In the Arms of an Angel (Brides of the West Series Book Ten)

by Rita Hestand

  Anna smiled. The woman was such an uplifting person. Anna loved talking with her and they had started a tea every afternoon so all the ladies could get together and talk. Anna so enjoyed meeting everyone and she found out she had a lot to learn about people and things. She hadn't realized how isolated she had been.

  "Well, I wanted you not to fret about him. He's a great help and we'll see to him while you are away. And…I hope everything works out for you…"

  "Thank you…I am worried about after. I'm told there is a great deal of therapy afterwards, so I might have to stay for a while."

  "Well don't you fret about anything here. Your room will be here for Frankie and his meals and for you when you get back."

  "You don't know how much that relieves my mind."

  Mrs. Moore leaned to kiss her on the cheek and left.

  Anna sat staring out the window, tears were in her eyes and her only thought now was of Les. Where was he? Had he finished up his job? Was he okay? Did he take Tatum? Would he ever return? And would he be shocked if he returned and she could walk?

  There was new hope, and a growing sadness.

  Where was Les….?

  Frankie came running in one afternoon and was hollering. "Ma, Josh is going to teach me Latin. Isn't that something."

  "Latin, that is wonderful Frankie…" Anna smiled at his enthusiasm.

  "It sure is nice living in the city, Ma." Frankie told her.

  "Yes, it is. I guess you'll get lonely when we go home."

  Frankie frowned, then he walked over to her and smiled. "But…you'll be able to walk again Ma. You can come out to the barn and we can do stuff together."

  Anna hadn't even thought about all the things she would be able to do. First she had to get through the surgeries and the therapy. None of that would be easy.

  "Have I told you how much I love you Frankie?"

  He looked at her seriously now. "Sure Ma. Every time you make a pie, or help me with my homework, or tuck me into bed, or read me a story."

  "You're a wise young man." She hugged him now. "Now you run along and have some fun."

  He kissed her and took off.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The day of the surgery Frankie held her hand tightly as he knew how worried she was.

  The doctor studied them a moment. "Son, you can turn loose of that death grip on her hand. She's going to be fine. Better than ever. The surgery will take some time though, so you can leave and come back or wait in the waiting room. There is fresh water and some lemonade in there. Just ask the nurse. Anna, when we are through you are going to be a new woman. I am so happy for you."

  Anna smiled, "I wish I knew who did this for me. I'd really like to thank them…"

  "In due time. In due time."

  Frankie kissed her and went to the waiting room. He'd brought a pencil to draw with and the nurse gave him some paper.

  The hospital smelled funny, and Frankie kept wiping his nose. There were a lot of women in the hallways, dressed in white frocks. Everything looked so important and so scary to Frankie. He tried to take his mind off of it but couldn't. He wished Les was here. Les would calm him down.

  It had been a while since he'd seen Les and he missed him. He secretly wished Les would marry his mother, but he didn't know she was getting her legs fixed. He wished he could tell him

  He could draw well and he wanted to give this to his mother when she got out.

  The nurse watched him and was amazed that he kept at it so long. When he was done he showed it to her and the woman was flabbergasted.

  "This is fine work, young man. She'll love it." The nurse winked at him.

  Six hours later, she was out of surgery.

  When Frankie went into see her, he was shocked, she looked lifeless and still very helpless.

  "Can you walk now?" He asked as he came up to her bed. "I thought you'd be walking around the room by now."

  "No, not yet dear." She said groggily.

  "Why not? I thought they fixed it?" Frankie seemed upset. He climbed into the chair by her bed and took her hand.

  "I have to have a lot of therapy before I can walk out of here. But he said the surgery was successful and when I heal and get through with the therapy, I will be able to walk out of here, on my own. It might be longer than six weeks."

  Frankie settled down, but she could tell he wasn't happy about the outcome.

  The doctor came to look at her and was pleased, but Anna wanted Frankie to understand it, so she asked the doctor if he could explain it to Frankie.

  "Of course, Frankie, why don't we go into my office and talk about it."

  Frankie followed him, after giving his mother a big kiss.

  "Why is she still in bed. I thought she'd be up and walking by now." Frankie frowned at the doctor. "Didn't you fix it?"

  The doctor looked at him with a slight snicker. "I can see I made a big mistake not talking to you sooner about this. I just didn't know how a big a young man you were." The Doctor said trying to find just the right words that would sooth Frankie's fears. "You see, the surgery is just the first step, an important step, but only the first. And she came out of it, just fine, Frankie. She hasn't walked for four years, it's like a baby, they aren't born walking, they have to learn to balance and test the waters so to speak."

  "But Ma isn't a baby!" He was still unhappy with the outcome.

  "Frankie I feel as though you need to develop a more clear understanding of this because you are very important to your mother. When we finish all the therapy with your mother, she will walk again. She'll be as good as new, but it won't happen over night. She has to heal and then we have to start working with her, to strengthen her muscles and nerves. Right now she is recovering from the operation. That takes a little time too. That took a lot out of her. When she recovers and begins to heal we will start working with her and getting her ready to walk. It will take a good six weeks of therapy. I'm afraid. Can you be patient with her and me until then?" He asked. "Before she can walk, she has to heal, and she has to strengthen her muscles and tendons. To do that, we have to physically work with her. You see if you don't use muscles, they tend to get weak and don't work well. It's like having a rag doll and trying to make her walk. I should have explained all of this to you sooner. I just didn't know you could understand as well as an adult. But you see, I forgot that you've been acting like an adult for a long time now."

  Frankie studied on it. "I guess so. If it means she will be able to walk. But why does it take so long?"

  "Well Frankie, we have to stimulate her muscles and her sense of balance. When a baby first learns to walk, they can't stand without wobbling, that's because their muscles have to strengthen and become prepared for walking. It takes them a while. It will take your mother a while too, son. The surgery was a big success and she will be able to walk out of this hospital in six weeks to eight weeks. But we must go through the entire routine with her, so she doesn't have any problems later on. So will you give me that much time to make her completely well?"

  Frankie's frown began to disappear. "Sure…sure I will. She's my Ma, and I love her and I want her to walk."

  "Then I want you to do me a favor."

  Frankie listened closely.

  "Because you are so important to her, She needs you badly. So encourage her to do the therapy. It isn't something easily done. It is easy to give up so you need to be there for encouragement. Encourage her to take baby steps. This will help speed her recovery along. Can you do that for me?"

  "Sure…I know how to do that, you see, when she first had the accident. She went to bed and stayed there. She didn't get up, for almost a year."

  "Well then, you know about making someone do things they don't want to do. Good. And Frankie?"

  "Yes sir?"

  "You're life is going to be much better from now on, too. She will be able to do so much and you will be able to relax and play like other boys again. She said it was important to her that you enjoy your boyhood, and go out and pla
y and have friends. You won't have to wait on her and do everything for her now."

  "But, won't she need me any more?" Frankie asked with concern.

  "Oh yes son, she'll always need you. You are the most important thing in the world to her. Yes indeed, she'll always need you." The Doctor smiled.

  "Can I sit with her a while?"

  "Sure, but she won't know much about it. Not today. You see we have to put her to sleep to operate, so she's groggy right now and may not remember anything of this until tomorrow."

  "That's okay, I just need to be with her…I guess I need her today. I was so scared."

  "I understand. And I'm glad we had this little talk."

  "Me too!"

  Suddenly Frankie jumped up and shook his hand hard. "Thanks."

  Frankie sat with her, until almost dark, then he walked home to the boarding house. Everyone crowded around him to find out how his mother was.

  "She's gonna be all right. But she can't walk yet. The doctor told me she has to heal, and then they have to do something called therapy so she can learn to walk all over again." Frankie told them.

  "She's gonna be there for six to eight weeks. So Mrs. Moore, I need to work here, when I'm not up there with her. If that's all right with you. And you don't have to pay me, just let me keep the room. If I can ride up there at least once a day, the doctor said I need to encourage her to do what they want so she can walk again, he said it's very hard work and she has to do it." Frankie looked a little troubled about it now, because he wasn't as strong as he thought he was.

  "Don't you fret, honey, that room is yours as long as you need it. And you can help. Why, Josh told me you’re the best horse wrangler around."

  Frankie perked up when she said that. "Thanks Mrs. Moore."

  But that night he went to bed and he cried. He wasn't sure why, but things just seemed to all come apart. Eight weeks without his Ma. That was a long time. And he hadn't heard a word from Les. He was worried about him too.

  Frankie visited every day, at first it seemed liked she'd never get out of that bed, but gradually she did. He kept encouraging her like the doctor said and because he came every day and helped her as much as he could, she did try hard to recover.

  Two weeks later she was out of bed and they were giving her exercises to do to strengthen her legs. At first she balked about them and then the soreness came from working them.

  Frankie found it hard to keep her spirits up, but he kept telling her she'd be walking around the farm in no time. That helped her spirit and she would try harder, for his sake.

  A month passed and Frankie had sort of a routine down. He would go visit his mom, then go home and work a while. Sometimes if she was down, he go back that afternoon to cheer her up. Every now and then Mrs. Moore gave him flowers he could take to her. That perked her up a bit.

  But after six weeks he decided it was time to find out if Les was all right.

  He talked to Josh about it. "I can't leave here. I have to go see Ma."

  Josh was a tall lanky young teenage boy with a mop of dark hair and big brown eyes. He liked Frankie and they were best of friends.

  "You know, there might be one way to find out without going."

  "How, tell me, I'll do anything…"

  "A telegram to the Rangers office might tell you something."

  "That's a great idea, Josh. Only, how much does it cost?"

  "I don't know. You got any money?"

  "Yeah, Ma gave me a five dollar gold piece to spend like I want…"

  "That should do it, but hey, wait until this afternoon and I'll go with you, and if it isn't enough I'll give you some."

  "Gee, that's awfully swell of you, Josh."

  "We're friends…and friends stick together." Josh told him.

  So after briefly visiting his Ma that day, Josh and he went to the telegraph office.

  Josh worded it for him and asked for a reply.

  "How long before I get a reply?" Frankie asked.

  "Could be today, tomorrow or next week." The man told them.

  "Okay, how much do I owe you?"

  "$1.00 for the send, $1.00 for the receive."

  Frankie was overjoyed, he could pay for it. In the telegram he asked if Les Harper was a ranger and if he was all right, and signed his name.

  Josh gave the man the address to where he lived.

  "Thanks mister," Frankie smiled and pocketed the rest of the money.

  "Glad we got that taken care of. You gonna tell your mother when you hear back."

  "Sure, she likes him too."

  Frankie felt much better and he did everything he could to make his mother feel better, but the exercises were grueling.

  Frankie was out in the barn when Josh came running in to him with the telegram.

  "They answered."

  Frankie was brushing down a horse, "What does it say?"

  Josh opened it and his face turned pale. "Says he's in the hospital. He was shot in line of duty and that he turned in his resignation as a Ranger."

  "Does it say any more?"

  "Nope! Gosh, Frankie, wonder if he is all right?"

  "I don't know. I wonder why he quit the rangers?" Frankie sighed. "Boy, I hate giving Ma this news."

  Josh looked at him seriously.

  "Maybe it's what she needs."

  Frankie frowned, "What do you mean?"

  "Maybe she'll get well now so she can go see if he's all right." Josh told him.

  "Yeah, you're right. I gotta tell her, and fast."

  The next morning Frankie went to the hospital and watched his mother try the exercises, but she was about to give up when he finally decided to tell her.

  "Ma, I was worried about Les, so I….sent a telegram to the Rangers."

  "You did what?" She nearly yelled.

  "I had to know why he hasn't been back. I thought he might have died."

  "Did you get a reply," she asked dully.

  "Yeah, he was shot Ma. He's in a hospital down in Waco…and he quit the rangers."

  His mother's mouth hung open for a minute. "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I sent it to the Ranger's office. I thought they would tell us something."

  "Oh dear, he's hurt, lying in some hospital. Alone…We must go to him Frankie."

  Frankie saw the spark in her eye and knew Josh had been right. "We can't until you can walk."

  She looked down at herself, and suddenly seemed to realize that Frankie was so right. "Then I guess I've got work to do, don't I?"

  "Yes Ma. You gotta hurry and get well so you can walk in and see Les…"

  Anna smiled. "You're so clever. I love you…"

  "I love you too, Ma."

  From that day on she didn't gripe or complain but pushed herself to do better. And in three weeks she walked out of the hospital on her own two feet.

  She took a deep breath and smiled at Frankie.

  "Let's go see him." She said.

  "I rented this buggy for us Ma."

  "You are getting to be quite the young man, lately." She smiled.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Waco wasn't as big a town as Dallas, but it was older and there was a lot to see here too. It had taken them four days in the buggy, but it was at least a comfortable ride and Frankie had spent all his money to hire the buggy and send the telegram.

  The first trip was to the Ranger's office. There were men coming in and going out of the building but they managed to squeeze through the doors.

  There were pictures of people that had arrested famous people and guns that were used all over the place and Frankie stood staring at them all, reading the information at the bottom of each. "Wow, Ma, a picture of John Wesley Hardin."

  Anna grinned.

  When a white haired man with a pleasant expression greeted them, Anna stood up anxiously. "Is there something I can do for you?"

  Anna feeling the exhilaration of being able to stand and walk smiled to herself. "Yes, we wanted to inquire of a former Ranger, a mister Les Harper."


  "I see, and who are you?"

  "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Anna Prescott and this is my son, Frankie."

  "Please, come on in," He motioned them to follow him.

  They went inside a office that had one huge desk and several chair scattered around it. "Please sit down. Les did work for us, that's true. I'm afraid he's turned in his badge though…"

  "That's what we heard, but…we also heard that he'd been shot."

  "That's right, he was. He was in pretty bad shape when they found him."

  "Found him?"

  "Yes, he was just south of Sweet Water, someone along the road spotted him, brought him into town."

  "Oh, then he's in Sweet Water?"

  "No ma'am, he was in the hospital here. We brought him back, since he was still working for the Rangers then. Are you a relative or something?" He asked politely.

  "No…just friends. You wouldn't be that Prescott lady down in Plainville that took care of Les would you?"

  "Why yes, how did you know?"

  "Well I didn't for sure. He said you were in a wheel chair."

  "Oh, yes, I was. I had an operation."

  "Congratulations. Glad to hear it and see you on two legs." He smiled.

  "Thank you. Did Les tell you about us?"

  "Oh yes ma'am. He talked a lot about you. He said you were the prettiest thing he'd ever laid eyes on, and that son of yours was a real pistol." He laughed now.

  Frankie chuckled.

  "Well, then he's here in the hospital? We wanted to go visit and maybe cheer him up."

  "Well I'm sure you could do that, ma'am. But, he's not there now…"

  "No, then he's better?"

  "Yes ma'am he is…unfortunately, he didn't leave a forwarding address. Probably didn't want us trying to talk him into staying with the Rangers."

  "Oh…" her voice broke a little. "Then you don't know where he is…"

  "No ma'am, I'm so sorry to say…"

  "That's okay, I appreciate you telling us this and I'm sorry he quit on you. Did he ever tell you why?"