by Lori Wick
understanding." This is Paul speaking here. Note the way he
says he didn't cease; he was another person devoted to prayer.
James 5 says that Elijah was such a warrior in prayer that God
held the rain back for more than three years.
And then to my favorite, Jesus Himself--God's own Son-- was willing to give up sleep to meet His Father to pray. Mark 1:35: "In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went
out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." I don't
know about you, Dakota, but I don't think Christ would give this
kind of example to us if His Father wasn't listening.
As Dakota finished reading the letter, he saw that
Calder had included many other verses for him to look up,
as well as telling him that he would pray for understanding
in the matter. He closed with God's blessing and an invitation
to visit anytime.
Dakota sat for a while longer and thought about his
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own faith. It had been so dear to him that he was lost and
that God had found him, but somewhere in the mix he'd
gotten the impression that his first-time faith was all he
would need.
I've got to trust You all day, every day. I see that now. Not
just to save me, but that You're listening and that You care. That
was never clear to me before now, but this is what Desmond was
talking about when he said to match my feelings against Your
Word. If they don't hold up, then I can't hold on to them.
Thank You for saving me. Lord God. I'm still amazed at this
second chance, and even this second chance to understand how
You work.
His heart still prayerful, Dakota went back to his Bible
to look up the other verses from Calder, asking God to help
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him understand the truths. The flickering light made it a
challenge at times, but Dakota read until he could see no
more. With the last dying flames behind.him, he checked
on the horses, which he had moved closer to camp, and
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finally settled in for the night Darvi had stopped moving
around, and Dakota assumed she had fallen asleep. He
knew she would be sore in the morning and that riding
Finley all day was not going to help, but he saw no help for
it. Dakota found himself praying for her, and somewhere
along the line he dropped off to sleep. It didn't last long,
though, as Darvi suddenly gasped and woke.
"Dakota?"
"Right here," came his deep voice comfortingly through
the darkness.
"Did they come and take the horses?" She sounded panicked.
"No. I checked on them right before I settled in."
He heard her sigh.
"I thought my dream was real," she admitted. "I'm
sorry I woke you."
"If sail right"
It was silent for a moment
"You don't sound as though you were asleep."
"I don't sleep very soundly when I'm on the trail."
Again silence covered them, and again Darvi was the
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one to break it
"Dakota?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to intrude, but will you tell me how it happened
for you?"
"My salvation?"
"Yes. I mean, if you want to."
"If s not a very long story. You knew I'd been shot and I
told you it was bal, but I don't know if I told you that
while I was in that gunfight, I thought I might die. When I
realized I hadn't, I knew it was time to face what my
brothers had been telling me."
A Texas Sty 81
"How many brothers do you have?"
"Two."
"And they both believe?"
"Yes. I thought that preachers used hell as a scare tactic
to get people to church, but when I was faced with dying,
I realized I wasn't ready. If hell was a real place, I was in
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trouble. If Slater and Cash had been telling me the truth, I
knew I was lost
"After I got hurt, I stayed with another Ranger. My
brothers came to see me there, and I asked them to help me
understand salvation. Thaf s about the size of it"
"Had you been searching for a long time?"
"Running was more like it I just didn't want to accept
the fact that I sin. I'm around a lot of very desperate people,
and somehow I thought I was better. I didn't like being
lumped into the sinner category."
"Thank you for telling me," Darvi said softly. Dakota
thought he heard tears in her voice.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes," she said, but it was on a sniff.
"How did it happen for you?"
"I won't be able to tell you without crying. If s all I've
done lately."
"Well, don't let tears stop you."
"If s a long story," she replied, tears even thicker in her
voice.
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"I'm not going anywhere."
Dakota heard her blow her nose and cough a UtUe. He
wanted to tell her they didn't have to talk, but thinking she
might fall back to sleep, he kept silent A few minutes
passed and she began.
"I don't know if you know this, Dakota, but I'm from St.
Louis. And not just any part of St. Louis. I grew up in one
of the nicer homes in one of the better sections of town. My
family has always lived in style. In fact, I can't remember
not having just about anything I wanted. We were very
self-sufficient, my whole family, and because of that, I just
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never gave God a thought We didn't pray at meals or go
to church; we just took care of ourselves.
"But there was a woman in town, a pastor's wife, and
she and my mother got to know each other through the St.
Louis Ladies' Guild. I was just a little girl when I heard my
mother tell Mrs. Beacher--that was her name--that she
didn't believe anyone lived for eternity, not in heaven or
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hell. My mother believes that our life on earth is the end.
You live and then you die. When Mrs. Beacher pressed her,
my mother said that we live on through our descendants,
and almost to prove that point, my mother has pictures of
our ancestors all over the house. The hallways are lined
with their paintings and photographs. So is the library and
the large parlor."
Darvi fell silent for a moment.
"I grew up so smug and sure, Dakota. I didn't have a
care in the world--at least not until I visited Austin in the
summers and played with Merry Scott, who was then
Merry Voight. She had the audacity to tell me she knew
there was a heaven, and to top it off, she said she was going
there."
Dakota smiled as he listened.
"I could have strangled her. I thought it was the most
foolish thing, but she wasn't teasing me or acting proud.
She had a deep joy about this fact, a joy I had never experienced
over anything. Most of the summer I would play
my heart out with her, not letting myself think too deeply,
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but when I went home I was miserable. Not only did I want
to be back running
free in a way I never could at home, but
then I had time to think about what she said, and every
summer I knew tremendous fear that she might be right"
She sighed a little and continued quietly.
"This went on for more years than I care to think about
I eventually stopped visiting in the summer. My interests
changed, and boys were noticing me. I even became
engaged to be married, and then the unthinkable happened.
It was just this spring. The house was abuzz with
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plans for a June wedding. My mother was showing the
caterer through the house, and he asked about the largest
portrait in the hall. Later I tried to tell myself that she was
busy and distracted, but I couldn't quite convince my
heart. My mother, who was going to live on through her
children and grandchildren, couldn't remember Great
Uncle Jenkins' name. She looked very forlorn for a moment
but then passed it off with a laugh.
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"Later, when I was alone, I walked through and looked
at all the portraits in the house. I couldn't tell you the
names of half of them. I asked myself how, if I didn't know
these people and my mother was already forgetting their
names, could they still be living?
"The fact that they were all very dead and always
would be was like a blow to me. I walked around in a
painful cloud the rest of the day, and the next morning I
canceled a date with my fiancee and went to see Mrs.
Beacher." Darvi sighed again, this time sounding very
tired. "I understood now all the things that Merry had said
to me during those hot summers in Austin, and as soon as
Mrs. Beacher explained, I knew in an instant that my sin
had put Christ on the cross and that I was lost without
Him. I'd never known such peace, but it only lasted until I
arrived home. I can't begin to tell you the mess I made of
things.
"The weeks that followed were like something out of a
nightmare. My parents were deeply hurt over what I was
telling them. Then Mrs. Beacher, who was meeting with me
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each week for Bible study, asked me if my intended was a
believer. I had to tell her no."
Tears were coming now, and Darvi didn't try to stop
them.
"I can't tell you what it did to all of us to have me break
off my engagement with Brandon. He was so hurt, and I
was feeling lost and confused. My mother said it was just
a stage and that I would get over it. She went right on with
the wedding plans until I left for a few days to get her
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attention. I didn't know what else to do. And all the time
Brandon was coming around, telling me he'd love me
anyway, but I knew it wasn't right. I finally wrote Uncle
Marty and asked if I could come. He wired me right away
and said yes. I was so exhausted by the time I arrived that
I ended up ill. I know my mother must have written to him,
but he never said a word to me.
"In all the hoopla, I'd completely forgotten about Merry.
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After spending days in bed, I woke up one morning and
knew I had to see her. But we had never kept in touch by mail, and I didn't know she'd moved. Thaf s why I followed you down the street, and that's why you're stuck
with me right now."
"I don't feel I'm stuck with you, Darvi, and I don't want
to hear you say that again."
"All right." She sounded very contrite, and Dakota
wished he could see her. He had written his parents about
his conversion and received a rather surprised letter from
his mother, but it was nothing like what Darvi had experienced.
In fact, although admitting that she didn't understand,
his mother told him that she and his father would
support him in whatever he wanted to do. It had always
been that way with his parents, and Dakota was just now
seeing how good he'd had it. His parents' lack of faith in
Christ still concerned him, but there was no anxiety as he
prayed for them every day and tried to prepare his heart
for the next time he saw them.
A sniff broke into Dakota's thoughts.
"Thank you for telling me, Darvi. I'll pray for you."
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"Thank you. Please pray that I'll figure a way to get out
of this mess I've landed myself in."
"I can't pray that, Darvi, because I don't see it that way."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you can't marry a man who doesn't share your
faith and commitment to Christ. I'm sorry that your family
has taken it so hard, but they're going to have to get used
to your decision."
ATexasSty * 85
Darvi was so shocked she was speechless. This worried
Dakota.
"Am I out of line, Darvi?"
"No, I'm just surprised that I haven't seen that before.
I've got to let my mother work this out. I can't worry about
her response to Christ or my decision."
"I agree with you. My parents do not share my faith in
Christ, and I'm thankful they don't give me a hard time.
Nevertheless, I can be tempted to worry about their eternity
and choices when God says worry is a sin."
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Again Darvi sighed, but not because she was overwhelmed.
She knew worry was a sin, but she hadn't seen
that this was what she was doing.
"Thank you, Dakota," Darvi said for the last time.
"You've helped me a lot."
"You're welcome," Dakota responded, feeling very
inadequate. There was so much he didn't know, and for a
moment he had doubted his own words to her. He finally
fell back to sleep--they both did--each one praying for
greater understanding and wisdom in this new life, a life
they wouldn't trade for anything, but one so foreign they
might have been living in another world.
c6
even.
Aurora, Texas
jared silk's eyes narrowed in anger as he read the
newspaper column. After all this time he should have been
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used to it, but he knew if Annabelle Hewett had been in the
room just then, he would have been tempted to strike her.
He read it yet again:
What does Aurora's newest
bank have going this time?
How about loan rates that are
not only too good to be true,
they're impossible to believe!
One can't help but wonder
how owner Jared Silk can
afford clothing that clearly
didn't come from a catalog.
We'll all be waiting with great
anticipation at the town's fall
festival. Will Silk's face be as
red as his new cravat?
A. Hewett
Had Annabelle been in the room right then, she would
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have seen just how red the banker's face could get. Jared
was so furious he nearly barked at the person who knocked
on his office door. Remembering just in time that the bank's
doors were already open, he tempered his response to a
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terse reply and told the men to enter. Even though he'd
sent for them, seeing them did nothing for his mood.
"Have you read this?" he asked one of his personal
assistants.
"Yes," Seth Redding answered calmly, taking a chair as
though he had all day.
"I'm sick of it! I want it stopped. Do you hear me?"
"What exactly are we supposed to do?" the other man/
Eliot McDermott, asked. "She's free to write whatever she
chooses, and we know from the last little job that busting
up the newspaper office won't stop it"
"Shut your mouth!" Jared hissed at him as he rose to shut the door, even knowing the hall and stairway were empty.
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The men, half-brothers who could have had respectable
jobs, watched their boss secure the door and stalk to the
window. From the second-story view, he stared down on
the street, his frame tense with helpless frustration.
"What she writes is all true, Jared," Eliot added. "I don't
know why you fight it"
"I don't pay you to think," Jared now said coldly, never
taking his eyes from the window. The statement wasn't
true, but the banker was too angry to see reason.
The brothers exchanged a look. At times like these they
were tempted to ask themselves why they put up with him,
but the answer was never far from their minds: the money.
"I think I'd like to talk with Annabelle Hewett," Jared
said.
Seth came to his feet, and Eliof s stance became tense.
"Now, Jared," Seth began, "you can't go snatching mat
lady off the streets. She's too well known."
Jared finally turned to the men, his face filled with a
calm they had learned to dread.
"You're right; I can't do it. But you can and you will. I
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don't care how you handle it. I don't even care if you hire
someone else, but I want you to offer a personal invitation
to Miss Hewett."
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"An invitation to what?"
"Why, to my home for dinner. We'll have a nice meal
and talk awhile. I'm sure I can convince her that she's quite
mistaken."
The men didn't bother to hide their displeasure, but
Jared was not swayed.
"Just let me know what day I'm to expect her. And boys,
keep it neat. I have a reputation to uphold in this town."
Knowing they had no one to blame but themselves, the
brothers filed out. They didn't linger at the bank but
headed right onto the street and over to the saloon to discuss
the idea. They had a plan in very little time, but later,
