by Stella Clark
“Certainly, ma’am,” Benjamin said politely. “Will there be anything else?” he asked when the task was finished.
“There is one more thing,” she said. “Would you be willing to accept a slice of homemade apple pie as a tip?”
“You bet, Mrs. Wineland!” Benjamin said happily.
“Well then, here you are, young man,” she said in her most motherly voice. “Please say hello to the mayor for us and give him our thanks for such quick service.”
“I will, ma’am,” Benjamin mumbled with a mouth full of apple pie.
Sadie smiled at the simple courtesies of life in Las Cruces. This land offered a welcome, comforting difference from her life back East. But it didn’t compensate for the pain of the deceit that had brought her West. Determined to rise above that pain, Sadie quickly dressed and greeted Mrs. Wineland in the kitchen.
“Good morning, dear one,” Mrs. Wineland replied. “Are you ready for some breakfast? I just put biscuits in the oven, and I’m getting ready to make some oat porridge. I’ve got gravy and honey warming. Does any of that sound good? Or maybe some eggs and ham? The eggs are fresh this morning.”
“Oh, Mrs. Wineland,” Sadie replied. “You needn’t go to so much trouble for me.”
“It’s no trouble at all, dear,” Alex’s mother replied. “It makes me feel good to feed guests well with the things they like to eat. So what’ll it be?”
“Well, the coffee smells wonderful,” Sadie observed. “I suppose I’ll start with that.”
Alex’s mother poured two large cups of coffee and joined Sadie at the table while the biscuits baked in the brick oven nearby.
“You know, dear one, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you would call me Victoria,” Alex’s mother said. “I’ll understand if you’re not ready for that. But I do hope that someday soon you will be able to forgive my past poor judgement and we can be friends.”
“Of course we can be friends,” Sadie answered with a genuine smile. “I will call you Victoria, and you will call me Sadie and that will be that. I’ve felt a lot of emotions since I arrived, and anger surely was one of them. I’m no longer angry, Victoria. But sorrow haunts me, and I fear it may never leave.”
“Yes, sorrow is a tough one,” Victoria agreed. “It’s perhaps the toughest. And I believe no one gets through life unvisited by sorrow. The Bible tells us Jesus himself was a man of sorrows.
“But take heart, Sadie. The Bible also promises, ‘all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.’”
“I’ve never told Alex this, but I considered ending my life when his father was killed,” Victoria admitted. “I was sure I couldn’t live without him. Thankfully, God blessed us with Maggie when my life was darkest and gave me a reason to live. But as you know, Maggie’s arrival cost her dear mother, Margaret, her life. Alex hadn’t yet emerged from the sorrow of his father’s death and suddenly had more of it to bear. So sorrow is not a stranger in this house. And when sorrow comes, it always stays far too long.”
“How did your husband die?” Sadie asked.
“Alexander was shot dead by a vicious, no good excuse for a man named Roby Judson!” Victoria answered sternly. “Alexander had been sheriff of these parts for nearly twenty years when Judson came to town and shot him in the back.”
“How terrible!” Sadie gasped. “Judson is in prison, I hope!”
“He is not!” Victoria declared. “A crooked judge threw out the case for what he called a ‘lack of evidence!’ That judge got his though. Someone … most likely Judson … shot him dead, too. I figure it was Judson’s way of getting out of paying the judge off.
Alex got elected to succeed his father, and I’ve been worried ever since that he may someday have to tangle with Judson. More likely, Judson will try shooting Alex in the back just to be sure he never has to account for murdering his father.”
“I’m so sorry for you, Victoria!” Sadie said and reached across the table to clasp the older woman’s hands in her own. “I believe I’m beginning to understand your motivations in working so hard to bring me out here, Victoria. You’ve helped me understand Alex as well.”
“I hope so, Sadie,” Victoria replied. “We’re good, well-meaning people who work hard to protect the family we have left. That’s no excuse for me writing you those letters. But I hope I’ve helped you see my intentions were pure.”
“I see that quite clearly now, Victoria,” Sadie told her and finished her cup of coffee. “And I believe this talk has sparked my appetite. I think I just heard Maggie stirring in her room.”
“I think you’re right, Sadie,” Victoria replied. “Would you please be a dear and attend to her while I put breakfast on the table? Alex should be here soon, and we can all enjoy the meal together … like a family.”
Victoria almost stopped herself from speaking those words of her heart, but ultimately let the words speak for themselves. It was clear she felt Sadie was the right woman for Alex. It was also clear to Victoria that Sadie had a way with Maggie, and that the child was happiest when with her. Sadie returned to the kitchen with Maggie cradled peacefully in her arms. The sweet infant smiled from ear to ear and touched Sadie’s face as if she were drawn to the loving smile of the beautiful young woman who perhaps reminded her of her mother, who’d been gone too long.
Victoria was tempted to say what a beautiful sight it was but thought it best to remain silent and let God do his work. She knew that if it was God’s will that Sadie and Maggie remain together, it would happen. Victoria expressed that wish in a silent prayer. Moments later, Alex arrived for breakfast. Victoria couldn’t help but notice the way Sadie looked at him as he came through the door. His mother also saw a fleeting glimmer of a smile on Alex’s face when he saw Sadie seated at the table, gently rocking Maggie in her arms and softly singing to her while the child trailed a hand over Sadie’s face.
“Good morning, everyone!” Alex boomed. “I smell biscuits!”
“You’re right about that, biscuit-eater,” Victoria replied with a chuckle. “I think I made enough for you to have one.”
“You mean three or four, I hope!” Alex replied playfully. “With gravy!”
“I take this to mean you slept well and are in a good mood,” his mother said.
“I slept like a baby, and I’m hungry as a bear,” Alex laughed.
Sadie rose from the table and hurried to Alex.
“Would you like to hold Maggie?” she asked. “I know she wants to tell you good morning.”
Alex gently took Maggie in his strong arms and was transformed.
“Good morning, my precious, beautiful little girl,” he cooed softly and kissed her forehead.
While Alex rocked Maggie in his arms and laughed at her giggles, Sadie quickly went to her room and returned with the fluffy pink and blue blanket she’d made for Maggie before leaving Philadelphia. Back at the table, Alex and Sadie worked together to swap the new blanket for Maggie’s old one while he clung to his daughter and sang to her about painted ponies. Alex inhaled the fresh fragrance of the new blanket and lifted a corner of it for a closer look.
“You made this just for Maggie?” Alex asked Sadie with obvious admiration.
“I did,” Sadie said proudly. “I started on it the day I received her picture from you. It seemed the least I could do for so precious a child.”
“Why, it’s beautiful!” Alex said as he gave it a closer look. “You do very nice work, Sadie. It must have taken you quite some time.”
“Not that long at all,” Sadie answered, holding the most important words inside: “but long enough to know I’d fallen in love with you both.”
Victoria pretended to focus on pulling the biscuits from the oven and putting the finishing touches on the porridge. Yet, she managed to see Alex and Sadie talking softly to one another, eye to eye, while Maggie rested peacefully between them. It brought to Victoria’s mind the characteristics of a virtuous woman described in Proverbs 3
1:
“Her price is far above rubies … The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her … She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life … She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands … She maketh fine linen, and selleth it … She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness … Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
Victoria thought it all seemed a perfect description of Sadie. She shared as much with Alex that evening, while Sadie discussed business with Ickes at his store.
“Sadie’s special,” Victoria told her son. “Passing her by would be a grave mistake. She’s an attractive young woman. She’s forthright. She’s no stranger to hard work. She loves Maggie and fancies you despite all your efforts to avoid her.”
“She’s very young, Mother,” Alex emphasized, “and I do not avoid her. I merely keep a respectable distance. You know that once people begin to talk, it’s nearly impossible to set the record straight. Staying here is difficult enough for her. I don’t want folks’ questions and idle gossip to make it even more difficult. And on top of all that, she’s totally unfamiliar with the dangers of life out here that are unheard of back East. I fear she’s like a lamb among wolves.”
“You worry too much,” his mother countered. “Sadie is as capable of taking care of herself as all the other women who have come West, and she has the maturity of a mother and the energy to care for and keep up with lots of children.”
“Children?” Alex echoed with wide eyes. “You accuse me of avoiding her, but you’re imagining more grandchildren. Mother, you are a puzzle.”
“There’s no puzzle to it,” Victoria assured him. “I’m merely speaking the truth of what my eyes see and my heart desires. My prayer is that, one day soon, they will be the same.”
Chapter Ten
After speaking with Ickes, the walk back home took Sadie by the sheriff’s office. Eager to give Alex an update concerning her business with the mayor, she looked in the front window and saw Henry, his deputy, at his desk cleaning a rifle. Wanting to get a better look at the firearm, she tapped on the window and Henry predictably waved her inside.
“Hello, Miss Beckman.” Henry stood, then settled back behind his desk. “The sheriff still hasn’t returned. I guess he’s still at his house.”
“Hello, Henry,” Sadie said quickly. “May I see that rifle?”
“Of course,” Henry said as he held it up from his lap.
“No,” Sadie replied. “I mean can I hold it?”
“I … I guess so,” Henry said hesitantly. “Have you ever held a firearm before?”
“Many, many times, Henry,” Sadie said with a chuckle. “I used to shoot often with my father back in Philadelphia.”
“You did?” Henry could not have sounded more surprised. “How’d you do?”
“Not bad,” Sadie said modestly.
“Well, to be any good at all, you have to shoot regularly and often,” Henry said in his most official voice as he took the rifle back and resumed cleaning it. “That goes double for this rifle here.”
“When was the last time you fired it?” Sadie asked.
“Just finished,” Henry answered. “We have a range right out back.”
“How’d you do?” Sadie echoed Henry’s earlier question.
“Not bad,” he said almost mockingly.
“Are you up for a little competition?” Sadie taunted the deputy.
“Seriously?!” Henry asked as if shocked.
“Seriously,” Sadie assured him.
“I don’t think the sheriff would approve of me letting a woman fire a weapon,” Henry said earnestly. “Especially you.”
“Why, Henry,” Sadie said sarcastically, “It sounds to me like you’re afraid of losing to a woman; especially me.”
“Okay, if you think you’re so good,” Henry said in a mild huff, “What do you bet?”
“Best of three,” Sadie said gleefully. “If you win, I’ll bake you a pie of your choice. If I win, you keep my firearm here at the office and clean and oil it regularly.”
“You own a firearm?” Henry asked in amazement. “You didn’t tell me that part.”
“You’re not going to back out on me now, are you, Henry?” Sadie teased.
“No way,” Henry assured her. “I love pie! Follow me.”
Out back, he and Alex had created a modest shooting range approximately one hundred yards deep.
“We’re going to need a small target to make this interesting,” Sadie said. “I just know you have a deck of cards in your desk, Henry. How about we shoot at the ace of diamonds?”
“Closest to the center wins,” Henry said.
“How about we see who can nick the most corners?” Sadie countered.
“That’s crazy!” Henry replied.
“Do you want that pie or don’t you?”
Henry found the ace of diamonds in his desk, marched downrange, and hung it on a nail in a fence post. While he marched back, Henry smiled at the thought that Sadie had never fired his rifle before and had thus set herself up for failure. Certain of victory, he decided on a cherry pie.
“I’ll go first so you can see how the rifle kicks,” the deputy said in a noble tone, thinking Sadie would likely forfeit after his performance.
After his three shots, they ran to the card and found two holes: one near the top of the card, the other about a half inch from the center.
“Not bad,” Sadie lied.
Back in place, she lifted the rifle to her shoulder, breathed out, took aim, did her best to ignore Henry’s continual stream of advice on what to do and not do, and fired three rounds in rapid succession.
“You should never shoot that fast,” Henry told her and ran to fetch the card.
Sadie laughed as quietly as she could as she watched Henry walking back, totally focused on the card instead of watching where he was going.
“How’d I do?” she asked when he was within fifty feet of her.
“Uhhh, I’m not sure I believe what I’m seeing,” Henry said sheepishly.
Henry held the card up an arm’s length away, and Sadie could see she had nicked the top and right corners of the diamond, while a third hole was about a sixteenth of an inch away from the left corner.
“Believe it, Henry,” Sadie said with a smile. “I’ll bring my firearm by a little later.”
“I was really looking forward to a cherry pie,” Henry said forlornly.
“Take good care of my firearm, and you just might enjoy one yet,” Sadie replied.
“It’s a deal,” Henry said with a broad smile. “See you in a bit.”
As Sadie stepped onto the sidewalk outside the office, three scruffy, road-worn riders slowly rode their mounts past her. It seemed they were trying hard to get a good look in the window of the sheriff’s office as they rode past it. The reactions of others walking by left Sadie with the impression they recognized and feared the three riders. Sadie turned around to alert Henry. But he was already standing in the doorway with his eyes trained on the trio.
“Do you know who they are?” Sadie asked him.
“Don Daniels, Owen Walker … and Roby Judson,” Henry said loud enough to ensure all three heard him. “I’d appreciate having that firearm here soon, Miss Beckman. I suspect I’ll have use for it before very long.”
“I’ll go get it,” Sadie said. “And I’ll let Alex know Judson and the others are in town.”
“He’s not going to be happy to hear it,” Henry said. “But then again, maybe he will be. We’ll find out soon enough.”
“I’m on my way,” Sadie said as she swiftly headed to Alex’s house.
“Tell him I’ll keep an eye on them in the meantime,” Henry replied.
Alex had just laid Maggie back in her cradle when Sadie burst through the front door. Sadie’s expression told Alex something was wrong, and he was glad his mother was busy in the back room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked q
uietly.
“Roby Judson just rode past your office with two other rough-looking characters,” she told him softly, grateful that Victoria was not in the room.
“Tell Mother I’ll be back in a bit,” Alex said.
“Do you promise?” Sadie asked urgently.
“I promise,” Alex said, meeting her eyes with his.
“Your mother told me about Roby Judson, Alex,” Sadie had to tell him. “Please be careful.”
“There’s no need to worry,” Alex assured her. “Don’t say anything to Mother about Judson until I get back. I won’t be long.”
“I’m taking you at your word, Alex Wineman,” Sadie said with resolve.
“Folks around here will tell you my word is good,” he said with a small smile.
Sadie suddenly remembered her firearm and asked Alex to wait while she dashed to her room. She pulled the firearm from the trunk, wrapped it tightly in the blanket that held it onboard the train, and grabbed a box of cartridges before dashing back to Alex.
“Where on earth did you get this?” Alex asked her. He knew the blanket held a weapon the moment Sadie handed it to him.
“Henry will tell you all about it,” Sadie replied as she handed Alex the box of cartridges. “Just come back to us soon, Alex.”
Seconds after he bolted out the front door, Victoria came back into the room.
“Did Alex leave already?” she asked. “I had hoped he would spend more time here with us this morning.”
“Henry needs him at the office,” Sadie replied. “He promised he’d be back the moment he could, though.”
“He always promises that,” Victoria shrugged. “His father did, too. That’s why I never stop worrying.”
“It can be a dangerous job, can’t it?” Sadie asked rhetorically.
“Fatal,” Victoria muttered and put an arm around Sadie’s shoulders. “Dear one, when he steps out that door there’s never a guarantee that he’ll return. That’s why it’s so very important that you tell him what’s going on inside that heart of yours. He has a dangerous job, all right. But the truth is that none of us get out of this life alive. When two people love each other, it’s important that they never pass up an opportunity to show it and to declare it.