THE VISITOR
By Hope
Adam Cartwright sat on the edge of the porch early that evening,
enjoying the peace and the fresh, fall air. His family was inside
the house finishing up dessert, but Adam had begged off, even though
Hop Sing had cooked a fresh apple pie.
His thoughts now wandered as he looked out over the moonlit
earth.
An owl hoot-hooted in the distance, but the sound for some reason
caught his attention. It didn't seem like a regular owl's call.
A rustling in the bushes past the barn swung Adam's gaze over there
just as the silhouette of woman appeared next to the barn in the
darkness. Adam squinted and squinted again before whispering,
amazed, "Ruth?"
The figure stood there. Adam rose slowly and again asked, though
a
little louder, "Ruth?" He hesitated then took one step then
another
toward her. Still the woman remained where she was and silent.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Adam walked cautiously. A gentle
breeze rustled his black, wavy hair. Two of the horses in the
corral whinnied softly as Adam drew near the woman.
"Ruth?" He
stopped within about ten feet of her. She remained in the
shadows. "Is it really you?" Adam dared ask.
It had been four long years since he'd seen her. A white woman
living alone in the wilderness, she was known as White Buffalo Woman
by the Indians. She'd lived alone in the Indian burial grounds
for
years after a painful past, and the Indians thought her to be a
spirit woman. At the moment Adam came upon her, an Indian had
been
trying to force her to return to his village to help his dying,
diseased people. Adam managed to stop the Indian from harming
Ruth,
killing him, but another Indian had spotted Adam and shot an arrow
through his leg. Adam fell from the ledge he was on but not
before
getting off a shot that killed the second Indian.
Adam was badly injured from the fall and the arrow, but Ruth nursed
him back to health. In the process, they soon fell in love.
Adam
urged Ruth to come back to civilization with him and to marry him,
but other Indians from the tribe that had first attacked Ruth in the
meantime kidnapped Adam, and forced Ruth to choose between saving
Adam's life by returning to their village or seeing her beloved
die. Adam tried to stop her from making the wrong choice but was
beaten unconscious. Ruth made the only decision she could to save
Adam's life, and went back with the Indians. Adam was left behind
and was eventually found unconscious at Ruth's camp by his
family.
When Adam was revived, he was desperate to locate Ruth, but his
family convinced him that to try and do so would surely get Ruth
killed. Despondent and weak from his injuries he relented, but
Adam
never forgot her.
Now here she was standing before him.
He took a step toward her.
"No." She stepped back.
"But - you're here. And you're alive."
"Yes."
"Oh, Ruth .!" He again took a step in her direction and again she
stopped him by holding up her hand and stepping back. "No,
Adam."
"Ruth, I - I'm so sorry I didn't go after you. But they told me
the
Indians would kill you!"
"And they would have," she answered solemnly.
"But now you're here. And we can .!"
"I came here only to see you. But now I must go."
"No. Please .?"
"I had to see you one last time."
Adam kept his distance as she wanted, but how desperately he wanted
to go to her. "Why must you go, Ruth? And where?"
"With the Shoshone. They are my people now."
Adam looked downward. "I'm so sorry. I should've come for
you."
She stepped out of the shadows. Dressed in a long, Indian dress,
her blond hair in pigtails and laced with rawhide, she reached her
hand out and gently lifted his chin so he now looked into her
beautiful eyes. "You are well?"
Adam managed a smile and clasped her hand, drawing it to his lips to
kiss it tenderly. "Yes."
She closed her eyes as he held her hand. "So many nights I longed
for you, Adam."
Adam clasped her hand tighter. "And I you, Ruth."
She searched his eyes. "But we were kept apart."
His hesitant voice answered softly, 'Yes." He released her hand.
She studied him then glanced toward the house. "You are married
now?"
He, too, looked toward the house. "No. I live here with my father
and my brothers." Adam turned back to her and ventured
reluctantly, "And you?"
"I am the wife of Tomar. I have two children."
His vestige of hope destroyed, Adam didn't respond.
As if reading his mind, Ruth told him, "I am content, Adam. Do
not
let the hurt of the past prevent the happiness of your future."
Adam looked off.
Gently she caressed his cheek. "I must go now."
Adam looked back to her. He cleared his voice to shield his
emotions. "I'll never forget you."
Ruth smiled. She turned to go, and Adam watched her disappear off
into the shadows. He remained where he was for a long time.
"Adam?"
Adam turned at the sound of Hoss's voice.
"Ya gonna stand out here all night or ya gonna play some chess with
me?" Hoss, Adam's burly middle brother, was standing next to him.
Adam looked back in the direction Ruth had gone.
Hoss watched him, puzzled. "What is it?"
Debating whether he should confide in his brother, Adam told Hoss
quietly, "She was here."
Hoss squinted in the direction Adam was looking. "Who?"
"Ruth."
A took a few moments for the name to sink in. "Ruth? Not
that
woman who saved yer life some years ago?"
Adam nodded solemnly.
"Where'd she go? What - what was she doing here?"
Adam continued to look off into the distance. "She wanted to see
me
one last time. And to say goodbye."
Hoss remembered how downhearted Adam had been when they'd found him
at Ruth's camp and in the weeks and months following. He draped
an
arm around Adam's shoulder. "So she's all right?"
Again, Adam just nodded.
"And she's happy?"
Adam thought about it. "She's living with the Indians, and she
has
a family now. I s'ppose she's happy."
Hoss managed an encouraging smile. "Guess mebbe she wanted to be
sher you were happy, too."
Adam considered this and turned to his brother.
"Adam, she knew you and she couldn't be together but that don't mean
both of you cain't have a good life."
Again, Adam considered Hoss's words. "Hoss, I should've looked
for
her."
Hoss glanced down and kicked at some dirt, attempting to gather his
thoughts. He lifted his eyes and told his brother, "I reckon some
things jus' weren't meant ta be."
Adam studied his brother. Eventually Hoss's words got through,
and
the trace of a smile teased the corners of Adam's mouth. He
clapped
an arm around Hoss's back. "Come on. Let's see if you're as
good
at chess as you are at counseling people."
Breaking into a smile, Hoss kept his arm draped around Adam's
shoulder, and Adam kept his arm around Hoss's back as the two
brothers headed to the house.
THE END.
(Note: The character of Ruth was borrowed from the Bonanza episode
The Savage. I'd like to thank the writer of that episode.)