Busted Gulch is booming but in a good way. Business is good, the town is prospering but can this good feeling last or will 3Gun get caught up in his past. What will Myna's and Lorne's baby be when born, a little cowboy or cowgirl the town is torn.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Following the first family meeting, Denver was exhausted and slipped into a deep sleep, where he revisited his life and the things that led him to this day.
The voice in his head was brutally honest and made him aware of the good and the bad and how he'd willingly allowed one of these to influence and justify decisions he made, even lying to himself.
"What kind of man would lie to himself, time and time again, not a sane one, he told himself?"
He'd known deep down that Talulah was not redeemable, yet he allowed his obsession, to be disguised as love and despised himself for his weakness.
"What kind of self-respecting man would degrade himself in such a way, only a weak one, he replied?"
He dedicated his adult life to finding his lost child, yet still made her suffer the indignity of accepting a woman she so rightly hated, into her life.
"What kind of father does that, especially one who'd dedicated his life to finding her, he asked himself?"
In the process, he'd found another daughter as beautiful and as gifted as her mother, a real treasure, what had he done to show her how important she was.
"Did I expect her to work that out for herself, he uttered shamefully?"
He knew that his love for Missy was real and beyond compare, but he still allowed another woman of ill repute to stand-in comparison.
"What kind of husband or lover does that, to the one he loved more than life itself, he questioned?
He used all his love and needs to explain away the things he did, like seeking riches on hallowed ground to build an even bigger fortune believing it would protect them from harm, it was no wonder that Snakebite hated, his alter ego Redrock Bill, so much.
"Oh my God, I put my life in danger and my family's welfare were the stakes, how could I be so blind to the harsh reality of my life."
He knew he wasn't a despot but could now see that if he proceeded much further along this path, it wouldn't be long before he became one.
"He Yelled in despair; this is most definitely not who I wanted to become."
He'd turned his back on his wealthy family, because, they belonged to the slave triangle and planned to remain so, even though due to politics, not compassion, it was beginning to go out of favor, in the Americas and their home nation.
Which resulted in him being disowned and when he fell in love with and married Missy, it was considered the ultimate insult by his family, who were incapable of recognizing prejudice. They only saw lawful trade, profit, and loss and their fortune spanned an empire, from the East to the West Indies, their greed knew no bounds, they have the kind of power that influences governments.
For the first time, he could see a fateful comparison between him and his birth family, just like him, his ancestor's wealth and power didn't come easy, They fought hard and dirty for what they had and like him, they now believed the lies they told themselves in order to justify how they attained their position.
He awoke with a shock to find the family gathered around his bed, the relief on their faces was clear to see, for them it appeared as if he had lapsed into another coma, for they were unable to wake him.
He grasped the moment and told them, that this was the time, it was a pivotal turning point in their new family's history, from now on there would be no more secrets or lies, they would move forward together and embrace the community in a way he hadn't previously conceived. They would begin by redefining how the Liberty Belle, would serve the rivers community, but first and foremost they needed to reshape the crew and work with them to establish its values.
"Bart (Junior) it's time to repay that big-city education, you are tasked with picking the bones on the ship's operation, from what was left of the records.
"Brett, son you're the gambling expert, I don't need to tell you what has to be done and what's at stake we need it up and running as soon as you can.
Missy, Shadow, and Petra, you have the most important task, you are to work together interviewing the entire crew to identify when, how and why they came to be on board, what they did and why, learn their history before coming aboard. The ship must be awash with raw talent, we need to make the most of it.
Please pay attention to those girls who didn't become banshees, during the shameful treatment of the girls."
This remark took them all by surprise, as previously his only significant comment was that family comes first, surely, he wasn't showing them compassion.
They didn't quite get an answer, but he did say.
"I want to know if it was because they were loyal to Talulah or that they are made of better stuff than us. You have two weeks, by then I expect to be well enough to sit at the table and read through your proposals, in hope of reading some innovative suggestions as to what we might do differently. Shadow and Petra, I have high expectations from you young ladies, I think that together you will make an amazing team, let this be a time during which you get to know each other and your values. By the time you are done I want to be sat at a round table, so we will have no one at its head, there will be no more dictatorial orders from me or anyone else, from now on we work together and with the community."
"Brett, can you sort out the table, I'm sure there are plenty to spare in the Casino."
Wearing a huge smile and a giggle, he brought the speech to an end, by saying.
"Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'm tired and I'm sure I feel another coma coming on, so off you go, get to work, all of you, well apart from your mother."
He grabbed Missy's hand, and with puppy dog eyes, he said.
"Renmen mwen, I need a cuddle."
They'd seen their parents at their best and their worst and knew for sure they weren't perfect, but they also knew that their love for them was unconditional and that all they hoped for was that it would be returned, no more, no less and left them to be alone with warmth in their hearts, at the sight of their parent's pleasure in each other's arms and could see that the invisible thorn had been pulled.
