Callie’s arm was at her side, but she began to lift it. “Why—it doesn’t hurt hardly at all. It’s fixed!” She stared at Molitor. “How did you do that?”
“I’d like to know that myself,” Rocklin said.
“Well, I had a friend who was a pretty good man with bones. I saw him do that a few times.”
“Is it really all right, Callie?” Carleen demanded. “It doesn’t hurt?”
Callie experimented with her arm. “Why, it’s a little sore. I’ve probably got a bruise, but the bone seems all right.” She turned to Paul and said, “Are you a doctor?”
Molitor shook his head. “Just a trick, Callie. I’m glad it wasn’t worse.”
“He looks like a doctor to me. You act like a doctor to me,” Kate said abruptly.
Molitor was aware that every eye was fixed on him. “My father was a doctor. I learned a few things from him. I’m glad you’re all right, Callie.”
* * *
JORI FOLLOWED ROCKLIN AS he moved away. “What did you think of that, Chad?”
“I think it’s a good thing we got Paul Molitor here with us.”
“You know, I was wrong about Callie.”
Rocklin turned and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“You were right to bring her on the train. It was cruel of me to even suggest leaving her there with those men.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“I know you think I’m hard and I’m spoiled. You must think I’m unbearable.”
Rocklin grinned at her. “No, I can bear you well enough, Jori. Besides, if you don’t behave, I’m the wagon master and I can always chastise you.”
“Why, you wouldn’t!”
She saw he was laughing at her and then shook her head. “I need it, I know, at times.”
She turned and walked away, and Rocklin looked after her. He was remembering the kiss, and the memory stayed with him like a rich fragrance. He turned abruptly and walked back toward his horse.
Chapter Sixteen
SLIPPING A BROAD KNIFE underneath the pancake in the skillet, Kate flipped it over and looked up at Carleen who was watching every move. “You see how easy it is?”
“Let me do the next one, Aunt Kate.”
“Of course you can. You’ve got to learn how to cook sometime.”
“Did you learn how to cook when you were as young as me?”
“Younger than you, sweetheart.” Kate’s eyes were fixed on the young girl, and she smiled suddenly. “I must not have been more than six when I started learning how to cook.”
“You learned very well,” Leland said. He had come to sit on a box and was eating one of the pancakes. “You make the best pancakes on earth—or anywhere else for that matter.”
“You’re just being sweet, so I’ll give you another pancake,” Kate smiled.
“You know what I want to be when I grow up, Papa?”
“I guess you would like to run away with a circus and do flips off the backs of horses.”
“That’s silly,” Carleen said. “Who’d wanna do a thing like that? No, I want to be a doctor.”
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, honey, but you can’t be.”
“Why not?”
“Because there aren’t any woman doctors. All doctors are men.”
Carleen stuck her lower lip out in a habitual gesture when she was challenged. “Then I’ll be the first,” she said.
Kate laughed. “You’re stubborn enough. If you make up your mind to it, you might just do it. Here, take this pancake.”
Carleen took the pancake on the tin plate, poured molasses over the top, and cut it up into pieces. She got up and started off. “Where are you going, honey?” Leland called after her.
“I’m going to give Herendeen this pancake.”
“He won’t thank you for it.”
“Yes, he will,” Carleen said defiantly and continued striding along the line of wagons. She got to the wagon that Herendeen drove and saw him sitting with his back against the wheel. The other drivers had made a fire and were sitting around eating. Herendeen looked up. She came to stand before him and said, “Here, I brought you a pancake for breakfast.”
Herendeen’s face was still battered from the beating he had taken. His left eye was barely open, and he peered at the girl. “Why you givin’ that to me?”
“Because it’s hard for you to chew with your mouth all beat up. This pancake will be easy. Here, I’ve already cut it up and poured molasses all over it.”
Grat Herendeen could not answer. He was studying Carleen almost with disbelief. “Why you givin’ it to me? I ain’t never done nothin’ for you.”
“I told you. Your mouth is sore, and this is easy to eat. You want me to feed it to you a bite at a time?”
“I don’t reckon.” Herendeen took the plate, took his knife out, and speared one of the pieces. In truth his mouth was sore, for the inside of his lips had been cut by Rocklin’s smashing blows. He chewed carefully, swallowed it, and nodded. “That’s good, missy. Did you make it?”
“No, but my Aunt Kate, she’s going to teach me how.” Carleen sat down directly in front of Herendeen, crossing her legs Indian fashion and watching him as he ate. “Are you married, Herendeen?”
“No, not now.”
“You mean you were once?”
“Yes, I had me a wife once.”
“Did she die?”
“No, she didn’t die. She took up with a gambler in a saloon. The two of ’em ran off and left me. Good thing they did, too.”
“Were you real sad when she left?”
Herendeen shook his head. “You ask a lot of questions. I was mostly mad, I guess, to think a woman would take a gambler over me.”
“Did you have any children?”
“No. That’s a good thing.”
“You don’t like children?”
“A man can’t be a mule skinner and have kids. He’d have to leave ’em behind all the time.”
Carleen sat there watching and popping questions faster than Herendeen could answer them. He had been sullen and withdrawn ever since he had taken his beating, and he knew nothing about children. It somehow amused him that she would ask the most intimate questions with total innocence. Finally he asked, “Don’t you ever get tired of asking questions?”
“No. That’s the way I learn things, Herendeen.” She got to her feet and reached out for the tin plate. “Do you want another one? I’ll cook it myself.”
Herendeen hesitated. “That would be mighty good.”
He watched as the girl skipped off, as innocent as if she were one of the flowers that bloomed on the prairie. The thought came to him that one day she would lose that innocence and somehow this saddened him. He was a rough man in all his ways and had little respect for anything in this world, but something in the girl had touched him, and as he sat there waiting, he thought, She’ll probably have a lot more questions. I never saw a young ’un like her before.
* * *
“GOOD NEWS, I WANT us to have a service this morning.”
Good News was eating the pancakes that Kate had fixed for him. He looked up, his eyes widening. “A service? What kind of a service?”
“We’ve been on the trail now for weeks, and we haven’t had a single service.”
“Well, we don’t have a preacher.”
“That doesn’t matter. You know enough Scripture, and you’ve learned how to read some.”
“Well, I’m no preacher. No one would listen to me.”
Kate had risen and looked down on him. When he glanced up at her, he saw an odd expression on her face. “I’d listen to you,” she said quietly. “Will you do it?”
Good News laughed. “Well, sister, it’ll probably be just you and me, but I’ll do the best I can.”
“Good. Carleen, you go pass the word around that we’re going to have a service. Tell everybody to come.”
“Good, Aunt Kate. I’ll tell ’em all.”
Carleen began
her mission with her usual enthusiasm. She went first to the drovers and told Pedro and Callie, and Pedro shook his head. “Somebody’s got to watch these critters.”
“Will you come, Callie?”
“I guess so. I don’t know much about church, though.”
“I’ll explain it to you,” Carleen said. “Hurry up. We’re going to start pretty soon.”
She ran quickly, up and down the wagons, and finally got to where the mule skinners were sitting around, some of them still eating. She said loudly, “We’re gonna have church. All of you need to come.”
Jesse Burkett stood while taking a sip of coffee. The tall, lanky man nodded and grinned broadly. “Are you gonna do the preaching, Carleen?”
“No. Good News is gonna do the preaching.”
Wiley Pratt shook his head and grunted. “I ain’t needin’ to hear no preachin’ from no mule skinner.”
“Why, it’d do you good, Wiley,” Stuffy McGinnis said. “Maybe even get you a pass to the pearly gates.”
Brodie Donahue and Eddie Plank, both big men, were seated across the fire from each other. Brodie winked and said, “Eddie, there’s your chance. I reckon you could use a little religion.”
Eddie Plank glared at Brodie. “I’ve got as much religion as you have, I reckon.”
“All of you need to come,” Carleen said and stood waiting.
Wiley Pratt said with a curse, “Get out of here, girl, we don’t need you or no preachin’!”
“Let the girl alone, Wiley. If you don’t want to go, that’s fine, but otherwise keep your mouth shut.”
Herendeen had suddenly appeared and loomed over the group. His eyes locked with Wiley Pratt, a hot-tempered man himself. Wiley started to answer, but something in Herendeen’s attitude caused him to be silent. Finally he grunted, “None of my business. Go on if you want to.”
Brodie Donahue was examining Herendeen carefully. All of them had been shocked when Rocklin had beaten Herendeen. None of them had thought it was possible. Donahue asked cautiously, “You reckon you’ll be goin’ to the preachin’, Grat?”
“Yeah, I’m goin’.”
Grat Herendeen stared at Brodie, who shrugged and said, “Well, if it’s good enough for you, I reckon it’s good enough for me. Come on, let’s go hear what Good News has got to say.”
* * *
GOOD NEWS STOOD RATHER awkwardly in front of the group that had gathered. They were all standing and waiting for him, and, though he was a man of firm convictions and never shirked from declaring his faith, something in the eyes of his fellow mule skinners intimidated him.
Kate saw this at once and said, “Leland, I think you ought to say something to get the meeting started.”
“Me?” Leland was startled. He started to speak and deny the honor, but he saw Kate watching him. “Why, I’m no preacher, and I guess I’ll have to admit that I haven’t served God the way I should have. But I know He’s real, and I’m trusting in Jesus Christ for my salvation.”
Jori listened with surprise as her father spoke. Religion with him had been a private thing, but she was impressed at how sincere he was. She knew him well enough to understand that he was not just mouthing words. Something in Papa has changed. I think the loss of everything and having to start over again has broken him, but he means what he’s saying.
Finally Leland shuffled his feet and said, “God’s never failed me yet, and I don’t think He ever will.”
When Leland fell silent, Kate spoke up and said, “Well, that’s a fine testimony, Leland. I think before Good News gives us something from the Word of God we ought to sing a hymn.” Without hesitation she raised her voice and began to sing:
When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour content on all my pride.
Jori knew the song and joined in. She had a strong alto voice and had learned to sing parts with her aunt when she was but a girl. Now she glanced around and saw to her surprise that Chad Rocklin’s lips were moving. He knows the song, she thought with surprise and saw that there was a strange expression on his face. She could not know what he was thinking, but he joined in with the rest of the verses ending with the final one:
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Kate sang three more hymns, and, although the Haydens were familiar with them all, most of the mule skinners did not know any of them. Jori saw that Callie was totally silent, making no attempt to join in, and the thought came to her, She doesn’t know anything about all this.
Finally Kate turned and nodded at Good News who at once stepped forward. He had a Bible in his hands, and there was a light of gladness in his eyes and a sound of joy in his voice. “I don’t have to tell any of you fellows here that I’m no preacher, but I am a believer in the Lord Jesus. Miss Kate’s been teaching me how to read, and it’s been the finest thing in my life to be able to read the Word of God. I’ve learned to read enough to give you a few verses right out of the Book. The first one is found in the Gospel of John, the third chapter. Most of you probably heard the sixteenth verse. It goes, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ I reckon that’s everybody’s favorite verse, but for a long time I’ve been thinkin’ on verses fourteen and fifteen, which come just before this one, of course.” He opened his Bible and ran his finger along the words. His voice was halted but clear, “‘And as Moses … lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, … even so must the Son of man be lifted up: … That whosoever believeth in him … should not perish, but have eternal life.’”
Good News obviously was proud of being able to read the words, as faltering as it might have been. “I didn’t understand that verse for a long time, folks. I couldn’t read the Bible, and I didn’t know what it meant when it talked about a serpent. But since Miss Kate has been teaching me, I found in the old Book, the Old Testament, that is, what it’s all about. Maybe you heard how that God delivered the children of Israel out of bondage, out of the land of Egypt across the Red Sea to dry land. Well, they was on their way to the Promised Land, and the Bible says in the book of Numbers, the twenty-first chapter and starting with verse four, a little story there that makes the words of Jesus be a help to us.” He stumbled through the verse and began to read again in the same faltering fashion. “‘And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses. Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.’”
Good News looked up and shook his head. “I guess people aren’t a lot different today. I don’t think we had gotten out of Franklin before some of us started gripin’ and bellyachin’ about the hardships. We didn’t have anything like the children of Israel. They didn’t have any food or any water. They didn’t know where they were goin’, and they were mighty scared, so they began to complain. And as I just read to you out of the Book, God sent fiery serpents to bite ’em. I guess the preachers would all tell us that we don’t need to complain about anything that happens to us. God was gonna take care of the Israelites, and I’m believin’ that God’s gonna take care of me—and of you, too. Anyway, them fiery snakes, they began to bite people. We’ve seen that when poor old Jake Fingers got snakebit. I reckon all of us saw him die—a hard death it was, too. I think we’d have given anything if we could have saved old Jake, but there wasn’t anything we could do. We just had to stand there and watch him die. But look at what verse seven says.” He began to read again, and it was o
bvious that he had read it many times.
“‘Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.’
“Well, glory, ain’t that a fine, fine thing that God done for the people?” Good News lifted his voice and his eyes flashed. “Just imagine if there’d been something like that for old Jake. When he was a dyin’, if he had just had somethin’ to look at like that brass serpent. And the Book says it, so it’s true. And that’s what Jesus meant when He said if anybody wants God, all he has to do is look to Me. Just like Moses lifted up that serpent, I’m gonna be lifted up, and I’m the way that will save everybody that will just look.”
Good News got carried away and spoke vehemently and with great excitement. He ended by saying, “Well, I’m talkin’ too much maybe, but I remember the day I looked to Jesus. I was worse off than anybody with a snakebite. My soul was dyin’. I was headed straight for hell, but I remember that day as if it was yesterday. I called out to Jesus, and I looked to Him and right at that moment, folks, God came into my heart. The Lord Jesus took up residence, and He ain’t never left and He never will.” Tears suddenly came into Good News’ eyes, and he said, “I know there are men that could have said this better, but all I know is that Jesus saves sinners because He saved me.”
* * *
CALLIE HAD LISTENED WITH some astonishment to the sermon. She had never been to church in her life and knew absolutely nothing. The name of God she had heard blasphemously from the rough men she had grown up around, but something about the words that Good News said had touched her. Her eyes had gone around the crowd, and she was shocked to see that Molitor had tears in his eyes. When the crowd broke up, she went over to him and said, “Paul, what is it? Why are you crying?”
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