Measure of Grace (31 page)

“Read it to us!” said Deborah.

“Yeah!” chimed in Daniel.

Diana looked at her mother. “We would all like to hear it, honey,” said Martha.

Diana took a deep breath in an attempt to ease the fluttering of her heart and holding the letter with trembling hands, read it slowly:

Both Martha and Deborah were crying.

“Oh, Diana,” said Deborah, wrapping her arms around her sister, “I’m so happy for you! I’ll miss you terribly, but you’ll be safe from Papa, and you’ll be with the man who will love and cherish you. You deserve that.”

Martha embraced Diana with her good arm, and the boys followed, showing their joy for this marvelous change in her life.

Martha wiped tears from her eyes. “All right, here’s the plan.
Since school is out for the rest of the week for the Thanksgiving holiday, we’ll have Derick drive all of us to the railroad station in Richmond first thing tomorrow morning so Diana can set up her train and stagecoach schedules and buy her tickets. We need to have her on that train as soon as possible. Your father gets out of jail in just over a week.”

Derick set soft eyes on his mother. “Mama, your prayers really worked. God timed this all out to perfection, didn’t He?”

Happy to hear these words coming from her oldest son, Martha said, “Yes, He did, honey. Everything God does is perfect.” She ran her gaze over the faces of the others. “All of you need to learn that.”

“Mama, what about Dennis?” said Deborah. “Since he’s taking his nap as usual right now, he still doesn’t know what’s going on. We can’t keep it from him much longer.”

“He need not know but the bare essentials,” said Martha. “We dare not let anyone but those of us in this room know where Diana has gone. We must keep it a secret. No matter what, your father must not learn where Diana has gone.”

“Mama,” said Diana, “even though Jordan and I will have a courtship, I really don’t think it will be very long until we marry. Once I am his wife, there is nothing Papa can do, even if he should somehow find out where I am. I will be Jordan’s wife then, and no longer under Papa’s rule. Jordan sounds like the kind of man who would protect me from my father.”

When Martha and her children drove away from the railroad depot in Richmond the next morning, they went directly to the post office. Diana had brought along paper and envelope.

While the rest of the family stayed close to the potbellied stove, Diana went to one of the tall tables and penned her letter.

Diana read the letter through three times to make sure it was exactly the way she wanted it, and then sealed it in the envelope, stepped to the counter, and handed it to a postal clerk to be mailed.

On Thursday, Diana kept herself busy cleaning, cooking, and baking. She wanted everything to be caught up before she left, knowing that with the broken arm, her mother was still limited as to what she could do. Staying occupied also kept her from having too much time to think about how much she was going to miss her mother and siblings.

That evening, Diana prepared a special dinner with Deborah’s help. At the table, everyone worked hard to keep a light and happy atmosphere, but their faces were showing the heaviness of their hearts. Martha tried valiantly to lighten the mood by bringing up happy times from the past.

Soon all of the children were joining in. Downturned lips were lifted into smiles, and the meal ended on a happy note.

As the family was rising from the table, Deborah looked at her sister and said, “Diana, you’ve worked hard today. I know you’re tired. You’ve got some packing yet to do. I’ll clean up the kitchen and do the dishes. You go on and get your things ready.”

Diana wrapped her arms around Deborah and hugged her tight. “Thank you, sweetie.”

“You’re quite welcome, sis. And I don’t want you worrying about this household when you’re gone. I’ll take care of things. Understand?”

Diana hugged her again, fighting tears. “Yes.”

Diana hugged her mother and brothers, then went to the room that she and Deborah had shared since Deborah was very small.

A small trunk which was partially packed sat open and waiting on the floor, and a satchel had been placed on Diana’s bed.

Emotions arose within her. She sat down on a chair and gazed around the room taking in its sparse furnishings, and said to herself in a whisper, “This is my home. This is my family. How—how am I ever going to leave them?”

She could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes and running down into her throat. She gulped them back, rose to her feet, and while the tears ran down her cheeks, went to work to finish packing.

The task was quickly accomplished. She stood looking at her meager belongings. “Guess that’s one good thing about being poor. You don’t have much to take with you when you move to a new location.”

Movement at the door caught her eye. “Oh. Mama.”

“May I come in?” asked Martha.

“Of course. I just finished packing.”

Martha went to the bed, sat down on its edge, and patted the spot next to her. “Come sit down, sweetheart.”

Struggling to keep from crying, Diana sat down beside her mother and met her loving gaze.

Martha took hold of her daughter’s hand and drew a deep breath. “Sweetie, I can only imagine how very difficult this is for you. Here you are, leaving your home and family and going someplace strange and new to meet a young man that you only know by the words he has written in a few letters. We are going to miss you terribly. This house will never be the same without you, but none of us could live with ourselves if we stood in your way of going then your father came home and beat you to death.”

Blinking at the tears that filled her eyes, Diana squeezed her mother’s hand. “We both know that I have to leave here, Mama, but I worry about you and my sister and brothers. I’m afraid Papa will come home and be like always. He may take out on you what he would like to do to me.”

“I honestly don’t think so, dear,” Martha said. “For whatever the reason, it is you he seems to take out his frustrations on. I’m optimistic that his six weeks in jail will provide good cause to make him think about his actions and bring about a change in him. This is why I’m not afraid he will try to beat out of us where you’ve gone. He has established a record with the law by being jailed for assault and battery on Tom Wymore. Chief Perry is aware of the way he has beat on you children and myself before. Your father knows he’s walking on thin ice with the law. So don’t you be worrying about us.”

“I can’t help but worry, Mama,” Diana said.

Letting go of Diana’s hand, Martha caressed her cheek tenderly and said, “This mail order bride thing is all new to you, honey. It is going to bring about a dramatic change in your life. I know you don’t understand about my new life in Jesus, but I have put you in His mighty hands, and He has given me perfect peace that He will protect you and that He will protect your siblings and me.”

Diana wrapped her mother’s fragile body in her own young arms and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Mama, for loving me, and wanting what is best for me. I hope someday I can be a wise and loving mother to my own children just as you have been to all of us.”

Easing back in Diana’s embrace, Martha looked her in the eye
and said, “Please promise me that you will find a Bible-believing church and go to it.”

“I promise.”

“Thank you. Now how about we gather everybody in the kitchen and each of us have a piece of that marvelous chocolate cake you baked?”

“Sounds good to me.”

It was an emotional moment at the Richmond railroad station the next morning as Martha and her other children stood beside the train with Diana to tell her good-bye, not knowing if they would ever see her again.

Martha looked at her with misty eyes. “Honey, we haven’t had a moment to discuss this it seems, but I want you to write to us, so we’ll know how it is going for you.”

“But Mama,” protested Diana, “if I do that, and Papa gets hold of an envelope with my return address on it, he’ll know where to find me.”

“I’ve already figured out how to keep that from happening. Address the envelopes to Shamus and Maggie. I’ll explain the whole thing to them. They’ll see that I get every letter you send.”

“Oh. That’s a good idea,” said Diana. “I’ll do it.”

Each one except Dennis told Diana they would write to her after her first letter came and they had the address of the boardinghouse.

Martha reminded Diana of her promise to seek out a Bible-believing church. Diana assured her she would.

Many tears were shed as good-byes were said, and each one embraced Diana, then watched her board the coach as the conductor was shouting out his last call for everyone to get aboard.

Soon they saw her take a seat next to the window. She forced a smile as the train pulled away, and waved to them, trying to hold her tears in check.

D
IANA
M
ORROW HAD A LUMP IN HER THROAT
as she pressed her face to the window, trying to keep her beloved family in view as long as possible. When the train made a curve as it left the depot, the last she saw of them they were waving.

She burst into tears, glad at least that there was no one sitting beside her. People across the aisle were looking at her, and not wanting to make a scene, Diana took a linen handkerchief from her small handbag and pressed it to her face. She cried as softly as possible into the handkerchief for a few minutes, then finally gaining control of her emotions she wiped her cheeks and blew her nose.

Gulping back the tears that still wanted to be shed, she forced herself to contemplate the future that lay ahead of her. She felt great relief, knowing she would not be home when her father was released from jail.
I can only hope Mama is right
, she thought.
That Papa will be a different man once he is out of jail and I am out of the picture
.