Fibs and Folly

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Back in the cold and misty hills of West Virginia, Johnsey road towards his father's home deep within the mountain's heart

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Back in the cold and misty hills of West Virginia, Johnsey road towards his father's home deep within the mountain's heart. His limbs felt numb and the chill of the aging autumn was warmer than his insides felt.

His mind took him back to that early morning. When he'd  heard the news he had road as fast as he could into Pikeville, had it been a safe idea? No, pinkertons, deputies, and  bounty hunters were all lingering about just wishing for a Hatfield to cross their path.

But no man would go on hidding after getting the news he'd  recieved from Nancy. Not even a man as cowardly as Johnsey.

He remembered the crack his heart made when he saw Roseanna leaving the mortuary with her aunt Becky. How the once vibrant  and bubbly young woman looked at him with exhaustion, sorrow and pain.

Her eyes lacking the shine they once had, her rosey cheeks pale, she looked older than she was. More beaten down than she ought to be - she wasn't  what he'd wanted for her.

The way Roseanna looked right through him before quietly slipping off to her wagon, as if he'd not been standing there at all. That cold un-gaze she'd  given still caused his chest to throb like arthritic bones.

Johnsey could remember the fresh smell of polished wood and new fabric as he gazed at the small but elegant coffin. Light oak with dark velvet inside.

Closing his eyes Johnsey continued up the road. He tried to shake the memory. What a time for Cap to be gone. As much as they differed, Johnsey wanted nothing more than to speak with his brother right now.

Johnsey went to knock at the front door when it swung open.

"Jonce?" Robert E. questioned with brows raised high. "I haven't seen you in days!" He cheered. But as he looked over his older brother he cast him a worried gaze.

"You don't  look so good Johnsey." said Robert E.

"Yeah, yeah I look about how's I feel too. Where you headed?" Johnsey asked. Robert E. peered back into the house and quietly closed the door behind him.

"We gotta letter from Cap saying they made it to new york. And one from when they was still on the road bout a day or so back." Robert E. said.

"So? What's that got to do with where you're  a'goin' now?" Johnsey asked brow raised.

"This last letter says they got ambushed once. But New York is awfully far for bushwackers to be huntin' 'em. I'm gonna go to Cap and Chyna's place, Clints there watchin' things. I figure he can help me figure out who's tellin." Robert E. said.

"That is odd, is Cap ok?" Johnsey asked trying his best to mask his concern. Robert E. gave a quiet chuckle. "Hell, you kiddin? Cap could run off as many of them as they could afford to send." He said.

Johnsey exhaled. "Alright, well, how's it going up there...at that place?" Johnsey's voice took on a slightly timid air. "Huh? Why do you care? You don't  like Chyna or folk like her an' that place gots lots of them." Robert E. questioned.

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