The Iron Wagon

by Al Lacy

  Breanna’s face was still somewhat pale, and she appeared to be a bit weary, but a smile beamed from her face as she nodded and acknowledged the crowd. She then gazed up into the face of her dear husband, where tears glistened in his eyes, and nodded.

  The members of First Baptist Church looked on in amazement as Breanna began to walk slowly down the aisle beside her husband. There was loud applause and even louder praises being given to the Lord as the beloved couple made their way to the pew where Paul, Ginny, and Meggie stood. All three of them tenderly embraced their mother.

  When the excitement finally settled down, everyone eased onto their pews.

  An hour later, when the sermon was finished and the invitation was given, four adults and three young people came forward to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and Damon Fortney presented himself for baptism.

  Pastor Bayless baptized the four adults and the three young people first. Then the big rancher stepped down into the baptistry. Speaking so all could hear, the pastor told Damon how glad he was that Damon had finally healed up so he could come for baptism.

  The big rancher smiled. “Thank you, Pastor, for leading me to the Lord. I’m so very glad I can finally be baptized.” Damon was submerged in the water and raised up, with Pastor Bayless saying, “Buried in the likeness of His death, and raised in the likeness of His resurrection.” The crowd applauded heartily.

  Soon the pastor closed the service in prayer. As soon as the service was dismissed, a crowd gathered around the pew where Breanna was seated, and moving slowly in line, they shared with her their joy that she was able to walk again.

  John, Paul, Ginny, and Meggie stood close by in the aisle to give people the room they needed to approach Breanna. John noticed that Barbara Fortney was standing near the platform, waiting for her husband to come from a side door after having changed into dry clothing. Just then Damon appeared and headed toward his wife, smiling.

  John motioned to his three children. “Let’s go meet Mr. Fortney.” As they drew up to the Fortneys, John introduced himself and his children.

  Damon greeted them warmly, then said with a slight quiver in his voice, “I—I want to tell you again how sorry I am that I knocked Mrs. Brockman down those hospital stairs.”

  John laid his right hand on the rancher’s shoulder. “Brother Fortney, we understand clearly that you were totally out of your mind with pain and you didn’t know what you were doing. It was not your fault.”

  The children all agreed.

  Tears misted Damon’s eyes. “I thank each of you for understanding. Mrs. Brockman has also told me she knows it wasn’t my fault.” He took a few seconds to wipe the tears from his eyes, then turned to John. “Chief Brockman, I am amazed at how much your son resembles you … with the same steel gray eyes, tall stature, and dark hair.”

  John smiled. “I agree. Paul is also like me in personality.”

  John and his children chatted with the Fortneys for a while, and when the crowd around Breanna diminished, only two people remained—Whip and Annabeth Langford.

  Putting an arm around Breanna still sitting on the pew, Annabeth faced John. “Chief, Whip and I would like to invite your family to our house for dinner.”

  John glanced at Breanna, who instantly nodded. He smiled at Annabeth. “Looks like Breanna feels up to doing that, so your invitation is accepted!”

  Paul, Ginny, and Meggie spoke their joy at the invitation. Then it was agreed between John and Paul that the son would drive the wagon and the girls would ride in the buggy with their parents.

  Soon the Brockman and Langford buggies were moving side by side. They were close enough that the families could talk back and forth above the sounds of the buggy wheels spinning and the horses’ hooves thumping the soft dirt as they moved along the road that led toward their homes.

  The Langford place was just a few miles past the Brockman ranch, on the same road. Three small ranches were between the Brockman ranch and the Langford place. When they were passing the third small ranch, John saw the young couple who lived there out in front of their house.

  John looked at the Langfords in their buggy. “Those folks are new here, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” Whip replied. “They moved here quite recently. Their names are Ralph and Lois Bergman. We just met them a few days ago and invited them to visit First Baptist Church. They said they would do so sometime.”

  Breanna noticed an elderly woman coming out the front door of the house toward the young couple. “Do you know who that older woman is?”

  “Yes.” Annabeth eyed the silver-haired woman. “She is Lois’s grandmother. She came to visit them yesterday from her home in Wisconsin. After getting off work at the hospital, I happened to be out near the road late in the afternoon. They paused in their buggy, introduced her to me, and told me where she was from. They had just picked her up at the railroad station in Denver. She is in her mideighties, and her name is Ethel Simpson.”

  Breanna nodded. “I’m sure the Bergmans are happy to have her here.”

  “They sure seemed to be,” Annabeth said.

  A few minutes later, the buggies swung onto the Langford place, with Paul behind them in the wagon. As they drew up close to the house, Meggie was the first to spot Whip’s pet wolf, Timber, in his fenced area next to the small barn.

  Waving at the wolf, Meggie jumped out of the buggy. “Hi, Timber!”

  The big gray wolf wagged its tail as it looked at Meggie and let out a friendly whine. Ginny stepped out of the buggy, stood beside her sister, and called to the wolf, waving her arms. Paul left the driver’s seat on the wagon, hurried up beside his sisters, then called out to Timber and waved. The wolf responded to both Ginny and Paul in the same way it had to Meggie. The three of them ran to Timber’s “yard,” and reaching through the fence, they petted him.

  The Brockman family had a wonderful time eating Sunday dinner at the Langford home. However, by the time dinner was over, Breanna appeared quite weary.

  Annabeth left her chair at the table and put her arm around Breanna’s shoulder. “Breanna, dear, this has been a big and exciting day for you, but I can tell how worn out you are. Whip and I would love to have all of you stay longer, but I think you need to go home and get some much-needed rest.”

  Glancing at her friend, Breanna smiled wanly. “You are just too perceptive for your own good, Mrs. Langford. I was trying not to let on.”

  “I’m a nurse too, Mrs. Brockman,” Annabeth teased back, “and we are trained to take notice of such things in our patients, right?”

  Breanna chuckled, patting her friend’s cheek. “You are so right, my dear friend.”

  Annabeth mentioned that she knew Breanna had an appointment tomorrow morning with Dr. Carroll for a regular examination regarding her spinal injury and its effect on her legs.

  Breanna nodded. “The appointment is at ten o’clock. John is going to take me to the hospital for the examination, then bring me home. After that, he’ll go to his office for the rest of the day.”

  “Mama,” Meggie spoke up. “Ginny and I will stay and help Aunt Annabeth do the dishes and clean up. You and Papa go on home so you can get some rest. I’m sure Paul will stay so he can bring us home in the wagon after we’ve helped Aunt Annabeth.”

  “I sure will,” Paul said.

  “Okay, Meggie girl. We’ll do it your way, then.”

  Meggie grinned at her mother as she left her chair, then kissed her cheek. “See? I told you.”

  John thanked the Langfords for the meal. Then, being aware of his wife’s lagging footsteps as they headed toward the front door, he picked her up and carried her out to the buggy.

  The Langfords and the Brockman children looked on as John placed Breanna on the seat, then rounded the buggy and got in beside her. Both of them waved at the group, and John put the buggy in motion.

  As they turned onto the road and headed toward their ranch, Breanna laid her head on John’s shoulder and snuggled close. “Thank you fo
r carrying me out, sweetheart. You are always so thoughtful. I don’t know if I could have walked all the way outside to the buggy.”

  “My pleasure, sweet love. It’s always my pleasure when I can hold you in my arms.”

  Monday was starting out to be another unusually hot day for late August in Colorado. John took Breanna to the hospital for Dr. Carroll to do the scheduled examination. John was eager to learn if his wife’s spine and legs were healing all right. He would take her home after the examination, then ride his horse back into town to his office.

  Late that morning, Paul was in the woods out behind the ranch house, practicing the fast draw with the new gun. Ginny and Meggie mounted their favorite horse, which Paul had bridled and saddled for them before heading into the woods.

  Thirteen-year-old Ginny had ten-year-old Meggie sitting in front of her in the saddle. She reached around Meggie, took the reins in hand, put the horse to a trot, and headed up the tree-lined lane toward the road. Because of the heat, the girls had a canteen of water attached to the saddle horn.

  When they reached the road, they headed west toward the mountains. A few minutes later, when they were passing the third ranch from their own, they saw Ethel Simpson lying on the ground in the lane that led from the house to the road.

  “Meggie.” Ginny pulled the horse to a halt. “Mrs. Bergman’s grandmother looks like she’s been hurt. Let’s go see if we can help her.”

  “Of course!” Meggie said.

  When Ginny drew up to the spot where the elderly woman lay, she dismounted and helped Meggie from the saddle. They knelt beside the silver-haired woman, and Ginny said, “She’s unconscious!” Ethel Simpson’s wrinkled face was covered with perspiration.

  “Oh!” Meggie gasped. “What do you suppose is wrong?”

  Ginny studied Mrs. Simpson’s sweaty face. “Honey, go get the canteen off the saddle horn! I’ve got to try to get some water in her mouth.”

  Meggie jumped to her feet, dashed to the horse, grasped the canteen, and dashed back.

  “I know what’s wrong.” Ginny took the canteen from her sister’s hand. “From studying Mama’s medical books so I can be a nurse one day, I learned about sunstroke. That’s exactly what she has!”

  “That’s bad, isn’t it?” Meggie’s voice quivered.

  “It could be, honey. While I’m using the water to try to revive her, will you run to the house and tell the Bergmans that Mrs. Simpson is having a sunstroke and has passed out?”

  “I sure will!” Meggie ran toward the house.

  Ginny pulled a cotton handkerchief from her pocket. If I can just get Ethel Simpson to awaken, she reasoned, it would be easier to get some water into her mouth.

  After pouring water from the canteen onto the handkerchief, Ginny gently bathed the unconscious woman’s face with the cool cloth while lightly patting her pallid cheeks with her other hand. “Mrs. Simpson, please, please open your eyes.”

  FIVE

  At the Bergman house, Meggie knocked on the front door, but there was no response. She knocked again, only harder this time, calling out that she needed to talk to the Bergmans. Still no response.

  She darted off the front porch and ran around to the back of the house. She banged on the back door. “Mr. and Mrs. Bergman! Please answer the door! Mrs. Simpson is very sick, and we need your help!”

  When there still was no answer, she dashed off the back porch and ran as fast as she could toward the spot where her sister was caring for Mrs. Simpson.

  Ginny still knelt over the elderly woman, but now Mrs. Simpson’s eyes were open! Ginny had her sipping water from the canteen. The elderly woman’s eyes focused on Meggie as Ginny looked up at her sister. “Honey, though Mrs. Simpson can hardly talk, she has been able to explain to me that Ralph and Lois are in Denver grocery shopping. Her doctor in Wisconsin had urged her to take a twenty-minute walk every day for her health’s sake. She was taking the walk in the lane between the house and the road when she grew dizzy and passed out.”

  Meggie nodded. “The hot sun was just too much for her, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes. Now, honey, I need you to stay here with Mrs. Simpson and keep helping her to sip water from the canteen while I ride home and bring Paul with the wagon so we can take Mrs. Simpson to Mile High Hospital.”

  Meggie smiled down at Mrs. Simpson, then smiled at her sister. “Of course, Ginny. I’ll do that.”

  A short time later, Meggie was still giving Ethel Simpson small sips of water from the canteen when Paul and Ginny drove up in the wagon. Paul jumped down from the seat, hurried around to the other side of the wagon, and helped Ginny down.

  “Mrs. Simpson,” Ginny said, “Paul made a pallet in the wagon bed for you to lie on as we drive you to the hospital.”

  “Thank you for your help, dear children,” Ethel said weakly.

  With great care, Paul picked up Ethel and carried her to the rear of the wagon. Ginny had dropped the tailgate. Paul laid Mrs. Simpson on the pallet, which had a pillow for her head.

  “Paul, I’ll ride back here with her and keep her shaded from the sun,” Ginny said as she picked up the parasol the family kept beneath the wagon seat.

  “Me too.” Meggie held up the canteen. “I’ll give her more water. There’s still enough in here for her.”

  When Paul’s sisters had climbed into the wagon bed and Paul was closing the tailgate, Ginny said, “Don’t go too fast, Paul. That would make it too bumpy for her.”

  Paul smiled as he headed toward the front of the wagon. “I’ll be careful about the bumps.”

  Looking into Ethel’s eyes, Ginny said, “You are going to be fine, Mrs. Simpson. I’m just so glad my sister and I noticed you lying there on the ground. From now on, you must walk only in the cool of the day, either in the cool of early morning or after the sun goes down in the evening.”

  Ethel’s cheeks wrinkled as she smiled. “That I will do.”

  Late that afternoon when John returned home from his office, Breanna told him that Paul, Ginny, and Meggie had something they wanted to tell him. When John learned of what Ginny and Meggie had done for Ethel Simpson and that, with Paul driving the wagon, they had taken her to Mile High Hospital and the doctors said the girls saved the elderly woman’s life, John commended Ginny and Meggie for being lifesavers like their brother.

  Breanna smiled at her children, then looked at John. “Paul went to the Bergmans’ after he and the girls returned from the hospital to see if the Bergmans were home yet. They had just arrived and were anxiously looking for Lois’s grandmother.”

  “I told them the story of what happened to Mrs. Simpson, and Meggie and Ginny’s actions,” Paul said. “The Bergmans wanted to go to the hospital immediately, and I offered to go with them. They appreciated that.”

  Proud of her son, Breanna continued the story. “While they were at the hospital, Paul asked Mrs. Simpson if she would have gone to heaven had she died from sunstroke. When she couldn’t answer him, Paul asked if she would let him show her from the Bible how to be saved, and she happily consented.”

  “Then I hurried to Uncle Matthew’s office,” Paul said. “I borrowed his Bible, then hurried back to Mrs. Simpson’s room. There, I had the joy of not only leading Mrs. Simpson to the Lord, but Mr. and Mrs. Bergman also.”

  John squeezed Paul’s shoulder. “I’m so proud of you. This is great news, son. Your mama and I have some news of our own. Your uncle Matthew examined your mother today at the hospital. Her recovery is coming along fine, but it will take time for her to heal completely.”

  Breanna smiled at John. “Due to the damage to my spine, I may never be able to work as hard in my nursing profession as I’ve done in the past. Only time will tell.”

  Paul, Ginny, and Meggie expressed their concern.

  “Don’t be discouraged, children,” Breanna said. “Papa and I expected news like this. But God is good, and my future is in His hands.”

  On the following Sunday morning, September 2, the Bergmans and Ethel Simpson sat
with the Brockmans in their favorite pew at First Baptist Church. When the sermon ended, they went forward and presented themselves for baptism.

  When Ethel and the Bergmans gave their salvation testimonies to the pastor so everyone in the auditorium could hear, the Lord got the glory. After baptizing all three, Pastor Bayless stood in the baptistry and commended Paul Brockman for being the soul-winner he was and added that he had learned it from both his parents.

  After the service, Ethel told the Brockmans that Ralph and Lois had invited her to stay and live with them, and she had decided not to return to Wisconsin. The Brockmans expressed their joy over this to both Ethel and the Bergmans.

  As time went on at the Brockman ranch, Paul continued to practice his quick draw. One afternoon after arriving home from his office, John stood close by in the woods. After Paul had drawn at a target he had made, he was reloading the new Colt .45 revolver. He saw his father step out from behind a tall cottonwood tree and head toward him. Paul smiled. “Hello, Papa.”

  “Howdy, son. I just watched you draw and fire six times. You’re really faster on the draw than ever with that new gun Sheriff Carter gave you.”

  Paul slipped the last cartridge into the cylinder, then snapped it shut. “Well, I’m glad to hear you say that. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

  John chuckled. “I watched you shoot those last six bullets at the target, and you’re definitely more accurate with that new revolver. You put every one of those slugs right in the center of the target. I’m proud of you.”

  “Papa, your noticing that pleases me very much.”

  “Son, it pleases me very much too.”

  On Monday, September 10, school started, and Paul Brockman was happy to be in the tenth grade, which meant he was in senior high school and now could participate in sports.

  That evening at the supper table, Paul was talking excitedly about playing rugby and boxing. Looking around the table at his family, Paul said with a smile, “Boy, oh boy! I can hardly wait till the boxing season begins!”