Jarrod poured a glass of sherry for his mother and a scotch for himself. By the time he gave her glass to Victoria, he heard his brothers' voices in the foyer. Nick soon made his appearance in the family room, closely followed by Heath.

After a few minutes talking about the uneventful day, Victoria reached for the envelope resting on the coffee table in front of her.

"We received a letter from Audra," she started, amused by the three brother's unconditional attention she instantly noticed on their face.

"How's she doing?" asked Heath.

"She's doing very well. They are in Buffalo, safe and sound," answered Victoria.

"Well, pretty lady, would you read us her letter?" smiled Jarrod.

Victoria didn't answer but rather opened the envelope and started to read:

Buffalo, December 1st, 1879
Dear Mother and Family,

Audra

"A new dress, a mantle! She's going to ruin the family!" shouted Nick in a mock outburst, though it was obvious in his face that he was happy to get news from his sister.

"I reckon you forget the fur," grinned Heath.

"Yes, and with fur!" added Nick.

"Nick, you should not worry about money when your sister is having a good time," gently reproached Victoria.

"Mother is right, brother Nick. You should not worry about money." Jarrod paused before adding, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. "You should rather worry for the stores' clerks."

At the thought of the dress sellers attending to Audra for hours, the three brothers laughed out loud, Heath's distinctive laughter bringing extra warmth to Victoria's heart. It was good to see them so happy. They had been rather anxious lately about their sister's departure for New York with the prospect to not have her around for Christmas.

After a few minutes, calm came back into the family room.

"Who's this Henry she's talkin' about?" inquired Heath.

"Henry Altman, Lizzy's brother. If I recall, he's a kind of engineer," explained Jarrod.

"Oh, now I understand."

"Understand what?" asked Nick.

"What kind of plans he might have in mind," answered Heath, a not so subtle hint in his voice.

"You must be joking, boy!" laughed Nick. "Audra has at least three suitors already!"

"How come, brother Nick? Wasn't it four last month?" couldn't help but add Jarrod.

And then the laugher started again, soon followed by the same light chat until Victoria announced that it was time to have diner and change the topic of the conversation.

Jarrod dismounted by the corral where his brothers were chatting, their attention turned to Nick's latest acquisition, which looked indeed like a very good horse. He let Ciego take care of Jingo and started toward his brothers.

As he noticed his older brother walking towards them, Nick said, "Hey, Jarrod. You came back early. Something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Nick. It had been a quiet day at the office and since we received a letter..."

"From Audra?" cut in Heath.

"And why didn't you tell us right away?" added Nick before Jarrod could say a word.

Jarrod smiled as he reached for the envelope in his vest pocket and pulled it out. "You are quite impatient, brother Nick."

"Of course I am! How much did she spend this time?" groaned Nick, but he was obviously eager to get news from Audra.

"What does she say?" asked Heath.

"Well, to know that, we would have to read it..." started Jarrod.

"Yeah, good idea," cut in Nick as he tried to take the envelope from Jarrod's hand.

Jarrod managed to prevent Nick from getting the letter. "Don't you think Mother would like to open it?"

"What's written on it?" cut Nick.

"Barkley Family," blandly answered Jarrod, knowing he had fallen into Nick's trap. "Which doesn't mean we should read it without Mother."

"Come on, Pappy. And I thought you were such a sensible man," teased Nick.

"I don't follow you."

"D'you really want the three of us to upset Mother with our laughter? You remember the last letter we got, don't you?"

"He got a point, Jarrod," added Heath.

Jarrod raised his hand to prevent further arguments. "Alright. But I'll be the one reading it."

He opened the envelope, unfolded the paper sheet and started to read:

Rochester, Dec. 4th 1879
Dear Family,

You must be wondering why I am in Rochester now.

"Yeah, I guess they have bigger dress stores there."

"Nick, if you are to interrupt me all the time, I suggest we let Mother read it."

"And I suggest you read it or I'll do that myself," groaned Nick.

"I reckon I rather have you read it, Jarrod," laughed Heath.

"And what do you mean by that, boy?" groaned Nick.

"Nothing at all, big brother," soothed Heath, not willing to start a fight upon a teasing.

"Ok, now you two stay quiet while I read," cut in Jarrod before resuming the reading.

You must be wondering why I am in Rochester now. As I mentioned in my previous letter, Henry joined us in Buffalo two days ago.

Oh, he has such a grandiose project. I am not sure I should write about it, but since I know you will keep it for yourself, I see nothing wrong with telling you what it is. He wants to built a Cyclorama!

"A what?!"

"A cyclorama, Nick," answered Heath.

"Yeah, I heard that. But what's a cyclorama?"

"I guess something that rotates," guessed Heath.

"Are you telling me this guy just invented the wheel?!" laughed Nick.

"Might be, remember he's a kind of engineer," laughed Heath. "You never know with Eastern guys."

"Great, and I guess Audra's gonna ask us to finance his *grandiose* project... the wheel!" laughed Nick.

"Maybe he invented buttons?" laughed Heath.

Nick turned to face Jarrod and have him resume reading, but all he saw was his older brother stepping on the porch of the house.

"Hey! Come back here, Jarrod! You aren't done with that letter!"

Heath's laughter only increased at the situation. Finally, Mother would be the one reading it.

Nick started toward the house without turning back to Heath. "You stay here laughin' if you want. I want to know about this cyclaroma!"

"Cyclo... cyclorama Nick!"

Jarrod greeted Nick with a smile on his face, which only grew wider when Nick noticed the letter already in his mother's hands.

"I'd like to know what's this cyclaroma," announced Nick.

"Cyclorama, Nick," corrected Jarrod.

"Whatever!"

"Nick, as soon as you stop shouting and pacing, I'll read Audra's letter. Where is Heath? I thought I saw him with you," said Victoria, unfolding the letter. Her fingers felt a piece of cardboard which Jarrod had left in the envelope.

"The boy's laughing outside," grumbled Nick as he poured himself a whisky.

"Laughing? Would you mind explaining?" asked Victoria.

The subject of the question walked in the family room at that moment.

"There you are," greeted Nick. "Now we can read Audra's letter."

Victoria started to read:

Rochester, Dec. 4th 1879 Dear Family,

Audra P.S. We went by a ranch yesterday and Henry was astonished at my knowledge of horses. I was so proud to tell him that all I know about horses and ranching, I learned from my big brothers.

"Where's that stereo view picture?" asked Nick. "If we are to pay all those train tickets..."

"Nick, please," almost whispered Jarrod to his brother. "I don't think now is a good time."

Nick started to reply, but upon seeing Jarrod's frown, decided that indeed it wasn't maybe a good time to joke about expenses. He turned his attention back to his mother, who was carefully unwrapping the stereo view picture from its white protective paper sheet.

Jarrod walked over to a small table near the fireplace. Returning to his mother's side, he handed her the stereoscope and watched while she inserted the picture Audra had sent.

She looked at it carefully for a while then handed it to Jarrod. Nick stood by his brother's side to look at it as well.

"And that must be Horseshoe Falls," stated Nick as he pointed at a part of the picture.

"Indeed, brother Nick. Audra was right, that's a magnificent waterfall," commented Jarrod.

"I knew the Falls were wonderful. This photograph is so clear, you can almost feel as if you were there. Let Heath see it..." Victoria's voice tailed off as she turned to find Heath. He had left the room while all the attention was diverted to the stereo view picture.

"Now, where did he go?" grumbled Nick.

Victoria walked to the stable. She stopped and stood by the half opened door. For a moment, she pondered about leaving or making her presence known. She finally opted for a move and walked in. She sat on a hay stack near the stalls.

Heath sensed a presence and looked over his shoulder, but said nothing as he resumed his brushing of the horse.

"You didn't see the stereo view Audra sent us. Jarrod found the viewer, it's really worth looking at it," stated Victoria, knowing she shouldn't expect much of an answer.

"Glad you like it," came as an answer after a while.

"Is there something wrong, Heath?"

"Not that I reckon," came back sharply.

"Now, Heath Barkley. Something's bothering you, I would swear it's written in the sky. If you want me to leave, that's all right with me. Just say so."

Heath stopped on his movement over the horse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"All right. Now, can you tell me what's wrong?" asked Victoria, though she perfectly knew what was the matter.

"Nothing. I'm all right. You shouldn't worry..."

Victoria stood and came by Heath, patting the horse's back.

"We all miss her, Heath. She'll be back soon. Audra's having a good time, and I'm sure she would be sorry to see you sad."

"Yeah, I reckon I'm missing her. The sooner she's back, the better," admitted Heath.

Victoria smiled, looking at the brush on the horse's back.

"I know, Heath. And you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because she would be sorry to see that her horse had lost all its hair by your over-attending it."

Victoria got rewarded for her teasing by a huge smile and a reddening face turning to her.

"It's late, young man. And I require an escort back to the house."

Heath put the brush on a nearby shelf and took Victoria's arm.

"And there's a picture I'd like to see," replied Heath as they both left the stable.

Victoria Barkley step out of the post office, holding tight yet another letter from her daughter. Her errands now done with, impatient to read the news from her daughter, Victoria gazed up and down the street, looking for a quiet place so she could read the letter. Then she thought of her son Jarrod's office, a few buildings away. She offered a dollar to a young boy to check on her buggy then walked directly to the lawyer's office.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Barkley," greeted Jarrod's secretary.

"Good afternoon, Miss Jones," replied Victoria, looking around the room. "Is my son busy with a visitor?"

"Actually, Mr. Barkley is out. He said he would probably not be back today," informed Miss Jones.

"I see. But I'm sure you wouldn't mind me if I sit for a few minutes. I'd just like to read a letter from Audra..."

"Oh, how is your daughter, Mrs. Barkley? Mr. Barkley told me she was in Buffalo. Oh, how lucky is Miss Audra!"

"Yes, she is," could only say Victoria before Miss Jones cut in.

"Please sit down, Mrs. Barkley," offered Miss Jones, herself walking toward the visitor's seat. "I had an aunt living in Buffalo. I went there myself once, but I cannot remember, since I was only four years old... But I still remember her very well. How could I forget her..."

Talking all the way, Miss Jones sat down. "Aunt Claire, that was her name. Actually, she wasn't my real aunt, but my mother's best friend. But we all called her aunt Claire. She was so nice. She had a strong French accent, and it's only later that Mother told me she was from a French family and that they had traveled all their way from..."

Victoria looked warily around, as if searching for an escape. She only wanted a quiet place to read Audra's letter, and now felt trapped in a whirlwind of words.

"I wouldn't want to disturb you in your work," tried Victoria.

"Oh, don't worry, Mrs. Barkley. Mr. Barkley gave me the afternoon off. Actually, I would be gone already if it wasn't for this delivery boy I'm waiting for... It's amazing how slow they can be nowadays. Just last week..."

It took ten more minutes for Victoria to finally be able to leave her son's office without looking impolite. She walked directly to her buggy, feeling as if she just had escaped a tornado, and had now decided to go home. Audra's letter would have to wait until she arrived home to be read.

Soon the wind started to blow quite hard. Victoria urged the horse on at a faster pace. The sight of the house in the distance made her let out a sigh of relief. She was getting very cold with that December wind.

She stopped by the front door, which opened. Jarrod stepped out on the doorstep to help his mother down from the buggy.

"You'd better get inside, Mother. Such a freezing wind. I'll take care of the buggy," said Jarrod as he stepped closer to the buggy to help his mother down.

As she slightly turned to hold out her hand to him, she remembered Audra's letter. In her haste to get in the house, she had forgotten the letter she had tucked between the buggy seat and her thigh to secure it against the raising winds.

Too late she turned back to the seat - the envelope was gone, carried away by the wind. Looking around for it, she soon spotted it laying against the corral fence.

"Mother, what's wrong?" asked Jarrod, still waiting for her hand.

But rather than taking his hand, she jumped down by his side.

"Jarrod, Audra's letter..." she started, then realized it would take too long to explain and had to catch the envelope before the next wind blew. She walked toward the corral, silently praying for the wind to cooperate.

"Mother?" almost shouted Jarrod, as the wind blew hard again. He followed her, trying to find out the object of her attention. He saw his mother bend and reach for a piece of paper... which flew away in the wind before she could catch it.

Jarrod stood by his mother, helping her keep her balance against the blowing wind. Was it the wind blowing hard in his ears, or did he actually hear his mother swear?

Now the immaculate white piece of paper flew away to the middle of the corral. Victoria stared at it, as if ordering it to stay put.

"Jarrod..."

"I'll get it, Mother."

At the same time, Nick and Heath stepped out of the stable, securing the door back against the hard wind. Jarrod noticed them, as well as the envelope threatening to blow away again. Jarrod waved at his brothers.

"Nick! Heath!" he shouted at them, pointing at the envelope in the corral. "Catch it! It's Audra's letter!"

Victoria kept silent, watching the scene in front of her. Deep inside, she knew that if it could get worse, it would. She watched her two sons on the other side of the corral as they talked - or argued, she thought - before each one climbed the corral's fence and raced for the envelope.

As Heath pounced to get the envelope, Nick slipped in the mud and half fell over Heath, which threw them both face first in the mud.

Jarrod was pretty sure this time he heard his mother swear, teeth clenched. Probably due to the bitter cold wind...

Both brothers in the corral struggled to get on their feet.

"Great, Nick. I reckon you couldn't do worse," mumbled Heath.

"Now, wait! I was gonna get it..."

"Where is it?" asked Heath, more preoccupied with finding the envelope in the mud than listening to Nick.

"Why, you aren't even able to find a piece of white paper..."

Heath waved a piece of dirty paper in front of Nick's eyes. "I reckon it's hardly white anymore."

They both joined Victoria and Jarrod near the buggy. Victoria only held out her hand to get the muddy envelope, avoiding commenting further on the event. Jarrod couldn't erase a huge grin on his face at the sight of his muddy brothers looking sheepishly at their mother.

"At least, you caught it," laughed Jarrod.

"Yeah, and caught this as well," replied Nick as he wiped his gloved hand across his muddy vest and then patted Jarrod's smiling face with his hand.

Jarrod's grin thus vanished, while huge ones appeared on his brothers' faces.

As everyone finally gathered, cleaned, in the family room, Victoria sat on the couch. For a long moment, she stared at the envelope she had put to dry on the table before the fireplace. Of course, it wasn't quite dry yet, but Victoria was determined to now read her daughter's letter.

Jarrod bent over the table, reaching for the dirty envelope.

"Allow me, Mother," offered Jarrod.

"No!" came out instinctively.

The three brothers froze on the spot. Victoria's reaction stunned them, and her.

"None of you will touch it before I read it," she stated, now a light smile on her face.

Slowly, she opened the grey envelope, pulling out the letter from inside. She leaned back comfortably, ready to read it. She unfolded it and read:

Rochester, Dec. 5th.

Love to you all, Audra P.S. It's pretty pleasant weather here. Cool, but hopefully no wind at all.

Jarrod walked in the house, his senses immediately telling him Victoria had been cooking most of the day. It smelled so good, it smelled like Christmas. Walking towards the family room to get a drink before dinner, he stopped briefly in the arched doorway, looking at the sight before him.

Victoria was seated on the couch, facing Heath with whom she was playing cards. Nick, a glass of whisky in hand, was standing by the fireplace, looking at the fire contentedly. It was quiet, no one had noticed Jarrod's presence yet. He stood still a few more seconds before making his entry.

Jarrod walked directly to his mother and bent to put a kiss on her forehead.

"Jarrod, I'm glad you came back early. How was your day?" she asked.

"It was a very quiet day, Mother. The only interesting event has been..." Jarrod intentionally let his voice tailed off in an attempt to get everyone's full attention. He slowly pulled out a white envelope from his vest and handed it to Victoria. "That we received a letter from Audra," he dramatically stated.

Jarrod sat beside his mother as she opened the letter and read it:

Rochester, Dec. 18 Dear Family,

Love to you all, Audra

Victoria turned the sheet of paper over, making sure she read it all. She looked interrogatingly at Jarrod. "Was this the only letter we received today?"

"I'm sure it is, Mother," answered Jarrod. He looked up at Nick. "Did you get a letter yesterday, Nick?"

"Me? I didn't go to town since last week. What about you, Heath?"

The youngest Barkley shook his head. "Last I checked at the post office, there wasn't any letter for us."

"So the last letter we got from Audra was the one..." started Nick.

"Which ended in the corral mud," finished Jarrod.

"Guess ol' Jenkins messed up the mail again," noted Heath.

Nick gulped down his drink and put the glass on the mantle. "I'm gonna pay him a visit," he stated. "Coming with me, Heath?"

Heath was already on his feet. "Sure, Nick."

"We won't be long, Mother," announced Nick as he walked towards the door.

"We'll be back for dinner," added Heath on his brother's heels.

"And you try to stay out of trouble, both of you," warned Victoria, remembering her sons' attempt at racing for Audra's last letter.

"Nick, we should wait for tomorrow..."

"And tomorrow's Sunday, you forget? Come on, boy. All we have to do is open this door, then wake up Jenkins and look for Audra's letter."

"Are you so sure he's in there?"

Heath tried to peak into the dark room but the curtains inside didn't allow him to have a clear sight. The quarter moon overhead was no help either.

"Don't you hear him snoring?!?"

"I reckon there's a kind of noise in there..."

Since the sturdy backdoor would not move at all, Nick tried his hands on the window next to it. "Here's our way in." With little effort, Nick slowly slid up the window.

"I'm not sure, Nick..."

"Alright, boy, you stay here while I go in and open the door," grumbled Nick as he moved over the window frame, his right leg already inside.

"What if someone walks by?"

"Look. You'll tell 'em we only want to talk to Jenkins, that since the man must be drunk, we have no other choice..." Nick stopped. "You'll tell them to mind their damn business!"

On that, Nick bent to get his upper body inside, but the frame would not cooperate in giving way. With a rather colorful comment, he twisted to get both his legs inside, from where he would then slide down in.

"You hear that?" asked Heath.

"Yeah, I did. It might have been my pants tearing. I'm kind of stuck here," explained Nick, though he wasn't quite sure what the sound was either.

"It sounds sort of like snoring, but I don't know, Nick."

"Gee, Heath, you're more skittish than a newborn filly!" Nick said loudly.

"D'you think Jenkins sleepwalks?"

"D'you have any more stupid questions?"

"Well, Nick, I reckon the sound's louder..."

"SO?!?!" exclaimed Nick, now quite exasperated as much by his brother's questions as by his being stuck in such an awkward position.

"It's... it's a dog, Nick! Get out!"

Heath grabbed Nick under his arms and pulled him out of the house in a whirlwind of barking and swearing, not sure which of the dog or his brother made more noise. In his harsh reaction to help his brother, Heath didn't quite calculate the exact strength needed - and put too much into his efforts.

Nick practically flew out of the window, landing heavily on Heath, bumping his forehead on his young brother's jaw.

"Ouch!" groaned Nick, instinctively putting a hand to cover a part of his buttocks which hadn't gotten out of the dog's reach faster enough.

Heath rubbed his jaw, wincing at the blow which had also split his lower lip. "Get off me!"

"You, DEGENERATES!" shouted a stranger's voice in the dark alley.

"We better git," whispered Nick.

"Before someone calls the morality brigade," added Heath before they walked away to their horses across the street.

Heath stopped besides the horses, staring at Nick's back. "Must hurt. Want to drop by Doc Merar's?"

"That son of... only got a tooth on me," answered Nick as he mounted Coco. But the groan Heath then heard convinced him the dog had gotten more than one tooth in Nick.

Heath didn't reply to Nick's grumbling about the use of spurs, and the fact that he didn't put them on.

They finally arrived back home, both in pain, with some fresh bruises and without a letter from Audra. They went straight to the barn to take care of their horses.

"Hope that beast didn't have rabies... I swear if..."

"Nick, even Jenkins would not keep a sick dog."

"You're right."

Heath laughed. "I wonder what Mother will do to your... tender backside when we tell her what happened!"

"Don't fret, boy. I can easily hide it, which you can't do," grinned Nick, pointing at his brother's swollen lower lip.

"Yeah, but mine can be disinfected decently!" laughed Heath.

Walking from the stable to the front door of the house, Nick tried to get a casual gait while Heath pressed the bandana he had soaked with cold water on his lower lip. They stopped on the front door, starring at each other, bracing to face their mother.

They finally walked in, silently, hoping against all hope that they could at least reach the bathroom or their bedroom without anyone noticing their respective injuries.

Only Silas was in the foyer. "Mister Nick, Mister Heath. Mrs Barkley asked me to tell you to get dressed for dinner and join her in the family room."

"T'was my plan," grumbled Nick as he slowly - painfully - climbed the stairs.

After long minutes at figuring out how to efficiently and comfortably bandage his wound, Nick slowly made his way down the stairs, mentally fearing the moment he would have to sit down at the dinner table. He grinned - Heath was in for it, for sure. Despite his young brother's almost desperate attempts at fixing his lower lip, there was no way in the world he could go without it being noticed.

Indeed, as Nick slowly reached the family room, Heath was already being lectured. But not by their mother - it was Jarrod.

"Heath, can you explain how you ended up with a bruised jaw and a split lip by going to the post office?"

"It's a long story, Jarrod," answered Heath.

"And we have no time to get through it. We have a guest for dinner," said Jarrod, smiling.

"Who?" asked Nick as he walked - barely - to the liquor table.

"You'll see in a minute," simply replied Jarrod.

"Waitaminit! If that's this Miss Simpson..."

"No, brother Nick..."

Sounds of satin dresses and women's shoes in the foyer cut down the conversation. Heath wanted to look away to hide his bruised face while Nick stood far from any seat.

Victoria came in, holding out her hand to the person still outside the room. Audra walked in, happy to see her brothers so astonished to see her.

"AUDRA!" came out as a roar in unison from Heath and Nick.

Heath was already hugging his little sister, which gave Nick just enough time to walk slowly to do the same.

"I'm so glad to see you!"

"I thought you were staying in Rochester for Christmas?"

"In Rochester? How could I, Nick?! I wrote you to tell you the exact opposite..."

Heath cocked an eye to Nick. "You know, the letter we didn't get?"

"Yeah," grumbled Nick.

"Of course, you didn't get it. I didn't send it," stated Audra.

"WHAT!?"

Audra couldn't help but to laugh at Nick's yelling. She missed it so much. In fact, she missed all of them so much, she had decided to take the first train back to California.

"I was so anxious to get back, and wanted to do so in time for Christmas. I missed you all so much, I just forgot to put the letter in the mail."

Nick smiled. What could he say? His little sister was back for the holidays. Not even a fresh scar - despite its delicate location - would spoil the evening.

Victoria starred at the smiling Heath. What was wrong? As he noticed her looking at him, he tried to turn away. Too late.

"I'll get the liniment," she stated, almost smiling. Her warning to stay out of trouble had obviously gone unheeded.

"I reckon it won't be necessary..."

"I'll be judge of that, young man."

Heath couldn't help it. "Then you should bring extra for Nick... in a bucket."

Heath got a sudden interest in the floral pattern of the carpet, avoiding to look at his fuming brother. Nick was looked up and down, from head to toe, by Victoria.

"And where are you hurt?" she asked, unable to locate any wound.

Heath laughed out loud, despite the pain it brought. "You'll know at dinner!"

*The End*