by Al Lacy
Chet looked around. “Where are the others?”
“They’re gone,” said Rya. “It was that one who abducted me.”
Chet looked at McClain. “Remind me to stay on your good side.” Then to Rya he said, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, thanks to God and McClain.”
Gabe Hute groaned and slowly rolled his head back and forth.
Chet glanced at him, then looked back at McClain. “You take Rya back to the camp. We’ll take Hute into Deweese and turn him over to the town marshal. I’ve met Marshal Blackburn before. When I tell him what Hute did, I guarantee you, he’ll lock him up for a good long time.”
While McClain was lifting Rya up and placing her in his saddle, Chet and the other men tied Gabe Hute’s hands behind his back. He was mumbling profane words at them.
McClain swung up behind Rya and reached around her to grasp the reins. “Thanks, Chet, for the use of your horse.”
Rya was still trembling as McClain put the horse to a steady walk. The familiar pain in her midsection was still there, but she did not let on. She leaned her head back and rested it against McClain’s broad chest.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked softly.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Good. You just relax.”
By the time they were halfway to the camp, Rya’s trembling had ceased, though the pain in her abdomen was still there. The moon showed them the circle of wagons in the distance.
Rya sat up straight, twisted on the saddle, and looked into McClain’s eyes. “Well, Mr. Reardon, this is the second time you’ve rescued me from trouble. You are now my hero twice over!”
Later that night, after being welcomed back by the people, Rya lay in her bedroll next to the tailgate inside the Keegan wagon. The pain in her midsection was excruciating. Rolling onto her side, she drew her knees up in a fetal position. Asking God to ease the pain, she relaxed in His care, and soon the discomfort had eased to a steady ache instead of the horrible breathtaking pain.
As she was whispering words of thanks to the Lord for answered prayer, she heard the wagon master and the other men return. Knowing her abductor was in the hands of the law, she thanked her heavenly Father for sending McClain to rescue her and settled down to go to sleep.
But sleep eluded her.
She could only think of the man who rescued her … again.
Rya thought of the warm affection she used to have for McClain as a child and found the warmth of something akin to that affection in her heart at that very moment.
But it is no longer just affection, she thought. I have fallen head-over-heels in love with my childhood hero and friend.
In his bedroll across the circle, similar emotions were stirring within McClain Reardon. He thought back to his growing up years on the farm in Virginia, and how he had always had a tender spot in his heart for little Rya Garrett.
And now little Rya Garrett had grown up into a beautiful and vivacious young woman.
McClain thought about the evenings he and Rya had spent together since finding each other on the wagon train; of the moments they had spent reading the Bible and praying. In a whisper, he said, “Rya, not only are you beautiful, but you love the Lord and walk close to Him. I’ve been looking for that girl the Lord had chosen for me, and you are everything I’ve dreamed of. The tender spot I’ve always had for you is still in my heart, but now there’s more. Rya, I am in love with you.”
The next evening after a long day on the trail, the wagon train was camped once again on the south bank of the Little Blue River near a small town called Ayr.
While Rya was teaching her class, McClain sat by one of the fires talking to Dick Jensen and his twelve-year-old son, Bobby. The boy had already covered the arithmetic material she was teaching that evening in his school at home, so she had excused him from attending.
Bobby had been asking McClain to tell him stories about when he was in the army and fought Indians in Wyoming. As they sat by the fire and McClain told story after story, Dick smiled as he observed his wide-eyed son. Bobby was totally captivated, and often asked questions that the events brought to his mind.
When class was over and the children were scattering to their wagons, McClain finished a story, then looked toward the spot where Rya was talking to a couple of her students. “Gentlemen, I’ll have to ask you to excuse me now. I need to talk to that lovely teacher.” He rose to his feet.
Smiling broadly, Bobby jumped up and said, “Thank you for telling me those stories, Mr. Reardon. They were really exciting!”
McClain messed up the boy’s hair. “I’ve got plenty more, Bobby. I’ll tell them to you later.”
“Oh, boy!”
“See you later, Dick,” said McClain, then headed toward Rya.
The students who had been talking to her were gone now, and she was picking up her notes and books as McClain drew up. “May I carry those to the wagon for you?”
She warmed him with a smile and handed them to him. “Of course. Thank you.” McClain took hold of her hand and led her across the open area within the circle of wagons.
“How did class go?”
“Good, as usual. They’re such precious children. I missed Bobby, though.”
“I kept him busy. He’s been wanting me to tell him some of my experiences fighting Indians when I was at Fort Steele.”
Rya grinned, loving the feel of her hand in his. “I’m sure Bobby liked that better than the dry and boring arithmetic lesson he would have heard in my class.”
They reached the Keegan wagon. Rya took the books and notes from McClain and put them away.
When she turned back to him, he thrilled her by saying, “It’s still early. How about we take a walk along the river?”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.”
“All right!” he said, taking her hand once more.
Moments later, Rya and McClain were walking on the river bank in the silver light of the moon. A cool refreshing breeze rustled the leaves of the trees along the bank.
When they were out of earshot from anyone in the camp, McClain pointed to a fallen tree. “Would you like to sit down?”
“Sure.”
McClain helped her ease onto the tree, then sat down beside her and surprised her by taking hold of her hand once more. “Rya … I …”
She noticed his sudden nervousness. “Yes?”
“I … ah … have something to tell you.”
Rya sat with a throbbing pulse and listened as McClain started back in their childhood days and told her he had always had a tender spot in his heart for her. He reminded her of special times when things she said and did endeared her to him even more.
“And I want you to know that you often crossed my mind over these fourteen years, Rya. Of course, the only picture I had of you in my mind was of the ten-year-old sister of my best friend. What a wonderful moment when I discovered you in this wagon train!”
Struggling with her racing heart, she said, “It was a wonderful moment for me, too.”
He tightened the grip on her hand. “Rya, I—well, what I want to tell you is … is that the tender spot is still there. But now there is more. It has only taken these few days with you to know that I have fallen in love with you.”
Tears filmed her eyes. She squeezed his hand. “McClain, back in those early childhood days, I had a powerful admiration for you. I used to watch you at church when you had no idea I was looking at you. And … and I used to get so excited when you came to stay all night with Saul. It would give me special times to tease you and be teased back. I loved it when you pulled my pigtails. The attention you paid to me made me like you even more. And then—”
She choked up, biting her lips. “And then came that night when you saved me from John Wilkes Booth at the barn. At that point, my admiration for you changed to—well, to deep affection. In my little-girl way, I fell in love with you.”
McClain was holding her gaze, a lump rising in his throat.
“I missed y
ou terribly when you moved away, McClain,” she said, “and I thought of you so often through the years. I was so thrilled to find you again here in the wagon train and to feel the freshness of the affection I had for you. From that first moment we recognized each other, my affection began to grow.” She reached up and caressed his cheek. “And then you so bravely saved me last night from that awful Gabe Hute. I really knew it before last night, but your unselfish act just put the icing on the cake.”
The next words that came from her lips ran like a slow measure of music through McClain’s heart.
“Oh, McClain, I have fallen desperately in love with you.”
The happy couple was in each other’s arms, and their lips came together in a tender kiss.
While he held her close, McClain said, “Oh, sweetheart, the Lord is so good! His mighty hand has been on us all this time, and He has planned our lives together in His perfect way. Just think we were both going to Sacramento to begin new chapters in our lives, not knowing that God was going to bring us together!”
“Yes!” she said. “Thank You, Lord! Thank You!”
The next evening after supper, Rya and McClain were sitting by the central fire, talking to Archie and Della McCrum and the young lady who was traveling with them in their wagon. Betty Hilmes was nineteen, blond, petite, and quite pretty.
“Rya and I were talking about you folks a little while ago,” said McClain. “Since neither of us have had the opportunity to get to know you, we decided we’d invite you to sit down with us here by the fire after supper.”
“I’m glad you did,” said Archie. “We’ve been saying the same thing about both of you.”
Rya looked at the pretty blonde. “Betty and I have exchanged good mornings and good evenings a few times, but that’s about all. Someone told me, Betty, that you are traveling with the McCrums like I’m traveling with the Keegans.”
“That’s right,” said Betty. “I’m from New Haven, Connecticut. I traveled by rail to Kansas City, and was assigned to the McCrums’ wagon by Chet Place when I arrived in Independence.”
Archie grinned at the young couple. “Betty, Della, and I saw you two reading the Bible and praying together by the fire a few nights ago. We figured you just might be born-again children of God.”
“You’re right about that,” said McClain, a smile spreading over his face. “Rya and I have known each other since we were children back in Virginia. We hadn’t seen each other since 1865 till we met by surprise here in the wagon train. We were both raised in the same church by our born-again parents and were saved when we were very young.”
“Wonderful!” said Della. “It was the same way with Archie and me. Being in Christian homes and in a church that preached the gospel of our precious Lord Jesus Christ, we came to know Him when we were children.”
“I was six years old when I got saved,” said Betty. “My dying grandmother led me to Jesus. My parents were killed in a train wreck when I was only four, and Grandma Hilmes took me into her home to raise me. Grandma only lived four days after she led me to the Lord, but before she died, she saw to it that I was taken into a Christian home. It was a family in Grandma’s church. They’re wonderful people. They gave me a good home.” She took a deep breath. “The Lord has been so good to me. What a joy when I learned from the McCrums that they are Christians. It’s been marvelous to travel with them and to enjoy the sweet fellowship.”
“Praise the Lord,” said McClain. “Now, Della, Archie, someone told me you’re from Dayton, Ohio. Is that right?”
“Sure is,” said Archie.
“And you’re going to California?”
“Right. We’ll be leaving the wagon train at Placerville. Our only son and his wife live there. Dale owns a stable, and I’m going to work for him.”
“I see,” said McClain. “Placerville is at the foot of the Sierras. What about you, Betty? Will you need another wagon to ride in? I assume you’re going elsewhere in California.”
Betty smiled at him. “Actually, Mr. Reardon, I’ll be leaving the wagon train at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. That’s going to be my new home.”
McClain’s eyebrows arched. “Fort Bridger? Really?”
“Why, yes. Are you acquainted with it?”
“I sure am. Up until a couple of months ago, I was in the United States Army stationed at Fort Steele, Wyoming.”
“Well, isn’t that something? So you’ve been to Fort Bridger?”
“Sure have. It’s a hundred and seventy miles from Fort Steele to Fort Bridger, but my commandant, Colonel Ward Lamont, had business with the commandant at Fort Bridger and included me in the cavalry escort who accompanied him there.”
Rya said, “You’re going to be living at Fort Bridger, Betty. I’ve read some about it. Are you speaking of the actual army fort or the town?”
“The fort.”
Rya’s brow furrowed. “But don’t you have to be an officer’s wife to live in the fort?”
“Sure do.”
“I … I don’t understand.”
“Well, you see,” said Betty, a bright smile on her face, “I’m going there to become the mail order bride of one of the officers.”
Rya’s hand went to her mouth. “A mail order bride? Oh, how romantic! I want to hear about this!”
15
MCCLAIN REARDON SMILED AT BETTY HILMES. “A close friend of mine at Fort Steele married a mail order bride two years ago, Betty. He was a lieutenant then but a captain now. He and his mail order bride are very happy, and when I left Fort Steele a couple of months ago, they had a baby on the way. They’re both Christians, and when he put an ad in a dozen Eastern newspapers, saying he only wanted a born-again bride, he got exactly one response.”
Betty’s eyebrows arched. “Only one?”
“Mm-hmm. But as they corresponded, it quickly became apparent that the Lord had chosen them for each other. So it has worked out perfectly.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
“Tell us about how it happened with you and this officer at Fort Bridger, Betty,” said Rya, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“It’s quite simple. There just wasn’t a single young Christian man in my church or in any other church in town who interested me. Oh, I dated several, but I just knew in my heart that none of them were right for me as a husband. I knew the Lord would bring Mr. Right into my life when He was ready.
“Then one day, I just happened to be looking in the classified ad section of the New Haven Chronicle, and I spotted this string of ads for mail order brides. I was acquainted with the mail order bride system and was fully aware of the shortage of women in the West.” She laughed. “I never had even given a thought to myself becoming a mail order bride until I read Chris’s ad.”
“Chris?” said McClain. “Are you talking about Lieutenant Chris Cooper?”
“I sure am! You must know him.”
“Most certainly! I know he’s a born-again young man and is dedicated to the Lord. During my two visits there, I got to know the family very well. Chris’s stepfather, Colonel Dane Kirkland—who is Fort Bridger’s commandant—is a solid Christian, as is Chris’s mother, Hannah, and the rest of the family.”
“Well, isn’t this something?” Betty said with a lilt in her voice. “You know my prospective groom and his whole family!”
“And you’ll love all of them. I had the privilege of spending some time with Colonel Kirkland and his family, and I got to know them quite well.”
“Oh, this is so exciting!” exclaimed Betty. “You know my future husband! And it’s good to hear you say he is a dedicated Christian. This is the impression I have about him, having exchanged several letters.”
“Well, you’re absolutely right. And he’s a born soldier. All he’s ever wanted to do was be in the army.”
“Yes, he told me that in one of his letters. He said that his father had been an officer in the army back East. His father was killed while taking his family to Wyoming from Missouri in a wagon train. Chris went to West
Point when he turned seventeen. When he graduated four years later, his stepfather did a little string-pulling, and Chris was assigned to Fort Bridger so he could serve under Colonel Kirkland and be near his mother and siblings.”
“So Chris is how old, Betty?” queried Rya.
“He’s twenty-one.”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
“Yes. In the wagon.”
“And he’s quite handsome,” said McClain.
“Oh, yes!” Betty said. “But even if he wasn’t, it’s what is on the inside that attracted me to him … long before he sent me a picture. When we began corresponding, he told me nine other Christian young women had responded to his ad, but the Lord had impressed him strongly that I was the one. I knew he was the one for me, just as certainly, and told him so in my next letter. When this was settled, we exchanged photographs.”
“Oh, Betty, I’m so happy for you!” said Rya. “I’ve read a lot about mail order brides, and I think it’s wonderful that the Lord has used the system to bring you and Chris Cooper together.”
“Me, too,” Betty said with a sigh. “Of course I wanted to get to Fort Bridger as soon as possible once Chris and I agreed that the Lord was leading us together, but Chris told me there is no rail service in that part of Wyoming, so I’d have to come by wagon train. It works out real good, though, since the Oregon Trail goes right past Fort Bridger.”
“The Lord knew that,” said Della. “He put you in this wagon train so we could have you in our wagon and get to know you.”
“And vice versa, Della,” said Betty. “You and Archie have been such a blessing to me.” Her eyes went to Rya and McClain. “And now, I’ve had the privilege of getting acquainted with you two.”
“It’s a privilege for us, too, Betty,” said McClain. “So where will you be staying when you first get to Fort Bridger?”
“Chris is going to put me up at the Uintah Hotel. I’ll stay there while we’re getting to know each other. I have no doubt it’s going to work out. Chris and I are already as much in love as it’s possible to be by exchanging letters.”