Under the Distant Sky

by Al Lacy

  “In about twenty minutes. You boys need to go do what your father and Tony are doing right now. Wash your hands.”

  B. J. started to protest.

  “No washee handsee, no eatee, Mr. Cooper. Understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the eight-year-old said, and followed his brother toward the well at the stock tank.

  Amanda chuckled. “I think all boys are alike.”

  “Well, my three are.”

  “Three? I thought you had two.”

  “The third one is thirty-six years old.”

  “Oh. I understand. Husbands are just little boys in large bodies, aren’t they?” Amanda’s smile faded at the thought of Barry. Quickly, she said, “Both of your sons strongly resemble their father. And I can see you in Mary Beth.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Hannah said with a smile. “And Patty Ruth?”

  “There’s a slight resemblance to you, but she’s pretty much her own little person.”

  “In more ways than one,” Hannah said, and chuckled.

  Tony arrived with Solomon and the boys. When they all sat down to eat, he looked at Amanda and smiled, an appreciative look in his eye. Amanda smiled back, and Solomon noticed the exchange.

  “So, Tony,” he said, “I think it’s time you learned to pray aloud before a meal.”

  Tony’s face blanched. “Well, I… ah… I…”

  “First time’s always the hardest.”

  “Yes, sir, but—”

  “You’ve heard others pray before meals since you got saved, haven’t you?”

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Are you thankful for the food?”

  “Sure am. The venison’s got my mouth watering.”

  “Then just thank the Lord for it, and say it out loud.”

  Tony swallowed hard and bowed his head.

  “Lord,” he said, “I sure am thankful for this venison… and all the other things we’re about to eat. Ah…and drink. Thank You for letting us meet Mrs. Kline. She’s a nice lady. Ah…in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

  “Why, Tony,” Hannah said. “You did great.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Everybody dig in!” Solomon said, and laughed.

  That night, as Solomon and Hannah settled in their bedrolls beneath the wagon, Mary Beth and Patty Ruth slept in the farmhouse by special invitation from Amanda. The boys were asleep inside the wagon.

  Solomon took Hannah in his arms. “Mrs. Cooper…”

  “Yes, Mr. Cooper?”

  “Did you observe something in Tony earlier today while you were inside the house?”

  “Like what?” she asked innocently.

  “That he has great admiration for Amanda?”

  “Well, since you bring it up, I did.”

  “And I assume she was as nice to him as she was at the table tonight.”

  “Of course. Amanda’s a very nice person.”

  Solomon gave her a squeeze and started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When we get to Fort Bridger, I’ll file papers to have your name legally changed from Hannah Marie Cooper to Cupid Marie Cooper!”

  The more they tried to muffle their laughter, the more hilarious they felt, until Solomon covered her mouth with his and they kissed long and sweetly.

  When he released her, Hannah said, “I’ve gone as far as I can. I realize it’s too early in her widowhood for falling in love, but I just wanted to do what I could to set things up. The Lord will have to take it from here.”

  By the end of the next day, the barn roof was completely repaired, and the only fences in need of attention were at the back of the property, where a few men continued to work. Most of the men were concentrating on completing the repairs to the sod roof.

  Tony Cuzak went out of his way to hoe the weeds in the garden and clean out the barn, pig shed, and chicken coop. He also did some work on the screen door at the back of the house and found time to play with Jason and Caleb, who were on the back porch, watching him.

  When Amanda carried little Matthew to the back door to observe the fun, she felt a strange elation as Tony tickled Matthew under the chin, making him giggle.

  “These boys have really taken to you, Mr. Cuzak,” she said. “You’ll make a wonderful father someday.”

  “I sure hope so, Mrs. Kline. The Lord knows I certainly want that. I can hardly wait to meet that special young woman the Lord has picked out for me somewhere in California!”

  Amanda smiled. “You can call me Amanda.”

  There was no relief from the heavy-hanging sun for the men working at the back of the property. They were tamping dirt around loose fence posts, and with each breath it felt like they’d taken fire into their lungs.

  Ezra looked up as Solomon straightened and leaned the tamping bar against a post. Time for a breather. Solomon stepped back into the thick grass, and removed his hat to wipe his forehead. The sound of tamping filled the air.

  Suddenly Ezra drew his revolver and swung it toward Solomon. No one noticed his action until a bullet plowed the dirt. Solomon jerked around and saw a wriggling, headless rattlesnake. The body continued to move from side to side, as though the snake had another set of eyes…another brain. A cold chill slithered down Solomon’s spine when he realized how close the snake had come to biting him.

  “He was coiled up and ready to strike,” Ezra said, holstering the gun. “We didn’t hear its rattles because of the tamping.”

  At sundown the repair work was all finished. The wagon train would pull out the next morning.

  Hannah had invited Amanda and Tony for supper again. Later in the evening, when all the people gathered around the central fire to talk with Amanda, she wept as she expressed her thanks for what they had done.

  When the conversation drifted to Solomon’s close call with the rattlesnake, Amanda said she was aware they were in the vicinity, but she had never seen one on her place before.

  Ezra warned everyone to be careful from now on, and to watch where they stepped.

  Lafe Tolliver stood near the fire with an arm around Vanessa. “I take it you know a lot about rattlers, Ezra,” he said.

  “Enough.”

  “Have you ever seen anyone bitten?”

  “Yes, and it’s awful.”

  “Do victims of rattlesnake bites always die?” Lloyd Marlin asked.

  “No, but there’s no medical treatment for snakebite. The only thing to do is slit open the punctures and suck out as much of the venom as possible, and hope your body can recover.”

  Hannah squeezed Solomon’s arm, telling him by the pressure how thankful she was that his life had been spared.

  “If any of you ever get bit,” Ezra said, “don’t panic. You don’t want to make the heart pump faster and push the venom through the body.”

  “How do you keep from panicking?” Maudie Holden asked.

  Ezra laughed. “Well, it ain’t easy!”

  “If a person doesn’t panic, and he gets the venom sucked out, can he still die?” Suzanne Marlin asked.

  “Oh, yes. Even the smallest dosage can be fatal.”

  Tony Cuzak raised his voice. “We can all thank God our dear friend Solomon Cooper wasn’t bitten.”

  “Amen,” Ezra said. “Let’s bow our heads and do that right now. Tony, you lead us.”

  Every person who looked at Tony found themselves staring into the face of panic. The new convert had been able to hurry through a prayer at supper last night, but this time the whole crowd was looking on.

  There was no way out of it. Tony could tell that by the look in Ezra’s eyes. He bowed his head and said, “Let’s pray.”

  Though many of the people in the wagon train were not Christians, Tony’s simple and heartfelt prayer for Solomon Cooper moved them profoundly.

  The next morning, at 8:45, Ezra called for every wagon to get in place.

  Amanda Kline wrapped her arms around Hannah while Mary Beth
held little Matthew, and Jason and Caleb looked on.

  “Rider coming!” someone shouted.

  Amanda eased her hold on Hannah to look toward the road. “Oh! It’s Todd! It’s my brother!”

  She lifted her skirts and started running. Before she got very far, her brother slid from his horse and lifted her off the ground in a bear hug.

  Amanda clung to him tearfully and explained that these wonderful people had stopped to get water two days earlier and stayed to help her until everything was repaired.

  “Well, Sis, I came to stay a week. So even though the work is done, I’ll be here with you that long.”

  Amanda turned toward the crowd with a radiant smile and said, “Everybody… I want you to meet my brother, Todd Webley.”

  A chorus of voices greeted him and he smiled broadly, thanking them for what they had done for his sister.

  “Well, folks, we gotta move out!” Ezra shouted.

  Patty Ruth kissed little Matthew. As he reached for Ulysses, she said, “We have to go, Matthew, but I’ll let you kiss Ulysses good-bye.”

  When Matthew took hold of the bear, he hung on for dear life, and Amanda had to step in. “Matthew, you have to let go of Ulysses. Patty Ruth has to leave.” As she broke the baby’s hold, he let out a wild cry.

  The others made their way to the wagons as Tony rushed up to Amanda and spoke above Matthew’s wailing. “Amanda, I know it’s too soon after Barry’s death for anything to develop in your heart for another man. But after I see the Coopers to Fort Bridger, could I come back and see you and the boys?”

  “Why yes… of course. California’s out?”

  “California’s out.”

  “You’re welcome back any time, Tony. I’ll be watching for you.”

  “Wagons ho-o-o!” came Ezra’s cry, as he flung his arm forward. The wagon train creaked into motion.

  Tony hugged Jason and Caleb and kissed the unhappy Matthew on the forehead, then dashed to his wagon, his heart banging against his ribs.

  From her place on the wagon seat next to her mother, Patty Ruth watched Matthew, crying as if his little heart would break. She licked her lips and felt a constriction in her throat. Suddenly she tugged at Hannah’s sleeve. “Mama…”

  “Yes, honey?”

  “We have to stop. Please? Can we stop? It’s very important.”

  “What is it, honey?”

  “Please. Can we stop?”

  Hannah turned to Solomon, who was on Nipper, and said, “Darling, we have to stop. Will you tell Ezra?”

  Solomon looked puzzled but trotted ahead to do as she asked.

  “What is it, Sol?” Ezra asked.

  “I’m not sure, but would you hold on?”

  Ezra raised a hand to halt the train.

  The whole wagon train watched Hannah and Patty Ruth walk quickly back toward Amanda and her family. Matthew had stopped wailing, but his cheeks and eyelashes were wet with tears.

  “Did you forget something, Hannah?” Amanda asked.

  “No, but Patty Ruth said she just had to come back and see Matthew. She said it was important, and by the look in her eyes, I have no doubt it is. Patty Ruth…”

  “Mrs. Kline…” Patty Ruth said, her voice quavering with emotion.

  “Yes, honey?”

  “Mrs. Kline, I am very sorry that Matthew’s bear died…an’…an’—” Patty Ruth’s heart felt as if it was being squashed inside her chest. “An’ I would like to give him Ulysses so he’ll have a good frien’ to play with.”

  Amanda glanced at Hannah, who closed her eyes and nodded.

  Amanda turned Matthew around in her arms and knelt down to Patty Ruth’s level. Matthew’s eyes lit up like midnight stars as Patty Ruth extended her best friend to the little boy who had no toys. “Here, Matthew,” she said, “Ulysses is yours now.”

  Matthew grasped the bear, smiling from ear to ear, and stuck a paw in his mouth.

  “Thank you, Patty Ruth,” Amanda said. “Thank you very, very much.”

  Patty Ruth’s heart ached as she took a step back. “Goodbye, Ulysses. You’ll always be my very best friend. Please don’t forget me.”

  “He won’t sweetheart,” Amanda said. “I promise.”

  Patty Ruth looked up at Hannah and took her hand. “We can go now, Mama.”

  Hannah had never been more proud of her little daughter.

  Solomon felt the same heart-swell of pride as he watched his youngest walk back to the wagon train. Suddenly children were running from other wagons, carrying toys to Jason and Caleb, and there was a loud cheer along the whole line.

  Solomon got off his horse as Hannah and Patty Ruth walked up, and he took his little daughter in his arms and said, “You’re the bravest, most generous little pigtailed girl in all the world.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Late in the afternoon, on the second day after leaving the Kline farm, Fort Kearney came into view. Ezra rode along the line, telling everyone they would make a circle just outside the fort and spend the night. They could purchase supplies at the fort’s trading post, and fill their water barrels at the well.

  Chris Cooper pointed toward a column of riders in blue, approaching from the south.

  Micah nodded. “Yep. That’s one of the regular patrols returning to the fort.”

  Chris sat up straight, saluted, and said, “That’s what I want to be, Micah! A soldier on horseback!”

  “Let’s see,” Micah said with a chuckle. “Is this the millionth time you’ve told me that, or the billionth?”

  Chris laughed. “Probably the zillionth! I hope I can be as good a soldier as my papa was in the Civil War.”

  “I have no doubt you will be.” Micah paused, then said, “You really admire your father, don’t you?”

  Chris grinned. “More than any man in the world. He’s the best, Micah. He’d do anything for his family.”

  “I don’t doubt it for a minute,” Micah said.

  At the Cooper wagon, Hannah watched her husband trot Nipper to the head of the line where Ezra was riding. Mary Beth and Corrie were talking together.

  “Does Patty Ruth talk much about Ulysses, Mary Beth?”

  “She hasn’t mentioned him to me since we left the Kline place. Has she said anything to you, Mama?”

  “No,” Hannah said, “but I see a touch of sadness in her eyes. I know she misses Ulysses. He was her constant companion for almost as long as she can remember. I’m sure she’ll get over it in time.”

  “Mama,” Mary Beth said, “I haven’t said anything, but Patty Ruth has cried herself to sleep each night since she gave Ulysses to little Matthew. I’ve tried to talk to her, but she just clams up. I just hurt for her.”

  “I know. Me, too. But the choice was hers. Down in her heart, she knows she did the right thing. I’m sure she knew she would miss Ulysses terribly, but bless her heart, she chose Matthew’s happiness above her own.”

  There was a silent moment, then Mary Beth said, “Mama, you and Papa told Patty Ruth the Lord would bless her for what she did. What do you think the Lord will do? I mean… in what way will He bless her?”

  “I don’t really know, and neither does your papa. We just know that the Lord smiles on that kind of sacrifice. Sooner or later He will bring something into her life to let her know just how she pleased Him by giving her most prized possession to Matthew.”

  Mary Beth nodded. “I hope its sooner than later.”

  “We’ll leave that to Jesus, honey.”

  They had a pleasant overnight stay at Fort Kearney and pulled out early the next morning with the water barrels full and plenty of food and supplies.

  The weather stayed hot. The sky was nearly cloudless and the land remained parched and dry.

  On Thursday, July 21, they arrived at the fork of the North and South Platte Rivers. The fork was a quarter-mile wide where the rivers parted, and was only about two feet deep.

  There were no signs of buffalo on the banks or anywhere near the area. Ezra checked the wate
r and told the people he could see no indication of contamination. It was as he had said—the buffalo had thinned out in this part of the territory.

  A strong, hot wind blew as some of the men filled their water barrels in the river, while others watered their animals downstream.

  It was while he was leading his horse to the stream that Ezra’s nose detected the acrid odor of smoke. He looked toward the west, where the wind was coming from. The land gently sloped to a high point in that direction, and at first Ezra thought he was looking at a long bank of low-lying clouds. But the smell of smoke met him again.

  Prairie fire!

  Most of the people were busy with their water barrels and watering their animals, but a few had noticed the smoke.

  Quickly, Ezra called everyone to gather round. “Listen up!” he shouted. “The water’s shallow out there, so we’re gonna pull all the wagons to the middle of the fork. Right now, the fire’s about four miles from us, but the wind is powerful, and it’s comin’ fast. It’ll be here in less than half an hour.

  “Thank God the fork is as wide as it is! We’ll get plenty of smoke, but just stay in the middle of the fork till the fire has burned past us. Keep your canvas tops doused with water.”

  Ezra pointed to the best place to drive the wagons into the fork. “We’ll go in single file. It’ll take longer that way, but we don’t need to be breakin’ any axles by pullin’ ’em in where the bank’s humped. Everybody follow Micah and line up like he does. Okay, let’s move!”

  As Hannah gently nudged the oxen to keep them close behind the wagon in front of her, Mary Beth’s attention was drawn to a mother prairie hen and five little chicks making their way toward the river. “Mama…”

  “Yes, Mary Beth?” Hannah replied, keeping her eyes on the fire and holding the reins tight.

  “There’s a mother hen and her little chicks running toward the river. Do you suppose they know the fire’s coming?”

  “The mother does. If nothing else, she can smell the smoke. That’s why she’s taking them to the water.”

  “Can they swim?”

  “No.”

  “Couldn’t we stop and pick them up?”