Let There Be Light (33 page)

They climbed in the seat, Clay put the horses in motion, and the wagon headed down Main Street.

While they were moving along Main and Dan was taking in the sights, Clay said, “Got good news for you.”

Still grinning, Dan looked at him. “I can always use good news.”

“Joel and I learned of a ranch job that’s open. It was advertised yesterday in the
Mogollon Dispatch
, and the ad is in today’s edition, also.”

“Well, tell me about it!”

T
HE WAGON ROLLED SLOWLY DOWN
M
AIN
S
TREET
. Brilliant shafts of light shone between the buildings on the west side of the street as the sun’s upper rim dropped beneath the horizon. Earth and sky were bathed in sunset light.

Clay Holden waved at a friend on the street, then looked at Dan Tyler. “The
Box B Ranch
is seven miles west of Mogollon. I’ve seen it several times. It has five hundred acres of pasture and wooded land and some three hundred head of cattle. I’ve never met the owners, but from an article in the
Mogollon Dispatch
last week, I learned that the rancher, Jim Brady, died suddenly on Tuesday of heart failure at the age of eighty-four. He left behind his widow, Suzanne—who is eighty-one. The lengthy job ad says she is looking for a man to come and live in the small cabin on the ranch and run it for her.”

Dan’s eyebrows arched. “Mmm. That sounds ideal. I’d like to talk to her about it.”

“Well, there’s one little hitch you need to know about. Since it is a comparatively small ranch, Jim had no hired men. Mrs. Brady explained in the ad that because of a substantial amount of money she sends periodically to take care of her sister in Texas who is very ill, she can only afford to pay a hired man thirty dollars a month. Carl Axton, the owner of the
Dispatch
, was in our wagon repair shop yesterday and commented that Mrs. Brady was going to have a hard
time finding a man to work for those wages.”

Dan opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get it out, Clay said, “Joel and I talked about it after Carl left. We decided that if you took the job, we would supplement your income until the day comes when we can take you in as a partner in the business.”

Dan grinned. “I appreciate your kindness, Clay, but if I am hired by Mrs. Brady, I’ll be fine. When I sold the family ranch in Tennessee, there was a mortgage on it, but I still came out with a few hundred dollars. I can afford to work for thirty dollars a month for a year or so.” He glanced at the sun. “It’s probably too late to do it now, but if you will take me to the
Box B
first thing in the morning, I’ll talk to Mrs. Brady.”

“Be glad to, but would you rather see if you can get a betterpaying job on one of the larger ranches?”

“I’d rather talk to Mrs. Brady first. The idea of running the ranch for her by myself and living in the cabin sounds really good.”

“Well, Joel and I sort of thought the same thing, that’s why we got excited about it. I know you’ve got to be tired, so we’ll just go out to the ranch first thing in the morning. As you know, Joel and I are living in the same room in a boardinghouse. We only have two beds, but I’ll sleep on the floor and you can have my bed tonight. If you’re hired in the morning, you’ll be in your own cabin tomorrow night.”

Dan shook his head. “You’re not sleeping on the floor so I can have your bed. We’ve passed two hotels. I’ll stay in one of them tonight.”

“But—”

“No arguments, ol’ pal. I’ll stay in one of the hotels.”

Clay grinned. “Yes, sir, General Tyler, sir. Joel and I will be taking you to Pastor Denison’s home for supper. It’s already planned. The Denisons want to meet you—and believe me, she and her daughters cook up a delicious meal.”

“Sounds good to me. From what you said in your letter about Pastor Denison, I’m eager to meet him. You only wrote about his preaching and what a great pastor he is. I assumed he had a wife, but I didn’t know he had children.”

“Well, you’ll meet all four of them in a little while.” Clay waited
a few seconds, then said, “Joel and I have some good news we want to share with you, but we want to do it together.”

They were drawing near the stable. “Good news, eh? I can’t wait to hear it!”

Clay swung the wagon through the open gate of the stable and pulled rein. Dan saw Joel walk through the door of the office. He jumped out of the wagon and they wrapped their arms around each other, pounding each other on the back.

When the pounding ceased, Joel gripped Dan’s upper arms. “Sure is good to see you, ol’ pal!” Then he said to Clay, “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“No, sir!” said Clay. “As excited as I am about it, I managed to keep from telling him.”

“Well, I’m glad of that! But before we tell him, is he interested in seeking the job at the
Box B Ranch?”

“Most definitely,” said Dan. “Clay’s taking me out to see Mrs. Brady first thing in the morning.”

“Good! And if you get the job, you’re going to accept our offer to supplement your income until we can make you a partner in the business, right? Clay did tell you about that, didn’t he?”

“He did, but I explained to him that I have some money left over from the sale of my ranch in Tennessee. I can make it comfortably on thirty dollars a month for a year or so. You guys are very kind to make such a generous offer, but I’ll be fine.”

Joel chuckled. “Well, we plan to have you as a partner within a year, so it’ll all work out.”

“Sounds great. Now I want to hear this good news.”

Clay and Joel looked at each other and grinned.

“Okay,” said Joel, “which one of us is going to tell him?”

“I’ll humbly pass the honor to you,” said Clay.

A wide smile spread over Joel’s face. His eyes danced with joyful light. “Dan, Clay and I are both engaged to be married.”

Dan’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me!”

“No, it’s the truth,” said Clay.

“Tell me who these most fortunate women are!”

Clay grinned. “I told you Pastor and Mrs. Denison have two daughters.”

“Yes, but I figured they were children.”

Joel laughed. “They were children once.”

Dan snorted and shook his head. “Okay, okay. You two are marrying the pastor’s daughters?”

“Right,” said Clay. “I’m going to marry beautiful Mary, and Joel is going to marry beautiful Martha.”

“Mary and Martha, eh? Are they from Bethany, and do they have a brother named Lazarus?”

“Not exactly,” said Joel, “but I’m sure these young women love Jesus as much as the Bethany ladies did. Upon meeting these sweet Christian ladies when we arrived here, Clay was attracted to Mary, and I was attracted to Martha. We joined the church, and in a short time, Clay and Mary fell in love as did Martha and I. It’s all set. We are going to have a double wedding on Saturday afternoon, September 2.”

Dan chuckled. “Well, praise the Lord! I guess you guys know that here in the West, there are two hundred men for every single woman. I read that in a newspaper when I was on the train crossing the Texas panhandle.”

Clay nodded. “That same information has been printed in the
Mogollon Dispatch
several times. Joel and I know the Lord had Mary and Martha picked out for us, so there were no other suitors for us to compete with. God is good, Dan.”

“He sure is! So which of the Denison sisters is the oldest?”

“Mary is.”

“And how old is she?”

“Nineteen.”

Dan looked at Joel. “How old is Martha?”

“Nineteen.”

Dan’s face went blank. “Huh?”

Clay and Joel smiled, then Joel said, “They’re identical twins, Dan. Mary is fifteen minutes older than Martha.”

“Identical twins! Isn’t that something. Well, since they’re identical, how do you tell them apart?”

“It’s easy,” said Clay. “Mary is just more beautiful than Martha.”

“Oh no!” said Joel. “It’s the other way around!”

The three friends had a good laugh.

“Well, pals,” said Dan, “congratulations to both of you. I know
these engagements came about after much prayer and seeking God’s will.”

Clay nodded. “You’re right about that. And the toughest part of it was asking Pastor and Mrs. Denison if we could marry their daughters.”

“Yeah,” said Joel. “It sure was!”

Again, the trio had a good laugh together.

On a serious note, Clay said, “Dan, there are two Bible-believing churches in Mogollon. The pastor of the other church is Lance Kemper. If you want to check out the other church before you decide which one to join, we’ll understand.”

“I’ll make that a matter of prayer. But I’ll visit your church first.”

Joel cuffed him playfully on the chin. “Wise move, ol’ pal. Wise move.”

“How about taking me and my luggage over to one of the hotels? I’ll get checked in, then whenever it’s time to go to the Denisons’ for supper, you can come by and get me.”

“Hotel?” said Joel. “Clay, didn’t you tell him we’d make room for him?”

“I did, but he insisted on staying at one of the hotels tonight.”

Joel shrugged. “Okay. Well, Dan, I recommend the Avery Hotel over the Sanford. Folks hereabouts say the Avery is better, and a little less expensive.”

“Then the Avery it is.”

“Better get going, then. It’s almost time to close up shop here. And Mrs. Denison wants us at the parsonage at seven o’clock sharp. You guys go on, and I’ll close up.”

At 6:45, Clay and Joel were waiting in their wagon in front of the Avery Hotel when Dan came out. Clay was at the reins. Joel slid closer to him on the seat to give Dan room. When Dan settled on the seat, Clay put the team in motion, and they headed down Main Street to the south.

The melancholy desert twilight rapidly succeeded the last rays of the sun. Soon they pulled up into the parking lot of the church, which was a white frame building with a belfry that was topped by a
white cross. The parsonage was also white frame and stood a few yards from the church building.

Dave and Clara Denison were the first to meet the three young men at the door. They welcomed them, invited them in, and when introductions were made by Clay Holden, they gave Dan an especially warm welcome. As Dan was telling the pastor about meeting Pastor Richard Kelmar on the stagecoach, Mary and Martha appeared.

Joel introduced Martha to Dan, and Clay introduced Mary. The twins were petite and had light brown hair and hazel eyes. When all were seated at the dining room table with a delicious-looking meal before them, the pastor asked Dan to lead in the prayer of thanks. All were touched when Dan not only thanked the Lord for the food, but thanked Him for bringing Mary and Clay, and Martha and Joel together.

All four Denisons asked questions about Dan’s life in Tennessee as he grew up on the cattle ranch. Clay and Joel had already told them about Dan’s parents having died several years before, and Pastor Denison said that Dan’s parents were waiting in heaven to welcome him there someday. Dan wiped away a tear and said he was looking forward to that day.

The next morning at eight o’clock, Clay was waiting in front of the hotel when Dan came out, carrying his bags.

Clay chuckled. “Looks like you’re pretty sure you’ll be hired.”

Dan placed the bags in the wagon bed and climbed up beside his friend. “I prayed about it last night and again this morning. I’ve got perfect peace in the matter. Mrs. Brady is about to hire her new ranch hand.”

Clay snapped the reins. “Well, we’d better get out there!”

Soon they were out of town, headed west on a dusty road.

Dan’s eyes busily searched the landscape as the road stretched out level for some three or four miles, then crossed arroyos and ridges among massive rock formations. As they moved along to the sound of pounding hooves and spinning wheels, Dan ran his gaze to the wooded areas on both sides of the road, deep in shadows cast by the
sun from a cerulean sky. “I tell you, Clay, this land is plenty different than the South, but it has a singular beauty all its own.”

“That it does, Dan. And it grows on you too.”

“Tell me about it. I’m already under its spell!”

Soon they arrived at the gate of the Brady place. Clay swung the wagon between the heavy posts that bore a sign some ten feet high between them that identified it as the
Box B Ranch
. The wagon made a rumbling sound as it crossed over the iron rods that made up the cattle guard, and as they headed down the lane toward the house, corral, barn, and outbuildings, Dan noted the beef cattle in the fields on both sides of the lane.

Clay set his eyes on a spot at the corral’s split rail fence. “That must be Mrs. Brady over there.”

“I’d say so.”

When the wagon swung up close to where the silver-haired woman was struggling to carry a bucket of grain that she had just filled from a large metal barrel nearby, she set the bucket down and looked at the wagon and its two occupants. A half dozen steers were at the feed trough inside the corral, waiting patiently for their meal.

A wide grin split Dan’s face at his first close glimpse of Suzanne Brady. She stood no more than five feet in height. Her plump body was clad in a brown dress sprigged with yellow and white flowers, and she wore a voluminous white apron. A bright yellow sunbonnet shaded her wrinkled face and her wiry hair was protruding out all around it.

The two men jumped out of the wagon, and as they hurried toward her, Dan said, “May I help you with that, ma’am?”

She sighed and wiped the back of her blue-veined hand over her forehead. “I’d sure appreciate it, young man.”

While the woman and Clay watched, Dan picked up the bucket and poured its contents in the feed trough. The steers began eating hungrily. He turned around and asked, “Do you want more grain in the trough?”

“No, thank you. That’ll be enough for now.”

When Dan returned with the empty bucket, Clay said, “Mrs. Brady, I’m half-owner of the C and J Livery Stable in town. I’m the C. My name is Clay Holden.”

Drawing her head back, she looked up under the brim of her bonnet and both men saw two twinkling blue Irish eyes and a smile that would charm all the leprechauns in Ireland. Dan immediately lost his heart to the dear little lady.