Billy was a little concerned as the man did not look healthy at all. He was very thin, spoke very softly, and seemed scared of everything. Billy was talking to the man when Rud walked in. The man jumped out of his chair, staring disbelievingly at Rud. It took Rud a few seconds to recognize him as one of the Uncle's men. Rud said, "You are one of the men that came to kill us," and pulled his big knife. Joe passed out and hit the floor hard.

Billy had not been close enough to get a good look when the men came to the cabin but now recognized this man to be the one Alice had pointed her pistol at the day on the road. He hardly looked like the same man as emaciated as he was now. Billy told Rud to put his knife away.

They picked Joe up and laid him on the porch in the fresh air. When Joe regained consciousness, Alice was standing over him and said, "Hello Joe." Joe nearly fainted again. Rud saw resignation in Joe's eyes. Rud had seen that look before. One of the four men attacking Patience's mother in the warehouse had tried to run, but Rud had grabbed him by the hair. Rud killed the others, and when Rud released his hair, the man did not fight or flee. He just waited for Rud to kill him. Joe had the same look.

Alice felt pity seeing what Joe had become. She gave Joe a drink of water and asked if he was hungry, Joe did not respond. Alice put her arm under his, lifted him, and helped him into a chair. She had brought food for Billy and Rud but gave the food to Joe instead. Joe looked at Rud and with a shaky voice said, "You were dead, I saw the bullet hit your chest." Alice explained that Rud was wearing an iron plate hung from his neck, and the bullet just knocked him out.

Joe looked at Rud and said, "Mister, I am sorry, and you may not believe me, but I am glad you are not dead. They told me they were looking for kidnapped kids and someone that had murdered their friends. I did not know they were planning to kill you. No matter what happens to me now, I am glad you are alive."

Alice said, "Joe, no one here wants to hurt you." Alice looked at Billy, and Billy nodded. Alice told Joe he could stay in one of the outbuildings at the mill until he was back on his feet. She told him Billy would make sure he got plenty to eat too.

Joe said, "I know steam engines and other machines. I worked at a factory that produced locomotives, and then I ran the steam engine on a large paddle wheeler. I can fix them too. I only rode with those men because I could not find work and needed money for my family. I know that is not an excuse." Billy told Joe they would give him a chance.

Joe did prove he knew steam engines. In short order, Joe had the sawmill up and running perfectly, so Billy and Rud decided to keep him on. As time went on, Joe regained his confidence and became a trusted employee. Joe was a good leader and would eventually manage all the sawmill operations for Billy and Rud.

Rud knew what fear could do to a man. Rud especially could relate to Joe as he had held so much fear inside him all those years. In Rud, it steeled his resolve, with Joe, it broke him. Rud did not think less of Joe for it. After watching his family die those many years back, it could just as easily been Rud that fear broke.

With Billy and Rud's permission, Joe built a small cabin at the sawmill and acted as caretaker when the mill was not in operation. More than once, Joe prevented thieves from stealing materials from the sawmill. Joe would not have a weapon of any kind, not even a knife, although he did fashion a big wooden club from a hickory limb. The truth was Joe did not have the heart to hurt anyone, and the club was only for show. Joe running at an intruder screaming and waving a big club had the desired effect, and Joe never actually had to use it on anyone.

Joe eventually told Rud he had a wife and daughter in a city, but it was very far away. Joe had left them several years ago to find work. Rud and Billy knew Joe was sending almost all of his paycheck to his family and offered to pay for a train ticket so he could see them. Rud suggested Joe bring his family out to live with him, and he could have the boards needed to build a house.

Joe refused, he felt he was not the man she had married and doubted she would want him now. Alice's intuition told her Joe was wrong and took it upon herself to write the sheriff in the city where Joe's wife and daughter lived. The reply came quicker than Alice expected in the form of Joe's wife and young daughter at Alice's cabin door.

* * * * *

Alice's intuition had been correct. Joe's wife missed him terribly and had sold everything they had to make the trip. Settling their debts in the city, then the train and wagon ride to the closest village had taken all their money. They had walked the remaining few miles to Alice's door. Joe had not included a return address when he sent her money, so his wife never knew where he was until the Sheriff showed her Alice's letter.

Alice told his wife what had happened to Joe and how he did not feel he was the same man she married. His wife, Rose, asked Alice to take her to see Joe.

It was late in the day when Alice took Rose and her daughter to the mill. She stopped the wagon several hundred yards from the mill and asked Rose if she minded walking the last little bit. Rose thanked Alice, and with her daughter, walked towards the mill.

Everyone had gone for the day, so Joe was the only one around when Rose and her daughter walked up to the mill. Joe saw a woman and a child on the property and headed out to shoo them away. Seeing Joe, Rose was excited but also suddenly frightened. Maybe he did not want to see her, but when Joe was close enough to recognize Rose, he ran to her. Alice could see Joe kissing Rose's face and then hugging his daughter. Joe led Rose and their daughter back to his small cabin.

Joe was in the office early the next morning, asking if it would be okay if his wife and daughter stayed with him. About that time, Rose and her beautiful green-eyed daughter Marie walked in. Joe introduced them to his employers. Rud said, "They are more than welcome to stay. After all, Joe, it is your cabin. You don't need our permission." Billy nodded in agreement.

Billy told Joe to take the day off, but he would not. He walked Rose and Marie back to his small cabin and went to work as usual. Billy looked at Rud and said Alice is going to be proud of herself. Rud replied, "Yep."

Over the following months, Rose became as much a part of the sawmill family as Joe. Rose was an exceptional seamstress and earned extra money making dresses for the worker's wives and clothes for their children.

Rose would make lunch or supper for the workers who had fallen on hard times and had nothing to eat. When someone's clothes were torn at work, they would see Rose, who would sit on a bench in front of their cabin and mend their clothes for free – often while they were still wearing them. When someone was hurt, they went to Rose for help. Joe and Rose looked after the workmen, and the workmen were very loyal to them.

Little Marie loved living at the mill and was everyone's favorite. In the morning, she would come to the office and make coffee for her Uncle Billy and Uncle Rud, then make coffee for the other workers too. Marie was quite good at putting bandages on worker's cuts, which at a sawmill happened often. Once Rose cleaned the wound and, if necessary, stitched it up, Marie would put on the bandage. Marie was a natural at caring for others, and as she grew older, she took over most of Rose's nursing duties.

Joe and Rose saved their money, and even though Rud and Billy would have let Joe have the boards for free, Joe insisted on paying for the materials required to build his house. Those same workmen Joe and Rose had fed and cared for built Joe, Rose, and Marie, a beautiful, roomy house on mill property. It was normal to ride by the mill in the evening and see Joe and Rose sitting together on the porch of their home. Their son, Joe Jr., was born not long after the house was built.

Joe never asked about the other men he rode with or the men he had passed on his way out of the valley that day. He may have known all the men he rode with were dead, but no one wanted to bring it up. Joe would eventually meet James and several of the riders who came to Rud's aid, but again, nothing was ever said. Rud knew for Joe the past was the past, he had regrets but did not want to squander his second chance by looking back. Rud understood more than most.