A Heart Both Troubled and Relieved

The ferry was packed tight,

With tired folks hoping to make it back to BG tonight.

Quite a hair-raising day, it had been.

The Liberty Belle being taken, then taken back again.

Now she sat stranded in the marsh, run aground.

Denver said it'd take some time until she was sound,

Lots of repairs needed to be done alright.

The ferry had been a welcomed sight.

Josie was tired and looked quite the fright.

She could smell herself alright.

Her dress a dirty mess.

It would never come clean of the dirt and grime,

But looking at Jhonny, she'd gotten off easy this time.

His kin had cleaned him up a bit,

But he still smelled like...

A word not proper for a lady to say.

He had since slept most of the day away.

Josie was worried about him,

With bruises and cuts allover his skin.

After the explosions,

She'd searched out Jhonny

Frantically,

Was a bit relieved to see him with Shadow and Annie.

Josie was quite ashamed of the way she'd treated him.

Maybe they could start over and be proper friends?

She sat on the deck.

On the ferry near where Jhonny slumbered on a cot,

Her mind full of troubled thoughts.

She missed Jake, Brandy too.

She even longed to get a hug from Rue.

Quite a day it'd been,

She wanted a bath and a bowl of hot rabbit stew.

The hotel made it best.

Annie encouraged her to get some rest.

As the sun sank low in the sky and night was nigh.

But that was hard to do,

On the crowded ferry, with barely any room.

And her worries refused to let her sleep, they were not good company to keep.

As twilight fell, Josie heard a voice she knew well.

Perhaps she was dreaming, it sounded like Jake.

But he was miles away for pity' sake!

She heard his voice calling out once more, it sounded like it came from the shore.

Josie stood up and gripped the rail, she scanned the river banks, and what she saw there.

Brought the burn of tears, a welcomed sight, Jake riding Blaze, he was alright!

Jake kept pace with the ferry, along the shore.

And when Josie called out to him, he smiled then swore.

It proved too hard to talk over the ferry's roar.

And the chatter of the others on board.

Jake followed the ferry upstream till it came to an old pier,

Quite near the place,

Josie'd been taken aboard in the first place.

There was always room for one more it seemed, well make that two, including the horse too.

Josie barely gave Jake a chance to make it on deck, before she ran and threw her arms around his neck.

She could barely breathe,

Jake squeezed her so tight,

"Did they hurt you? Are you alright?"

Asked Jake as he looked her over quickly. His eyes looked a bit misty.

Josie laughed, "I don't know who smells worse, you or me! I'm fine as you can see. I helped take back over the ship. Jhonny was hurt, but he'll pull through it."

Jacob let out a relieved breath,

"When we get back to the hotel, we'll talk all about this little miss."

On his cheek, Jake gave his sister a kiss.

Josie noticed the blood on him. Above his eye, the broken skin.

"Jake? Have you been hurt? Where's Brandy?"

Jacob looked tired as he sank down on the deck. Josie gave Blaze a pet.

"We'll talk about it when we get back to BG. For now just come and sit by me "

Josie was full of questions, but she didn't want to pry. At least not yet, because Jake looked like he'd been through it.

Besides her Jake quickly fell asleep, his hand still gripped her sleeve.

As if he had no plans of letting Josie go again.

No longer a baby, but Josie let him.

She'd missed him too,

As she dabbed at the blood, gently on his brow,

Was tended injured menfolk, her life now?

But that's what you did, with friends and family,

You took care of each other in times of need.

Josie's heart was both troubled and relieved,

As the ferry made its way back to BG.