Measure of Grace

by Al Lacy

  “Well, she tells me about arriving late into Elkton because the train was delayed in the Rocky Mountains by an avalanche. But she doesn’t mention Jordan Shaw. All she says is that she’ll fill me in on the details in her next letter. I can tell she wrote this in a hurry. She must’ve been squeezed for time to get it in the mail and wanted to let me know that she got saved and that she arrived in Elkton safely.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be getting another one soon, honey,” said Maggie. “Then—as she said—she’ll fill you in on the details.”

  “Yes! But more than anything, I’m so glad she got saved.”

  When the three older children came home from school, their father had not yet returned from town. In Dennis’s presence, Martha let the older children read Diana’s letter. They were impressed that their older sister had become a Christian, and all three commented to their mother that after hearing the sermons on Sunday, they were beginning to understand it better.

  This pleased Martha. She had been praying harder than ever for them to be saved.

  While driving the wagon home from town, Stu was boiling inside over the fact that Diana was gone and he couldn’t find out where she was. He told himself he would beat it out of his religious fanatic wife if it weren’t for Chief Perry’s stern warning. Perry would see that he went to prison, for sure.

  Stu figured Diana had to be somewhere nearby, but promised himself he would find out her whereabouts some other way. No more jail cells for him.

  This thought stirred his memory about another warning. The one that came from Pastor Sherman Bradford that day in the jail. The graphic picture of the blazing prison called hell emblazoned itself in his mind.

  After a brief struggle with it, Stu shook it from his thoughts.

  Arriving home, Stu pulled the wagon up to the barn door, then headed for the house. He would have Derick and Daniel unload the grain sacks he had purchased in town and get Martha alone. He would tell her that he had been wrong to threaten Diana, and say he wanted to go to her and ask her forgiveness. Maybe this approach would work. Then when he found Diana, as much as he would like to give her a good beating, he would at least throw a scare into her like she’d never known before. She had defied him, and she needed to pay one way or another.

  Inside the house, Derick and Daniel were doing homework in their room, and Martha and Deborah were cleaning the parlor together before it was time to start supper.

  At the same time, five-year-old Dennis was alone in the kitchen. He had seen his mother stash Diana’s letter in the pantry—the one place in the house his father never went. Curious to see it for himself, Dennis climbed up on a stool in the pantry, grasped the hidden envelope, took the letter out, and was looking at it when he heard the heavy footsteps of his father coming in the back door.

  Frightened, Dennis jammed the letter in the envelope so he could put it back where he found it, but lost his balance and fell to the floor. Whimpering, he started to get up with letter and envelope in his hand when he saw his father, like a monstrous giant, standing in the open door of the pantry, looking down at him.

  “What’re you doing in the pantry, boy?” Stu said gruffly. He bent over him. “And what have you got here?”

  Dennis’s features went white. He was too frightened to speak.

  Stu snatched the envelope from Dennis’s trembling hand, noted first the return address under Diana’s name in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, then read the letter.

  Martha and Deborah came into the kitchen at the same moment and froze when they saw Stu standing by the pantry door, holding Diana’s letter in one hand and the envelope in the other.

  Dennis bolted past his father, ran to his mother, and wrapped his arms around her legs, burying his face in her apron.

  Martha’s eyes widened as Stu moved toward her, an evil sneer on his face. “So she’s in Elkton, Idaho, eh? Long way from home. She says she’s now a religious fanatic like you, Martha, but there isn’t any indication here as to what she’s doing there. What did she go to Elkton, Idaho, for?”

  Martha and Deborah looked at each other, then Martha licked her lips nervously and said, “She answered a mail order bride ad that she found in the Richmond Chronicle. She went there to marry a rancher.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Jordan Shaw. She’ll be happy now, Stu. Jordan is quite wealthy. Just be glad for her.”

  “Glad for her?” His face reddened. “You think I’m gonna just sit here and be glad for her? I’ve got some money stashed away. I’m going after her on the next train west! I’m saddling my horse and riding into town to the railroad station to get my tickets right now. There are four or five westbound trains outta Richmond every day. I’ll be on one of them tomorrow.”

  Martha’s face pinched. “Please, Stu. Leave her alone. Let her have some happiness.”

  “Leave her alone? Hah! I’m bringing that girl home whether she’s married or not!”

  Stu pivoted and dashed out the back door.

  When Martha saw him gallop past the kitchen window, she took her coat and scarf off a hook by the door and said, “Deborah, I’m going over to the O’Hearn place. I’ve got to let Shamus and Maggie know your father has found out where Diana is and that he is going after her. I want them to pray.”

  Dennis looked up at his mother with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mama. It’s my fault.”

  Having already figured out what happened, Martha patted his face tenderly. “We can’t change it now, honey. Mama loves you.”

  Martha was back by the time Stu returned from town, and had a late supper on the stove. Stu announced that he was leaving at ten o’clock in the morning. He would ride into town with the children when they went to school.

  At ten o’clock the next morning, Stu Morrow settled back in his seat as the train chugged out of the Richmond station. Closing his eyes, he reflected on how hard Martha and the children had worked at keeping Diana’s whereabouts a secret. But Dennis’s curiosity in wanting to see Diana’s letter for himself had turned the tide in Stu’s favor.

  Stu was alone on the seat. Grinding his teeth, he mumbled to himself, “Even if she has married this fancy cowboy, I’m gonna give her the thrashing of her life. If this Jordan Shaw tries to intervene, he’ll end up a bloody mess like Tom Wymore did. Way out there in Idaho, there’s nothing big mouth Chief Perry can do about it!”

  In Elkton, on Thursday morning, December 19, a saved, baptized, happy Diana Morrow was enjoying her room at Mattie’s Boardinghouse.

  The room was comfortable and pleasant. A bright winter sun flowed into the room past crisp white curtains and made a pool of sunlight on the highly polished oak floor. She sat by a window in an overstuffed chair and read a chapter in the new Bible Knight had given her. She closed the Bible, breathed a word of thanks to the Lord for the blessing it was to her, then let her eyes wander around the quaint room.

  “Oh, how Deborah would love a room like this,” she murmured. “Mama and the kids do the best they can with the crowded conditions and their meager belongings in the old farmhouse. They have been so good to me by helping me get away and sacrificing their own well-being to keep me safe.”

  Diana thought about the letter she had sent her mother some two weeks ago in care of the O’Hearns. She was hoping for a reply soon. She had told her mother in the letter about Jordan Shaw’s death, and explained about Knight Colburn and how the Lord had brought them together. She also told her about her baptism and about the wedding which would take place at their church on January 11, saying she wished her mother and siblings could be there.

  Tears filled Diana’s eyes. She folded her hands in her lap, bowed her head, and prayed that the Lord would watch over her mother and her siblings and keep them safe from harm. “Show me, dear Lord,” she said, “if there is anything in my power I can do for them. I have a wonderful man who loves me, a beautiful home to move into, and a heart full of joy and gladness. Please somehow let my mother, sister, and brothers benefit
as I have. I feel so guilty that I have so much, and they have so little.”

  She went on to pray that the Lord would make a way that she could share her blessings with them, and that He would get a hold of her father’s heart. She thanked the Lord that He would hear her prayer, and once again expressed her gratitude for the salvation He had given her.

  Feeling encouraged after having cast her burdens once again on her heavenly Father, Diana took her coat out of the small closet, then walked out the door. She would spend some time at Mrs. Colburn’s new home with her, and talk about future things while she watched her work on the wedding dress. When it was coming up on noon, she would go to the Elkton Sentinel office as she had been doing every weekday. She would spend a few more minutes getting to know Dan and Erline Tyler better, then have lunch at one of Elkton’s cafés with the man she loved.

  With a happy heart, Diana walked to Annie Colburn’s house and was welcomed as always by her future mother-in-law.

  Annie hustled her inside, and while hanging up her coat and hat, Diana said, “The sun is bright today, but certainly isn’t giving off any warmth.”

  “Well, come into the kitchen, honey,” said Annie. “It’s toasty warm in there. I’ve been sewing on your wedding dress all morning, and I’m just about to the place where I need you to try it on.”

  “Oh, really?” said Diana.

  Annie followed Diana into the kitchen, bid her sit down at the table, and poured each of them a bracing cup of hot tea.

  Diana looked at the beautiful white dress with adoring eyes, and gently caressed it, saying, “I can hardly believe it, Mrs. Colburn. This is my wedding dress! So much has happened in such a short time, starting with my wonderful salvation.”

  Placing the cups on the table, Annie sat down and picked up the dress. Taking tiny stitches in the soft fabric, she said, “I’m sure, my dear, you must feel as though you have been caught up in a whirlwind. But you just enjoy every minute of it. You are making beautiful memories.”

  Diana took a sip of tea and smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Colburn. You always seem to know just the thing to say.”

  Annie smiled in return. “Honey, since you and my boy are getting married in less than a month, I’d like to ask you to call me Mom. That’s what Knight calls me. You call your mother Mama. So, could I be Mom from now on?”

  Diana rose from her chair, bent down, and hugged Annie. “All right, Mom. That’s the way it’ll be from now on.”

  Annie kissed her cheek. “Thank you. I love you, Diana.”

  Diana kissed her cheek in return. “I love you too, Mom.” Returning to her chair with tears in her eyes, Diana sat down. “Could I ask a favor of you, Mom?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you pray with me? I feel so burdened for my mother and my siblings. I’ve told you about Mama being saved when she was in the hospital, but unless things have changed, my sister and two oldest brothers are not. Also, I’ve escaped my father’s wrath, but they still have to live in fear.”

  Diana gulped down a sob as she finished speaking.

  Annie laid the dress down, took both of Diana’s hands in her own, and said, “We’ll pray about this right now, and I’ll make it a part of my prayers every day.”

  Both women bowed their heads, and Annie led in prayer, asking for God’s mercy and grace on Diana’s family.

  As Diana walked toward the newspaper office, she thanked the Lord for bringing Knight and his mother into her life. She was enjoying God’s blessings every day.

  She was glad that she was no longer having the nightmares, though at times the fear that her father might somehow find out where she was and come after her arose in her heart. Each time, however, the Lord had given her the measure of grace she needed, and she was able to concentrate on the upcoming wedding and her happy new life with Knight.

  Though Diana missed her mother and her siblings, she found God’s grace sufficient in this matter, too. She had thoroughly enjoyed every church service so far, and was glad to be learning more of God’s Word.

  On Friday afternoon, December 20, Diana had just returned from having lunch with Knight and was about to write another letter to her mother when there was a knock at her door.

  Happily humming “Amazing Grace,” she crossed the room, wondering who it might be. She turned the knob, swung the door open, and the sight she beheld filled her heart with horror and dread. She drew a quick, sharp breath and her mouth instantly lost all its moisture. “Papa! I—”

  A smile broke over Stu Morrow’s usually turned-down face. “Hello, sweet Christian daughter,” he said in a cheerful tone. “I won’t blame you if you slam the door in my face, but I’d like to ask if you would let your brand-new, born-again father come in and talk to you.”

  Diana could hardly believe her ears, but she was noting the soft look in her father’s eyes—a look she had never seen—and the smile, which she could only remember vaguely from somewhere in her childhood. Indeed, something good had happened to him.

  Struggling to find her voice, she choked, swallowed, choked again, and said, “C-come in, Papa.”

  The numbness in Diana’s limbs and the horror in her heart drained away as she closed the door. Her father was a different man.

  Eyes glistening with tears, Stu’s lips quivered as he said, “Diana, honey, please forgive me for being the terrible father I’ve been. I beg of you to forgive me for the beatings I gave you.”

  As she stared in awe, he dropped to his knees, weeping—something she had never seen him do. Looking up at her, he said, “Please, Diana. Please say you will forgive me!”

  Diana felt like she was dreaming. She was trying again to find her voice when he said, “When I get back home, I’m going to seek forgiveness from your mother, Derick, Deborah, Daniel, and Dennis; as well as from the many people in and around Richmond that I’ve wronged. But if you don’t forgive me, I think I’ll just die!”

  Tears coursed down Diana’s cheeks. “I forgive you, Papa! I forgive you!”

  Stu rose to his feet, and she opened her arms to him. For the first time in her memory, he hugged her.

  When the emotion of the moment had subsided, Stu kept an arm around his daughter as he told her of Pastor Sherman Bradford visiting him at the Richmond jail, preaching the gospel to him, and solemnly warning him of his destination in eternity … the prison called hell.

  He went on to tell her how the horrid thought of eternity in hell kept haunting him.

  Stu sniffed and wiped tears from his cheeks. “Then, honey, when I boarded that train in Kansas City, guess who the Lord put on the seat beside me.”

  “Who, Papa?”

  “A Bible-thumping preacher!”

  Diana could see God’s hand in answer to prayer.

  “Honey, that preacher said the same things to me that Pastor Bradford had said about hell being an eternal prison, and he didn’t even know I’d ever been in jail! He read the gospel to me … and he led me to the Lord!”

  “But God knew you’d been in jail, Papa!” she said.

  “He sure did, honey. Oh, I can’t wait to see your mother’s face when I tell her about this!”

  Father and daughter were in each other’s arms again, shedding happy tears.

  When their emotions had settled again, Diana sat her father down and told him of Jordan Shaw’s death. She explained how she and Knight had fallen in love during the search for Jordan, and of their wedding date set for January 11. She went on to explain that Knight—at twenty-four—was owner of the town’s successful and growing newspaper, the Elkton Sentinel.

  Even while Diana was speaking, there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find her smiling fiancé.

  “Come in, darling,” said Diana. “There’s someone I want you to meet. Papa is here.”

  Knight’s smile drained away as he stepped in and laid eyes on the big man, who was now on his feet.

  Feeling the rush of a need to protect Diana from the cruel man, Knight put a strong arm around her wa
ist, set steely eyes on Stu and said, “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s all right,” Diana said, taking hold of his arm. “Papa isn’t here to hurt me or to try to take me back home. He was coming here for that purpose, but a preacher led him to Jesus on the train. He’s a new creature in Christ, just like Pastor Steele preached about on Sunday night. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  Still holding Diana close against his side, Knight took a good look at her father for the first time. He saw, not an angry, hate-filled man, but a humbled man with soft, gentle eyes.

  “Let’s sit down, darling,” said Diana. “I want you to hear the story from Papa. It all started when the pastor who lead Mama to the Lord visited Papa in the jail.”

  They sat down, and Stu told Knight the whole story. When he finished, Knight leaned forward, shook his hand and said, “This is wonderful, Mr. Morrow. Praise the Lord for answered prayer.”

  “Amen,” said Stu. “Amen.”

  Diana informed Knight that she had just told her father about Jordan’s death, and how the Lord had led the two of them together.

  Stu told Knight he was glad the Lord had given his daughter such a fine Christian man, and he was also a successful newspaperman. He asked about the Sentinel’s growth, and Knight explained that with Elkton growing, it was helping, but the paper was getting circulation in towns all around, including Boise. Stu said he was glad to hear it.

  “Mr. Morrow, I have an idea. How about you and your family moving here? I’m at the place where I need to hire a man to run the printing press full time. Right now, my assistant Dan Tyler works the press, but more and more I need him out gathering news.”

  Diana’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Papa, you should consider it. Since the farm is only rented, you wouldn’t have to be concerned about selling it.”

  The excitement she felt at such a prospect caused her words to almost tumble out as she said, “Shamus would buy your livestock, I’m sure. And … and … the money from that would no doubt cover the cost of travel expenses for the family. And Elkton has a wonderful church and a great pastor.”