by Al Lacy
Zack nodded. “Uh-huh. Our little Jenny is smiling. We haven’t seen her smile like that for quite a while.”
“No, but it sure looks good on her, doesn’t it?”
“Sure does, Em. Sure does.”
Jenny moved behind the counter and began taking out pads and pencils. “How are my two favorite bosses today?”
“We’re fine, honey,” said Emma. “What has you in such a good mood today?”
Careful. Don’t give them even so much as a hint. “Oh, nothing I can really put my finger on,” she lied. “I’ve just decided I’ve been down-in-the-mouth long enough. I woke up this morning and told myself it was time I was rising above the heartaches I’ve been carrying. My parents are gone. I have to face that fact and get on with my life.”
Moments later, they opened the store and customers were filing through the door.
As the morning progressed, Jenny had a hard time keeping her mind on her work. She kept thinking of Dan Tyler and pictured him lying in a coffin with his arms folded across his chest—the chest that would have a bullet hole right through his heart. Yes, you dirty killer, and after they have buried you, I’m going to spit on your grave!
That afternoon, Jenny was busy tallying a bill for a customer at the counter when she saw Laura Denton come into the store.
Laura smiled and gave a tiny wave. “Hello, Jenny.”
Jenny smiled back. “Hello, Laura. Nice to see you.” She finished tallying the bill, took the customer’s money, and gave him his change.
She had waited on three more customers when she saw Laura standing in her line, which was longer than Emma’s line.
Several minutes later, Emma looked at Laura, who still had two people ahead of her. “Laura, I can take care of you here.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Henderson, but I need to talk to Jenny. Let one of these people in this line step over there.”
Emma called for the next person behind Jenny’s present customer to come to her, which she did. By the time Laura stepped up to the counter, there were no others in either line. Emma said, “Jenny, I’ll go back and help Zack with that paperwork in the office. Give a holler if you need me before I get back.”
“Will do,” said Jenny, then smiled again at Laura. “So how’s everything with you, Laura?”
“Just fine, Jenny. And you? There’s a sparkle in your eyes that I haven’t see for a while.”
“I’m doing better, thank you.”
Jenny tallied the bill and put the small amount of goods in a paper sack.
When Laura had paid her and was ready to take her sack and leave, she said, “Jenny, have you been reading the passages in the Bible that I underlined?”
Thinking that she had just read them that morning to use them for her testimony to Daniel Tyler, she said, “Sure have.”
“Do you understand them better?”
“Well, a little bit, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. I mean no offense, Laura. It’s just that … well, it seems too easy. I’d think a person would have to do more than simply put their faith in Jesus to make it to heaven. I’d think they’d have to do lots of good deeds and never do any bad deeds.”
“Honey, I explained that to you. Salvation isn’t something you can earn by doing good deeds or merit by not doing bad deeds. It’s by grace, not works.”
Jenny shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to read those passages some more.”
“Yes, Jenny. Please do. And I suggest you read more Scriptures too. You can read the whole gospel of John, and while you’re reading, let God speak to your heart. One day soon the light will break through into your darkness, like it did mine.”
Jenny nodded.
Laura picked up her sack, then reached her free hand across the counter and touched Jenny’s arm. “I bought the Bible for you and am encouraging you to read it because I care about you, honey. I want to have you in heaven with me for all eternity. You understand that, don’t you?”
Jenny made a smile. “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Laura.”
When Laura had passed through the door, Jenny’s mind went to the Box B Ranch in Arizona. “I’ve been thinking, cowboy,” she said in a whisper, barely moving her lips, “if you’re the Dan Tyler who took my parents from me, whether you want me as your mail order bride or not, vengeance will be mine. I’ll get you no matter what!”
22
IT WAS A HOT DAY IN MID-AUGUST as Dan Tyler drove the Box B wagon through the gate, onto the Mogollon road, and headed for town to pick up some supplies.
It was late morning, but the temperature—according to the thermometer on Suzanne Brady’s back porch—was already 101 degrees.
The dust lifted from the hooves of the horses as they trotted along the road with catclaw and mesquite lining it on both sides. A hot wind was blowing, and Dan heard its melancholy moan in the mesquite. Squinting his eyes as he held the reins, he ran his gaze over the sunbaked land all around him. He noted the dancing heat waves off to the north with the blue distance of the San Francisco Mountains seemingly in motion.
As he turned his attention back toward Mogollon, he shifted on the seat and looked at seemingly distant lakes quivering in the mirage of heat waves.
Dan smiled to himself. In spite of the heat, he was adjusting happily to the desert more every day. He was beginning to feel a part of the land and loved its vast openness. In daylight, the wide open spaces and the endless blue sky did something to him. And at night, the great black velvet canopy, with its silvery moon and the shimmering heavens, affected him in another marvelous way.
“Lord,” he said, “thank You for bringing me to Arizona. Thank You for my job and for the blessing Suzanne has been to my life. And again, Lord, as I’ve prayed many times a day since placing my ad in all of those newspapers back East, I’m asking You to show me the right young lady to be my mail order bride—like you did for Jack Sparks and those other fellows.”
Dan thought about the six letters he had received from young women already in response to the ad. Each one appeared to be a fine Christian, but none of them seemed right. Upon placing the ad, he had claimed Colossians 3:15 to guide him to the right woman: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.”
The Lord had not given him peace about any of them, so he had written and told them this in a kind way, saying he wanted God’s will for their lives, as well as his own.
Dan’s eyes drifted to the massive collection of giant cacti on both sides of the road. Clay and Joel had told him these lofty, fluted columns of green were called saguaro, the mighty sentinels of the desert. Another odd-shaped cactus sprinkled among the saguaro was the ocotillo. Each of its branches rose high and symmetrical, furnished with sharp blades that seemed to be at once both leaves and thorns.
Suddenly movement in the sky overhead drew Dan’s attention. Looking up, he saw two bald eagles in flight. Since coming to Arizona, he had seen a lot of birds: the magnificent swift-winged hawks, the great blue condors, and the grisly red-necked vultures. All of them held a fascination for him, but not the degree of fascination he had for the majestic, broad-winged bald eagles. He had often marveled at the eagles as they sailed wondrously, with graceful movement of wings, sometimes shooting across the heavens like thunderbolts, and at other times, circling around and upward to suddenly vanish in the deep blue.
Lifting his hat to use as a shade for his eyes against the blazing Arizona sun, Dan wiped sweat from his brow and focused on the two eagles. He noted that they were male and female. Eyeing the larger and imposing male eagle, he said, “What a fortunate fellow you are! I almost wish I was an eagle, like you—having a mate and nesting on the lofty crags of those mountains up north. I hope you appreciate what you’ve got.”
At that moment, a still, small voice somewhere deep in Dan’s heart said, “Be patient, son. You will have your mate.”
He experienced a singular exhilaration and became conscious of the quickened beating of his heart. “Thank You, Lord.” He set his eyes on the town, which was only a mile away.
Dan went first to the general store and made grocery purchases Suzanne wanted him to pick up.
His next stop was the hardware store. He needed some new tools and supplies for the repair work he was doing on the barn, the outbuildings, and the corral gate. When he stepped into the store, Jack Sparks was stocking one of the shelves with nails of various sizes. He set his single eye on Dan and grinned. “Howdy, Arizona cowboy!”
Dan chuckled. “That sounds good to me. You doing all right?”
“Sure am. What can I sell you today?”
“I need a hammer, a crowbar, some wire, and some nails and screws.”
“Well, you came to the right place. Let’s see what we can find.”
After they had carried the items Dan needed to the counter, Jack started tallying the bill.
“Lorna doing all right?” asked Dan.
Jack paused in his figuring. “Sure is.” A grin spread over his face. “But then, being married to me, how could she do otherwise?”
“I’ll say no more!”
Jack laughed, shook his head, and went back to his arithmetic. A moment later, he came up with the total, drew a line under it, and looked up. “That’ll be twelve dollars and ninety-four cents.”
Dan plunked down a twenty-dollar bill. “Can you squeeze twelve ninety-four out of that?”
“It’ll be difficult, but a man with my expertise and intelligence can do it.”
Dan shook his head. “Why do I come in here?”
Jack handed him the change. “Because you like dealing with an intelligent expert like me.”
“No. Because it’s the only hardware store in this town.”
They both laughed together, and while Jack was bagging the items, he asked, “How’s the mail order bride situation doing?”
“Well, when we talked about it last, I had received three letters.”
“Uh-huh. And you had written those young ladies and told them you didn’t have peace about asking them to come.”
“Right. Since then, I’ve received three more.”
“Oh. And …?”
“Same thing. One of them was a blue-eyed blonde but I just couldn’t get peace from the Lord to invite her to come. And the same thing with the other two.”
Jack slid the paper bags across the counter to Dan. “I commend you, my friend. I well remember the temptation to invite a particular young lady who seemed just right when I was seeking my mail order bride. When I started to write the letter, it was like I had a tornado churning up inside me. No peace. If I’d ignored it, I would have gotten the wrong woman. Sure glad I let the peace of God rule in my heart. Lorna was definitely God’s choice for me. You’ve told Lorna and me about your fixation for blue-eyed blondes, but you don’t want to make a drastic mistake and get the wrong gal, no matter what color of hair and eyes she has.”
“That’s for sure.”
“I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. Lorna and I are praying daily that the Lord will help you to know when you get the letter from the right young woman.”
“I appreciate that more than I can tell you, Jack,” Dan said, picking up the paper bags. “See you later.”
“Keep us posted.”
“Will do.”
Dan’s final stop was the post office. He pulled the wagon to a halt, tied the reins to a hitching post, and went inside.
Bill Marvel was waiting on a customer at the counter. He looked past the man and said, “Hello, Dan. Be with you in a minute.”
Dan smiled and nodded.
Marvel’s minute was almost exactly sixty seconds. When the man turned and walked away, Dan stepped up to the counter. “Just need the mail, Bill.”
“Sure enough,” said the postmaster as he hurried behind the wall and returned with two envelopes. “This is it for today.”
Dan took the envelopes. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. How’s Mrs. Brady doing?”
“Pretty good. She has her moments when she gets lonesome for her husband, but that’s to be expected.”
“Sure. Well, tell her hello for me.”
“Will do.”
As he walked toward the wagon, Dan looked at the envelope on top. It was addressed to Suzanne, and was from the Alamo Sanatorium in San Antonio, Texas. When he looked at the second letter, he saw that it was addressed to him from a Jenny Blair in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He climbed up into the wagon and opened his own letter. A broad smile spread over his face when he pulled out the photograph with the letter, and saw how lovely Jenny Blair was.
As he began reading the letter, his heart quickened when he read that she had blond hair and blue eyes. He was thrilled the way Jenny expressed herself, and he was impressed with her testimony of salvation.
When he finished reading it, he looked back at the photograph. “Jenny Blair, you’re blond and blue-eyed … my ideal girl! And I feel—well, I feel good about you!”
Dan folded the letter and replaced it in the envelope with the photograph. “Lord, I believe You are speaking to me about this one. I’ll let Suzanne read it and see what she thinks. When she read the other six letters, she had the same feeling about them that I did.”
Suddenly, Dan found himself covered from the harsh rays of the sun and looked up. A high wind was shoving dark, heavy clouds across the sky from the west. “Hmm. Looks like we’re going to get some rain.”
By the time the Box B wagon was turning off the road and passing through the gate of the ranch, there was no sunshine to be seen. Lightning spread jagged branches across the dark sky, shooting fiery roots toward the earth.
Dan noticed Suzanne looking at him from the kitchen window as he drove the wagon up to the back porch. She opened the door while he was hopping down, and stepped out on the back porch. “Looks like we’re going to get rain, Dan. We don’t get rain often here, but when we do, it’s usually a gully-washer!”
“So I’m told,” he said, gathering the grocery sacks from the wagon bed.
When his arms were loaded, he moved up the steps and carried them into the kitchen. The aroma of hot food cooking made his mouth water. “Mmm! Smells good. What are we having?”
“Irish stew.”
“Suzanne, you’re going to make an Irishman out of me if you’re not careful.”
She laughed.
As Dan set the sacks on the cupboard, he said, “There was a letter for you. I stuck it in the sack with the nails and screws. I’ll bring it in when I come back.”
Suzanne nodded and watched him dash out the door, closing it behind him. She went to the cupboard and began taking out the groceries.
Outside, the wind was growing stronger. Dan climbed back onto the wagon seat, put the horses in motion, and drove up in front of the tool shed, which was near the barn. He deposited the tools and supplies inside the shed, slipped both letters inside his shirt, and led the team to the barn. Leaving the wagon under its usual shelter beside the barn, he unhitched the team and led them inside the barn.
When he had removed the harness and hung it up, he took off the bridles and put the horses in the corral, where they joined the saddle horses.
As Dan was closing the barn door, the smell of rain was strong in his nostrils. A strong gust of wind plucked at his hat, but he was able to grab it before it was gone. He pulled it tighter on his head, and with long strides, headed toward the house. He was almost there when stark white bones of lightning cracked through the blackness of the sky directly overhead. As he hopped onto the back porch, a roar of thunder like a bellow of rage shook the air.
A sudden deluge came out of the clouds, splashing on earth and buildings like a waterfall. Dan stopped at the door, glanced at the heavy rain, then moved inside. He hung his hat on a peg by the door, then reached inside his shirt and pulled out the letters. He looked at Suzanne, who was at the stove, and said above the roar of the rain on the roof, “Looks like your gully-washer is here.”
“I’m not surprised. Those clouds have looked plenty heavy
since they first started to gather.”
Dan handed Suzanne the white envelope. “Here’s your letter.”
She took it, noticing at once the letter still in his hand and the big grin on his face.
The woman looked at her letter and frowned.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, as you saw, it’s from the sanatorium where my sister is. It’s probably a bill for something extra they had to have done for her. What’s that you have there?”
Dan looked at the envelope in his hand and the grin made its way from ear to ear.
Since he didn’t reply, Suzanne said, “Well, if you don’t look like the cat that swallowed the canary! What’s in that letter that’s got you so happy? Who’s it from?”
He cleared his throat. “It’s from a prospective bride, and it looks pretty good to me.”
“Oh, really? Must be really a good one from the looks of you.”
“It is. And it’s far above the other six. Hey, I just thought of it! This is letter number seven, and seven is God’s perfect number! This has to be the right girl!”
“Now, Danny boy, be careful. Tell me she’s not blond and blue-eyed.”
Dan cleared his throat again. “I can’t tell you she’s not, but I was already planning to have you read the letter and give me your opinion, just like I had you do with the others. I trust your judgment better than mine in this bride search. I’m too close to the forest to see the trees.”
Fierce lightning fluttered through the windows, followed by a deafening clap of thunder that shook the house. Fat drops of rain were splashing against the windows, driven by the wind. Dan said, “I see you’ve already closed the windows in here. How about the rest of the house?”
“All done. I was pretty sure we were going to get this rain.”
“Do you want to read this letter now or wait till after supper?”
“I can read it now. The stew won’t be ready for another twenty minutes.”
Dan took the photograph out of the envelope and handed it to Suzanne. “Take a look at this.”
She stepped to the cupboard, picked up her half-moon spectacles, and looked at the photograph. “She’s a pretty one, all right. And she’s a blonde. And from what you said a moment ago, she has to have blue eyes.”