Measure of Grace

by Al Lacy

  Turning to his cousin, Tom said, “Come on, Kent. Let’s go.”

  “You stay away from my daughter, boy, y’hear me!” said Stu, then stomped past them toward the pharmacy. The crowd broke up.

  “Sorry about the scene, cuz,” said Tom. “Everybody in these parts knows the man is a brute to his family, but no one knows what to do about it.”

  Kent nodded silently.

  Tom put an arm around Kent’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  They had only taken a few steps when Tom saw Diana standing at the door of the general store, looking at him. He smiled at her.

  She smiled in return and moved inside.

  At the Morrow farm two days later, Diana sat on a chair next to the kitchen table, holding a wet cloth to her mouth while a tearful Deborah looked on.

  Potato soup was cooking on the stove, filling the room with its pleasant scent.

  Martha was at the cupboard, taking iodine and salve from a shelf.

  Turning about, she set them on the table and bent over a pale-faced Diana. “Let me look at it again.”

  Diana removed the cloth to expose the split upper lip that was oozing blood. Martha took the cloth from her hand and dabbed at the flow. “Now, tell me … why did your father hit you?”

  “When I went in the barn to tell Papa lunch would be ready in half an hour, he was whipping Daniel with a belt. I was afraid he was going to seriously hurt Daniel. I asked him to stop. He stopped long enough to curse at me and hit me on the mouth with his fist. The blow knocked me down and stunned me. When my head cleared, he was still beating on Daniel, and blood was running from my lip.”

  Martha shook her head and wiped at the cut again. “Deborah, honey, wet another one of those pieces of cloth on the cupboard for me, will you?”

  While a teary-eyed Deborah followed her mother’s order, the three of them talked about the beatings Stu had given Martha and all the children when they made him angry. Martha commented that he was hardest on Diana because she was the oldest of the children, and on other occasions she had tried to interfere when her father was savagely beating on her siblings, and he had struck her for it as he had done today.

  Handing her mother the freshly wetted cloth, Deborah sniffed and said, “And how about the times Papa has been beating on you and Diana tried to interfere, Mama? He hit her every one of those times, too.”

  Martha used the wet cloth to clean away the blood and applied iodine to the cut. “Diana, I’m so sorry for the way your father treats you.”

  Barely moving her lips as she spoke, Diana said, “If it weren’t for you and my brothers and Deborah, I’d run away from home, Mama. I don’t know where I’d go, but I would do it.”

  A look of pure terror crossed her mother’s face. “Oh, please, Diana, don’t even think that way! Your father would track you down, and—what he would do to you when he caught you is … is unthinkable.”

  Tears ran in rivulets down Martha’s cheeks, and she brushed a shaky hand across her eyes in a futile attempt to stem the flow.

  Diana’s heart was immediately contrite at having caused her mother more pain. Martha was about to put salve on top of the iodine when Diana wrapped her arms around her and hugged her close. “I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t mean to upset you. I said if it weren’t for you and my siblings, I would run away. Believe me, I would never do anything to cause this pitiful, hurting family any more grief.”

  As she spoke, Diana rubbed her hand over her mother’s stooped back, trying to smooth away some of the pain. By her loving touch, the bond between the mother and her daughter grew stronger.

  Deborah joined them, and all three held to each other for a long moment.

  When their tears were dried, Martha went back to work on Diana’s lip, coating it with salve. When she was finished, the bleeding was in check, and the three of them talked about the incident in town with Tom Wymore two days ago.

  “I’m so glad Tom didn’t push your father any further,” said Martha. “He would have been in real trouble if he had.”

  “With Papa’s temper,” said Deborah, “that’s for sure. Papa would have beaten him up good.”

  “That’s what would happen to any of those young men who have shown interest in you, Diana,” said Martha. “It’s too bad. There are at least ten young men who have shown interest in you in the last couple of years, most you have known since you were quite young.”

  Diana nodded and wiped away a fresh tear. “Every one of them told me they would not make an attempt to date me because of Papa. He has them frightened and intimidated. I… I especially like Tom. And he feels the same way about me. He proved that two days ago. But since Papa is so set against me dating, nothing can ever come of it.”

  “At least Tom showed that he wasn’t afraid to ask Papa if he could date you,” said Deborah.

  “Yes. I admire him for that. But like Mama said, I’m glad he didn’t push Papa any further.”

  Deborah looked at Martha, her brow deeply lined. “Mama, why is Papa so mean?”

  Martha licked her lips, shook her head, and said, “Honey, I don’t know. He wasn’t like that when he courted me, or I never would have married him. He started showing his mean streak not long after your sister was born. But I can’t tell you why.”

  Tears were trickling down Diana’s cheeks. “Mama, it’s only natural that I want romance, love, and marriage. But … but it will never happen as long as I live in this house. My only hope is to leave home and get away from the Richmond area altogether. In fact, I’ll probably have to get clear out of Virginia.”

  Martha’s features pinched. “Oh, honey, I can’t stand the thought of your leaving home.”

  In her heart, Martha wanted to encourage Diana, but what could she say? Diana was right.

  Deborah’s voice trembled as she said, “It’ll be the same for me, Mama, when I reach Diana’s age. I’ll have to leave home for any chance to fall in love and marry. Papa will never let it happen.”

  “The thing that frightens me about it is that if either one of you left home, your father would find you, and probably beat you half to death. You know how angry he—”

  Martha’s words were cut off by the sound of Stu and the boys climbing the back porch steps. All three looked toward the back door, eyes showing their intimidation.

  The door came open, and Stu’s huge frame appeared first, followed by Derick, Daniel, and Dennis.

  “Lunch ready?” boomed the big man, removing his dirty old hat and tossing it on a wall peg by the door.

  “Just about,” said Martha, moving to the stove. “I was patching up Diana’s lip. You men get washed up.”

  Stu’s face took on a sour look as he stomped to the small table where the wash bowl sat beside a bucket of water.

  While their father was washing his hands, Derick and Daniel slipped up close to Diana.

  “I’m sorry Papa hit you, Diana,” whispered Daniel. “I feel bad that you had to get hurt because of me. But thanks for trying to protect me.”

  Diana smiled in spite of the pain it caused. “I’d do it again,” she breathed softly.

  “That’s the kind of sister you are,” said Derick in a low voice. “You’re the best sister a guy could ever have. But I’m sorry about your lip.”

  Stu whirled around with a towel in his hands and roared, “I’m not deaf! I heard what you boys said. Don’t be feeling sorry for Diana. She had no business interfering when I was disciplining Daniel!”

  The boys’ eyes widened, fear etching itself on their young faces.

  Fixing Diana with a hot glare, Stu pointed a stiff finger at her and shook it. “If you ever do it again, I’m gonna beat you within an inch of your life!”

  The look in her father’s eyes put a chill down Diana’s spine.

  ON WEDNESDAY MORNING of the following week, the Morrow family climbed into the wagon and headed for town to buy groceries for the family and grain for their cows and horses.

  It was a beautiful fall day, with the sun shining
down from a nearly cloudless sky, highlighting the brilliant colors of the leaves on the trees.

  Dennis sat between his parents on the wagon seat, and the other four sat in the bed as usual.

  As Stu guided the wagon onto the road and headed toward town, he turned his head so all could hear. “I’ll leave you girls off at the general store with your mother, and I’ll take you boys with me to the feed store. We should be able to wrap it all up in an hour or so.”

  Dennis looked up at his mother. “Would you get us some hard candy, Mama?”

  Martha smiled down at him, patted his head, and said, “I think we can manage that.”

  Holding the reins with both hands, Stu jutted his jaw. “No candy, Martha.”

  Martha’s brow furrowed as she looked at her husband. “Stu, I thought we settled this issue. The children haven’t had candy for over a month. Didn’t we agree that they could have some next time we went to the store?”

  “Well, yeah, but I changed my mind after Daniel had to go to the dentist with that cavity two weeks ago. Candy makes cavities, and dentists cost money. No candy.”

  “Daniel’s cavity couldn’t have been caused by candy,” Martha argued mildly. “He hasn’t had that much. Neither have the rest of them. A little candy now and then isn’t going to—”

  “I said no candy!” he snapped.

  Dennis laid his head against his mother’s arm and began to sniffle.

  “Enough of that, Dennis!” said Stu. “Dry it up! Right now.”

  At that instant, Stu looked up ahead and saw two wagons standing abreast in the road. One was headed toward town, and the other, the opposite direction. He recognized his neighbors, Shamus and Maggie O’Hearn, in the wagon that was headed toward town. He couldn’t make out who they were talking to in the other wagon.

  “Oh, look!” said Martha, pointing with her chin. “It’s Shamus and Maggie. I can’t tell who the other people are.”

  Derick—who was known to have extra keen eyes—was up on his knees, looking between his parents. “It’s that Pastor Bradford and his wife.”

  Stu’s countenance fell.

  Martha saw it, and silently hoped he wouldn’t make a scene. The wagons were blocking the road.

  Soon the Morrows were drawing near, and Martha mentally released a sigh when she saw the Bradford wagon backing up. By the time they reached the spot, the Bradford wagon was in line with the O’Hearn vehicle, giving ample room for the Morrow wagon to get by.

  Stu did not slow a bit.

  As they passed the wagons, Martha called a greeting to their neighbors, as did the children, then she called out a thank-you to the pastor for giving them room to get by. Both the pastor and his wife smiled and waved.

  Stu kept his eyes straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge any of them.

  As the Morrow wagon continued on toward Richmond, Pastor Sherman Bradford pulled his wagon up beside the O’Hearn vehicle once more and said, “My heart is so heavy for that family.”

  “We know what you mean, Pastor,” said Shamus. “I do believe there would be a chance to reach Martha and the children if it weren’t for Stu. He really has a high wall built up between himself and the Lord.”

  “I know,” said the pastor. “I’ve been to their house on four occasions, wanting to give them the gospel and invite them to church. The first three, it was Martha or the oldest boy, Derick, who answered my knock. I could tell they were frightened just at my presence on the place. Each time, I was told that they didn’t go to church and weren’t interested in going—before I could get a word out.

  “On the fourth occasion, which was about six months ago, Diana opened the door, but Stu came thundering up behind her immediately, and swore at me, telling me to get off his property and to stay off. He repeated angrily that I was never to step foot on the place again. So … of course, I haven’t.”

  “It really grieves me,” said Maggie. “I’ve known Martha a long time. She and I started first grade together at the old country school on Creighton Road. We were close friends until about two years after she married Stu. Something happened not long after Diana was born, and suddenly Stu got hard to live with. He wouldn’t let Martha have anything to do with other people. It’s still that way. The only time we get to see each other is if we happen to meet on the street in town or in a store.”

  “I know you’ve had opportunities to talk to Martha about the Lord in the five years that you and Shamus have been saved,” said Lois Bradford. “You’ve mentioned a couple of them to me.”

  “Yes,” said Maggie, her eyes misting.

  “What kind of response have you gotten?”

  “Most of the time, she just gets this frightened look in her eyes and politely changes the subject. I know it’s because Stu is so mean and cantankerous. She’s scared to death of what he would do if she became a Christian.”

  “And didn’t she say something to you about if God loved her like you were saying He did, why did He let her life be so miserable?” asked Shamus.

  “Yes. It was about a year ago, when she and I met on the street, and no one we knew was near. I was able to give her my complete testimony and explain to her what brought about my salvation and yours, too, dear. I quoted several Scripture verses on the subject of salvation and told her that God loved her so much he sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for her, and that He wanted to save her.

  “That was when she said, ‘Well, Maggie, if God loves me like you say He does, why did He let my life turn out so miserable?’ She went on to say that she couldn’t provide for her children by herself if she left Stu, so she had to stay with him and live in misery.”

  “Bless her heart,” said Lois. “It must be terrible living with a man like Stuart Morrow.”

  “You’re right about that,” said Maggie. “When Martha said that about having to stay with him and live in misery, she added that even if she tried leaving Stu, taking the children, and going elsewhere, he would come after them and when he found them, he would give her a good beating.”

  “We need to pray harder about this,” said the preacher. “God can handle Stu.”

  “Right,” said Shamus.

  “I’ve had other brief opportunities since then,” said Maggie. “With each one, I’ve quoted more Scripture and told her lovingly how much I want to see her come to the Lord. She has even thanked me for caring, but that same fear is always present in her eyes.”

  Shamus laid a hand on Maggie’s shoulder. “We’ll just have to do as Pastor says, honey, and pray more earnestly about the whole Morrow family.”

  “Yes,” said Bradford. “I ran into Diana and Deborah on the street in town about a month ago. They were talking to the Meyer sisters, whom they knew from school. As you know, Betty and Barbara Meyer come to our church.”

  Shamus and Maggie nodded.

  “At that time,” the pastor proceeded, “I invited Diana and Deborah to come to church and Sunday school. They thanked me politely, but said nothing more. I met them on the street again a few days later, when they were alone. They told me then that they would like to come to church, but couldn’t because their father would not allow it. Which, of course, did not surprise me. They also commented on how angry their father became each time I had visited the Morrow home. I could see the fear in their eyes. It’s obvious. They live in constant fear of the man. It grieves my heart. They are such sweet girls.”

  “That they are,” said Maggie.

  “Well,” said Bradford, “Lois and I need to make some calls on some of your other neighbors. See you Sunday.”

  “You sure will, Pastor,” said Shamus, snapping the reins. “All right, Maggie, let’s head for town.”

  Stu Morrow pulled the wagon up in front of the general store. He said to Martha, “The boys and I will be back in an hour or so.”

  Derick and Daniel hopped out of the wagon bed, and while Daniel helped his sisters out, Derick hurried up to the side of the wagon, took his mother’s hand, and helped her down. Both boys jumped
back in the bed, and Stu put the wagon in motion.

  As mother and daughters stood on the boardwalk and watched the wagon blend into the traffic, Diana said dolefully, “It isn’t going to take Papa and the boys an hour to get the grain, Mama. I know what else Papa’s going to do.”

  Deborah sighed. “Me too. He’s going to stop at one of the taverns.”

  Martha nodded solemnly. “I’m sure he is.”

  “Oh, Mama,” said Diana, “I wish Papa wouldn’t drink. It always makes him even meaner.”

  “I know, honey,” said Martha, “but there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m at least thankful that he never gets staggering drunk. He knows when to quit before that happens.”

  Deborah pointed down the street. “Look, Diana! It’s Laura and Becky.”

  Their friends spotted them at the same time, and called to them, waving.

  “You girls talk to your friends for a while,” said Martha. “I’ll go on in the store and get started.”

  “All right, Mama,” said Diana.

  The Morrow girls were chatting with their friends from school when they noticed the O’Hearn wagon pull up. Shamus and Maggie both smiled at them, and Diana and Deborah smiled back.

  Shamus hopped out of the wagon, and as he helped Maggie down from the seat, she said, “Girls, is your mother in the store?”

  “Yes,” said Diana.

  Picking up a pair of well-worn shoes from the wagon bed, Shamus told Maggie he would see her in a few minutes, and headed down the street toward the shoe repair shop.

  Laura and Becky excused themselves and crossed the street to join their mother.

  As Maggie O’Hearn moved closer to the Morrow girls, she noted Diana’s black-and-blue mouth and the cut on her upper lip. “Honey, what happened? How did you cut your lip?”

  Diana flicked a glance at her sister, then looked back at Maggie. “I … ah … fell down, Mrs. O’Hearn.”

  Deborah’s mouth bent downward. “Diana, tell her the truth,” she said flatly.

  Diana cleared her throat, looked away, then faced Maggie again. “Well, I … ah … Papa hit me. He was severely beating Daniel, and I tried to stop him. It made him mad, so he hit me and knocked me down.”