The Iron Wagon

by Al Lacy

  Paul nodded solemnly at the man.

  John laid his hand on Harley’s shoulder. “To answer your question, son, Harley was in the crowd and saw that there was going to be a shootout between you and Jack Chedrick, and he ran to the federal building to tell me about it.”

  John took a deep breath, looked down at the lifeless form of the famous gunfighter, then looked back at Paul. “Thank God, you’re all right, son.”

  “Amen, Chief,” said Whip. “Paul, we saw what was happening as we were running down the street. You sure outdrew him. I think you’re faster than ever!”

  In early September that same year, John Brockman was in his office at the federal building with Whip Langford, discussing the two fierce outlaws that Whip and Timber had pursued and caught the day before. The outlaws were now in the county jail, waiting to go on trial for their crimes.

  “Well, Whip, with their criminal records, which include murder, I have no doubt they’ll be sentenced to hang.”

  “I would say so, Chief.” Whip was about to say something else when a knock sounded on the office door.

  The chief recognized the knock of a new deputy who was manning the desk in the front office. “Yes, Avery. Please come in.”

  The door swung open, and young Avery Campbell stepped in with a yellow envelope in his hand. “A telegram was just delivered from the Western Union office, Chief. It’s from Marshal Danford Pierce in Phoenix, Arizona, whom I understand you know well.”

  Taking the envelope from the deputy’s hand, John said, “I’ve been expecting to hear from him concerning the Dub Finch gang. I wonder if they’ve shown up in Arizona again.”

  Whip’s eyes widened. “Maybe Pierce and his men have caught that lowdown gang.”

  John opened the envelope and took out the telegram. He quickly ran his gaze over the telegraph’s lengthy message as the other two men looked on.

  When he finished reading it, John looked up at Whip. “Yep. The vile Finch gang is back in Arizona. All eight of them. Marshal Pierce says they’re in south-central Arizona and that for the last three days, they’ve been robbing and killing in towns south of Phoenix, all the way down near Tucson. Marshal Pierce says he’s going to lead a group of his deputies on the trail of the gang.”

  “Good for him. I hope they catch up to them.”

  “Me too!” Avery responded. “I’ve heard a lot about how mean, heartless, and bloodthirsty they are.”

  “You heard right, Avery,” John said. “Dub Finch and his gang must be stopped. Marshal Pierce and the deputies will do their best to track them down and bring them to justice.”

  “Great!” said Whip. “I sure hope they do!”

  There was a tap on John’s office door. He called out, “Come on in.”

  The door swung open again, and as Paul entered the office, Deputy Campbell said to John, “Chief, I’d better get back to my desk.”

  John nodded. “Sure. See you later.”

  “Papa, do you have any orders for me? Anything you want done right now?”

  “Don’t think so, son. Why don’t you finish up that paperwork I assigned you to do for the governor? I know there’s no big hurry, but as long as you don’t have any outlaws to chase at the moment, you can go ahead and get it taken care of.”

  Paul nodded. “Will do, Papa.”

  “Chief,” said Whip, “speaking of paperwork, I need to go catch up on some myself.”

  “Okay.”

  Whip patted Paul’s shoulder. “See you later, nephew.”

  “Sure enough, Uncle Whip,” Paul said with a hearty grin.

  When Whip had gone out and closed the door behind him, Paul said, “Well, I’d better get going too.”

  “I want to tell you something before you go.” John held up the telegram. “I just received this telegram from Marshal Danford Pierce in Phoenix.”

  Even as the word Phoenix came out of his mouth and he was looking at his son, John thought of Lisa Martin. He and Breanna were still praying about the possibility of Paul and Lisa meeting and the Lord causing them to fall in love.

  John brought his mind back to the telegram. “Son, Marshal Pierce sent me this telegram to let me know that the Dub Finch gang has once again shown up in Arizona.”

  Paul’s eyebrows arched. “Oh, really?”

  “Really,” said John. Then he went on to tell Paul the full contents of the telegram.

  When Paul had heard it all, he said, “I sure hope Marshal Pierce and his deputies can track that gang down and indeed bring them to justice.”

  “Me too,” said John. Then he smiled. “I just remembered something. When I was in Phoenix with Marshal Pierce in April, I told him that with the way you’re being so successful now, wearing a deputy U.S. marshal’s badge, that you could run his office and do a great job.”

  Paul blushed. “Papa, I’m not sure I’m that good.”

  John chuckled. “You sure are!”

  There was another knock on the office door. John looked at the clock on the wall. “That has to be David Barrett. He asked for an appointment now. He said he has something very important to talk to me about.”

  Paul grinned. “I’ve got a feeling I know what it’s about.”

  John smiled and headed for the door, saying over his shoulder, “I’m pretty sure I know what it’s about too.”

  Pulling the door open, John smiled at David. “You’re right on time for our appointment.”

  David stepped into the office. “I always try to be on time for appointments.”

  Paul moved up to David. “Howdy, pal!”

  “Howdy yourself!” David chuckled.

  “See you when it’s time to go home, Papa.”

  “Sure enough,” said John.

  Paul exited the office and closed the door behind him. As he headed down the hall, he thought of his sister Ginny, who was now working at Mile High Hospital. Well, sis, it looks like you and David will soon be setting a wedding date.

  A few more steps and Paul reached the office where the deputies did paperwork. No one else was in the office at the time. Sitting down at his desk, he thought again of Ginny and David. Dear Lord, I sure will be glad when You bring that Christian young lady into my life whom You have chosen to be my wife.

  In John’s office, the chief and a nervous David Barrett sat down together.

  “Chief Brockman, I would like the honor of asking Ginny for her hand in marriage. Do I have your blessing?”

  John was a bit emotional in a good way. “David, I gladly grant you permission to marry Ginny. Breanna and I think very highly of you, young man. You are God’s answer to our prayers for our daughter.”

  David smiled broadly with a mist of tears in his eyes. “Thank you so much, sir! I love Ginny very much. She and I plan to set a date for the wedding later.”

  When David left the office, John sat at his desk and looked out the window. As he ran his gaze toward the distant blue sky, he pictured Ginny in his mind. He thought of the day she was born and what a precious, beautiful baby she was. It seemed like only yesterday that she was a baby, and now she was old enough to get married.

  “My Ginny will sure be a beautiful bride.” John stared at the sky. “And I know she will be a loving and dutiful wife, and without a doubt, she will be a very good mother someday.”

  Tears filmed John’s eyes as he thought, It probably won’t be more than a couple of years after they’re married that I’ll be known as Chief Grandpa!

  His mind went to Breanna. My Ginny was taught by the best of all. Breanna has been such an excellent example to our children.

  On Monday, September 16, Chief Brockman received a letter from Leroy Woodard, one of the deputy marshals under Marshal Pierce in Phoenix.

  Dear Chief Brockman,

  Marshal Pierce and a dozen deputies have caught up with Dub Finch and his gang. When they were putting them under arrest, Finch led his gang to draw their guns and fight back. In the shootout, three of Finch’s gang members were killed and one slightly wounded. Al
so, Marshal Pierce was wounded.

  Marshal Pierce is now in the Phoenix hospital, and the doctors are saying that he will live, but he won’t be able to return to his duties as head U.S. marshal in Phoenix for several weeks.

  Because of what Marshal Pierce knew about your son’s knowledge of running a federal marshal’s office and because of how Paul has already proven himself to be an excellent lawman, Marshal Pierce would like your son to come and head up the office in Phoenix in his place until he can return to run the office again.

  Outlaw leader Dub Finch and his four remaining gang members have been taken to the federal prison at Yuma, Arizona. A federal judge has sentenced them to be hanged at the prison at sunrise on Monday, October 14. Because of the gang’s record of murdering so many people, the judge wants them to do hard labor at the prison while living with the formidable fear that they will each die at the end of a rope.

  Sincerely,

  Deputy U.S. Marshal Leroy Woodard

  Phoenix, Arizona

  Chief Brockman waved the letter after he finished reading it. “Well, this is good! Those bloody killers won’t be murdering anybody else!”

  TWENTY-ONE

  After having been sent by his father to take some important papers to Sheriff Walt Carter, Deputy Paul Brockman approached his father’s office and tapped on the door.

  “Come on in!”

  When Paul entered the office, he saw his father sitting at his desk with a letter in his hand. “Papa, Sheriff Carter said to thank you for those papers. They will help him a great deal.”

  John smiled. “I’m glad. Sit down, son. I have something here to show you.”

  Paul eased onto one of the two wooden chairs in front of the chief’s desk and eyed the letter his father was holding. “Who’s that letter from?”

  “Deputy U.S. marshal Leroy Woodard in Phoenix.” John extended the letter across the desk to Paul. “I want you to read it.”

  Paul took the letter and pored over it. Overwhelmed by what he read, Paul said, “Well, I’m plenty glad that Dub Finch and the four remaining gang members are now in Yuma Prison facing the gallows. But I’m sure sorry that Marshal Pierce was wounded. I’m glad he’s going to be all right, though.”

  “Me too,” John said. “Ah … what about the rest of the letter?”

  “Well, I’m very honored that Marshal Pierce wants me to come to Phoenix and head up his office for him until he’s well enough to return. Is it all right with you?”

  John smiled. “It is definitely all right with me. I am so proud that Marshal Pierce wants my son to fill in for him.”

  Touched deeply by his father’s words, Paul rose from the chair, rounded the desk, bent down, and gave his father a great big hug.

  That evening when John and Paul arrived home, Breanna and the girls welcomed them gladly.

  After Ginny hugged her father, she looked up into his eyes. “Papa, I’ve already thanked you dozens of times for letting David and me get engaged, but I want to thank you once more. David and I are so in love.”

  As Ginny let go of him, John took hold of her left hand and eyed the engagement ring on her finger. “It still seems like you’re just a baby, honey. But I guess if you were, that ring would fall off, wouldn’t it?”

  Ginny giggled. “It sure would!”

  “No date set yet for the wedding, though?”

  “Not yet, Papa. We’re still praying about that.”

  John nodded. “All right.” He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out an envelope, and said to Breanna and the girls, “I received a letter today from deputy U.S. marshal Leroy Woodard in Phoenix. Let me read it to you.”

  When John finished reading the letter, Breanna was joined by Ginny and Meggie in telling Paul how proud they were that Marshal Pierce wanted him to temporarily head up his office in Phoenix.

  Not wanting her family to know just how reticent she was about Paul’s new assignment, Breanna pasted a happy smile on her lips and joined her daughters in hugging Paul, adding that they would miss him while he was gone.

  Paul had his arms around all three. “I will miss you all too. I’ll sure need your prayers as I become the temporary boss at Marshal Pierce’s office.”

  They all assured him they would pray; then John led the family in prayer about it.

  That night after Paul, Ginny, and Meggie had gone to their separate rooms, John and Breanna entered their own room. While John was getting ready for bed, Breanna got into her nightclothes, then sat in front of her dressing table. One by one she removed the pins from her thick, blond hair, and the luxurious mass descended down her back.

  Picking up her hairbrush, she slowly pulled it through her hair, staring off into space with her thoughts on Paul. At one point, she didn’t even realize she had stopped brushing her hair and the hand holding the brush was dangling in the air.

  Stepping up behind her, John took the brush from her hand. “Here, honey, let me do that for you.”

  Breanna looked at her husband in the mirror and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “What’s troubling you, sweetheart?” John began brushing her hair.

  The smile slipped from her face, and tears spilled down her cheeks.

  John laid the hairbrush on the dressing table, placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently squeezed them, never taking his eyes from her image in the mirror. “Honey, what is it? What’s bothering you?”

  Breanna turned on the chair and rose to her feet. John let go of her shoulders in the process, and when she was facing him, John placed his hands on her cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears. “Come on, my sweet. What is it?”

  Breanna sniffed. “It’s Paul, darling. You know as well as I do that outlaws make the lawmen leaders targets more than anyone else who wears a badge. Think of all the years you’ve had to live with this.”

  “Oh, it’s Paul’s temporary position as head of the federal marshal’s office in Phoenix that’s bothering you.”

  Breanna nodded, more tears surfacing. Her voice barely above a whisper, she said, “I know I shouldn’t worry about Paul. Worry is a sin. I know I should trust the Lord more, but it is so frightening to see our son being put in this dangerous position.”

  “Honey, I know that every day you pray for me in my position of chief U.S. marshal here in Denver as I have to face so much evil in this world. Why is it more difficult to do the same with our son as he takes on the temporary job in Phoenix?”

  Breanna smiled slightly and tried to explain her feelings. “It’s because I carried him beneath my heart for nine long months. I became accustomed to his every little movement, and in giving birth to him, my heart was enlarged to make room for my love for him. If necessary, I would gladly lay down my life for him. Nothing can compare with a mother’s love for her children. Does that make sense, John darling?”

  He thumbed away more tears from her cheeks. “Of course it makes sense, sweetheart. I can never grasp the love of a mother, but as Paul’s father, I know I very deeply love him and how concerned I am for him. And if necessary I too would lay down my life for him in a heartbeat. But being a lawman has been our son’s dream for many years, and I cannot come between him and his dream. He is positive that God wants him to be a lawman to serve, protect, and help others.”

  Breanna nodded.

  John went on. “It would break Paul’s heart if he knew the agony that this is causing you. He wants to make this world a better place to live in. In a way, it’s his calling, sweetheart. Can you understand what I’m saying?”

  “Oh yes, darling. Please forgive me for being so selfish and only thinking of my feelings in this matter. Above all, I want our son to be in the center of God’s will, for only there will he truly be happy and fulfilled. I must trust the Lord to take care of our son, just as I trust Him to take care of my husband. Thank you for helping me to see it more clearly.”

  Breanna placed her arms around her husband’s neck and rested her head on his chest, hearing the steady beat of his hear
t. Silently she thanked her heavenly Father for John and for the way he was always watching over her, as a husband was supposed to do.

  John encircled her in his strong arms. “I’m glad I could help you, sweetheart. Anytime you need my help, I’m always here for you.”

  Breanna’s mind went to Philippians 4:7, and the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” lodged in her heart.

  John planted a tender kiss on his wife’s lips, then released her from his arms. Breanna let go of John’s neck and looked into his eyes. “There’s something I want to ask you.”

  John nodded. “Mm-hmm?”

  “An idea came to my mind when Paul made it clear that he was going to Phoenix to help Marshal Pierce. I thought we should tell him to look up the Martins while he’s in Phoenix. You know … so he could meet Lisa, and ah … they could fall in love. Should we do that?”

  John smiled down at her. “You know, honey, the same idea crossed my mind. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be best if we just leave it up to the Lord. If Lisa is the one He has chosen for Paul, He can cause them to cross paths when they’re both in Phoenix. I figure Paul will attend First Baptist Church while he’s there. So the Lord can sure bring them together if it’s His will, as we feel that it is.”

  Breanna’s eyes were shining. “Yes! I like it! We will simply leave it to the Lord to make it happen.”

  Early the next morning, Paul went to the railroad station in Denver and bought a train ticket for that very day to travel to Phoenix. Next he went to the Western Union office and sent a telegram to Deputy Woodard, advising him that he would arrive in Phoenix by train at seven thirty that evening.

  Later that morning, Paul’s entire family, including Uncle Matthew and Aunt Dottie, plus Pastor and Mary Bayless, and Whip, Annabeth, and Lizzie Langford, were at the railroad station to see him off. They were gathered on the platform, right next to the train Paul would be boarding. People passed by them, looking on curiously at the large group.

  With Paul’s parents standing close by, his sisters clung to him as Pastor Bayless led them in praying for Paul in his new temporary responsibility as head of the U.S. marshal’s office in Phoenix. John kept a close eye on Breanna and saw that she was holding up well. He prayed silently, thanking the Lord for sustaining her.