"How did you come to have Alex with you when the whole of Tipton has been turned upside down in search of him?"
"It was Lily James who took him," Richard explained. "I was in Granger and apparently Lily took him to the orphanage where I was going, to see if I could find a child to adopt."
"Lily the mad woman?"
"Yes Robin, that poor woman. Given her grief she must have taken Alex from home, thinking that he was her son and decided to run away with him. Once in Granger, I think his screaming overwhelmed her and by the grace of God, she took him to the orphanage."
"I hope you told the Sheriff and she was arrested."
"Robin, the poor woman died last night, froze to death. Her body was found partly covered by snow and it was just lucky that it had not snowed much, or else it would have been weeks before someone stumbled upon her remains. She was carrying Alex's riding crop and that made me wonder."
Rita, who had experienced the loss of several of her own little ones turned to Robin. "It is a blessing she had the presence of mind to take Alex to the orphanage. The poor woman was out of her mind with grief after losing her son and husband. Most women lose a child or two but it affects everyone differently. What happened to Lily is tragic and we can only pray she is now reunited with her little boy and husband. It is the worst kind of grief."
Rita's words were sobering. "But we are so thankful to God that our boy is back," Rita kissed Alex's forehead and handed him back to his father with a smile.
"Now I must ride out to the farm right away and see Annie. She must be going out of her mind with worry. I need to tell her that our son is alright."
"This is nothing but a Christmas Miracle," one of the shoppers said. "It's not only a miracle for your family Richard, but for the whole of Tipton."
There were general murmurs of assent and everyone once again returned to their business, shoppers to continue shopping while Robin and his family attended to them. Robin motioned Luke over.
"Luke,"
"Yes pa?" Robin felt like he had wings to fly and each time his wife's children called him 'Pa' because it made him feel ten feet tall.
"Take our buggy and give Richard and Alex a ride home. Then return here at once, and also see if Mrs. Annie has any more eggs and cheese. We are fast running out and the day is still young."
"Yes papa." Luke smiled at his step father who ruffled his hair.
~#~#~#~
Cora and Myra heard the buggy drawing up to the house and looked at each other. Richard must have arrived and it was time for them to tell him that his son was missing. It was a task they were dreading and their hearts were heavy.
When they heard Marie's happy shout they ran to the living room and stared in surprise as Richard handed Alex over to Marie who cuddled him and the boy giggled happily.
Samuel, Michael and Emmanuel heard the noise and came to see what was happening and Cora was surprised that Annie had not heard all the commotion.
Dr. Reginald did a quick examination of the child and pronounced him well. "Doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects after his ordeal," he said when Richard explained how he had found Alex in Granger. "The emotional trauma is what you need to look out for. If you see any signs of distress, poor feeding, nightmares and insomnia bring him to me and we will work on making him better."
"Yes doctor," Richard could not believe that he was back home with his son who had been missing for almost twenty four hours according to Myra and Cora.
"Richard, we found Alex's tracks leading all the way down to the creek, and then there were larger ones. We just assumed that someone had been fishing there earlier because if anyone had seen the boy they would have brought him home."
"It's true sir," Michael put in. "We've all been afraid to tell Mrs. Annie that we found Alex's footsteps down to the creek. Mrs. Rita told us to wait until you got here, but now we don't have to tell her at all."
Myra shook her head. "That poor woman, Lily James must have wandered down to the creek where she spent a lot of time after losing her son and husband. When Alex went down there she must have thought that he was her dead son come back to life. She was delusional of course. We all knew that her head was never alright after the tragedy of losing her family, then her property. But at least the poor woman did something good."
"What kind of good is that mama, apart from making the whole town worry themselves to death, not to mention Annie who has not stopped weeping for her son?" Cora demanded.
"Cora dear, think of it this way. If Lily had not been at the creek then Alex might have drowned for sure. As it is, she saved his life by snatching him and fleeing with him. And Richard has also told us that she had the sense to take him to the orphanage in Granger. Let's be thankful that even though she did a bad thing by kidnapping our little man, she saved his life too."
Now that all the excitement was over and Alex was back with the people he loved, he missed his mama. She was not in the living room where everyone was gathered and he fussed until Myra put him on the floor.
They watched as he toddled to towards the room and everyone knew he was going in search of his mother. Richard smiled and followed slowly, watching his son as he climbed onto the bed and cuddled next to his mother.
Yes, his mama smelled nice. "Mama," he played their usual game where he tried to pry her eyelids open, giggling when she playfully swatted him.
Annie thought she was dreaming when she felt her son prying her closed eyelids open. It was their special game and Alex usually did it when he wanted her to get out of bed and attend to him. Like she always did, she swatted him playfully and her hand connected with solid flesh. Her eyes flew open and she saw the beloved face of her son.
"Alex," she struggled to sit up and at first did not notice her husband standing in the doorway. She smothered him with motherly kisses, crying uncontrollably. They were tears of joy this time, at seeing her son who she had began despairing of ever seeing again.
"Mama," Alex wriggled on her lap, protesting at the tight embrace. He looked toward the door as if seeking assistance from that direction and that was when Annie saw her husband. He had tears in his eyes.
"Richard," her hands dropped from around her son and seeing freedom, the little boy scrambled off the bed. His mama was alright and much as he loved her, a little boy like him could only take so many kisses. Women!
Annie felt that her world was alright, her husband was back home with her, her son was safe and sound and she had wonderful news to share with him.
"Richard."
He came over to the bed and sat down, gathering her in his arms as she wept. They held each other, lost in thoughts of what had nearly happened to their son. Finally Annie calmed down. "I thought Alex was lost forever."
"My love, he is alright now."
"When did you get here, was Alex already here when you came?"
"Precious one, please be calm about this, but I brought Alex back from Granger with me."
"Granger, what was our son doing all the way over in Granger?"
"Lily James must have found Alex wandering around," he avoided telling her about their boy's excursion to the creek. "She took him and fled with him to Granger. Perhaps in her disturbed state of mind she thought he was Silas her son."
"That poor woman. You know, while Alex was missing I had a taste of what that woman went through when she lost Silas and Ben. I can't begin to imagine how she must have suffered after losing two loved ones at the same time. Where is she now?"
"She died, froze to death in Granger. She took Alex to the orphanage where I had gone in search of a child for us to adopt."
Annie's eyes filled with tears. "Please forgive me Richard." She covered her face with her hands. "It was my fault that Alex wandered out of the house."
"No love, it was no one's fault."
"Please," she begged. "Say you will forgive me. I have not stopped blaming myself. I sent Marie and Samuel to town for some supplies and Alex was asleep. It was
just a small nap," she wept. "I closed my eyes for moment but must have fallen asleep and when I woke up Alex was gone."
"Come here dearest," once again he embraced her. "Listen my darling, perhaps this was God's way of showing us that He still does miracles, because finding our son again is a great miracle." His face fell. "I'm sorry there were no children at the orphanage so I couldn't bring you back a little girl or boy."
To his surprise his wife smiled, a beautiful and happy smile. "Has Dr. Reginald left yet?"
"No, he is in the living room with the others."
"Could you please ask him to come in? And where is Alex?" She looked around but her son was gone. This time she was not worried because the house was full of people.
"I can hear him laughing out on the porch, he must be with Marie."
"Please ask Dr. Reginald and the rest, whoever is around to come in."
The bedroom was large enough to accommodate the almost ten people who trudged in. One or two neighbors had also come to rejoice with the family upon hearing that Alex had been restored to them.
Even the new Baptist preacher Raphael Spencer a young man in his early twenties had ridden down. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Marie O'Malley and the girl had a permanent blush on her face. She was hiding her embarrassment by holding Alex close. Richard sat down on the bed again.
Annie smiled at the gathering. "We are so grateful to all of you for keeping vigil with me when our son was missing. Thank you all so much and God bless you."
She took a deep breath and held her husband's hand. "I wanted to share our good news with all of you, and Dr. Reginald will confirm it." Everyone looked at her expectantly. "In about five months," she smiled at Cora, "almost the same as you Cora, Richard and I are going to have our own baby."
Richard was stunned and he looked at his wife. She seemed to be glowing.
"That's right," Dr. Reginald said. "The poor woman has had a lot of fainting spells, being sick all the time, can hardly keep anything down, and weakness. She is four months gone, congratulations to the two of you."
Myra and Cora smiled at each other, they had known earlier but the moment was Annie's and they joined with the rest in offering their congratulations and best wishes. Myra then herded everyone out.
The couple needed time to themselves. Alex was now in Raphael's arms and he tugged playfully at the preacher man's goatee. Cora who was the last to leave the room gently shut the door and once again it was just Richard and Annie, lost in each other's eyes.
"Darling," Annie touched her husband's cheek. "I'm sorry for being so selfish and making you feel guilty for not being able to give me a child." Richard kissed the palms of her hands.
"When you were gone and Alex went missing I realized that I was an ungrateful person. God has given me so much, first you and refuge on this ranch, then Alex came and we were so happy together. I was so jealous when Cora told me she was pregnant and I acted like a total fool."
"Dear one, do not worry yourself anymore. If you want to hear me say that I forgive you then I will say it. You are forgiven, and I am so happy that we are going to be parents. This is so strange after I was told I would never have children."
God had seen fit to give them a child of their own in celebration of the birth of the Child who was born in a stable many centuries ago, but whose life revolutionized the whole world forever. And Alex was restored to them again. Two miracles for Christmas.
"Dr. Reginald explained it to me. Sometimes the body is self-healing. God has put all we need in our bodies and in your case the fact that you are so strong and healthy and you work hard and eat well, meant that your body regenerated itself. And now..." she blushed fiercely.
"Annie, so shy and so strong at the same time. Now that we can have children how many do you want us to have, or will two be enough?"
"No," Annie said indignantly. "I want at least seven children. Who will farm this land and take care of it? Samuel will soon be all grown up and will want a place of his own. I heard Robin saying that he was already in the process of purchasing forty acres of land and once he builds a house for himself and Rita, they would retire to farm it and leave the mercantile for Samuel, Marie, Joanna and Luke."
"I expect Samuel won't want to work in the mercantile – he's not the type. He'll want the others to buy out his share and use the proceeds to buy his own farm. But you are always the good planner, my dearest wife."
They shared a long kiss, each reveling in the feeling of being with the one they loved.
"You are my miracle Annie and I will never stop saying that."
"And now God has given us two miracles this Christmas, we have so much to be thankful for my darling. Richard West, I love you so deeply that sometimes I am afraid that I am dreaming."
"Thank you for loving me and giving me a wonderful son, another on the way and five more to come," he winked cheekily and she blushed. "Our love is now complete."
THE END
Other Books by Trinity Bellingham
Mail Order Brides of Hope Springs (Series)
A Clean Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Series
Book 1: Tillie
Book 2: Millie
Book 3: Abigale - coming soon
Book 4: The Christmas Mail Order Bride - available for pre-order
I've been reading books by Annie Boone and thought you might like them too:
The Christmas Gift
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017GC4VLS
Mail Order Brides of the West – Books 1 – 4
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015T4WPC2
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About the Author
Trinity Bellingham has always been fascinated by the often intriguing lives led by frontier women and after discovering her great, great grandmother was wife to a rancher in Nebraska, has had personal reasons for writing about the lives of women of the West. She enjoys the simple things in life and has learned through the Grace of God, the benefits of living by Christian values.
Trinity loves spending time with her children and grandchildren as well as brightening the world around her by growing flowers. Writing inspirational historical fiction is Trinity's way of showing how lives can change for the better when God is added to the mix, as well as to pay tribute to the brave women who settled the West.
Contact Me
If you would like to contact me, I would love to hear from you. Maybe you had a female relative who also braved the perils of the West. My email is [email protected]
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