Providence (8 page)

“Are you going to see Mr. Johnson
there, momma?” came the innocent question.

Kate paused a moment, “He said he
would be there today, so I expect we’ll probably see him.”

“Well, I’m not sitting by him. I
don’t like him!”

“Jo, why would you say such a
thing?”

“Because he’s mean. He tried to
cheat you. And I saw our horse, I think he hurt him.”

“Jo, you mustn’t talk like that. You
should respect your elders!” Kate admonished sternly, “even if I happen to
agree with you,” she added under her breath too quietly for her daughter to
hear. Jake glanced in her direction. He was the only one close enough to hear
her last comment.

 The conversation between
Nana and the children in the bed of the wagon turned to the prospect of the
meeting and the picnic following. They gleefully discussed who would be there,
and what the preacher might be like. Kate smiled listening for a moment before Jake’s
question took her attention. “How was the colt? You saw him, din’t you?”

“I did,” she sighed.

“And?”

“I don’t know, Jake. I didn’t see
any cuts or obvious wounds on him. He was thin, and rough looking
-
I don’t know
-
it was like the spirit had just
left him.”

“Um-hmmm.”

“That colt doesn’t belong to me
anymore!”

“I know.”

For a long moment there was
nothing but the sounds of the horses clopping, harness jingling and the
carefree conversation drifting from the back of the buckboard.

Kate sighed. “When Matt Johnson
rode through our place the other day, Jake, it was as if he were appraising
something he already owned!” A cold fear grabbed the pit of her stomach. “What
if I can’t do this, Jake? What if I can’t make a go of this? I can’t bear to
see someone like Johnson just walk in and take over our dream!”

Jake gave a slight flick of his
wrists, and the team picked up their pace as they came to the main road. He was
silent for a few moments before he looked at her pointedly and said, “of course
you
can’t do it.”

 “Oh, I know I have you and
Jonathan, but....”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Kate stared straight ahead. Jake
was getting older. He knew it, and so did she. As strong as he was, he tired
easily, and last winter he had had a mild heart attack. She worried about him
every time he was out. Jonathan was a boy. He was a hard and diligent worker,
but he was shy and slow mentally. He simply didn’t have the mind or the
aptitude to run a full ranch operation. “So you think I should marry again?”
She asked quietly, not daring to meet his eyes.

“For someone who spends so much
time reading that little Bible there, you sure seem to miss the point
sometimes!” Jake sounded both amused and exasperated. “Isn’t there a place in
there somewhere that says sumthin about, ‘I can do all things through Jesus?’
Well, why wouldn’t that apply to runnin’ a ranch as much as it would to
anything else? Have you tried asking Him for a little help?”

“Oh, Jake!” Kate laughed, “every
day! And you know, I think I’ll just keep on asking!”

***

The rest of the trip passed
uneventfully. As they approached the growing town of Fallis, the sense of
anticipation grew. Kate felt a gnawing angst that she didn’t understand. Was it
the prospect of seeing Matt Johnson again, or was there something in the air?
Whatever it was, she tried to put it from her mind as Jake pulled up before the
General Mercantile. A small, plain woman with dark hair was sweeping the
boardwalk in front of the store. As the wagon approached, her face was
transformed by a radiant smile and sparkling eyes. Placing the broom against
the wall, she wiped her hands on her crisp white apron as Kate stepped down
from the buckboard.

“Kate!”

“Martha!”

“It is so good to see you. I’ve
missed you these last months.” Kate was enveloped in a perfumed hug from her
friend. “Jo, come up here. I have some horehound in the jar, go get yourself a
piece.”

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Jansen. Can
I get one for Jon, too?”

“Certainly, dear.” Martha took
Kate by the hand and led her into the cool, dark store as Jo scampered ahead.
Finding the candy as promised, she grabbed the treasure and fairly flew down
the steps to find Jonathan. “She hasn’t changed any, has she?” laughed Martha.

“Not a whit!” agreed Kate.
Standing in the dim interior of the large mercantile, Kate felt a sense of calm
steal over her as she and Martha renewed their friendship. “I didn’t think you
would be open today. Where’s that new husband of yours?”

 “Oh, Lars is helping the
other men get the tables ready for the big picnic.” Martha blushed and smiled,
showing a charming dimple. “I’m not really open today. I was just getting ready
to go to meeting when I saw your wagon coming, and I just knew Jo would want
that horehound.”

“I know you, Martha, you didn’t open
the store just for that! What’s up?”

Martha paused for a moment,
taking in her friend’s sun bronzed complexion and calloused hands. “Kate,
you’ve been doing all that ranch work yourself, haven’t you?”

Casting her eyes down and hiding
her hands within the folds of her skirt, Kate replied softy, “We had two hands
working there when....when it happened. They stayed on for a bit, but
eventually they drifted off, said there were ‘other opportunities,’” she
shrugged, “but I know they just couldn’t take working for a woman.”

“Humph! Typical. So? Have you
tried to hire help?”

“Oh, I tried at first, but it was
always the same thing. They’d stay on a week or two, until taking orders from
me got to be too much for them, then off they’d go.”

“You sure that’s what it was?”
Martha asked, brows raised.

“What do you mean?”

“I overheard a conversation a few
weeks ago that I did not like!”

“What about?” Kate prompted when
Martha paused, seeming to ponder whether to continue.

 Eyeing her friend
speculatively, she took deep breath before continuing, “A couple of punchers
were in the store, one says how he’d been working for ‘that woman what lost her
husband’
-
that got my attention, mind you
-
and he let on how old Mr. Johnson offered him half again as much pay if he’d
quit her ranch and tell all the other boys to do the same.”

Kate gasped, “But he can’t....”

“Now, Kate, I know how you feel!
Hear me out.”

“Martha, I can’t believe that
Matt ....” the bell above the door jangled brassily startling the women into
silence.

Martha glanced at the man who had
entered the store, shook her head slightly and drew Kate further back. Looking
over her shoulder, Kate saw a tall, lean man with thick brown hair, and a hard,
worn look about him. She gave her friend a questioning look.

“Kate, you need help out there.”
Martha continued, ignoring the quizzical look.

“I know, but I’m not even sure I
can afford it right now.”

“You can still offer room and
board, can’t you?”

“Well, yes, there’s the bunkhouse
still, and Nana does cook enough to feed a veritable army!” Kate laughed in
spite of herself. Something about Martha’s barely contained exuberance piqued
Kate’s curiosity. “Why?”

 “Well, a drifter came in a
few days ago. He seems a nice enough fellow, and he really needs a job. I gave
him a few odds and ends to do around here to keep him in town. Once I decided
he was all right, well, I explained about you, and the situation out at your
place.”

“Martha Louise Jansen! You had no
right...”

“Oh, Hush! You sound just like a
spoiled child!” Martha’s eye flashed, but she continued to smile. “Here I go
trying to help, and this is the thanks I get?”

Kate maintained her defenses, but
she listened as Martha continued.

“Like I said, he seems all right,
and he knows all about Matt Johnson, so unlike some of the local hands, he’ll
be more likely to stay around. What do you say? At least meet him, talk to
him?”

Kate sighed, weighing out the
options. Her gaze drifted to the man waiting by the counter. Once again she
felt the cold fear snaking its icy tendrils into the pit of her stomach. “We’re
going to be late for church meeting. I really don’t
-
oh, all right, I’ll talk to him at least. After
church? You need to go take care of your customer.”

“Good!” Martha’s eyes gleamed.
“I’ll see you at the meeting.”

 Kate hugged her friend and
turned to leave, brushing by the waiting man. As she passed she could feel him
watching her. Looking up she encountered clear green eyes that held a quiet
sadness, and a grim resolution. The intensity in his face caused a stirring within
her that she didn’t quite understand. Dropping her eyes, she quickly left the
dim atmosphere of the quiet store for the bright warm sunshine and bustling
activity of the streets of Fallis.

Following the crowds, she found
the schoolhouse where the Sunday meeting was to be held. It was a charming
white building with a wide portico, adorned with window boxes bursting with the
color of early blooming flowers and trailing green ivy. Kate smiled at the
simple beauty and was filled with a sense of respect for a teacher that would
find the time to create such an inviting place for her students. She knew that
it would soon be time for Jo to start attending a regular school. At only six
years old, Jo was already learning to read and write with a little coaching from
Nana and Kate, but with her sharp little mind, she needed to be in a real
school. Maybe she would see about sending her to school here in the fall. Four
miles would be awfully far, but maybe somehow they could find a way.

As Kate stood lost in thoughts of
school years and Martha’s proposal, she was startled by a hand upon her sleeve.
Flinching at the touch, she instinctively reached to protect her arm.

“I’m sorry. I certainly didn’t
intend to frighten you,” Matt breathed into her ear. “You look absolutely
beautiful, far too pretty for church!”

“Thank you, Mr. Johnson,” she
said coldly, her heart pounding.

 “Shall we?” Matt asked,
taking her by the elbow. Without waiting for an answer, he steered her into the
small room, and found them seats side by side on the hard wooden benches. The
schoolhouse was already filled and they were forced to sit closely. Jo and the
Insleys were already seated a few rows ahead.

“Momma, here we are,” Jo called
waving madly.

“My daughter....” Kate began.

“She’s with your help, she’ll be
fine. Besides, there’s really no room left up there.” Matt protested.

“Your mother is going to keep me
company, Sweetheart. Now be a good girl, and turn around and listen to the
preacher.”

Jo scowled at the man. As Kate prayed
that her daughter wouldn’t stick her tongue out, Jo turned a baleful glance on
her mother; Kate shrugged. Jo turned back around, plopping into the seat and
crossing her arms angrily. Kate felt the cold settle permanently in the depths
of her very being as Matt leaned back relaxing slightly against her.

“
Oh, Lord, is this what you
would have for me? Have you sent a husband in the form of this man? I don’t
even
like
him, much less love him. Lord, you are the great provider, and
I know that I don’t always understand your ways, but I trust you. Could you
just maybe make it a little easier to see Your hand here?”

 The congregation rose and
began singing “Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.” The
words which normally filled her soul with peace and hope, seemed hard and
shrill as she stood next to this cattleman. So many emotions flooded her.
Martha’s words haunted her memory. She stole a glance up at his face as he sang
in a rich baritone. His eyes were hard, as though hiding something within.

The singing over, they sat, and
the circuit preacher began a sermon on God’s redeeming love. She found it hard
to concentrate. Her mind wandered as she heard those words,
redeeming love
,
taking her back to a time when she had been sure that there was no love left in
the world, from God or anyone. In that horrible time after the fire had swept
through their home, killing her mother and father in a raging inferno that had
threatened to take her own life as well, she knew that a loving God could not
exist. She would never forget the screams of agony coming from her mother’s
room as the flames engulfed her parents. Beating upon their door she had
suffered severe burns over her arms and chest, before being overcome by the
smoke and losing all consciousness.

 She awoke three days later
in pain and confusion, Mrs. Insley ministering to her burns as tenderly as she
ministered to her aching heart. Her parents had already been buried and the few
items salvaged from the smoldering remains of their home were safely packed
into a trunk in the corner of the room where Kate lay. The Insleys had taken
her in. They had always loved the little golden haired girl that had played
down the street. She would pick wild flowers and bring them to Nana to set upon
the table on the porch where they would sip lemonade on sweltering summer
afternoons. They had watched her grow into a charming, beautiful young woman.
The Insleys had been as surprised as her own parents when she announced her
intentions to attend university and study for a law degree. Now Kate needed
them, and they were prepared to give all they had to make sure she survived.