Hester's Hope

to Oregon stopped in the area at the foot of the Rocky Mountains to bide a while. Seems the man and his family were weary of travel and they just stopped. Before long more folks had joined him, clumping up together to make a town.”
“That sounds like a fairytale,” Beverly interjected. “Real stories don’t start with Once Upon A Time.”
“I’m just telling you what the boss told me.” Cecil raised his hands on a shrug. “I wasn’t there more than a week though before I got called home.”
“Do children have pets out west?” Beverly asked. “They could live outside and not make anyone sneeze.”
“I could have a pony and ride everywhere,” Jonas enthused.
Hester smiled at the children, but had to put a damper on their excitement. “I’m afraid your home is here children. Your uncle has already said he has a great deal of responsibility here in the city, including you. Now finish your dessert and off to bed with you. I’ll be up to tuck you in shortly.”
Jonas tossed down his napkin, springing from his chair. “I’m going up and saying my prayers right now,” the boy all but bellowed. “I’m going to pray that someday I can go west and be a cowboy.”
A moment later both children could be heard racing up the stairs, leaving the adults to finish their coffee in peace.
“I’m sorry if the conversation has caused you difficulty,” Hester said looking up at Mr. Payton. She didn’t need the man upset with her for giving the children dreams. This job was too important for her to do anything to annoy her handsome employer.
“Not at all,” Cecil mused lifting his coffee cup then replacing it, untouched to the saucer. “It would be nice to be out there again,” a dreamy quality filled his voice and Hester’s heart ached for him. He was as much a prisoner here in this beautiful home as the animals they had seen in the zoo today were. “It’s just a dream though. What would I do about the business, and how would the children cope?”
Abel Payton cleared his throat looking over the rim of his delicate cup. “Why can’t you?”
“What?” Cecil turned to his cousin his face confused. “I can’t go away and leave everything here.”
Abel placed his cup on the table, his dark eyes meeting those of his cousin. “Not to put too fine a point on it Cousin,” the dark-haired you man began, “but you are not a business man.”
Cecil laughed a hearty guffaw that filled the room. “That, my dear boy is the understatement of the year.”
Abel grinned relaxing at his cousin’s good humor. “Cecil, you came home because you had to. You have done the best you knew how to get your brother’s affairs in order, but you were never made for this life. Why not take the children and go west? You love it out there. You could make a new life for them, a fresh start. I’m sure Miss Johnson would agree.”
Both men turned to Hester who stared back at them in disbelief. “Me?” she squeaked, seeking her uncle who stood quietly by the door, a silver coffee pot in hand. “I’m sure I don’t know anything about it.”
“But you seem to understand the children,” Cecil insisted.
“Yes, you’ve survived an entire two weeks with them, and that is nothing short of a miracle,” Abel agreed.
“So what do you think? Would the children benefit from going west? Would they, could they be happy in a different place?”
Hester sipped her tea as both men turned to stare at her expectantly. She could feel Hyke’s dark eyes on her from the other side of the room and played for time.  Placing the cup on the table with care she met Mr. Payton’s hazel-green gaze. “I think the children need more than games and prizes to occupy their time. They are intelligent, interested and completely unprepared for the harsh realities of life. It would do them a great deal of good to step out of this life of privilege and do some real living.”
Hester clutched her hands in her lap shocked at her boldness, but she didn’t back down. She had stated what she believed and would let it stand.
Cecil studied the young woman seated half way down the table and smiled. She was right. They would all benefit from a change of pace. How could he be expected to be a good guardian and provider if he was miserable? Wouldn’t that disquiet and discontent eventually spill over on to others?
“What about the business?” Cecil asked his excitement evaporating like a desert spring in summer. “I can’t just walk away.”
Abel cleared his throat again. “If you’ll forgive me cousin, you are not a very good business man, at least not in this area. I would be happy to take on the responsibilities of running the company for you if you make me full acting manager. Don’t worry, I’ve been training for this for years, and it is in my best interest to see the company grow. You could travel west with the children, seeing to their needs while I see to the needs of commerce.”
“But where would we go?” Cecil stood pacing across the room behind his chair. “I have no home, no holdings out west. I was no more than a saddle bum.” He looked up blushing slightly at his language, but catching Hester’s grin, let it go.
“Your brother had property out west. I don’t know much about it, but I could find out. I believe he took over a farm of some kind in Wyoming. You could return there.”
Cecil stood restlessly. “Really!” Cecil turned gripping the back of his chair as he peered at his cousin. “Where? What kind of place? Is it big, small?”
Abel laughed softly. “I believe it is in Wyoming,” he said. “There’s a town out there call Biders Clump and your brother gained the land in some business deal.”
A slow smile spread across Cecil’s face and for the first time in months he