“Don’t think that be necessary,” said Jed. “We got nine in the jail now—most probably all, if not more ‘n those involved.”
Sky wasn’t so sure, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Bymaster looked up and down the street. “No building in town big enough to hold all of us. We’ll have to set up court outside somewhere.” He glanced around a little more. “Down there I think, by that tree at the end of town.”
A signal was sent to the posse that surrounded the town and they made their way in, tightening their circle as they came. Soon the main street teemed with swaggering men and their horses. Bymaster directed all of them to hobble their horses and find positions at the end of the street near the tree.
As Sky led Geyser through the men to the Livery he heard more than one racial slur.
“Those Chinks are gonna get what’s comin’ to them now!”
“Cussed Celestials! Comin’ west an’ stealin’ our jobs! Now they be murderin’! Best we set a good example here for others to take note of!”
Sky knew what that meant. Nothing short of a lynching would satisfy these men. He sent up another prayer that nothing would spin out of control.
Wild Bill looked grim as he took the reins from Sky. “You think we ever gonna get to the bottom o’ this thing with all them men out there wantin’ to showboat their prowess?”
“We’ll just have to pray, Bill. Ask God to keep things under control and orderly.”
Bill gave Sky a skeptical look. “You do the praying, Sky. Me, I plan on doin’ somethin’ if things get out of hand.” He pulled back the flaps of his long, ankle-length overcoat to reveal a Colt strapped to his side.
Sky eyed the gun. “Bill, don’t do anything rash, okay?”
“Don’t you worry about me, Sky. I don’t plan on pullin’ this baby out unless I have to.”
Leaving the livery, Sky walked down the street. He noticed a difference about town today. Normally there were Chinamen everywhere, but today Sky had not seen even one. They were staying away, he assumed, to keep from being falsely accused, yet the town was far from quiet. It teemed with movement like never before. The warming sun shone brightly on the street and everywhere he looked groups of distraught men discussed the recent tragedy. The atmosphere in the town was tense to say the least, and Sky knew it wouldn’t take much to increase that tension to the point of explosion. He prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
Sky headed to Chang’s store. He pushed open the front door, and the bell jangled as he stepped inside. Jenny glanced up from behind the counter. Although she looked calm, her eyes were red-rimmed as though she may have spent the night crying.
“Hello, Jenny,” he murmured.
She nodded. “Sky.”
“I’m sorry about Lee.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I love my husband, Sky. He hard man, but I love him. I pray for him every day. Pray he change heart, but...” She shrugged.
“I know, Jenny. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“The inquiry is going to start soon, and Brooke wondered if you would come out and spend the day with her on the farm.” When he saw her hesitation, he added, “My parents came yesterday, and she is a little nervous being around them, so your presence might help her relax a little.”
Jenny smiled sadly. “I go for Brooke then.” Yet she seemed reluctant to leave.
Sky nodded. “Good. If you get the things you’ll need, I’ll escort you to the edge of town and make sure you get on your way safely.”
Minutes later, Sky, leading Jenny’s horse behind him toward the end of the street heard a strident, nasal yell. “You there, where are you taking that woman?”
Sky and Jenny turned to see a short, enormously fat man lumbering toward them. Sky thought fleetingly that the man’s high-pitched voice certainly didn’t match his size.
“I am not taking her anywhere,” Sky spoke calmly. “She is leaving town for the day. I will be staying here for the trial.”
The man eyed Jenny coldly. “She’s not going anywhere. How do we know that she didn’t take part in this crime?”
Just then, Bymaster, who had heard the loud commotion, approached. “Smyth, what’s goin’ on?”
The obese man spoke in what could only be described as a whine. “This man, here,” he dipped his head at Sky, his jowls jiggling, “is letting this Chinese woman leave town. What if she was an accomplice?”
Bymaster turned to Sky for an explanation, but Sky thought he saw a glint of irritation in the depths of the man’s eyes.
“I can vouch for this woman, Bymaster. She had nothing to do with this crime. I’d wager that any man from town would vouch for her too.”
“Thet’s right!” hollered Jed, as by now the whole group of men had become quiet and focused their attention on the ruckus at the end of the street. “I’ll vouch for her! Jenny Chang wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Me too!” yelled several of the other men in unison.
“Chang?” whined Smyth. “Isn’t one of those men in there her husband?” He gestured toward the jail.
“Smyth, shut up,” snapped Bymaster as he focused his attention on Sky. “Where is she going?”
Irritated by this obviously prejudicial questioning, Sky clenched his fists at his sides. He wanted to slug someone, but for the sake of peace he answered, “She is going to spend the day with my wife out at our farm.”
Bymaster eyed Sky coolly, then turned to Jenny. “Ma’am—” he touched the brim of his hat—“feel free to be on your way.”
Smyth looked as if he’d been denied a chance at a million dollars. “If she runs off and we find she had anything to do with this, I’m comin’ after you!” Smyth jabbed his fleshy finger into Sky’s chest, having to squint up a good ways to glare into Sky’s face.
Calm as the eye of a storm, Sky looked down into the face of the loudmouth. His eyes narrowed. Smyth took a step back and licked his fat lips. The threat was empty. Sky knew it, and all the men standing around knew it.
When Sky continued to eye him indifferently and made no reply to his threat, Smyth stepped back further. Then, in a show of bravado, he pulled the front of his vest downward with a short jerk and swaggered off as though he had conquered the world.
Sky looked back at Jenny and she nodded her gratitude to him, turning her horse toward the woods. He watched her go, praying she would make it safely to the farm.
Swinging back around, he surveyed the men in the crowd thoughtfully, but they had already resumed their conversations. He didn’t think there was any danger to Jenny, or he would have accompanied her. Knowing it was still early in the day with the trial not even started yet, he figured any potential troublemakers would still be interested enough in the goings-on to stay in town. And Jenny had her rifle in the scabbard of her saddle.
After Sky rode out of the yard, Brooke set about getting breakfast on the table. She worried about what to fix. Sky’s parents would be in soon, and she didn’t want them to think badly of her, so what did one fix in order to impress one’s in-laws? Unable to decide, she fixed a little of everything.
Rachel and Sean knocked on the door a little while later. Brooke called for them to enter, and Rachel gasped with surprise when her gaze landed on all of the food on the table.
Brooke had made oatmeal, hot cakes, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. She had grated potatoes and fried them until they were a crispy golden brown. Thick slices of browning ham sizzled on the stove, and fragrant sausages sputtered in another pan. Two jars of preserves stood open on the table next to a loaf of bread. A glass of cold milk stood at each place, and the coffee pot bubbled on the back of the stove.
Brooke, face damp from the heat, was turning from the stove with a hot pan of muffins in her hands. “Good morning,” she said, trying to sound like she meant it.
She hoped her nervousness wouldn’t show too much. For Sky’s sake, especially, she wanted these people to like her. She didn’t want them to go back to their family and report o
n what an unsuitable girl Sky had been forced to marry. She had wracked her mind all morning, trying to come up with something interesting for the three of them to do today and had come up blank, but the fact that they might find her boring was the least of her worries. In the back of her mind she feared they might somehow be able to read her sins in her face, and she so wanted them to like her.
The conversation at breakfast was stilted. Brooke knew she was trying too hard. If she could relax and be herself, everything would be fine, but she couldn’t force herself to calm down. The tension-filled meal culminated when Brooke, who was offering the plate of ham to Sean for the third time, knocked Rachel’s cup of coffee into her lap.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, Rachel!” Brooke gasped.
Rachel’s reaction was quick. She stood and pulled her skirt away from her body.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Sean and Rachel eyed each other. A silent message passed between them.
What a mess she’d made of the whole meal!
“It’s all right dear, really,” soothed Rachel as she wiped at the stain on the front of her dress. “I’m just going to run out to our room and change. I’ll be right back.”
Sean finished his meal. She could tell he was trying to make easy conversation with her, but as soon as Rachel reappeared, he said, “I saw some harnesses in the barn that need mending. I’ll go out and work on that for Sky, and let you two get to know each other.”
Rachel chatted easily about all sorts of things as they began to clear the table. She told several stories of Sky’s little-boy-shenanigans. And Brooke laughed when Rachel told of the time Sky had taken the whole cookie jar right off the kitchen counter and up to his room.
“When I walked into the kitchen and noticed it was missing I went in search of it, of course.” Brooke washed dishes as she listened and Rachel chattered on as she wiped down the table. “I found Sky lying on his bed looking rather green. He had crumbs everywhere. All over his face, the bed, floor, everywhere! I pretended I had no idea that jar was missing and said to him, ‘Son, I just filled the cookie jar with a fresh batch of cookies this morning and thought I’d come up and let you know you can have some if you like.’”
Rachel chuckled. “I didn’t think it was possible, but he turned a shade greener. Well, I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. He had stuffed the cookie jar under his bed and it was empty! He had eaten every last one, and I’d filled it to the brim that morning. I didn’t even punish him. I told him he would suffer enough before the night was over. He did. I don’t know how many trips he made to the outhouse that night. I stopped counting after ten.”
Rachel, who was now staring off into the past, chuckled again. “He was the sorriest little sinner you ever saw. The next morning at the breakfast table I came out of the kitchen, set the refilled cookie jar on the table, and told the kids I had too much to do that day to cook breakfast, so they should just eat up. Rocky and Sharyah started to dig right in, but you should have seen the sick look on Sky’s face. Poor boy, it was a long time before he ever ate another oatmeal and raisin cookie.”
Rachel came to herself and waved the damp rag in her hand. “Here I’ve been chattering on so that I forgot we were supposed to be cleaning up, and you have it almost all done already. Here, dear, I’ll dry that.” She dropped the rag into the dish water and reached for the plate in Brooke’s hand.
Brooke took a deep breath. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so bad after all.
17
When they finished with the dishes, each woman took a cup of coffee and sat at the table. Rachel stirred cream and sugar into her cup.
“That was a lovely breakfast you fixed, dear. Really, though, I don’t want you to feel like you have to go to so much trouble for Sean and me. We don’t usually eat very much of a breakfast, but we appreciate all the effort you went to.” Brooke looked away shyly, but Rachel went on, “I remember the first meal I ever had to fix for my mother-in-law. I didn’t do nearly the wonderful job you did this morning. I felt so scared. You see, Sean and I weren’t living right at the time….Well, no, I’ll have you all confused if I don’t start right at the beginning.”
She glanced at Brooke. “You see, when I was a little girl, my mother abandoned me on the steps of the orphanage in Shilo. I grew up not knowing anything about my past, or who my mother and father were, and that made me angry. I became very bitter toward God and decided I would have nothing to do with Him.
“But I didn’t count on meeting Sean Jordan or his mama. I was thirteen when I first noticed him.” A smile traced the corners of her mouth as she stared out the window. “He was the most handsome man you ever did see. He still is.” She grinned at Brooke. “I had to walk right past him every day on my way from the orphanage to the school. He worked at a Mercantile as a delivery man then, and every morning it was his job to sweep off the walk in front of the store. He was always there when I walked past. I was a lot younger than him—he is seven years older than me—so it took him a few years to notice the doe-eyed girl who wandered past him every day. But eventually he came to his senses,” she chuckled, “and began to take an interest in me. Of course, by then, he was no longer working at the Mercantile. He had become one of the sheriff’s deputies in town.”
She paused. “Sean now, he came from a very loving home. He had just one brother, Jack—that’s Jason’s daddy. Their daddy had died when they were just youngsters but their mama—her name is Eltha Jordan, and I hope you will meet her one day—loved the Lord with all her heart. She raised those boys the best she could, but in those days it was so hard for a woman to find a good job.
She had to work very long hours in order to make enough of a living. The boys were left on their own a lot and tended to—” she stopped, as if trying to think of a nice way to phrase what she was about to say—“stray from what they had been taught.”
Brooke listened with fascination to the story.
“Anyhow, Sean and I fell in love and began to get serious with one another. Our relationship was anything but godly. We went from party to party and generally lived to please ourselves. We had decided we would put off marriage, but when I found out I was pregnant—”
Rachel stopped at Brooke’s gasp. But when she turned to look, Brooke was already staring down into her lap. Rachel couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw tears in the corner of her eyes. Lord, whatever it is, draw her to You. Don’t let her push You away.
“When I found out I was pregnant, we knew we would have to get married. So we married in January, and I had Sky in July. It was right before I had Skyler that my mother-in-law came to stay with us. The first meal I fixed for her was burnt toast and soggy scrambled eggs.” Rachel made a face at the memory. “I was so afraid she would pull Sean away from me. I knew we had hurt her terribly by our sin, but she never even mentioned it. And then I was afraid she would hate me and try to turn Sean and I against one another, but she never did that either. She just loved us the way we were, and I always wondered what made her different.
“Sean and I began to have trouble. We fought constantly, and it was always over something silly. Then Sean began stepping out on me. Oh, I wasn’t innocent either, I probably would have cheated on him, too, but by that time I had Sky to take care of. I remember feeling so miserable. Mother would tell us about Jesus and His love. But I felt I was too wicked a person for God to ever love. I thought I had done too many terrible things for Jesus to ever forgive me.
“I remember walking past Mother’s room one day and hearing her crying. I started to go in and make sure she was all right, but then I realized that she was praying, so I paused to listen. She was praying for Sean and I, that we would come to love Jesus and serve Him with all our hearts. She prayed that God would renew our love for one another and bind us together as a family. And then I heard her pray that God would remove any bitterness that she harbored toward us from her heart. I knew then that Jesus was the One who had helped her to forgive us for all the pain we
caused her. It was through her testimony, the way she loved us unconditionally, that Sean and I eventually saw how much we needed Jesus in our lives. We went to church with her one Sunday and gave our hearts to God. It took a long time for Him to get a hold of us, but we have been living for Him ever since.”
Rachel stopped talking and turned toward Brooke, who was crying unashamedly now.
“Oh, honey.” Rachel leaned over and rubbed one hand up and down Brooke’s arm. “I wanted you to understand that I am aware of your concern— having us here and all. Maybe I am being presumptuous—if so, please forgive me. But I want you to know we’re glad you’re a part of our family now. We have prayed for years that Sky would be blessed with a wonderful wife, and now that we’ve met you, we know God has answered our prayers.”
Brooke straightened and wiped at the tears on her face with her forearm. Rachel pulled a hankie from her sleeve and pressed it into Brooke’s hands. She blew her nose noisily and stared out the window for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was hesitant. “Jesus accepted you like that? You didn’t have to do anything first?”
Rachel gave Brooke an understanding look and got up to refill their coffee cups. “I struggled with that concept for a long time before I finally gave in to God. I kept thinking I wasn’t worthy of Jesus’ love yet; that I needed to be a better person before I could give my life to Him. And that is just what the devil wanted me to think. He wanted to keep me under condemnation. But Jesus wants to convict us. There is a big difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation keeps us feeling like there is no hope. We know we are sinners and we are miserable, but we don’t see a way out. We keep thinking we need to do something, be something, have something more before Jesus will accept us. Conviction now, conviction shows us that, even though we are sinners, there is a way of hope—and that hope is Jesus Christ.”
Rachel took a sip of coffee, then went on. “Before I gave my life to Christ, I felt only condemnation. I searched to find that something that would make me worthy of Jesus’ forgiveness. Then one day Eltha pointed out to me that I would never be good enough. If I waited to accept Jesus until the day that I was perfect, the day would never come. You see the whole reason Jesus had to come and die for us is that none of us is perfect. We are all sinners, and in God’s eyes one sin is as bad as any other. The Bible says if we have broken the law at just one point, it’s as if we have broken the whole thing.”
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