The Fiery Ring (14 page)

“They belonged to my sister. She gave ’em to me. They ain’t hardly been used. That’s mother-of-pearl. A girl with hair like yours needs good brushes and a good comb.”

Joy ran her hands over the smooth surface of the mother-of-pearl and could not speak. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much,” she whispered.

Chase saw that Joy was moved but embarrassed at showing it. Quickly he said, “Well, I got you a present too. It won’t do to brush your hair with it, though.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a slender package wrapped in brown paper. “No pretty paper either, I’m afraid.”

Joy took the package and blinked the tears away. Unwrapping it, she exclaimed, “It’s a fountain pen! Look, Sister Hannah.”

“Looks good. Is that real gold around the edges?”

“I guess so,” Chase said. He smiled and pulled a bottle of ink from his pocket. “I’ve seen you tryin’ to keep pencils sharpened while you write in that diary of yours. I thought you might do a better job with this.”

Joy felt elated. “Let me fill it up and try it.”

“Go ahead. I’ll get a piece of paper,” Hannah said. By the time she had brought the paper back, Joy had filled the pen. She glided it over the surface of the paper. “Look at how smooth it is,” she marveled. She wrote several lines and then turned the paper around.
Thank you—thank you for everything!
she had written.

“It’s the nicest birthday I could’ve had,” she whispered. “Thank you so much.”

“It ain’t over yet. I got one more present for you.”

Joy turned to stare at the woman. “What is it?” she said.

“Well, this present’s from the Lord Jesus, at least that’s the way I see it.”

“What in the world is it?”

“It’s a ride all the way to Texas.” Hannah laughed at the
expression on Joy’s face. “It ain’t all the way to Galveston, but it’s almost there.”

“Who will I ride with?”

“I’ve got this grandson named Caleb who drives a truck. He’s makin’ a trip from Helena, Montana, to Fort Worth, Texas. He called me last night on the phone. Said he didn’t know why he wanted to call, but he just felt an itch to do it.” Sister Hannah smiled and said, “I told him that was the Lord doin’ that to him. Anyway, he’ll be here around the eighteenth. That’s Friday.”

“Well, Fort Worth isn’t that far from Galveston,” Chase said.

“Have you been there?” Joy asked.

“Sure, a couple times. It shouldn’t be too much trouble to get from Fort Worth to Galveston.”

Joy suddenly looked down at the comb and brush and ran her hand over them. The other two watched as she caressed the surfaces, and a glance passed between them. Sister Hannah said gently, “I think we’d better give thanks to the Lord Jesus for His birthday present.”

Joy bowed her head, and as Hannah prayed, she felt herself agreeing, and when the woman had finished, she said, “Amen.”

CHAPTER NINE

End of the Rope

Sister Hannah came upon Chase as he was sitting outside stroking Jake’s head. Hannah considered his taming of the vicious animal a miracle. Chase had helped her actually become friends with the big dog, and now as she watched the two sitting in the sunlight that fell in long golden bars across the yard, she smiled slightly.
I wish it was as easy to get people to change as it was for Chase to change that dog’s meanness.

“Almost time for dinner, Brother Chase.”

Looking up, Chase smiled. It amused him and yet troubled him that Sister Hannah had started attaching the title
brother
to his name. He had once told her he wasn’t worthy of such, but she had simply shrugged, saying,
“You’re a brother to me, and God’s goin’ to do somethin’ with you. I’m just looking ahead a little bit, is all.”

Getting to his feet, Chase looked up and said, “Going to be good weather for it.”

“Good weather for what?”

“For Joy to make that trip to Texas.”

“I want to talk to you about that girl.”

Chase turned his eyes on Sister Hannah. “Sure. You want to sit down?”

“No, this is all right. It won’t take me long to say what I got to say. Truth is, I been troubled about Joy. She’s been on my heart right smart the past few days.”

“Mine too. She’s so defenseless, even though”—he smiled
broadly—“she carries a thirty-eight. Still there’s an air about her that makes her seem sort of vulnerable.”

“That’s what I’ve been tellin’ the Lord, and now, Brother Chase, the answer came. It was right sharp.”

Chase studied the tall, strongly built woman. She had character built into her features—strong features they were—and he had learned that she’d had a difficult life, yet had not let it embitter her. Now he thought about how she’d come to their rescue and saved their lives, so it seemed to them.

“What has God told you?” he asked.

Hannah grinned at him. “So you
do
think God tells people things.”

“He tells
some
people things. I’ve always known that,” Chase replied.

“Well, brother, I believe God will speak to
anyone,
if’n they’re willin’ to listen. My daddy heard from God, and my mama too. And you will too, Brother Chase. It’s jist a matter of time.” Sister Hannah tucked a silver lock back under her bonnet and said, “Seein’ as you’re not listenin’ to Him yet, though, God told me that you’re supposed to go to Texas with Joy and see to her.”

Chase stared at Hannah in disbelief. “Why, I can’t even take care of
myself,
Sister.”

“I know that. None of us can, but this time you’ve got the Lord Jesus on your side. He’ll help you through it.” She smiled heartily, and warmth flooded her eyes. “God don’t sponsor no failures, Chase.”

Chase laughed shortly. “Well, that proves I’m not one of His, because if there ever was a failure—”

“Now, you stop talkin’ like that. God’s got somethin’ for you to do, and it’s got somethin’ to do with takin’ care of that girl. If I’m hearin’ God right, you gotta be her protector for a while.”

Chase bowed his head and studied the ground. A big yellow tomcat strolled by, and he saw Jake consider the animal. “No, Jake, that’s not for you. Live and let live,” he murmured. He
put his hand on the big dog’s head, and Jake sat down and looked up at him as if he understood the words perfectly. “I don’t know what to say,” Chase went on.

“We don’t always know what to say, and we don’t always know what to do. That’s the way it is on this earth. Most of us would like it if God would just write down every morning what we’re supposed to do for that day, but God don’t do it that way. We’re supposed to walk by faith. One of the psalms says, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.’ What that means is every man—and every woman too—has got God’s hand on ’em. You been runnin’ away from the Lord, Chase, but someday He’s goin’ to catch up with you, and this may be one of His ways.”

Chase looked up and shook his head. “The last time I tried to help Joy, she wound up having to help
me.
”

“That may be true, but from what she tells me, if you hadn’t been there, she would have come to real grief.”

A silence fell between the two, and from the distance came the lonesome sound of a train whistle. Chase waited until it faded away, then shrugged his shoulders. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stay with her until she finds her brother.”

“All right, Sister Hannah, I’ll do the best I can.”

“And, Brother Chase, don’t you harm that girl.” She saw Chase’s eyes open wide and then said, “You know what I mean. You’re a man, she’s a woman, and you’ll be alone together. God will be watchin’ you.”

Chase Hardin grew serious. His lips drew together tightly, and then he nodded. “Sister Hannah, you can believe this—I’d rather cut my arm off than hurt Joy!”

****

“I reckon Caleb will be in pretty soon,” Hannah told Joy while the two women were in the kitchen finishing up the
breakfast dishes. “He didn’t give me no exact time. He jest said sometime today. Come upstairs with me.”

At Hannah’s blunt command, Joy took off her apron and followed her out into the hall, then up the stairs. When she entered the bedroom Joy had been using, Sister Hannah leaned over and pulled a suitcase out from under the bed. “This here belonged to my granddaughter Lucy,” she said, “but I want you to take it. You can’t be carryin’ that sack around with you.”

“But I wouldn’t want to take your granddaughter’s suitcase.”

Ignoring Joy’s protest, Hannah walked over to the closet and said, “I want you to pick out the best of these clothes—shoes, too, and underwear. They ain’t doin’ a livin’ soul no good jest sittin’ here, and you don’t need to be runnin’ around all over creation in boy’s garb. You’re a woman, and you need to dress like one.”

Joy had become accustomed to Sister Hannah’s ways. Her gruff manner covered a heart as warm and generous as any Joy had ever known. The days she had spent in this house had been the most pleasant she could remember since the deaths of her parents and sister. She had arrived with a troubled heart and an angry, bitter spirit, still grieving and blaming God for taking her family away. But the faith of the older woman had touched her and changed her—almost, at first, against her will. She had resisted for a short time, but then the genuine goodness of Hannah Smith’s very being had won her over.

Joy went over now and put her arm around the older woman and said gently, “You’ve been so good to me, Sister Hannah.”

Hannah warmed to the young woman. “I got a special love for you, daughter,” she said quietly, “and after you leave, my prayers are goin’ to be with you every day. There’s goin’ to be temptations and hardship—no doubt ’bout that, my sister—but the Lord Jesus will build a ring of fire about you. The devil said of Job when he accused him before God that
God had built a hedge about him so thick that he couldn’t even get at ’im! And that’s what I aim to do for you, Joy.”

“I know I need it.”

“Yes, you surely do, and there’s somethin’ else I gotta tell you. I been prayin’ ’bout how in the world you’re goin’ to make it, and God spoke to me and gave me some instructions.”

“Instructions? What kind of instructions?”

“He told me that Chase was supposed to go with you and take care of you until you find your brother.”

“I couldn’t ask him to do that.”

“You don’t have to. I done already told him.”

“What did he say?”

Hannah chuckled. “Well, young’un, he said the last time he tried to help you, he just about got beat to death!”

“He was trying to help. He did all he could,” Joy said defensively.

The girl’s quick response pleased Sister Hannah. “I know he did, and I’ll always think it was God who made him do his best. But, anyhow, he’s goin’ with you now, and I want you to be careful.”

“Be careful of what?”

“You’re just comin’ on to bein’ a woman, Joy. You ain’t a little girl no longer, and women are weak where men are concerned.”

Joy dropped her eyes for a moment and then looked up. “I . . . I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean you and Chase are going to be throwed together a lot. I’ve already seen you have a special kind of likin’ for him.”

“That’s just because he tried to help me.”

“It’s that, and it’s that you nursed him back to health. He’s been like a baby, but he’s not a baby at all, so you gotta be careful. A woman has a treasure, and she needs to keep it for the man she’ll marry one day.”

Color rose in Joy’s cheeks, and she did not speak for a time. The older woman studied her face, admiring the beautiful large blue eyes, her best feature. Hannah had often seen the
dance of laughter in those eyes, and once or twice a joy that bubbled up from within. But now there was an inexpressible gravity in them as she said, “I’ll remember what you’ve said, Sister Hannah. . . .”

****

The roar of an engine followed by the squeal of brakes caught Hannah’s attention, and she rushed to the kitchen window and looked out. “Well now, Caleb’s here. He drives that there truck like Jehu his own self!” She smiled at Joy. “He’s a feisty one, he is, but he’s a good man.”

The door opened, and a large young man wearing worn jeans and a checkered shirt rolled up to the elbows hustled in. He had tow-colored hair, bright blue eyes, and a breezy manner. He strode across the room, threw his arms around his grandmother, and lifted her clear off the floor. He swung her around, laughing. “You’re puttin’ on weight, Grandma.”

“Put me down, you fool!”

Hannah’s words were sharp, but Joy saw the affection in her eyes. She watched as the old woman collected a kiss on each cheek, then reached up and patted the young man’s face. “Your manners are as bad as they always were.”

“Aw, c’mon, Grandma, you’re glad to see me. You don’t get a good-lookin’ man to hug you every day of the week.”

Hannah Smith laughed and turned, saying, “This here is Miss Joy Smith. Joy, this is my grandson Caleb.”

The large young man put his eyes on Joy and stuck out his hand. She took it, and her own was swallowed up. “Well, are we cousins or somethin’, Miss Joy?”

“I don’t think so, but we might as well be because your grandmother’s almost taken me into the family.”

He nodded. “Ain’t she a caution, now? I’d hate to tell you about the time she took a hickory switch to me when I was growin’ up.” He turned to his grandmother and winked. “Remember the time Rob Peterson and me stole your eggs and sold ’em so we could go to the dance over at Callaway?”

“I remember it all right, and then I guess you remember what happened when I caught up with you.”

“I sure do.” He winked knowingly at Joy, saying, “I was sixteen then and already bigger than Grandma, but she made me stand up while she walloped me. I couldn’t sit down for a week.”

“Well, Joy don’t hanker to hear any more of your stories. Dinner’s ready.”

“I want to see that dog I gave you first.”

“Dog! That weren’t no dog! That monster tried to take a leg off of me.”

“He’s just spirited,” Caleb protested.