Unconventional Series Collection (10 page)

Abby sat on the blanket and watched the
children. She was curious about Jenny's motive for wanting to picnic there. The
children returned to the blanket to eat and talk about anything and everything.
Abby leaned against the tree trunk watching a flock of blackbirds crisscross
the sky. Silently, she prayed for a safe and profitable trip for Brant. She
closed her eyes, feeling sleepy, but Jenny's words brought her back to
alertness. The child was back at the grave.

"Mama, I just want you to know some things
so you're not worried about us. Our new Ma is taking real good care of us. She
sews just like you did and tells great stories. She's even teaching us until we
can go back to school. But most of all, Ma, I want you to know that Pa is happy
again."

Abby lifted her hand to her mouth to keep from
sobbing.

Ty joined his sister at the grave. "Papa go
wit cows."

Jenny reached to pull Ty against her side.
"Yep, Ma, we're doin' okay. It was a good idea for Pa to find a new Ma, so
you can enjoy heaven."

Jenny turned and grinned at Abby. Abby opened
her arms and both children rushed into them. Kissing the tops of their heads,
she said, "I love you both so much! Now I have the family I've always
dreamed of."

Life on a ranch was always busy and even though
Abby missed Brant and Luke terribly, she had no time to sit and brood. She
grinned when she thought how different her life was now. She could milk a cow,
collect eggs from cranky hens, tend a vegetable garden, saddle and ride a
horse, shoot a gun, and a dozen other things she'd never considered before.

Not many days before Brant was expected home,
she received a visit from Mina Priestly who drove her old buckboard to the
front of the cabin. Everything about Mina and her possessions reeked of old
age. Nevertheless, the feisty woman pursued life with gusto.

"Whoa, horse. Howdy, Miz Abby and
youngins," she called and moved to climb off the plank seat.

"Wait, Mina. Let me help you down. Jenny,
hold Ty's hand."

"Yes, ma'am."

Abby rushed to the buckboard and reached to
assist Mina. "It's wonderful seeing you. What brings you out this
way?"

"Just checkin' on ya. Missed ya'll at
church. I know yer man's drivin' cattle and you're alone. I overcooked and
brought some vittles." Mina petted Wally. "And I even got somethin'
fer you, old mutt." She walked to the other side of her buckboard and
lifted a wooden box off the floor.

"Let me get that," said Abby.

"Thanks, honey."

Abby said, "Jenny, take Ty with you and run
in and set tins and plates on the table. Also, pull that new loaf of bread from
the cupboard."

"Okay, Mama."

Mina grinned at Abby. "Looks like you've
settled in jes fine. Not an easy thing fer an eastern gal. Course, with a man
as fine as Brant, that's incentive enough. Lola Pitts sure tried to reel him
in. Just goes to show, beauty ain't enough. It takes character. Course you got
character and you're pretty to boot. In fact, you get prettier every time I see
you. Are you in the family way?" Mina held the door open so Abby could
enter with the wooden box.

"Um, no, I don't think so."

Mina patted her hand, "Well, it won't be
long. Not with a stud like Brant fer a husband."

Abby coughed. "Uh, please have a seat,
Mina. Would you like coffee or tea?"

"Coffee. Black and strong. Makes you live a
long time. That's what me ma always said and she lived into her nineties."

Abby grabbed a potholder and poured coffee for
her guest.

Mina glanced around the cabin. "Yep, looks
like yer new family agrees with you, dear. You sure got this place lookin'
spiffy. Nice curtains. Ain't that the fabric from one of yer fancy dresses I
seen you wear to church?"

"Yes, it is. It looks better as curtains,
don't you think?"

"Yep, looks right nice."

For the next hour, Mina talked and Abby listened
and laughed with the old woman. She told wonderful stories about her childhood
and adventures settling into the wild frontier with her "no account"
first husband, and then meeting the one who made her heart "patter" a
year after the "no account's" death.

"Four of me seven boys is still livin'. Me
girl died in childbirth and I raised her son. He's got a real nice spread
outside Dallas and he's always naggin' me to come live with him, but I told him
I'm stayin' here till I die. It's where all me boys and husband is
buried." The elderly woman got a faraway look and smiled like she was
remembering something special. Softly, she said, "Yep, all me memories is
here."

Mina glanced at Ty playing with his wagon.
"Is the boy feelin' okay? I didn't want to say anything, but he don't seem
as lively."

Abby had noticed the same thing, but attributed
it to the long walk they'd taken that morning. Now, she rushed over and picked
the toddler up. He felt warm. Alarmed, she carried him back to the table. Mina
reached to feel his forehead. "He's got a fever. But not a high one. Might
be nothin', but I'd keep him down fer a couple of days."

"Yes, I'll do that." Abby's heart
filled with worry.

Mina said, "To make you feel better, how 'bout
I swing by town on the way home and ask Doc to make a trip out here."

"Oh, thank you, Mina. I'd sure appreciate
that."

The old woman's joints creaked when she stood.
"I best be goin' then. Keep cool cloths on his head to bring the fever
down and give him lots of ginger tea."

"I'll do that." Abby handed Ty to
Jenny and then walked outside to help Mina onto her buckboard. "Thank you,
Mina, for everything."

The old woman waved goodbye and flicked the
reins of her horse.

Abby rushed back inside and put Ty in bed,
heating water for tea and wetting cloths to cool his fever.

By evening his little body was burning hot and
he became listless, often shivering. Abby prayed that the doctor would arrive
soon. When she heard a horse gallop into the yard, she ran to open the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Samson. Mina Priestly said you
have a sick boy."

"Thank you for coming. His fever has gotten
worse and now he's coughing a lot. Please come in."

The gray headed, gray bearded, kindly doctor
dismounted and entered the cabin carrying his black bag and waited for Abby to
lead him to his patient. She rushed to the bedroom and stood aside so the
doctor could check him out. The toddler whimpered and started to cry when Doc
Henry pulled out his stethoscope.

Abby tried soothing him with words. "It's
okay, sweetheart. The doctor is just going to look you over." She turned
to see Jenny standing in the doorway, her eyes big and bright with fear. While
the doctor distracted Ty with a little wooden horse he'd pulled from his bag,
Abby walked over to Jenny and put her arm around her shoulders. "Jenny,
why don't you brew some tea for me and Doc Henry?"

Jenny nodded, her face ashen, and returned to
the kitchen.

Abby hovered close behind the doctor during his
examination. He patted the toddler's head and motioned her to a corner of the
room. Speaking low, he said, "Ty has lung congestion. It may be pneumonia.
There's nothing much we can do except keep him as comfortable as possible and
apply poultices. I'll return tomorrow and check on him."

Abby's lips trembled and tears sprang to her
eyes.

"You'll have to stay strong, Mrs. Samson.
Jenny needs you to stay strong."

Abby nodded.

Doc pulled Abby to the table and made her drink
some tea with him. Patiently, he explained his treatment for the boy. After he
left, Abby tucked Jenny in bed in the big bedroom and then settled into her
rocking chair beside Ty, lifting him into her arms and singing softly. Wally
remained vigil at the doorway.

All night his fever raged and he became limp.
Abby did everything the doctor said, trying to stay strong. Exhaustion
threatened to overcome her and she prayed for Brant's soon return. The next day
Jenny helped soothe Ty and when he became too weak to even cry, she whispered
through tears, "Just like Mama," before running from the room.

Doc Henry returned midmorning and also the next
three days. Ty wasn't improving and he turned to Abby with sad eyes and started
to say something when Jenny cried out, "Pa and Luke is home."

Abby jumped to her feet from kneeling beside
Ty's bed and ran to meet them.

* * *

Brant jumped off his horse, so happy to be home
he wanted to kiss the ground—after he kissed Abby and the children. He noticed
a horse in the corral and felt uneasy. The door burst open and Jenny ran
outside, clutching his waist and crying. He knew something terrible had
happened.

"Hey baby girl, I wasn't gone
that
long." He knelt to hug her and looked up, waiting for Abby. The moment she
stepped into the doorway, he knew his instinct was right.

"What's–"

Doc Henry stepped behind her and Brant's heart
lunged to the ground. Not seeing his baby, he waited for the inevitable words.
Abby hovered in the doorway, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I'm glad you're home, Brant," said
Doc. Ty's got pneumonia and–"

Brant rushed past the doctor and Abby. In the
bedroom doorway he paused to compose himself. Inhaling deeply, he walked to
stand over Ty before dropping to his knees and caressing his baby's burning
forehead. A sob caught in his throat but he held it inside. Swallowing against
his fear, he said, "Ty, son, Papa's home, and I'm not leaving. I love you.
You can pull through this."

Luke joined his father beside Ty's bed for a few
minutes and then rushed from the cabin.

Doc Henry stayed with the family the rest of the
day and Ty died at dusk.

Luke and Jenny wept openly, saying a last
goodbye to their brother. Brant pulled his baby's lifeless body to his chest,
repeating the words, "I love you," over and over.

* * *

Abby stood behind Brant, unable to comprehend
that her beloved baby was dead. "No," she whispered. And then again,
"No." Unable to stop herself, she screamed, "No!" and
turned and ran from the house. Over and over she screamed, "No! No!
No!" while running across the yard and into the open field. She didn't
care that rocks bruised her feet through the soft soles of her shoes or that
shrubs tore her arms. She just ran, screaming. Suddenly vise like arms encircled
her and pulled her to the ground.

"Abby, stop before you hurt yourself,"
Brant yelled above her cries.

She fought him. She fought the unseen forces of
death. She fought until she could fight no more. Panting and weeping she cried,
barely above a whisper, "It's my fault. I failed him. I should have taken
better care of him. I shouldn't have taken him for that long walk."

"No, Abby. It's not your fault. You're a
wonderful mother. These things happen."

Abby refused to receive comfort from his words.
It
was
her fault.

Brant pulled her into a fierce hug and together
they wept in the fading light of a day no parent should ever have to
experience. Wally sat a short distance away watching over them.

After a long time, her husband lifted her into
his arms and carried her back to the house, laying her across their bed. She
had no strength to move, not even when Doc and Brant removed her clothing and
tended to her scrapes. Blessedly, the doctor gave her something that made her
nightmare disappear as she drifted into a black void.

* * *

Brant placed a hand on Cora's arm. "Thank
you for coming." He turned to the others, "Thank you Mina, Lita,
Neal, Pastor, Miz Merriweather."

The women had prepared Ty's body for burial and
the funeral was to be held that night. He'd said his final goodbye to his son
after the ladies had dressed the baby in his little suit. He had no more tears
to shed and felt as dead as his baby.

Excusing himself, he entered his bedroom,
closing the door and sitting on the bed. Abby hadn't awakened since Doc Henry
had given her laudanum the night before. He was so tired. Lying beside her, he
pulled her into his embrace and drifted into a restless sleep. Later, when
shadows slanted through the window, he opened his eyes to his waking nightmare.
Glancing at Abby, he saw her staring at the ceiling. Reaching to caress her
cheek, he said, "I'm here for you, honey."

She turned her head aside and didn't respond.

Brant didn't remove his hand. Instead, he
continued stroking her face. "We're going to bury him tonight. You don't
have to come if you're not up to it."

She jerked her head toward him, her eyes
glistening. "Of course I'll come."

Slowly, like an old man, he raised himself from
the bed. "I'll send Cora and Lita in to help you dress."

As a huge sun bid goodbye to a late summer day,
neighbors began arriving in buckboards. At dusk, Pastor Merriweather and Neal
Brandon carried the tiny casket the ten minute walk to the oak tree where Molly
was buried. Halfway there, Brant relieved them. "I'll carry him the rest
of the way."

Supported by women on either side of her, Abby
stumbled several times. For her own good, Brant had not allowed her to see Ty
in death. Gently, he'd explained that he wanted her memories to be living ones.
She hadn't argued.

Brant swallowed against the lump in his throat
when he saw Molly's gravestone and the hole dug beside it. Setting the casket
on the ground, he inhaled several times and then walked to stand beside Abby.
Taking her hands in his, he raised them to his lips and kissed them.

Pastor Merriweather began the service by
speaking the usual words about how mankind, as finite beings, are unable to
understand the infinite wisdom of God, and how one day all tears would be wiped
away. Brant was not comforted by the words, but he was comforted by the
presence of his neighbors, most of whom had experienced similar heartaches. He
placed his arm around Abby and pulled her close to his side. She was as
unyielding as stone.

When the casket was lowered into the grave,
Wally whimpered and Abby unexpectedly turned and walked back toward the house.
Mina and Lita looked at Brant for guidance and he nodded that they should go
with her. Wally trailed behind.