by Al Lacy
As they moved along Cheyenne’s main thoroughfare the soft whispers in the wind were saying in his ears, “Welcome, Dane. Welcome to the West! You will be very happy here!”
Chapter Twenty-four
Six years later
It was the third week of May, 1878. At Mile High Hospital in Denver, Tharyn Myers Tabor—now twenty years of age—walked up to the door of the hospital’s chief administrator, Dr. Matthew Carroll, in her white uniform and cap.
The door was standing open, and from behind his desk, Dr. Carroll spotted her, rose to his feet and said, “Come in, Tharyn.”
A bit nervous as she approached the desk, the nurse smiled. “Breanna said you wanted to see me, Doctor.”
Dr. Carroll nodded with a pleasant look on his face. “Yes. Please sit down.”
When she had eased onto one of the chairs in front of the desk, Carroll sat down, put his elbows on the desktop, and folded his hands. “Tharyn, since you graduated from the Denver School of Nursing and came to work here at the hospital two years ago, you have done a marvelous job for us. You are admired by everyone on the hospital staff.”
Tharyn’s face tinted slightly. “I’m glad, sir.”
“You are aware that my sister-in-law is asking to work even fewer hours than she has been since her second child, Ginny, was born four years ago. That’s when she quit working also for the Goodwin Clinic. She wants and needs more time at home with both Ginny and six-year-old Paul.”
“Yes, sir. She told me about it just recently.”
Tharyn knew that Dr. Carroll’s wife, Dottie, was Breanna’s sister, and because they all belonged to the same church, Tharyn had gotten to know the Carrolls and the Brockmans quite well. She was very fond of them. Especially Breanna, who had helped her and encouraged her in her pursuit of the nursing profession ever since she came to Denver and was adopted by David and Kitty Tabor.
Dr. Carroll proceeded. “You know Breanna, Tharyn, so you understand that even though she needs to be home with her children more, she still can’t quite let go of her nursing career.”
Tharyn smiled. “Yes, Doctor. And I can understand that.”
“Well, since Breanna is cutting back her working hours even more, I want to give you a promotion which will put you in the spot she has held ever since the hospital opened, except that you will be full-time. Of course, along with the promotion will come a substantial raise in salary.”
Overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events, Tharyn’s mind flashed back over the years—back to her childhood home with her mother and father in Manhattan. She thought of the horrible day when the team of startled horses pulling the wagon loaded with building supplies ran them down and took their lives, leaving her an orphan. She knew her parents would be proud of her for becoming a nurse.
She thought of Dane Weston, who had saved her life and helped her to survive as a homeless street urchin. Dane had been so glad when she told him through the prison bars that she was going to pursue a nurse’s career.
Her mind then went to the long train ride from New York to Denver six years ago, and her best friend, Leanne, whom she still saw in church every Sunday, and quite often between Sundays. With these thoughts came the sweet memory of the eventful day when David and Kitty Tabor met her at the railroad station and chose her to be their daughter.
She reminisced of her days in nurse’s training and how she reveled in every one of them, chomping at the bit to finish so she could put into practice what she had learned. Now this exceptional offer had come to her.
“Oh! Dr. Carroll, I’m sorry. I sort of got caught up in memories. Nothing would make me happier than to accept this position being vacated by Breanna.”
Carroll’s eyes brightened. “Wonderful! Then the job is yours.”
“Thank you, Dr. Carroll. However, filling Breanna’s shoes is a formidable undertaking, for sure! She’s the best in the business. Why do I have the feeling that she had something to do with recommending me to replace her?”
“Well, she did strongly suggest that I consider you, but I already had you in mind.”
“I figured she had put in a word for me. Doctor, I—I’m humbly grateful that you’ve chosen me. There are several other nurses you could have chosen.”
“I feel confident, Tharyn, that if anyone can fill Breanna’s shoes, it is you. Just be yourself, let God guide you, and you will do fine.”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
“May I ask you a personal question?”
“Why, of course.”
“Is there a young man in your life? I haven’t seen you with one at church.”
“There isn’t, sir. I thought maybe things would work out with a Christian young man named Russell Mims, whom I met in New York when both of us lived on the streets. We even came west on the same orphan train in 1871, but after we exchanged a couple of letters, he wrote to tell me that he had fallen in love with a girl in his church in San Francisco and they were planning to get married.”
Tharyn’s mind went to Dane Weston again and how she had written to him at the prison in Manhattan several times, but never once received a reply. She had decided that the boy she called her big brother had elected not to keep contact with her since it seemed that he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Carroll smiled. “Well, Tharyn, there are some nice young men in our church. Maybe one of these days something will click between you and one of them.”
Tharyn bestowed her gentle smile on her boss. “I’m leaving that up to the Lord, Dr. Carroll. I’m sure He has a young man all picked out for me and me all picked out for him. When it is time, the Lord will bring the two of us together. In the meantime, you are looking at one happy girl who has realized her dream of becoming a nurse. And now, with this promotion, I’m even happier!”
In that same third week of May, 1878, at Northwestern University’s Medical School, Dr. and Mrs. Jacob Logan were sitting in the auditorium on graduation night, proudly watching their adopted son, Dane, on the platform as he received three special honors for his scholastic achievements while studying medicine for the past four years.
As his long-awaited diploma was placed in his hand by the school’s president and he was addressed as “Dr. Dane Logan,” Dane looked down at his beaming parents and saw the tears glistening in their eyes and spilling down their cheeks.
When Dane stood with the graduates who had received their diplomas while the others were moving up one by one to receive theirs, his mind went back in time.
A sharp pang struck his heart as he thought of his biological parents and of his brother and sister who had been taken from him that tragic night on the streets of Manhattan. He also thought of the other orphans in his colony. I wonder where each one is now. As far as I know, all of those who were old enough at the time got saved. I know my heavenly Father has watched over them, wherever they are.
He thought of Dr. and Mrs. Lee Harris, who had been so good to him and who had brought him to Christ, and wondered if they were still on earth or had gone on to heaven.
And then almost as though it was happening again, he remembered that horrific day when he was arrested for the murder of Benny Jackson.
He thought back on how the Lord had protected him in the prison, and of the souls God had enabled him to lead to the Saviour. I’m sure that’s why God had me in that prison—much like Paul of old—to bring lost souls to Him.
Dane rejoiced as he remembered the day he was informed that Benny Jackson’s real killer had been caught and confessed his guilt, and he was told he was being released from the Tombs.
He set his gaze on his parents again and remembered the first time he saw them. Little did he know at that moment in the Chicago depot that before the train ride was over, they would tell him they wanted to adopt him.
And now, here he was, graduating from Northwestern with his medical degree, thanks to the Lord and Jacob and Naomi Logan.
His parents caught his eye and smiled at him from where they sat in the sec
ond row, directly in front of the platform. The pride they felt was shining in their eyes.
A verse of memorized Scripture pushed its way into his mind. Psalm 139:14. “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Looking toward heaven, Dane whispered, “Thank You, Lord, for Your goodness to me, and for Your wonderful grace. ‘Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.’”
When the ceremonies were over and the graduates came off the platform to be greeted and congratulated by friends and loved ones, Dane’s parents embraced him, and his mother kissed his cheek.
He took his parents to some of his friends and fellow graduates, and introduced them. There was much talk, and his friends told him how glad they were for him. They were already aware that Dane was set up at Memorial Hospital in Cheyenne to do his internship, and that after he fulfilled his two years of internship, his father was going to take him in as a partner in his medical practice.
One fellow graduate who was also a Christian, said, “Dane, the Lord has really watched over you. Just think! You will get to be part of your dad’s practice! How many young doctors ever get a privilege like that?”
Dane grinned from ear to ear. “Not very many, Charlie. Not very many. The Lord has been so good to me and answered prayer after prayer all these years.”
Dane’s mind went to Tharyn Myers and he wondered why she never wrote to him after she had been chosen as a foster child—wherever she was.
But Dr. Dane Logan would not let this dampen his spirits. He had never been happier in his whole life. His dream of becoming a physician and surgeon had been realized. His next big step would be to find the Christian girl God had chosen for him and marry her.
Dane’s father laid a hand on his shoulder. “Well, son, let’s go to your dormitory room and get you packed. Our train leaves for Cheyenne bright and early in the morning!”
A Note from the Publisher
If you would like to follow the lives of Dr. Dane Weston Logan and Nurse Tharyn Myers Tabor, be sure to look for Al and JoAnna Lacy’s next trilogy, Frontier Doctor.
This book is a work of fiction. With the exception of recognized
historical figures, the characters in this novel are fictional. Any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
WHISPERS IN THE WIND
© 2003 by ALJO PRODUCTIONS, INC.
published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
Image of orphans by Getty Images
Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is
registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lacy, Al.
Whispers in the wind/by Al and JoAnna Lacy.
p. cm. – (The orphan trains trilogy; bk. 3)
1. Homeless children–Fiction. 2. Orphan trains–Fiction.
3. Orphans–Fiction. I. Lacy, Joanna. II. Title.
PS3562.A256W47 2003
813’.54–dc21
2003011822
eISBN: 978-0-307-56423-8
v3.0