The Tender Flame (19 page)

Flecks of foam from the horses’ mouths struck Jessica in the face as she clung to the seat. She was too frightened even to scream. Suddenly she saw a gaping hole in the desert floor, looming up ahead. The horses were charging full speed toward a fifty-foot-deep gully. And then, seemingly from out of nowhere, Josh appeared beside the wagon on his galloping steed.

“Jessica!” Josh shouted above the thunder of hooves and rattle of wagon. “I’m coming in close! Move to the edge of the seat! When I come in, let me put my arm around you! Once I have a grip on you, grab my arm and hang on!”

Jessica glanced forward and saw the sharp rim of the gully dead ahead.

“Here I come, Jessica!” Josh cried. “Get ready!”

He veered Stormy dangerously close to the side of the wagon, his arm reaching for Jessica’s small body, then shouted, “Now, Jessica!”

She leaned toward him and felt his arm encircle her. For a split second, as she left the wagon seat, Jessica felt as if she were slipping
from his grasp. She dug fingernails into his arm and hung on. Josh pulled the small girl to his side.

As Josh slowed Stormy, the wagon pulled away. Within seconds, Josh had brought the horse to a smooth halt. He and Jessica watched the galloping team go over the edge of the gully, their hooves pawing the air. The horses’ shrill cries echoed from the deep gully for a few seconds, then broke off with the sound of the crash.

A breathless Jessica was now clinging to Josh’s neck, and he swung her up in front of him. Three uniformed riders thundered toward them, then slowed and came to a stop.

“Looks like you got her off that wagon just in time, Josh,” Lieutenant Osgood said.

Josh let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, sir. The Lord was with us.”

“That was some kind of riding, young man,” Sergeant Deemer said. “It took a lot of courage to do what you did.”

Josh managed a thin smile but didn’t reply.

Carrie and Grant Smith were wiping away tears of relief and joy as Josh and Lieutenant Osgood drew rein. Carrie rushed to Stormy’s side with Grant just a pace behind. Josh lowered the girl into her mother’s arms, and as Grant joined them, there was a moment of praise to the Lord.

Colonel Ballard lauded Josh for his courage and quick thinking. He congratulated Chaplain and Mrs. Cornell for having such a fine son. Everyone in the crowd voiced their agreement, breaking into applause when Jessica shyly planted a kiss on Josh’s cheek.

The Smiths completed an uneventful journey to Independence, Missouri, where the army escort bid them good-bye. Three weeks later they arrived in Montgomery Village, Maryland, and were welcomed by family and a great number of Grant’s old friends.

Grant took a job at the bank in Germantown, and Carrie and the
children were befriended by all, especially the pastor and congregation of the Montgomery Village church. The Smiths bought a lovely home and settled down to a quiet life. No one brought up Lydia Price in conversations with Grant, not even Duane and Beverly Reynolds.

Jessica and Josh exchanged letters for about a year; then little by little the correspondence dropped off. Though there were no more letters from Josh, he was often in Jessica’s mind. She would always have a soft spot in her heart for Joshua Cornell.

In early 1864, Chaplain Brett Cornell developed an incurable problem with his voice and had to retire as chaplain of Fort Union. His mother had died the previous November and left him a sizable inheritance. He and Martha felt the Lord was directing them to travel farther west and go into the lumber business, since Brett had been raised in it and knew the business well. After reading about the growing Pacific coast frontier, they decided on booming Oregon City, Oregon.

There were tearful good-byes at Fort Union when the Cornells pulled out and headed for the Pacific Northwest.

I
N
A
PRIL
1865,
THE
C
IVIL
W
AR
came to an end. Only days afterward, the nation was stunned when President Abraham Lincoln died from an assassin’s bullet.

At Montgomery Village, Maryland, a new family moved into town in May of that year. John and Betty Moore and their twelve-year-old daughter, Brenda, were devoted Christians and quickly became active in the Montgomery Village church. Jessica Smith and Brenda Moore became friends, and as time passed they grew closer and closer, each calling the other her best friend.

Jessica and Brenda graduated from high school in May 1871, and the following month Jessica turned eighteen. She had blossomed into a lovely young woman.

Jessica had told her best friend about Josh Cornell and the torch she’d carried for him when she was a young girl. She often thought about Josh, but she had no idea where he was. A couple of years after their correspondence dwindled and finally ceased, she had written Josh a letter. It was returned “addressee no longer at Fort Union.”

One day in July, Jessica carried a glass of lemonade from the kitchen into her parents’ bedroom. Carrie was dressed but was lying on the bed. She smiled at her daughter and sat up. “Thank you, honey. It is a rather hot day, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and I think you should stay down for a while yet, Mama. Don’t want you to overdo.”

Carrie took a sip of the cool lemonade. “I can’t just lie around all
the time, Jessica. Even the doctor said I have to stay as active as possible.”

“I know how you feel, Mama, but I don’t want you trying to do the washing and ironing. I’ll take care of it. I’ll stay out of your way when it comes to the cooking, though. I know your favorite thing is to cook for us.”

Carrie took another sip of lemonade and smiled. “No mother ever had a better daughter than you, honey.”

Jessica’s dark brown eyes glinted with humor as she said, “You’d get some argument on that if other mothers heard you say it.”

There was a knock at the front door.

“That will be Brenda. Why don’t you lie down, Mama?”

“I’d rather sit up in my chair,” said Carrie, slipping off the bed.

Jessica helped her mother from the bed to the overstuffed chair by the window, then hurried to the front of the house and opened the door.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Brenda. I was occupied with Mama. She’s sitting in her room right now.”

Brenda Moore smiled as she stepped inside. “How’s your mother doing?”

“Better than last week. She’s been up and dressed every day. Dr. Westland says patients with low-grade consumption should try to live as normally as possible. They just can’t do all the things they would like to. If I’d let her, she’d still be doing the housecleaning, washing, and ironing.”

Jessica noticed that Brenda was holding a portion of the
Baltimore Press
opened to the classified section. “Looking for a job?”

“No … a husband.”

“A what?”

As they drew near the master bedroom, Brenda said, “I’ll tell you about it after we stop in here. I want to say hello to your mother.”

Carrie smiled and greeted Brenda as the two young women entered her room.

“Hello, Mrs. Smith. I’m glad to see you sitting up. Jessica says
you’re feeling better than last week.”

“Much better.”

“I’m so glad. Our family prays for you every day.”

“I appreciate that.”

“Mom said to tell you she’s coming to see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

A few minutes later, the two young women entered Jessica’s bright, sunlit room.

“All right, Miss Smarty,” Jessica said. “What’s this husband business?”

Brenda laughed. “Well, you asked me if I was looking for a job, and I told you I was looking for a husband. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Haven’t we both been afraid we might end up as old maids?”

“Well, sort of, but—”

“I want to show you something.”

Brenda unfolded the paper and pointed to a column headlined:

“Look at this,” she said, running her finger down the page and stopping at an ad marked with an X.

“Brenda, don’t tell me you’re serious! You’re not really thinking of answering one of those ads?”

“This ad was put in here by a twenty-three-year-old man who lives in Carson City, Nevada Territory. He’s done well in gold mining and wants to get married.”

“You can’t just pack up and go out there and marry a man you don’t even know! Why, he’s probably a hard drinker like all the other men out there in those goldfields, and—”

“Wait a minute. Let me finish. This man’s name is Gil Simmons. He gives a clear testimony right here of being a Christian, and is looking for a Christian wife who lives for Jesus.”

“Brenda! You’re not going to write him, are you?”

“Well, I’m seriously considering it. I’ve always had a fascination for the West. You’ve told me so much about New Mexico and how you would like to go back there, or maybe somewhere else in the West someday.”

“All right, but not this way. You’ve never laid eyes on this Gil Simmons. How do you know what he’s really like? You can’t just pack up and—”

“Jessica!” said Brenda, throwing up her hands. “I’ve prayed about this. And I—”

“You couldn’t have prayed about it very much. That’s yesterday’s paper. Brenda, you’re playing with fire! I can’t stand by and let you throw yourself away on a man you’ve never met.”

Brenda laughed. “I love you for hovering over me like a mother hen, but let me explain what’s on my mind.”

“All right. I’m listening.”

“I’ve prayed about this, and I feel the Lord would have me write to Gil Simmons and ask more about him. I’ll put some tough questions in the letter and see how he answers.”

Jessica shook her head. “I couldn’t do it. I could never be a mail order bride. You go slow with this thing. Talk to your parents about it.”

“I did. Last night. I showed them the ad and told them I had prayed over it and that I felt I should write and get more information about this man.”

“And they said …?”

“Papa said it can’t hurt to write and find out more about him. Mama agreed. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Jessica sighed. “Brenda, I know it’s not pleasant to think that you might end up an old maid, but marrying the wrong man is worse than not being married at all.”

“I know that. And I’m going to approach this very slowly. Mama and Papa will be with me all along, and if the Lord is in it, we’ll know it.”

Suppertime in the Smith home was always a lighthearted time. Carrie was an excellent cook. She thoroughly enjoyed preparing the food and gathering her family together around a meal after a long day apart.

As soon as Grant offered prayer over the food, Daniel and David began bombarding their father with questions that only lively teenage boys could come up with. Grant sent a smile to Carrie and patiently answered the boys’ questions while he filled their plates. As soon as their food was before them, Daniel and David began wolfing down their supper.

“Really, boys,” Jessica said, “you act like you’re starving.”

“It’s not that,” Daniel said. “It’s just that Mama’s cooking is so good!”

“Yeah!” David said. “When I grow up, I’m gonna marry a girl just like Mama, so all the rest of my life I can enjoy good cookin’!”

Carrie gave a smile and shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say?”

While the boys returned their attention to supper, Carrie said to Grant, “Darling, how were things at work today?”

“Quite satisfying. I was able to work out loans for two families who want to start businesses in Germantown. One is a dry goods company and the other is a hotel. Both are needed, and I believe they’ll do well. They’ll also make good accounts for the bank when they get on their feet.”

“Wonderful. I know it has to give you a great deal of pleasure to help people like that.”

“It does. I have to admit I still miss the military at times, but I praise the Lord for giving me a job I enjoy and one that’s fulfilling for me.”

“God has been so good to us,” Carrie said.

Jessica glanced at her father. “Brenda was here today, Daddy.”

Daniel handed Grant his empty plate and smiled contentedly as his dad gave him second helpings.

“She said Betty’s coming to see me tomorrow,” Carrie said.