamonds shone in the lantern light and looked wonderful.
Michael was certain that his words would have to be as wonderful.
Didn’t they? Yes, they did. Yet every time he tried to think of how to say it, how to ask her, he couldn’t think of any words at all.
“Okay,” he said and drew in a deep breath. “Emily, I love you and … Here’s a ring … Be my wife?” He groaned. That was awful.
“Michael,” Troy called from outside the tent. “Can I come in?”
“Yes,” Michael said.
His brother came into the tent and stood looking at him. He shook his head. “You’re not even finished dressing.”
“Yes, I am,” Michael said.
His brother sighed. He reached out and smoothed down Michael’s hair, which he had been pulling at while trying to think of the words he wanted to say to Emily. Troy then straightened Michael’s collar and smoothed his jacket.
“That’s better,” Troy said. “Now, tell me what you’re going to say.”
Michael glared at his brother. “I don’t know.”
“Of course you do,” Troy said, patting his shoulder. “Tell you what. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”
Michael did.
“Now let it out slowly,” Troy said.
Again, Michael did as he was told.
Troy took him by the shoulders.
“Okay, tell me what you want to say to Emily.”
Michael drew in another deep breath and let it out, forcing his scattered, panicked thoughts to calm down. He could do this. He could ask the woman he was madly in love with to marry him. How hard could it be?
“Emily,” he said. “From the moment you stepped off that cart and walked into the camp, I knew that I wanted to know you better. I had a feeling about you. There’s something different about this one, I said to myself, and I was right.
You aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met. You’re so kind and thoughtful and determined.
You never give up on anything once you’ve set your mind to it.
You’re an amazing teacher and just the best woman I’ve ever met.
I don’t know what my life would be like without you.
I don’t want to spend another day without you.
Emily Gardener, would you please agree to be my wife? ”
There was a gasp.
Michael opened his eyes and found that it wasn’t Troy standing in front of him, but Emily. She was bundled in her heavy coat and hat, and all he could really see of her was her eyes, but they were large and round.
“Is this real?” she asked. “Are you really asking me?”
Michael nodded. He turned, picked up the ring box, and sank to one knee. “Emily?”
She looked from him to the ring to him again and smiled. “Yes.”
It was all he needed. He pulled her close and kissed her over and over again, absorbing her whispered words of love and returning them with his own.
Somehow he got the ring slipped onto Emily’s finger, and she smiled and stared at it, admiring it from all angles in between more kisses.
Michael finally broke apart from his fiancée long enough to realize the tent was getting cold because the flap was open, and they had an audience. Felix, Troy, Lizzy, Andrew, and Julie hurried inside, and everyone hugged them and shook their hands.
“This is wonderful,” Andrew said. “I was waiting to hear when you two would finally make this official.”
“You make it sound like we’ve been stalling for years,” Michael said.
“It feels that way, brother,” Troy teased.
“Come on,” Julie said. “Everyone is waiting at the campfire. We’re going to sing some carols and have that Christmas lunch Andrea has been working on.”
“So long as it’s not beans,” Felix said with a grimace. “That woman had been feeding me so many legumes I think I’m turning into one.”
As Michael stepped out of the tent, Lizzy threw her arms around Emily’s neck. “I wanted to thank you for the socks. I’m wearing them.” She lifted her skirt just enough to show Emily the tops of some woolen socks peeking out of her boots.
Emily grinned. “I hoped you would.”
“You didn’t have to make so many pairs. How did you do it?” Lizzy asked.
“It doesn’t take that long,” Emily said with a chuckle.
They made their way to the campfire and found everyone waiting for them.
A large tree had been brought in and decorated with painted pine cones and ribbons.
Everyone was drinking coffee and hot cocoa and eating roasted chestnuts.
The children were running around chasing each other with snowballs.
The air was filled with the smell of delicious cooking food, and everywhere they turned were smiling faces.
Kevin came up to Michael with a letter in his hand and a bemused smile on his face. “You’re never going to guess what happened.”
“What?” Michael asked, still on cloud nine, as he watched Emily lob a snowball back at Tim, who ducked and covered.
Critter clung to his shoulder as ever and chattered at the impertinent woman who dared attack his master.
The impertinent woman Michael planned to love for a lifetime and longer if God allowed.
“The lady I’ve been writing to, Anita—she’s coming out here,” Kevin said. “I finally convinced her to head west.”
“Well done,” Michael said, clapping him on the shoulder. “When does she arrive?”
“Only after the new year,” he said. “Still, it’s exciting. Not as exciting as your news, but still pretty good.”
Soon Andrew called them all to order and had Walter and a couple of others read some passages from the Bible.
Then they all took some time for prayer, followed by singing several carols.
By the time they were done, it was time for lunch.
There was roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables, pies, and delicious treats aplenty.
By the time he and Emily managed to sneak away from everyone for some quiet time to themselves, it was night.
“I wish it could be like this all the time,” Emily sighed, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked hand in hand. “With everyone being so happy and there not being anything to worry about.”
“You don’t have to worry about the bandits, Emily,” he promised. “We will come up with a plan to deal with them. You know that, right? Things might get bad for a little while, but in the end, with God’s help, we will beat them.”
“I know,” she said. “I just wonder what we’ll have to go through and how much we’ll lose on the way to that happy ending.
That El Aguila person doesn’t seem like the kind of man to back down and accept defeat gracefully.
When you win, which I’m sure you will, you will have to put him down permanently. You all know that. Don’t you?”
It had been circling Michael’s mind, but to hear her say it brought it from the realm of fantasy into a kind of reality.
“Look, let’s not think about that just yet,” he said. “It’s Christmas. We can pick up all that nastiness later. For now let’s just enjoy this time together and with our friends and family. We can just let the world wait.”
Emily smiled and kissed him lovingly on the lips. “It’s a deal.”
He drew her into a deeper kiss and let the world sail on by, his thoughts on the love of the good woman in his arms and the Good Lord who had brought her to him.
Thank you, God, for your great mercy.
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