Rocky Mountain Redemption

by Lisa J. Flickinger

  “I’d like to know.”

  “Well, I sure don’t,” Snoop said. “You’re twice the woman that girl will ever be.”

  Not even close, Snoop.

  Snoop sent Preach a glare before he focused on Josephine. “Let’s you and I get in this wagon and start that new life we’ve been talking about.”

  It might get ugly, but Preach could take Snoop down. He had before. More than likely, Josephine would just let the two of them go at it. Her corset wouldn’t allow for much more. “You both know I can’t let you leave.”

  “I think you will, Preach.”

  Metal clinked on metal as Snoop rested a rifle on the wagon box, the barrel pointed at Preach’s chest.

  He swallowed. The seconds ticked by as sweat gathered at the base of his spine. It had been a while since someone had threatened to kill him. “You shoot me with that, and the whole town will come running.”

  “It won’t matter much to you now, will it?”

  “Is that Joe’s carbine?”

  Snoop dropped his voice to a murmur, “Ya, and it’ll make a mess of you.”

  Keep him talking, Preach. “You don’t need to leave like this. If you give all the stuff back and turn the money over to Josephine’s father, folks won’t even know what you’ve been up to.”

  “It’s too late for that,” Snoop said. “Besides, I’ve stole before, just not so successfully. I’m not taking any chances I’ll go back to jail.” Snoop passed the rifle to Josephine. “If he makes a move, shoot him. I’ll finish loading the wagon.”

  The steel in Josephine’s look told Preach she’d follow through on Snoop’s instructions.

  Snoop returned to the wagon three times with items from the shack. He packed four more blankets, a large wooden crate, and several of the church’s garden tools before retrieving the rifle from Josephine. “Come around here slow. You can sleep in the shed tonight.” Snoop howled with laughter. “We both know you’ve done worse.”

  “I’m going to miss you, Snoop,” Preach said.

  Snoop poked the barrel between Preach’s shoulder blades, urging him into the shed. “Ha! About as much as I’ll miss you. Josie, the lock’s on the box by the door.”

  Josephine grabbed the lock as Snoop gave Preach one last shove with the barrel of the gun. The shed door closed, plunging Preach into darkness before the padlock scraped on its hasp.

  A few moments later, the wheels of the wagon creaked and groaned as the couple drove away. Preach kicked at the base of the thick slab of wood. It didn’t budge. Yelling wouldn’t help. The church was quarter of a mile from the nearest home. He’d have to wait until morning for rescue.

  Reaching to his right, Preach felt his way past two chairs, several rolled canvases, and an old pulpit before finding a wooden manger full of straw. It wouldn’t make the most comfortable bed, but as Snoop had reminded Preach, he’d had a lot worse. “I guess I’m borrowing your bed tonight, Jesus.”

  Preach fluffed the straw in the manger before taking a seat, propping his back against the stone wall, and spreading one of the canvasses to use as a blanket.

  No more than six hours’ ride, and Josephine and Snoop would reach the coast. They’d probably board a ship after that, find somewhere safe to await their windfall. They’d both played their parts well. The town would be surprised to hear they’d left the way they did.

  Preach hadn’t seen it coming either until he’d asked a few questions around town. It was Lem, owner of the general store, who’d told Preach about Snoop. The man suffered with insomnia and liked to walk the streets of Stony Creek until he grew tired. He’d seen Snoop come into town driving a wagon several times in the dead of night.

  Snugging the canvas under his chin, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Isabelle’s face rose in his mind like it had every single night since the afternoon he’d met her.

  Lord, give Isabelle the comfort I can’t give her. She didn’t deserve to be misused by Josephine and Snoop. Isabelle’s had so much torment in the last year. Lord, help her know how much You love her—how much I love her.

  So Perley figured Preach and Isabelle would be married by Christmas. He shifted in the manger, a rough board digging into his spine. Perley wasn’t known for long odds.

  Hours later, Preach shielded his eyes at the sound of the door opening. Daylight surrounded a shadowed form holding a long shaft. Had Snoop returned to finish him off? Preach’s stomach clenched.

  “Preach? What are you doing in here?”

  He leaned forward before groaning. Sleep hadn’t evaded him, but the odd position and the cold from the stone wall had driven pain into every one of his limbs. “Miss Sophie, am I glad to see you.” Preach shook his arms to restore the flow of blood. How did you find me?”

  Miss Sophie leaned a rake against the chairs and hurried to Preach’s side. Wrapping an arm around one of his, she yanked upward. If he didn’t hurt so much, Preach would have laughed. Her tiny limbs weren’t going to be any use in getting him out of the manger.

  Preach attempted to stand, but his feet were numb and wouldn’t hold. “Give me a couple of minutes.”

  Fiddling with the brass button on her wool coat, Miss Sophie’s gaze darted around the piled objects in the shed. “I forgot my best plate in the church on Thursday. I thought I would retrieve it during my morning walk. I noticed the rake leaning against the shed, and I thought I’d put it back. I’m not even sure why we lock it. Everyone in town knows the key is hanging under the eaves.”

  “It sure works when you want to lock someone in.”

  Miss Sophie’s eyebrows narrowed in a look of worry. “Was someone afraid you might get into trouble, Preach? Was Horace’s death too much for you? I know it can be difficult to follow the Lord, but—”

  “It was Snoop.”

  “Snoop put you in here?”

  “He had a gun, and he wasn’t concerned about the condition of my soul. He and Josephine have been stealing whatever they can lay their hands on, including your husband’s tool chest. I knew Snoop was up to something, but I didn’t know about Josephine. I caught them both at it around midnight last night.”

  “Oh, my.”

  “They’ll be at the coast by now. But I imagine you’ll find your husband’s chest not far down the road with the rest of the loot. I loosened the nut on the back wheel of the wagon when I got to town. It was stashed in the woods, the same place I found it last Sunday on my way to the church from your house. I had a hunch it was the same one Snoop had been using on his late night trips to town. They won’t have found the nut in the dark last night.”

  “Phyllis will be so disappointed.”

  “I imagine there will be lots of folks who are disappointed.” Preach stretched his legs. “I think I can almost feel my legs. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 19

  Isabelle followed one of the paths leading from the cook shack. Her foot scuffed on the step outside Joe’s office door. She brought her hand to the back of the plate carrying the fresh oatmeal and raisin cookies to keep them from sliding to her feet. The chill of the October evening brought a shiver to her shoulders—or was it nerves?

  According to Aunt Lou, Joe had offered Preach the use of his office during supper, and Preach had taken him up on it to prepare for Horace’s funeral. Aunt Lou had insisted Preach deserved Isabelle’s good-bye in person, “after all he’d done for her” before she’d pushed Isabelle out the door with the cookies.

  Isabelle’s heart was torn. Preach had come to her rescue. When she thought of Daniel’s attempted abduction, her knees quaked. Preach had told her father about the episode to make sure he watched closely over Isabelle.

  But Preach had also grieved her heart more than she cared to admit. As far as she was concerned, sneaking off to her home with Father was more palatable than a final good-bye, but Aunt Lou didn’t consider Isabelle’s promise to leave a note for Preach a fitting end to their friendship. When had Aunt Lou decided Preach’s feelings even mattered?

  Dani
el wouldn’t dare show his face in Seattle now that he’d been found out. It was safe for Isabelle to return home and Father had encouraged her to travel with him. Isabelle hadn’t spoken to Preach since he’d burst in on her conversation with Daniel and Father. His pained expression when she’d asked him to leave had said she’d hurt him, but he’d hurt her, too. It seemed as if all they did was wear on each other—one more reason not to seek him out.

  Isabelle turned from the door. Across the camp yard, Aunt Lou stood by the corner of the cook shack, broom in hand. She wouldn’t dare come after Isabelle, would she?

  Aunt Lou shooed the air. It wasn’t worth finding out. Isabelle’s breaths slowed as she turned toward the office door once more and concentrated on the knothole directly below the scrawl of Pollitt’s Lumber in thick black paint. Preach must be exhausted after last night’s escapade.

  The supper table, usually silent, had buzzed with the story of Snoop and Josephine absconding with stolen goods and heading for the coast. The men had howled with laughter, when they heard how Preach had the foresight to disable the wagon.

  None of the men had appeared surprised that Snoop had taken the opportunity to escape with the pretty girl, but more than one had questioned Josephine’s poor choice in men.

  If Josephine was truly in love with Snoop, she’d hidden it well. Her overtures in Preach’s direction had appeared genuine. Isabelle wasn’t sorry Josephine was gone. Isabelle’s sympathy, however, extended to Phyllis. The woman had been forthright in her pursuits for her daughter, and she didn’t deserve what Josephine had done to the family—no mother did. The men around the table had conjectured the Thorebourne family might lose their business and their beautiful home because of Josephine’s selfish actions.

  Stop stalling, it won’t help. Isabelle swallowed before rapping on the door.

  “Yes?”

  Preach’s voice did sound tired. He didn’t need Isabelle bothering him. She should leave the cookies outside the door and return to her packing. She glanced over her shoulder. Aunt Lou still stood sentry at the corner of the cookhouse. Isabelle turned back to the door. “I’ve brought you some cookies, fresh from the oven, I thought—”

  The door slid open, and Preach towered over her, his hair standing in clumps as if he’d tugged at it. His expression softened, the corners of his mouth rose in a smile. “Thank you.”

  “I was hoping we could talk.” There was no reason to tell Preach she was being forced to.

  Preach tipped his head. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, too. How are you? The whole affair with Daniel must have been overwhelming.”

  “Thank you for protecting me. My father told me what you did. When I think of what Daniel meant to do…” And how far he might have gone to obtain Isabelle’s compliance. “Well, I hate to think about it.”

  A half-grin creased Preach’s face. “Me, too. Look, I don’t have a lot of time right now. Can we speak after Horace’s funeral? I’m trying to prepare for it”—he swung an arm toward the desk—“and it’s harder than I thought. I’ve only got a couple of words written.”

  Isabelle’s fingers twitched with the desire to reach up and smooth the fine lines at the corners of Preach’s eyes. She would miss the serenity found in those deep pools.

  Although Isabelle, too, should be exhausted, she pulsed with energy. Two nights before, after Daniel had stormed out of the dining room, she and Father had talked well past midnight. Isabelle had sobbed and shared the vile details of Daniel’s attack as her father had held her and told her how much both he and her mother loved her.

  Knowing there were no more secrets between Isabelle and her parents had brought her a peacefulness she hadn’t experienced since before the May Ball. The anxiety that usually awakened her several times every night appeared to have vanished too. Isabelle had slept the last two nights through, even though she and Aunt Lou were sharing Aunt Lou’s single bed.

  Isabelle had also been able to read her Bible before meal prep began each morning. There’d been no condemning whispers of you’re a shameful fraud as she’d opened the pages and drawn strength from Isaiah forty-three that very morning. Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I will do a new thing now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

  Lord, if anyone needs a way in the wilderness, I do.

  Isabelle’s good-bye would be short. “I won’t take much of your time…pastor.”

  Her words brought a glow to his eyes. “Thank you for the reminder to consider all my parishioners’ requests in their time of need.” He pinned her with a forthright gaze. “You do have a need, don’t you?”

  Isabelle’s heart palpitated as heat radiated from her stomach and through her limbs. What was he really asking? She did have a need. A need to have the feelings she felt for Preach reciprocated, but that need wasn’t going to be met.

  Isabelle nibbled her bottom lip between her teeth as he waited for her response.

  As the seconds ticked by, he leaned forward and raised his eyebrows.

  “I think so.” Her voice quivered.

  Preach plucked two cookies from the plate and tucked them into his mouth in one bite. As his Adam’s apple bobbed, he swung the door open and gestured for Isabelle to enter the office. “I suppose your interruption can’t hurt. I have no idea what I should say tomorrow. I hate to disappoint the family, but judging by what I’ve written so far, whatever I come up with won’t be eloquent.”

  Scraping his boots across the rough sawn boards, he motioned for Isabelle to take the chair against the wall behind the door. After setting the plate on the desk, he picked up two more cookies and shoveled them into his mouth. “Mm. Good. Thank you.”

  Only a few coals glowed in the narrow fireplace. Isabelle tightened her coat.

  “I suppose it is cold in here,” Preach said before crossing to the fireplace and adjusting the coals with a wrought iron poker. He plucked three logs from the small wood stack next to the wall. After he laid them on the coals, bright flames snapped along the bark.

  “You must be tired after last night’s ordeal,” Isabelle said.

  Preach snorted as the flames highlighted his chiseled features.

  Her stomach fluttered again, as if it were filled with moths. Aunt Lou didn’t know what she was asking of her niece. Isabelle didn’t want to say good-bye.

  “I’ve had better sleeping arrangements, that’s for sure.” Preach’s gaze swung to hers and back to the fire before he poked at it again. “I’m sorry. My comment was inappropriate. You’re right, I’m overtired.” He jabbed the poker into one of the logs, shooting sparks up the chimney and onto the slate hearth under his knees.

  “Josephine had me fooled,” he said. “Her family’s paying the biggest price, though.”

  “I feel sorry for them.”

  “I suspect most folks do.” He turned from the fireplace and took the chair at the desk. “I’m glad you’re here. About my sermon on Sunday. It’s why I came to find you on Thursday at Miss Sophie’s.”

  In all the excitement of the last two days, Isabelle had forgotten about his arrival on Miss Sophie’s doorstep. Her body tensed. His sermon? Of course he wanted to talk about his sermon. Why wouldn’t he want to reiterate how “all have sinned”? As if she didn’t already know. But Jesus had forgiven her. Isabelle raised her chin. “I’m not interested in your sermon.”

  Preach swiped through his hair, smoothing some of the clumps. “You’re not interested in what part of my sermon?”

  “Hearing you remind me about how much I’ve sinned.”

  Preach’s chest deflated as if she’d punched him.

  It was time for Isabelle to take her leave. He could hear from the others about her departure with her father. Aunt Lou could tell Preach herself if she cared so much about him.

  “Snoop was right.”

  Isabelle’s hand slipped from the door latch. Snoop thought Isabelle was a sinner? The
room echoed with her sharp laugh as she turned back to face Preach. “Don’t you think that’s the pot calling the kettle black?”

  “Snoop was a lot of things: a thief, a cheat, a liar. But he was also perceptive. Give him time, he could figure almost anything out. He’s the one who told me about you.”

  Isabelle drew a deliberate breath through her nose to avoid the quaking of her voice. “About me? What was there to tell about me that you didn’t already know? You, however, hold all kinds of secrets, Mr. Preacher. It was Snoop who told me I should ask about Lavinia.” It was cruel to bring the woman up now, when Isabelle was planning to leave, but, dropping her volume, she pressed on. “So I guess I’m asking, who’s Lavinia?”

  He slid both palms down his flushed cheeks before speaking. “Isabelle, I’ve done a lot of things in my life I’m not proud of. Before I met the Lord, when we had time off, I was always the first one up to the bar and more often than not the brothel. There was one woman in particular, Lavinia. I knew Snoop was partial to her, but I wanted to get back at him. I spent some time with her just so I could hurt Snoop. He’s never let me forget it.”

  The pages of Preach’s Bible crinkled as he smoothed them. “I’m beginning to realize, it’s not about forgetting the sin, it’s about remembering the Lord. Believing in the Lord has changed me on the inside. I don’t have to do those things anymore.”

  Of course there would have been other women in Preach’s life. The revelation still unsettled her heart. Lord, help me to forgive.

  “I’d like to tell you I’m not tempted to sin, but I’m tempted every day to return to my old ways. Which brings me around to my sermon.”

  Enough, Preach.

  “I wasn’t trying to remind you of how much you’d sinned.”

  Isabelle stared at the fire. “It sure felt that way after what I’d shared with you.”

  “That’s what Snoop told me. He said you’d taken my sermon personally. But the point of my sermon was not ‘For all have sinned…’ It was the next verse, Romans 3:24. ‘Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.’ I wanted people to remember our sins are redeemed by the gracious forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.”