Let There Be Light (41 page)

During the meal, the subject of the Andersonville Prison Camp came up. While Clay and Joel were talking about different incidents that had taken place at the camp, Clay glanced at Jenny, then said to Joel, “Something just dawned on me. Wasn’t Captain William Linden from Harrisburg?”

Jenny’s ears perked up. She ran her gaze to Joel.

Joel nodded. “It seems he told me that. Yes, I’m sure he did. I hadn’t thought about it.”

Clay’s eyes were on Jenny. Her heart froze as he said, “Jenny, did you know or know of Captain Linden?”

Jenny’s mouth was suddenly dry. Her throat tightened. “I … I knew Captain Linden. I was told that he was murdered by one of the prison camp guards.”

Dan’s features pinched.

Clay shook his head. “Not so, Jenny. Let me ask you this. Do you happen to know Lieutenant Edgar Toomey, who is also from Harrisburg? He wouldn’t be a lieutenant anymore, of course, but—”

“Yes, I know him. Why?”

“It was Toomey who murdered Captain Linden, Jenny.”

While Jenny’s face registered surprise, Joel said, “Dan was accused of killing Linden, can you believe that?”

Jenny felt the edge of a fog trying to seize her brain. “Why. why of course not.”

Clay set steady eyes on Jenny. “It was Toomey who accused Dan of killing Linden. But when the guards put the timing of it together, it was quickly proven that Dan couldn’t have done it because at the very time Linden was stabbed to death, Joel and I were with Dan in
his tent, reading the Bible and praying together.”

Clay’s words cleared up the fog in Jenny’s brain. She was stunned. “Why wasn’t Toomey prosecuted for killing Captain Linden?”

Joel looked her in the eye. “Jenny, the camp commandant agreed with the rest of us that it was Toomey who killed Captain Linden. With the circumstances that prevailed that night, it had to be Toomey. We knew that for some reason, Toomey hated the man who had been the leader of his unit and killed him. But there was no way to prove it. News of the War’s end came at that very moment, and Toomey got off scot-free.”

Jenny looked like she had just taken a shot between the eyes. The food stuck in her throat. She felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. Her face turned ashen.

Dan saw the distress in her eyes. He immediately left his chair, dropped to his knees beside her, and took hold of her hand. “Jenny, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Her widened blue eyes focused on his face, but she was unable to force a word past the lump in her throat. Her breathing suddenly became rapid. She swallowed uncontrollably over and over.

The Holdens and the Stevenses looked at each other in puzzlement.

Dan laid a palm on her cheek. “Jenny, do you want me to take you to the doctor?”

Jenny shook her head, and with a herculean effort, took a breath of very welcome air. Struggling to clear her throat, she coughed, then drew more air into her lungs. Her lips moved silently for a few seconds, then with squeaky voice, she said, “Dan … can I … talk to you alone?”

“Well, sure. Let’s go out on the front porch.” He helped her from the chair and put a strong arm around her. “Folks, we’ll be back in a little while. Please excuse us.”

“Of course,” said Clay. “If you need anything … ”

“We’ll be fine, thanks.”

When they stepped out onto the front porch, the porch lamp was giving off a circle of yellow light. Dan still had his arm around her. “Do you want to sit down over here?”

“Let’s … let’s just move over here and lean on the railing.”

They stepped to the railing, and Jenny braced her hip against it.

“Sweetheart, what is it?”

Trembling all over, Jenny spoke in halting words as she opened her heart and bared her soul. She confessed who she really was, and told him how she had been led by Edgar Toomey to believe that this guard named Dan Tyler had murdered her father. She explained how she searched for Dan with the intent of killing him, and how she finally found him through the mail order bride ad, and that she had come there to marry him, then kill him in a way that would make it look like someone else had done it.

Still breathing shakily, Jenny studied Dan’s face, fearful of the revulsion she was sure would be there.

Stunned beyond words, Dan stared at her, speechless. A thousand thoughts were vying for a place in his confused mind.

“There’s something else, Dan,” she said. “I’ve been a hypocrite. When I wrote that letter and put in what was supposed to be my salvation testimony, I lied. I have a friend in Harrisburg who is a sweet and dedicated Christian. Her name is Laura Denton. She witnessed to me over and over, even gave me that Bible you see me carrying to church. She had underlined many salvation verses and tried her best to get me to open my heart to Jesus. But I refused. This was why I could put that false testimony in the letter. I knew exactly what to say. At that point, I would do anything to get to you so I could put a bullet in your heart.”

Dan shook his head. “Jenny, I—”

“Please let me finish.”

Dan stared at her as she went on to tell him how the Lord had dealt with her yesterday in the church services. She explained what was really wrong with her, which he had asked about, was the conviction that was eating her up, then went on to tell him how she had fallen on her knees beside her bed last night. She had repented of her sin and received the Lord Jesus into her heart as her Saviour.

Dan was stunned. Jenny’s eyes were riveted on his face. She was sensitive to the change that was dawning on his countenance. A broad smile suddenly curved his lips, and his eyes came alive with happiness.

He opened his arms, and with a tentative step, Jenny moved into
them. Dan held her tight, and his own breath was a bit ragged. “Jenny, sweetheart, I’m so thrilled with the way the Lord has worked in your heart. I’m glad that you’re saved. I still love you as I’ve already told you over and over again. But … what now?”

She eased back in his arms and looked up at him through a mist of tears. “Dan, all along—ever since I came here and met you—I have had these strange emotions toward you, in spite of the fact that I thought you had murdered Papa. I couldn’t understand these emotions. But now I know what they are. I have fallen head over heels in love with you!”

Dan drew her to him. They kissed, then he looked into her eyes and said, “Jenny, I have been that way about you ever since I received your first letter. I knew then that I had fallen in love with you, even as I know right now that I am still in love with you. God knew the whole thing before it ever happened, and He planned that you and I would fall in love in spite of all these circumstances. I still want you as my mail order bride.”

Tears were streaming down Jenny’s face. “Oh, Dan! Oh, darling, I love you so very much!”

They sealed it with a kiss, then went inside to tell the Holdens and the Stevenses the whole story.

At one point, Mary Holden asked Jenny what she would do about Edgar Toomey.

Jenny drew a deep breath. “Well, Mary, since there is no way to prove that he murdered Papa, I will just leave him in God’s hands. Just this morning, while I was reading passages in the book of Romans that Laura had underlined, I came across Romans 12:19, which she had not underlined. It’s where God says, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ So, like I said, I’ll just leave Edgar Toomey in God’s hands.”

“That’s the way to do it, honey,” said Martha Stevens. “Let the Lord take care of punishing Edgar Toomey.”

Everyone at the table agreed.

The next evening, Jenny and Dan went to the parsonage and told the pastor and his wife the whole story. The Denisons rejoiced in God’s marvelous working, and it was set that Jenny would be baptized
the next night in the Wednesday evening service.

Jenny and Dan left the parsonage and took a drive under the stars in his wagon. Jenny brought up Laura Denton, saying she had written to her that day and told her of how she had received Jesus as her Saviour. Again, she mentioned Laura having underlined passages in the Bible she gave her, and told Dan that Pastor Denison had used some of those very verses in his sermon last Sunday morning. “Remember, darling? Genesis 1:3: ‘And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.’ And 2 Corinthians 4:6: ‘For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ What a powerful connection there is between these two verses!”

“Amen to that, Jenny, darlin’! And praise the Lord for shining His gospel light into your heart.”

The Arizona sun was gleaming brightly out of a glorious blue sky on Saturday afternoon, October 14. But it couldn’t begin to outshine the glow on the faces of Dan Tyler and Jenny Linden when the pump organ was playing the wedding march and Jenny headed down the aisle toward the man she loved.

Jenny was dressed in a simple white organdy gown and carried a small nosegay made up of late summer desert flowers. She was a vision of loveliness to the smiling man who waited for her at the altar.

The congregation watched with pleasure as Jenny came to a graceful halt and looked up at her groom. Her face beamed and she smiled at him as he offered his arm.

Sliding her hand into the crook of his arm, she looked up at him and whispered, “ ‘And God said, Let there be light: and there was light!’ ”

A wide grin spread over Dan’s shining face as they mounted the steps to the platform, where Pastor David Denison waited to hear their vows.

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