A Dream to Call My Own (20 page)

Lacy struggled to keep her voice even. “Adam, we have no way of knowing whose bullet killed my father. My sisters have been trying to tell me this for the last two years, but I tend to be a little stubborn.” She smiled. “A lot stubborn.”

He smiled in return, then grimaced against the pain. Lacy frowned and got to her feet. “We need to get you to Gallatin House so we can send for the doctor. I’ll saddle my horse and bring him around front.”

She left without waiting for Adam to comment. Lacy felt freer than she had in years. Forgiveness wouldn’t bring her father back to life, but neither would her bitterness and anger. Nothing could undo the events of the past, but she had the power to change her future by simply yielding her failings to God.

With a great sigh, Lacy opened her heart to the possibilities before her. The feeling of failure—her constant companion since childhood—faded just a bit as she determined to give at least this one thing to God. It might not make things right immediately, but she had the hope that in time, it would.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Nick sat perched atop his gelding, studying the trail up and down the river’s edge. To the south, the tiny town of Gallatin Crossing had exploded into a tent city of several hundred, maybe even as many as a thousand, people. To the north lay open prairie grass and cottonwoods in the same unspoiled fashion it had always known.

In this part of the country, the water ran in a northern direction, rushing over rocks while twisting and snaking its way to where the Gallatin would join up with the Madison and Jefferson to form the Missouri River. The river had always run clean and clear, but since the miners had come, this had changed and sediment now clouded the waters.

He checked the shore for any sign of his son. While the water wasn’t all that deep at this time of year, it still moved with a strong current. If the boy had tried to cross, he might have lost his footing and been swept away. Nick didn’t like to think of that as a possibility, but then, he didn’t like to face the fact that his son had spent the night away from home, either.

Nick urged his mount down the small embankment and into the water. Glancing again to the south, Nick saw man after man working in the stream. There had been no major strike of gold, but still, people pursued the possibility. He thought them all crazy for the time and effort they spent.

“They’d be more productive if they’d trade their pans for fishing poles,” he mused.

The thought of fishing stirred a memory. Nick remembered a place well downstream that he’d taken Justin on one of their many fishing ventures. The place was secluded, and the river bowed in toward land to form a small, calm pool away from the main flow of the water. Justin had told him how it reminded him of a fishing hole his grandfather had taken him to in Kansas.

Nick turned the horse and came back up the bank. Giving the mount a bit of heel, Nick urged him north on the river path. His heart raced with every inch that passed. Justin just had to be there. It was the one place Nick hadn’t thought to search, and it was the only place that made sense.

Trepidation welled up as Nick finally approached the area. A grove of trees sheltered the area near the river, causing the path to go up and around. Nick dismounted, tied his horse to a sapling, and then continued on foot.

“Justin! Justin, are you here?”

Nick pressed through the vegetation, frightening a rabbit from its hiding place. When he reached the clearing, he saw his wide-eyed son standing to face him.

Justin broke into tears. “I didn’t mean to set Mama on fire, Pa. I didn’t mean it to happen.”

Opening his arms, Nick could barely hold back his own tears of joy. “I know you didn’t, son. I know.”

Justin ran to him and wrapped his arms around Nick. “Please don’t hate me.”

Nick lifted his son and carried him to a log where they could sit. “I could never hate you, Justin. You’ve scared ten years out of me, but I could never hate you.”

“What about Mama? Is she . . . is she dead?”

“No. She’s just fine. She’s been out looking for you. She’s been worrying something fierce. I don’t think she even slept last night. This morning she left your brother with Aunt Gwen and set out to find you.”

Justin looked at his father oddly. “She left Max to look for me?”

“She did. She loves you, Justin—so do I. You are just as important to us as Max.”

“But I thought you loved him more. He belongs to just you and Mama. I don’t.”

Nick shook his head and cupped his son’s chin. “That’s not true. You belong to both of us. Maybe Beth wasn’t your mama by birth, but she is your mama by choice. Justin, she has enough love to give both you and Max.”

“But I did a lot of bad things. I made her sad and angry. She yelled at me.”

“I know. The choices we make, however, can sometimes do more harm than we ever thought possible. If your fire had spread to the house or if Aunt Lacy hadn’t been there to put out the fire on your mama’s skirts, someone could have died. I know you realize this because you were afraid your ma was dead.”

The boy bit his lip and nodded slowly again. “I won’t ever do it again, Pa. You can even send me away.”

“No. I could never do that. I love you, and you’re my son. If I could have been a father to you from the time of your birth, I would have been. I’ll never send you away from me.” Nick drew him close once again. “Jesus tells a story in the Bible about how this man had a hundred sheep. He loved all of his sheep and only wanted to keep them safe, but one of the animals ran off.”

“Like me?” Justin interjected.

“Exactly like you. Now, the man still had ninety-nine sheep, and some folks might have thought, ‘I still have most of the sheep; so what if I lose one?’ But not this man. He loved all of the sheep and didn’t want to lose any of them.”

Justin’s eyes grew wide. “What did he do?”

“He left the ninety-nine sheep safe and sound in their pen and went out to look for the one lost sheep. All he could think about was finding that one little sheep because that sheep could have been in danger. He knew the others would be all right, because they were safe at home. He went to find the one lost sheep, Justin, because he loved him and didn’t want to leave him in danger—even if the sheep had put himself there of his own free will. Do you understand?”

“I’m like that sheep.”

“We all are at one time or another. God comes looking for us and brings us home, away from the danger we got ourselves into. He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to lose even one of us. I feel the same way about you. I love Max, and I’ll love any other babies that come to your mama and me. But it won’t change the fact that I love you—that your mama loves you.”

Justin lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Nick’s neck. “Can we go home? I’m so hungry.”

Nick laughed. “We sure can.” He stood and led his son through the heavy thicket of brush. When they reached the horse, Nick swung Justin into the saddle before grabbing the reins and sitting behind him.

“Pa, do you think Mama knows the sheep story?”

Nick turned the horse and headed for home. “I’m pretty sure she does, but why don’t you tell her about it when we get back? I’m sure she’d love to hear it from you.”

Justin settled down against Nick. “I’m sure glad I don’t have to sleep outside again. It got mighty cold last night.”

Chuckling, Nick held the boy close. “I’ll bet it did, son.”

Lacy started back toward Gallatin House with Major plodding faithfully at her heels. Adam was clearly in pain atop her horse, but he held tight to the saddle horn and didn’t complain. She noticed the sweat on his brow and thought perhaps she had pushed him too hard.

“Would you like to rest?”

“No. We need to keep moving. Will Deputy Shepard be at the house when we get there?”

She looked back over her shoulder. “He could be. But if they haven’t found my nephew yet, he’ll probably be out looking for him.”

“We have to find him.”

Lacy stopped the horse. “Look, I appreciate that you want to confess to the deputy that you think you might have killed my father, but it’s not important anymore. You can’t know for sure that you did the deed.”

Adam shook his head and barely suppressed a moan. “It’s not that.”

“Then what? What’s got you tied up in knots now?” She hadn’t meant to sound insensitive and softened her tone. “You’re still badly hurt and in need of a doctor, you know.”

“It can wait, but this can’t. Deputy Shepard may be in danger.”

Lacy felt her heart skip a beat. “What?”

Adam closed his eyes. “Someone wants to hurt him.”

“But why?”

“He’s causing trouble for a lot of folks. One of the fellas I worked with, well . . . his brother runs with some of the local outlaws. I heard them talkin’ that Dave Shepard was stirring up trouble. The deputy had gotten one of the highwaymen to confess, and they were afraid the man was going to have the law coming after them.”

“What do they plan to do?”

Adam shrugged. “I don’t know all the details, but I think they mean to kill him. When I told them I couldn’t be part of that, well, they shot me and left me for dead.”

Lacy couldn’t waste any more time. She motioned Adam to free his foot from the stirrup. “I’ll ride with you. The horse can take us both. We’re neither one that big.”

She hurried up behind him and secured the reins with one hand and wrapped her other arm around Adam’s waist. Kicking the gelding hard on the side, Lacy tightened her grip. “Hold on. Come on, Major—let’s go!”

They’d gone no more than a mile or so, however, when she saw a rider rounding the bend ahead of them. Lacy shifted and felt for the rifle. Just then, she recognized Cubby and brought the horse to a stop barely a foot away from the boy’s mount.

“I sure am glad to have found you,” Cubby said. “There’s trouble, Lacy. They’re going to kill Dave.”

Lacy felt her throat tighten. “Who is going to kill him?”

“Wyman and Pa. They say he can cause them too much trouble. He knows things about them.”

“We have to hurry and warn Dave.”

“It’s too late for that. I heard some men talking with Mr. Mulholland this morning. They captured Dave last night on the road to the Dykstra ranch and took him to a hideout close by. I heard that much, but I don’t know where they went after that.”

“Where is this hideout?”

“I’m not sure, though it sounded like it would be right off that same road. At one point Wyman said it was easy to get him to the place without anyone else noticing because they didn’t even need to come back to town.”

Lacy slid off her mount. “Cubby, this is Adam. Help me get him down. I need you to put him on your horse and get him back to Gallatin House so Gwen can send for the doctor. He’s got a bullet wound on his head, and he’s pretty weak from loss of blood. My sisters will know what to do.”

“What are you going to do?” Cubby asked even as he followed her orders.

Lacy was already back in the saddle. She pulled out her rifle and checked to make sure it was loaded. “I’ll take the shortcut through the woods to find Dave. You take Major with you and see that he gets home, all right?”

Cubby frowned. “What if you’re too late?”

“Then only God can help the ones responsible, because I’ll put a bullet in every last one of them.”

Beth wearily made her way to the house, fighting back tears and offering prayers on Justin’s behalf. No one had seen the boy. He had disappeared without a trace—without a word to anyone.

“Oh, please, God . . . please keep him safe. I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s—” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Stepping onto the front porch, Beth took a seat and tried to gain control of her emotions. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Lord, I know you know exactly where he is. I just pray that you’ll keep him safely in your care so that we can find him. Oh, God, please help him. He’s just a little boy.” She sobbed uncontrollably and buried her face in her hands.

“Mama!”

At first Beth feared her mind was playing tricks on her. She listened and caught the sound again.

“Mama! It’s me!”

She looked up and saw Justin running toward the house. Nick sat atop his horse near the road and gave her a wave. Beth ran down the few stairs and hurried to take Justin in her arms. Kneeling on the ground, she pulled him close and cried.

“I thought I’d lost you forever. I was so afraid.”

Justin held fast to her. “I’m sorry, Mama.” He began to cry and pressed his face into her hair. “I’m very sorry.”

For several minutes, Beth just held him and let her tears flow freely. The thought of how close she’d come to losing someone she loved so dearly was more frightening to her than she could have imagined.

“Oh, thank you, Father. Thank you for bringing him home,” she whispered.

They both calmed at this short prayer of thanksgiving. Justin pulled back and Beth looked deep into his eyes. “Please don’t ever run away again. It just about broke my heart.”

Justin nodded, his eyes wide. “It ’bout broke mine, too.”

Beth couldn’t help but smile at this. “We can always talk things out. You know that now, don’t you?” She thought of how harsh she’d been with him. “I’m sorry for the way I acted, Justin.”

“Pa told me about how you love me just like Max. That you can love us both. Pa said I’m a sheep and when I ran off, you came to find me.”

She looked at him oddly, not having any idea what he was talking about. “Sheep?”

Justin took hold of her hand. “Like in the Bible. There was this man who had one hundred sheep. . . .”

Beth listened as Justin retold the story his father had shared. She thought back to a time when she’d worried that Nick wasn’t saved—didn’t have any interest in Christian matters. Time and the man himself had changed her heart on that, but perhaps it was never so clear as now.

“So I’m like the sheep, Mama.”

Beth nodded and hugged him close. “That you are, and I’m so glad to have you safely back in the fold. Are you hungry?”

“I sure am.”

“Then let’s get you something to eat, my little lamb.” She got to her feet and pulled him along to the house. She’d never seen him so filthy, but she wasn’t even going to suggest cleaning up first. Sometimes it was all right to be dirty.

“Mama?”

“What, Justin.”

“Do sheep eat berries?”

She smiled down at him. “I wouldn’t doubt it. I can’t be sure, though.”

He laughed. “Do you think they’d eat berry pie?”

It was Beth’s turn to chuckle. “I’m sure if your Aunt Gwen made them a berry pie, they would happily partake.”

“Good,” he said, picking up the pace. “ ’Cause that’s what this sheep wants to eat.”

Nick watched his wife and son disappear into the house. It did his heart good to see things put back to right. All of his life, he’d known the importance of family, but perhaps this moment served to remind him of the delicate balance it entailed. He heard traffic on the road behind him and turned to find Hank racing down the road on his black gelding.

“Any sign of him?” he called.

“I just found him,” Nick announced.

Hank brought his horse to a stop in a cloud of dust. “Did I hear you right? You found him?”