Measure of Grace (33 page)

There was instant panic. Women and children who were old enough to understand the engineer’s words began weeping, and many of the men were close to it. The railroad men tried to calm them, but to little avail. The three men hurried out the front door of the coach, heading toward the front of the train. The crying and wailing went on.

Frozen in terror, Diana still had a grip on Cora’s hand. She saw Cora close her eyes and bow her head. Her lips were moving in silent prayer.

Suddenly, a silver-haired man who was seated near the front of the coach stood up and stepped into the aisle. Lifting his voice above the din of wails and cries, he said, “Listen to me! Everybody listen to me!”

He had the attention of about half the people at once. It took him a minute or so to talk to them and reduce the frightened voices to the point that everybody could hear him. “Folks,” he said, “we need to pray for God’s protection on us. He made this world. He can keep the snow above us from coming down. I will lead in prayer, if you will allow it.”

One woman spoke up. “This is the most sensible thing I’ve heard. Please, sir, lead us in prayer.”

Cora squeezed Diana’s hand and whispered, “Bless him!”

The elderly man prayed in the name of Jesus Christ that God would keep the snow from coming down the side of the mountain and shoving the train into the canyon, and tactfully wove the gospel into his prayer.

When he finished, there was definitely a calmer atmosphere in the coach.

Diana looked at Cora through a mist of tears. “Mrs. Zeller, I—”

“Yes, dear?”

“I realize how afraid I am to die. I know if God should see fit to let this train go over the edge into the canyon, I would die lost and go to hell. I’ve been a fool to put off salvation. I’ve been using what my parents had taught me in the past as an excuse to put off dealing with it in my life. Would you show me what to do? I want to be saved. I didn’t listen when Mama tried to show me, but I’ll listen now.”

Breathing a silent prayer of thanks to the Lord, Cora said, “All the Lord wants is a willing heart, honey.” With that, she took her Bible from the handbag, opened it, and carefully took Diana from passage to passage, dealing with repentance, faith, and the new birth. Soon the girl was weeping.

When Cora asked if she understood, Diana assured her that she did. Cora had the joy of leading her to the Lord.

Wiping tears after calling on the Lord to save her, Diana said, “Oh, Mrs. Zeller, thank you! My mother is going to be so happy when she learns that her oldest daughter has been saved. That is, if she learns it here on earth. She may have to wait till we meet in heaven.”

Cora hugged her and said, “Honey, I believe the Lord is going to answer the gentleman’s prayer and deliver us from this predicament safely.”

Shortly thereafter the wind eased, and the conductor came into the coach explaining that the passengers were invited to go to the dining car in shifts, so everyone could eat.

By the time everyone on the train had eaten, it was past midnight.

Cora put an arm around Diana and led them in prayer, thanking the Lord for bringing Diana to Himself and for keeping His mighty hand on the train. She thanked Him that they indeed would get out of the mountains safely and asked Him to bless the gentleman who had calmed the people in their coach by his words of faith.

With peace in their hearts, Cora and Diana dropped off to
sleep with only a slight breeze touching the snow-caked window next to them.

When dawn came, the sky was clear and there was still just a slight breeze.

The passengers waited while the train’s crew went outside to assess how much snow was piled up in front of the engine. Entering each car, they gave their report.

When they came into coach number three, the engineer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have taken a look at the avalanche in front of us, and it is not as large as we thought it might be. If all the able-bodied men aboard will help us, we should be able to have the snow cleared from the tracks in no more than two days.”

There were happy cheers in the coach.

The engineer grinned and said, “If the rest of you don’t mind letting the men eat breakfast first, we can be removing snow from the tracks while you’re eating breakfast.”

When all the men who were going outside on snow removal duty had eaten and followed the crew to the avalanche in front of the engine, the rest of the passengers took their turns eating in shifts as usual.

Potbellied stoves were burning in each coach, keeping the women and children warm. After they had eaten their breakfast, Cora and Diana returned to their coach and sat down.

Cora opened her Bible and said, “Diana, I want to show you some verses concerning your new life in Christ. These are very important things that are vital to your spiritual growth and your walk with the Lord.”

Diana listened intently and eagerly as Cora showed her the verses and told her that she needed to find the right kind of church and be baptized. Diana assured her she would.

Cora then said, “Honey, there is something else I need to show you.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

Doing her best to be tactful, Cora said, “Honey, you are going to Idaho to marry Jordan Shaw.”

“Yes.”

“You’re a Christian now.”

“I sure am.” Diana’s eyes were shining.

Opening her Bible again, Cora said, “Let me show you what God’s Word says about Christians and unbelievers.”

Diana’s brow furrowed. She studied Cora’s face for a few seconds, then let her eyes fall on the Bible in Cora’s hands.

Having her Bible open to 2 Corinthians 6, Cora put her finger on verse 14. “Look at this, honey. ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?’ There are other Scriptures on this subject, Diana, but this is enough to show you that a born-again child of God should not marry a person who is not saved. It can only lead to much heartache because a child of God is walking in God’s light, whereas an unsaved person is in darkness like you used to be, and there is no communion between light and darkness.”

Diana bit down on her lower lip.

“To put it plainly, honey,” said Cora, “you shouldn’t marry Jordan Shaw if he is not a born-again man. I assume he didn’t stipulate in his newspaper ad that he wanted a born-again bride.”

“N-no,” said Diana, her voice weak. “Mrs. Zeller, what should I do?”

“When you get to Elkton, you need to explain to Jordan that you became a Christian on the trip west, and you would like for him to become one, too. First, for the sake of his own soul; and secondly, because the Bible tells you to only marry a believer. It will be best if you find a good Bible-believing pastor to help you with this.”

Diana nodded, but did not tell Cora this frightened her. If Jordan rebelled at this, there would be no wedding. She would be in a strange place among strange people, and would have to find a way to support herself or return to Richmond and face the wrath of her father. The prospect of the latter sent cold chills slithering down her spine.

Suddenly she remembered her father’s words to her that day in the jail, when he said if she ran away, he would track her down and
give her a beating like she had never imagined. The world wasn’t big enough for her to hide from him.

Fear was an icy claw on her heart as she contemplated her helpless situation. If she and Jordan did not marry, she would have no one to protect her from her father.

Diana said in her heart,
Dear Lord, I saw what You said in Your Word about believers not yoking up with unbelievers, and I will obey You. But I will need Your help with these problems that lie ahead of me
.

O
N
M
ONDAY
, N
OVEMBER
25—while the train crew and the male passengers were working to remove the snow from the tracks high up in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming—Jordan Shaw rode into Ketcham, Idaho, at midafternoon and dismounted in front of the post office. The Wells Fargo stage would be carrying the mail to Elkton on Tuesday, but Jordan was eager to get his hands on the expected letter from Diana if it should arrive in Ketcham on Monday.

As he was dismounting, he heard a familiar voice call his name. Turning that direction, he saw Althea and Bernadine Faulkner coming up the street in their wagon. Guiding the wagon at an angle toward him and pulling the team to a halt, Althea said, “Nice to see you, Jordan.”

“Yes,” said Bernadine. “We had to come to Ketcham to pick up some things that we can’t buy in Elkton. We didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Well, we Bar-S folks have to do that now and then, too.”

“So we hear you’re taking Belinda to Lorene’s big birthday party,” said Althea.

Jordan’s stomach flipped. “Oh? Who told you that?”

“Why, Belinda, of course.”

“Well, Lorene’s birthday is almost two weeks away. I don’t recall even talking to Belinda about it.”

The Faulkner sisters exchanged glances and giggled, then Bernadine said, “I guess Belinda’s so sure of herself with you that she knows your invitation to go to the party is forthcoming.”

Althea sighed. “Oh, Jordan, I hope someday the man will come into my life who will sweep me off my feet and show me the kind of love you show to Belinda.”

Jordan frowned. “I guess Belinda has told you some of our innermost secrets, eh?”

Althea’s face flushed. “Well, I—that is, Bernadine and I never pry. Belinda just feels she can share some things with us.”

“I hope Belinda hasn’t told you that we have wedding plans.”

The sisters looked at each other again and giggled.

Bernadine said, “Althea, we’d better not tell him all we know about that!”

“We dare not,” said Althea. “Belinda would have our hides for spilling the beans.”

Jordan laughed. “You probably know more than I do. Well, ladies, I have business to attend to in the post office. Nice chatting with you.”

With that, Jordan headed across the boardwalk. The Faulkner sisters were giggling as they pulled away.

Before opening the post office door, Jordan set his gaze on the Faulkner wagon as it moved along the street. “Go ahead, girls. Laugh it up. But the last laugh will be mine.”

Entering the building, Jordan found three short lines, and stepped into the one in front of his friend, Barney Koval. In less than five minutes, it was his turn. He stepped up to the counter and smiled. “Hello, Barney. Need the Bar-S mail.”

Barney chuckled. “Still haven’t received that important piece of mail you’ve been looking for, Jordan?”

“Not yet, but I’m hoping you’ve got it for me today.”

Barney went behind the wall, and when he returned, he had a small stack of mail. Laying it on the counter, he said, “Well, I most certainly do hope it’s here.”

Jordan grinned and started sifting through the stack. The third envelope he came to made his grin spread into a bright, broad smile.

“Yes! Here it is. Barney, you’re a good man. Thanks a lot!”

Barney laughed. “Well, whatever it is, I hope it makes you happy.”

“You can count on it,” said Jordan as he turned and walked away.

Moving over by the potbellied stove, an anxious Jordan sat down on a chair and used his pocketknife to slit the envelope open.

He took out Diana’s letter and was thrilled to learn that she was coming for sure with the prospect of becoming his mail order bride and would arrive in Elkton on the three o’clock stage on Thursday.
Just three days
, he thought,
and I will be rid of Belinda and all the pressure from her family and mine to marry her!

When Jordan was in the saddle again and heading out of Ketcham, he told himself that tomorrow he would go hunting again in the mountains.

His first stop would be at Mattie’s Boardinghouse in Elkton, then he would go by the newspaper office, let Knight know that Diana was coming, and see if he wanted to go hunting with him.

The lowering sun was putting a golden glare on the snowy land as Jordan rode into Elkton, turned off Main Street after two blocks, and rode two more blocks west. Hauling up in front of Mattie’s Boardinghouse, he mounted the steps that led to the porch. There was another boardinghouse in Elkton, but Jordan chose Mattie’s because it was better kept, and Mattie’s cooking was better than the cooking at the other one.

Not wanting to give his plan away to anyone, Jordan had worked at coming up with a plausible reason as to why he would want to reserve a room. With his scheme intact, he stepped into the small office and found Mattie Herndon at her desk. Mattie, who was fifty, rotund and rosy-cheeked, smiled as she left the desk and stepped to the counter. “Why, Mr. Shaw, it’s nice to see you. What brings you here?”

“I want to reserve a room for a young lady, Mattie,” he said. “She’s actually a friend of Knight Colburn’s, but he’s very busy, and he asked me to handle it for him.”

“I see,” said Mattie, opening her record book. “What is the lady’s name?”

“Miss Diana Morrow. D-I-A-N-A M-O-R-R-O-W.”

Mattie wrote the name. “And when will Miss Morrow be arriving?”

“This coming Thursday, the twenty-eighth. She’ll be coming in on the three o’clock stage.”