Chase the Wind

by Cindy Holby - Wind 01 - Chase the Wind

  “Because he would kill him, and then they would hang him.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because it would be my word against his, and no one would believe me.”

  “I believe you, Jenny.”

  Jenny rolled over to look at the nun. “Sister, what am I going to do?” The nun sat on the bed and gathered the girl in her arms.

  “I’m going to write a letter to the archbishop in Boston and ask for an investigation. Something is not right about Father Clarence. I know he was sent here as some sort of punishment, but I really don’t know what happened. Until we find out, I’ll keep you in here with me. I’ll tell everyone your injuries are so bad that you can’t be with the others.”

  “Why are you helping me?”

  The nun smiled at Jenny and went back to the chair. She arranged her habit around herself and gathered her rosary beads into her hand. She counted down the beads, then placed them in her lap as if they were a string of precious pearls. “I had a brother at one time. He was the most beautiful boy, just a few years older than I adored him. When I was eighteen, I was being courted by one of his acquaintances, but my brother didn’t like it, I finally figured out why when this boy took advantage of me. My brother found out and challenged him.”

  “What happened?”

  “My brother was killed.”

  Jenny closed her eyes and let the impact of the words roll over her. She could only begin to imagine the devastating effect such a thing would have.

  “It didn’t solve anything. Not only was my reputation ruined, but I was also responsible for my brother’s death. That was when I decided to devote my life to the church. I thought perhaps I could find some meaning in his death.”

  “Have you?”

  “No. There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about it and pray for his soul. But now I hope that I can keep the same thing from happening to you and Jamie. I know you’re right about what his response would be if he knew who attacked you.”

  “What about Father Clarence? What do you think he’s going to do?”

  “As far as I know, he’s been locked in his office all evening. Let’s just wait and see what he does tomorrow. No one knows what’s happened except for a handful of people, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Jenny nodded her head in ascent. “I’ll give you something for the pain in your head. Then you try to get some sleep.” Jenny knew that wouldn’t be difficult. She felt as if she could sleep forever.

  The next day dawned without a mention of Jenny’s attack. Father Clarence acted as if he didn’t know she existed. He accepted without argument Sister Mary Frances’s plea that Jenny be released from school and chores because of an accident. In fact, he seemed relieved that the girl would be out of his sight for a time.

  Jamie was livid when he found out that there was to be no investigation, but he silenced his ravings after Jenny came close to hysterics in the infirmary. He left the room with his mouth drawn in a tight line, the scar on his face a brilliant white against the angry flush of his sun-bronzed skin. He returned that afternoon with a new book, settled in the chair and began to read aloud from The Arabian Nights. Jenny closed her eyes and let the words carry her to a faraway place that had never existed for her before, not even in her imagination. Sister Mary Frances seemed caught up in the story also, and when the light of day faded, she went to place the lamp on the table next to the bed so Jamie could see to continue reading. Jenny caught Jamie shifting his chair away from the lamp as if the flame annoyed him. The days were by this time getting much shorter and lamps were now required for people to function in the dark confines of the mission. So far Jamie had been able to avoid being around them.

  “My voice is getting tired. I think I’ll stop for tonight,” he finally said after struggling to see the pages in the dim light.

  “That’s fine. That way I can think about the story.” Jenny had not missed the beads of sweat that had gathered at his temple and trickled down his face. He was terrified of the flame, and she couldn’t say she blamed him.

  Day after day passed in the same manner. Jenny remained within the infirmary, terrified to go out, and Jamie came and read to her in the evenings until he could no longer see the words in the coming darkness. Sister Mary Frances never offered to light the lamp until he had left to find his bed. They all had seen his fear, but left it to Jamie to work it out. Marcus and Mary came to visit also, but they never mentioned what had happened to Jenny. The nuns who lived and worked in the mission all went about their duties as if nothing had happened, but the older children saw the fear in their eyes, and noticed that they seemed to spend more time in prayer. Sister Mary Frances mailed her letter to Boston, voicing her concerns over Father Clarence and his unreasonable obsession with Jenny. There was nothing they could do now but wait.

  Soon December was upon them. A few weeks before Christmas, Marcus and Mary were summoned to Father Clarence’s office. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the little group had been gathered in the infirmary when Sister Abigail had come looking for Marcus and Mary with a special surprise. Jenny’s hands had healed by this time, and she had gone back to her sewing. Sister Mary Frances had made good use of Jenny’s talent with needle and thread, and Jenny filled her time with making shirts and dresses for the younger children.

  Once Marcus and Mary had left, Jamie went back to reading the book and Jenny let the words carry her off to exotic places as she worked. After about an hour Marcus returned.

  “My uncle has come for us!” he announced breathlessly as he entered the room. The twins dropped what they were doing as Sister Mary Frances said a prayer of thanksgiving.

  “You’re leaving?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes, we’re going to Denver with him and his wife. He’s settled down, and said he felt bad about abandoning us, They brought us all kinds of gifts and stuff. He has a small ranch there and wants us to come be part of his family.” His brown eyes were glowing with excitement as he went on about his uncle and his beautiful young wife.

  “I am so happy for you, Marcus.” Sister Mary Frances hugged him as Jamie and Jenny looked at each other in bewilderment.

  “I came to say goodbye.” He looked beyond the nun to his friends. “Mary is already in the wagon, she’s so excited.” The nun hugged him again and went out to say goodbye to Mary. Jamie shoved his hair back and extended his hand to Marcus, who returned his firm grip. “I’ll write you when we get settled.” Marcus looked at Jenny and shifted his feet uncomfortably. He seemed at a loss for words when suddenly Jamie’s face split into his wide grin and he walked out of the room.

  “I’m going to say goodbye to Mary. I’ll see you outside,” he tossed over his shoulder as he left. Jenny looked after her brother with a puzzled look. She was still reeling from Marcus’s announcement and thought Jamie’s leaving was a bit strange. The way Marcus was looking at her was strange, too, now that she had time to think about it.

  “I’ll never forget you, Jenny.” Marcus was standing with his hands jammed in his pockets and was looking down at the floor.

  “You’ve been a good friend to us. I won’t forget you either.”

  “Would you mind... I mean, if I don’t, I’ll always wonder about...”

  “What?” Jenny had to smile, he was acting so strangely.

  Marcus took a deep breath. “I was wondering if I could kiss you.”

  Jenny suppressed the urge to giggle that suddenly came welling up from within. He was being so serious. “Yes, you may kiss me.”

  Marcus walked over to where she was standing. They were the same height, so that was not a problem, but he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. Finally he placed them on her upper arms, and leaned forward. Their noses touched, and instinctively they both tilted their heads. Jenny shut her eyes and felt the cool touch of his lips gently brushing against hers, like a butterfly landing on her, its fragile wings moving slightly, like a whisper.

  “Thank you,” he said so softly that she almost
didn’t hear him. She opened her eyes and saw his brown eyes shining in his sweet face. She was suddenly overcome with the realization of how much she would miss him, and she threw her arms around his neck.

  “Oh, Marcus, I’ll miss you so much.”

  “I know, me too.” He squeezed her to him. “I’ve got to go, they’re waiting. Are you coming to see Mary?” He held out his hand.

  Jenny took it and they went out to where the wagon was waiting. Mary was in Jamie’s arms and raining sweet kisses on his cheek. He pretended to drop her, bringing squeals and giggles as he handed her up into the buckboard. Marcus hugged Sister Mary Frances again, then Jamie, then took a seat in the wagon. His uncle turned to say something to him, and their joy at being a family again was obvious to all who were around. The wagon pulled out to waves and promises to write and take care. Jenny had to wipe tears away as they faded out of sight so Jamie put his arm around her as they turned to go back inside.

  Father Clarence was standing in the doorway, and he turned a look of pure hatred on Jenny as they made their way to the door. She felt the tightening of Jamie’s arm against her shoulder as they approached the man, and she couldn’t help the tremble that made its way through her body.

  “It’s such a wonderful blessing for those two children,” Sister Mary Frances said to the priest as he watched the twins go by.

  “Yes.” He seemed distracted. “We should all rejoice and be glad for them.”

  “We will offer prayers of thanksgiving,” the nun said as she watched the twins turn the corner that led back to the infirmary.

  “Yes, prayers,” the priest agreed. Sister Mary Frances followed her charges back, all the while hoping that her letter had made it safely to Boston.

  They were quiet the rest of the afternoon, Jenny and Jamie giving in to the sadness of missing their friends. Jamie tried to read but his heart wasn’t in it, so he went out to the barn, which had always been a balm for him. Jenny went back to her sewing, but she became restless and began to pace the confines of the room. She finally gave up and went to bed, leaving Sister Mary Frances to her private devotions.

  Jenny tossed and turned, then let the events of the day replay in her head. She smiled to herself when she thought of how sweet Marcus had been and let her mind go over her first kiss. Suddenly she remembered a conversation she had had with her mother. “You’ll know when you kiss him if you love him,” her mother had said. Jenny went over the kiss in her mind and realized that although it was sweet, there hadn’t been anything else to it. Her toes hadn’t curled as her mother had said.I guess you’re not my true love, Marcus, Jenny thought. She went to sleep with visions of a dark-haired, dark-eyed prince from The Arabian Nights haunting her dreams.

  Christmas was a somber affair for the Duncans that year. It was their first one without their parents, and with Jenny’s seclusion they missed out on a lot of the festivities around the orphanage. Jenny presented Jamie with a new shirt she had made, and he gave her a fossil he had found that summer near the pond. Jenny added the polished stone to her mother’s carved box, which led to the two of them going through the things it contained. They found the marriage certificate, along with the Bible. There was an envelope that contained a lock of golden hair and a soft red curl, both tied with a blue ribbon. There were also two tiny pearl-like baby teeth. They found their mother’s silver wedding band, along with a feather and a few pressed flowers. They realized they would never know the story behind some of the things, but Jenny remembered how her father would sometimes surprise their mother with a bouquet of wildflowers and how her eyes would glow as she inhaled their sweet fragrance. Jamie opened the Bible and read the Christmas story aloud before the light of the day faded away. Sister Mary Frances presented them each with an orange and a small bag of sweets that had been delivered by a local Santa.

  Before Jamie left for the night, Jenny gave him the box and asked him to hide it with the other things he had stashed away. He thought she was being silly at first and told her so, but the look of desperation in her deep blue eyes made him agree, and he took the box to the hiding place in the barn that contained his gun and his father’s knife. He decided that night, as he made sure to cover his tracks, that as soon as the weather turned warm, they would be leaving. They would both be fifteen come the end of January, were both strong and willing to work. Anything that the world had to offer would be better than the fear Jenny lived with now.

  Without Marcus to act as a buffer between him and the rest of the children, Jamie was lost. He hadn’t realized how much he depended on the younger boy to shut out the rest of the world. As he went to class and sat in the dining hall, he felt the stares of the other children on him, and heard the gossip about him and his sister. Logan and Joe slowly gained more confidence around him because he was so unsettled. For the most part he ignored them, losing himself in his books and hiding in the barn with the animals whenever possible. Jenny saw how he was withdrawing from the world, but she was so unsettled herself that there was nothing she could do for him. Outside, winter had come with a vengeance, making the afternoons shorter that ever with the dreary, cloudy weather that had settled over the countryside. Sister Mary Frances anxiously waited for word from Boston, but with the weather being so bad, she was doubtful of hearing anything until spring.

  Sometime soon after Jenny and Jamie’s birthday, the sheriff showed up with a new resident for the orphanage. He had been found him lying in the snow beneath a small cliff where a flood had washed out a hillside. Above him on the rise was the body of a woman, riddled with arrows from an Indian attack. The sheriff didn’t know what to make of it because the young man looked like an Indian but was dressed like a white man. He was unconscious and badly injured, so the man figured the best place for him was under the care of Sister Mary Frances until they could figure out who he was and what to do with him. Jamie was called to help carry the patient into the infirmary, and he was soon deposited on the bed where Sister Mary Frances could make an inventory of his injuries.

  “Gosh, he’s almost as big as me,” Jamie commented as he helped Sister Mary Frances cut away the young man’s clothing so they could get a better look at his injuries. He was indeed tall, with the same muscular build as Jamie, although he was a bit leaner. They found an arrow wound in his shoulder, the shaft still in the skin, and a leg that was broken so badly the bone protruded through the skin of his shin.

  “I figure the impact of the arrow knocked him clean off his horse and into the gully,” the sheriff volunteered.

  “Any clue as to who he is?” Sister Mary Frances asked as she discreetly covered the young man’s privates with a sheet. Jenny had been hovering in the outer office, waiting with the tray of instruments that the nun would need to treat the young man. She motioned for Jenny to enter when she was sure that the girl wouldn’t see anything unseemly. Jamie grinned at her as she placed the tray on the bedside table.

  “I think the woman was his mother, their hair was the same color. He might look Indian in the face, but his hair is not black like the rest of ‘em,” the sheriff pointed out.

  Sister Mary Frances raised the lamp to get a better look at her patients face and hair color. His features, though lined with pain, were sharp, with a long straight nose, full mouth and high cheekbones. His skin had the same bronze hue that Jamie’s had in the summer. His hair, which was matted with blood from hitting his head when he fell, was neatly cut. The color was a warm deep brown that glowed in the light of the lamp.

  “Let me know when he comes ‘round. I just didn’t know what else to do with him,” the sheriff said as he took his leave. The nun assured him that they would do what they could for the patient, and he left to consult with Father Clarence about the new arrival.

  “Let’s get that arrow out of him before we start on the leg,” the nun said when she turned back to her patient. She held down the injured shoulder, instructed Jenny to take the other, while Jamie stood over him and pulled out the shaft, bringing the upper part of his body
up as he extracted it. The patient fell back into the bed and moaned, then murmured a few words that no one could understand.

  “It’s not Lakota, I know that much,” Jamie said.

  “Save the arrow. It might help identify who attacked him,” Jenny suggested. Jamie examined the feathers still attached to the end, then placed it on the table. Sister Mary Frances treated the wound after she had stopped the fresh flow of blood, then wrapped his shoulder tightly with a bandage. The patient occasionally spoke a few words, foreign to all of them, although Jenny swore she heard the word “mother” at one time.

  “Now we need to set the leg,” Sister Mary Frances announced after examining it from all angles. She instructed Jenny to get up on the bed and hold the patient down by his shoulders while Jamie pulled on his foot. The nun’s task was to guide the bone back into place, all the time hoping that the fractured ends would come together without chipping. Jenny put all her weight against the patient’s upper chest, but he still arched his back against the bed, grinding his teeth as he did so. His eyes flew open as the nun manipulated the bone, and Jenny found herself caught in the deep brown depths. She saw a spark deep within them for an instant, then they went blank as a wave of pain overcame him and he slid back into unconsciousness.

  “How’s he doing?” the nun asked.

  “He woke up, but he’s out again,” Jenny answered.

  “Poor thing. It’s probably a blessing, the way this leg looks.”

  “Can you save it?” Jenny asked as she climbed down from her position.

  Sister Mary Frances gave her a quizzical look as she measured the length of the patient’s shin for a splint. “I hope so. It will take a lot of time, but it should heal.”

  “Good. I don’t think he could go on if he lost it,” Jenny said.

  “Figured that out already, did ya?” Jamie grinned at her. Jenny realized that her eyes were roaming across the wide bare chest of the patient, and she suddenly flushed a bright crimson when she saw Jamie grinning at her from the other side of the bed. She decided to busy herself in the cabinet where the supply of bandages was kept and soon returned with enough to do the leg. Sister Mary Frances shared a smile with Jamie, then sent him out to find a way to suspend the leg from the ceiling. After what seemed like several hours, they were done, and Sister Mary Frances sent Jenny out so she could bathe the young man with the help of Jamie’s strong arms to do the lifting and turning. They put one of Jamie’s shirts on him and gently laid the still-unconscious patient back on the pillows.