November 17, 1899

Tombstone. 

This morning I walked out of the office on Allen Street and talked with Max and Waterfall. Waterfall told us she was expecting twins and we tried to explain to Max that she had one husband, not two. We met a man named David but he didn’t know what his last name was so we talked about how intriguing family history was. 

I walked over to the fort to talk with Wedge and asked him how things went yesterday with the payroll. He said there was no incident and no one had talked about last week’s attack, so we considered the matter dropped. 

***

Tombstone. 

This evening I walked into our office and smiled when I saw Alex at the desk. He stood to give me a hug and a kiss and I asked, “How’s it going today?”

“Okay, I guess. How about you?”

“Feel like going for a ride?” I asked, needing to get out of the office. 

“That sounds like a great idea.”

We headed outside and got on our horses and headed out. We found Max and stopped to greet him. “Hey there Max! Look who’s here!”

“Hi Max!” Alex smiled. 

“Hey Missus, hey Mister. Goin’ riding?” Max grinned at us. 

“Yep we are. Wanna come?”

“Heck yea!” he said and nudged his pony on to follow us as he told Alex that Lot had helped him name it Captain Starlight. 

When we’d gotten to Pearce I stopped and asked, “Hey Max, have you ever been to the Ghost town?”

“No Ma’am.....I never heard of it.” 

“Wanna?” 

“Oh that would be a great place to go.”

Max ducked his head but then nodded, “Sure...” 

Old Diamond. 

We rode into Old Diamond and Max stopped at the entrance. “Why dey call it a ghost town?”

“Cause no one lives here anymore,” I answered. 

“Where did dey go?” Max whispered. 

“There aren’t really any ghosts here,” Alex looked down at him. 

“Don’t really know... But it’s a pretty cool place. Come on,” I said, dismounting my horse. “Wanna show him the sheriff’s office, Alex?”

“Sure,” Alex said as he dismounted Leonidas and Max slid off the pony. 

“You’ll love this, Max,” I said and led the way to the old sheriff’s office. “The locks don’t work so you don’t have to worry about that. Pretty cool huh?” I asked as we walked inside and looked around. 

“There’s even wanted posters on the wall,” Alex nodded to the wall. 

“Yea...who was the sheriff here?” Max asked, his eyes wide as he looked around. 

“Um... That’s a good question.”

We walked into the back cells and opened the doors. “Whooo I wouldn’t want to be in jail,” Max looked around. 

“I wouldn’t either,” Alex chuckled. 

“These ones are much too dark and cold I’d think,” I agreed. 

“Don’t lock me in okay Mister?” Max looked at Alex as they walked into the cell together. 

“I promise I won’t.”

“Like I said, the door locks don’t work. See?” I smiled at him. 

“Yes, dat’s good,” he nodded and we walked back outside. “Jeffery locked me in dat outhouse,” he scowled. 

“Did he? When’d he do that?” I asked. 

Alex just chuckled, “Not a fun place to be locked in.”

“Yes Ma’am and now Mr Matty says he is in trouble,” he said and kicked the ground. “Last night.” 

“Wanna see the mines?” I asked, changing the subject. 

“Yes!” he nodded excitedly. 

“Dear, this one’s all you,” I looked at Alex and he smiled as he led the way to the entrance. 

“Ohhh I like this,” Max smiled wide as he walked inside. 

I waited outside and let the boys explore together. “Okay, watch out for the big spiders,” Alex advised. 

“Maybe I can catch one!” 

“I bet you could! Trin doesn’t like these mines.” 

“I have a good reason!” I called out as I heard them talk. 

“No, not at all because she’s a girl,” Alex said and I chuckled, guessing what Max’s comment must have been. “She’s a pretty brave girl, actually.”

“How come den?”

“She got locked in a mine once. Kinda like you getting locked in the outhouse, but not by a friend, by some bad people.”

“So now she is ascairt of dem. But we won’t lock her in...”

“She’d rather stay outside. We can explore though. Just be careful.”

“Okay Mister.” 

I waited a couple of minutes as things were quiet and then I heard Alex shout, “HELLOOOO!” 

I called out, “What’s wrong?” 

“We fine Trin! Just testing the echo!” he shouted back. 

“Don’t scare me like that!” I chuckled. 

“It’s rats in here Missus. Big ones!”

“Another reason I ain’t goin inside!” I called back. 

“I don’t know Max. It might be dangerous to play here,” Alex was saying and I could hear them getting closer to the entrance again. 

“I aint scairt.” 

Alex smiled at me and said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“See Missus? Nuffing happened,” Max looked at me. 

“It’s okay,” I reached for Alex’s hand. “Max wanna see the saloon?”

“Yes,” he wiped cobwebs from his face. We walked into the saloon and he went to stand behind the bar and looked at us. “Howdy partners...want some whiskey?”

“Yes, please, bar tender,” Alex smiled at him. 

“Sounds good,” I chuckled. 

“Okay but don’t be shootin’ up my saloon,” Max grinned and pretended to pour drinks. He stood up on his tiptoe to see us. “Here dey are...it’s good stuff.” 

“Thank you kindly,” Alex gave him a couple of coins. 

“Maybe I will be a bartender when I grow up when I am done being a sheriff and a ‘tective and a soldier,” Max said. 

“There you go. You know being a bartender is a good way to get some information,” I winked at him. 

“Cheers to that!” Alex pretended to hold up his glass. 

“When I moved to Colorado I was a dancer in the saloon... Learned lots,” I said, winking to Alex. He just shook his head and chuckled. 

“Did you wear purty dresses?” Max asked me. 

“Mmhmm.” 

Max smiled, nodding. “Dem ladies in Dutch Annie’s got purty dresses....”

“They sure do. That’s the kind of stuff I used to wear. Don’t even think Alex has seen my dresses from back then.”

“He better not see dem, he’ll want to kiss you,” Max’s eyes widened. 

“No, don’t think I’ve had the please of that,” Alex looked at me with a raised eyebrow. 

“So... anyway...” I blushed a bit and Alex just smiled at me. 

“Dats how my real Ma looked at me Da...” Max looked between us, grinning. 

“We’ve seen the mines, the jail... the saloon... Now what?”

“Is dat everyfing?” Max asked. 

“That’s the most exciting part. Most of the buildings are empty.”

“I got to get back for dat doption...Jamie will kill me I don’t see it,” Max whispered. “And I got her a present.” 

“Sure. Have fun with that, Max,” I nodded. 

“Oh, you better not be late for that,” Alex smiled. 

“Ain’t you comin? It’s a party after...” Max looked between us. 

“We’ve missed ya,” I smiled at him. 

“It was really nice to see you. I’m probably going to ride out into the desert,” Alex agreed. 

“Yessir. I missed you too. I will come to your house and steal yer cookies again,” he giggled. 

“Anytime, Max,” I smiled. 

He laughed and hugged my waist before running out of the saloon. 

“He’s a great kid,” Alex looked at me with a smile. We hugged and then he kissed me goodbye before heading off in the desert.