Measure of Grace (5 page)

William’s features were stony. “I warned you last time not to ever do anything like that again. Since you didn’t listen, it’ll do you good to spend two weeks behind bars.” A scowl creased his face. “You’re a shame to this family!”

Jordan looked away from his father’s blazing eyes.

Woodard took hold of the boy’s arm. “Let’s go, Jordan.”

William was still glaring heatedly at his son as the marshal took him out of the barn. When they drew up to the marshal’s horse, Woodard said, “Climb up in the saddle. I’ll sit behind you.”

Feeling sick inside, Jordan obeyed, and the marshal swung up, reached around him, took the reins, and put the horse to a trot.

As they rode away, Jordan looked back to see his father standing with arms folded across his chest, still glaring at him.

J
ORDAN
S
HAW HAD BEEN IN HIS CELL
for less than an hour when he heard the office door that led to the cell block open, followed by footsteps coming down the narrow hallway. He was sitting on the canvas cot, looking at Willie Beemer in the cell next to him. Willie, who was the infamous town drunk, was known to spend a great deal of time in Elkton’s jail for trouble he caused when he had spent too much time at one of the saloons. He was sleeping soundly. The other four cells were unoccupied.

When the door opened, Jordan’s attention was drawn that direction. He stood up when he saw who it was. Moving to the bars, he managed a weak smile. “Knight! It’s good to see you.”

Drawing up to the cell door, Knight said, “Since there isn’t any school today because the teachers are having that special meeting, Mom sent me into town to buy some things at the general store. I ran into Bessie Higgins there, and she told me she saw Marshal Woodard bringing you into town on his horse, and that he took you into the office.”

Jordan’s brow furrowed. “You didn’t hear about it on the ranch?”

“No. Anyway, as soon as Bessie told me you were here, I came over. I’ll have to get Mom’s groceries later. Marshal Woodard told me about you breaking George Crum’s window and why. He said I could come back and see you. Jordan, I appreciate your standing by me when Lester spoke against me, but you shouldn’t have let it make you so mad that you tossed that rock through the window.”

Jordan shrugged. “You’re my best friend. I didn’t appreciate him
making fun of you for being a Christian. He said you were stupid, and called you a fool for being one of those born-agains. His dad agreed, saying your parents were also fools, then he made me really mad when he said, ‘A lot of good Buck’s religion did him when he was facing the stampede.’ ”

Knight’s eyes misted. “Marshal Woodard didn’t tell me about that.”

“He doesn’t know about it. I told him that George Crum had insulted your widowed mother and your dead father, but I didn’t go any further with it.” Jordan paused, then said, “Did the marshal tell you he took me to the feed store and made me apologize to George Crum for breaking the window?”

“Yes. He also told me that your dad said you have to pay for it.”

“Mm-hmm. I know I lost control of my temper, and I shouldn’t have thrown the rock through the window, but I just couldn’t stand the way they spoke about you and your family. I know I have a problem with my temper and I’ve tried to do better with it, but I can’t seem to keep a level head when I get mad.”

“Well, again, I really appreciate your loyalty, Jordan,” said Knight, “but I don’t like to see you behind bars because you lost your temper. As you well know, I used to have a real problem with my temper, too, but when I got saved and learned to let Jesus take control in my life, I found that things got a whole lot better. I’d really love to see you open your heart to Him. First, because you need to be saved so you can go to heaven when you die, and second, because the Lord can change you down inside and make things a whole lot better in your life while you’re here on earth.”

Jordan lowered his head and looked at the floor. “Like I’ve told you, Knight—I’m just not ready to do that, yet.”

“Well, just what’s it going to take to make you ready? God warns in His Word not to put off salvation, Jordan. If you—”

Knight’s words were interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the hallway that led from the office. Jordan’s head came up, and when the door opened, Knight looked around. Marshal Woodard stepped into the cell block with Sylvia and Lorene Shaw on his heels.

“Someone else here to see you, Jordan,” said Woodard.

Both women rushed to the cell and embraced Jordan through the bars. Sylvia had tears in her eyes as she said, “Thank you for coming to see him, Knight.”

“He’s in here sort of because of me, ma’am. It’s the least I could do. I’ll be going, now,” he said to Jordan. “But you can look for me every day while you’re in here.”

Tears were in Jordan’s eyes. “You’re a real, true friend, Knight. Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow.”

As Knight headed through the door, the marshal picked up two straight-backed wooden chairs from the corner of the cell block and placed them in front of Jordan’s cell. “Here, ladies. Sit down.”

Sylvia and Lorene thanked him. Both wiped tears from their cheeks and the strain of the situation showed in their eyes. As they sat on the chairs, Woodard unlocked Willie Beemer’s cell. Beemer had been sitting on his cot, silently looking on. “All right, Willie,” he said, “you’ve done your time for the latest trouble you’ve gotten into. Let’s go.”

When the marshal and Beemer were gone, Sylvia and Lorene scooted their chairs closer to the bars. Tears were spilling down Jordan’s face. “Mama, Lorene,” he said, sniffling, “I’m sorry for bringing this grief on you. I’m sorry for bringing it on the whole family. Please forgive me.”

Mother and sister both reached through the bars.

“I forgive you, son,” said Sylvia. “I wish you’d learn to control that temper. I know you were defending Knight and his parents, and what George and Lester did was wrong, but throwing the rock through the window was wrong, too. But, as I said, I forgive you.”

“I forgive you, too,” said Lorene.

“Thank you, sis. And thank you, Mama. I couldn’t stand it if you didn’t forgive me. Mama …”

“Yes, son?”

“Would—would you tell Papa I want to see him so I can ask his forgiveness, too?”

“I’ll tell him. I’m not sure what he’ll say, but I’ll tell him.”

Sylvia and Lorene stayed for better than half an hour, then left, saying they would see him the next morning.

The next morning, when Sylvia and Lorene were ushered into the cell block by Marshal Woodard, they embraced Jordan through the bars, then sat down once again on the chairs. Woodard returned to the office.

Concern was evident in Jordan’s eyes as he said, “So Papa didn’t come with you.”

“No,” Sylvia said softly. “We told him you wanted to see him so you could ask his forgiveness, but he won’t be coming. He said you need to sit here alone in your cell and think about what you did.”

Jordan’s features pinched. “So he doesn’t want you and Lorene to be here, either?”

“Not really, but he said he wouldn’t stop us if we wanted to come back.”

Lorene’s features were pinched. She drew a shuddering breath and said, “Mama, I hope Papa will get over this soon. Mark and I are getting married in just over a month. If this issue isn’t settled, it will hurt the spirit of the wedding.”

Sylvia patted her arm. “Don’t worry, honey. It will be all right. Papa will cool down by then.”

“I’m so sorry, sis,” said Jordan. “This whole thing is my fault.”

“I can’t argue that it is,” said Lorene, “but Papa doesn’t need to be so stubborn. You’ve apologized to George Crum for breaking his window, and you are going to pay for the new one. You sent a message to Papa through Mama and me that you want to apologize to him. What else does he want?”

“He’ll get over it once Jordan’s home and they can talk, honey,” said Sylvia. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Jordan did not let on, but he doubted that everything was going to be fine. By William Shaw’s actions, it was clear he didn’t want his son around anymore. He wasn’t welcome at home. And no matter how hard his mother tried, everything was not going to be fine.

That afternoon when school let out, Knight hurried to the jail to see Jordan. When he walked into the cell block and approached
the cell, Jordan was sitting on the cot with his head bent down and his face in his hands. When he looked up, Knight knew something was wrong.

Slowly Jordan rose from the cot and moved to the bars. “Hello, Knight,” he said, “it’s good to see you again.”

Reaching through the bars, Knight laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, pal. What’s got you looking so despondent?”

“It’s my father.”

“What about him?”

“Yesterday after you left, I asked Mama and Lorene to tell Papa I wanted to see him so I could ask his forgiveness for bringing this shame on the family. When they came to see me this morning, they told me Papa said he isn’t coming. He just wants me to sit here in the cell and think about what I’ve done.” He took a shaky breath. “And now Lorene is afraid Papa’s attitude is going to ruin her wedding.”

Knight shook his head. “No, no. Your father isn’t going to let anything hurt the wedding. He’ll get over this thing in a few days. You’ve got a good father, Jordan. Let me tell you what he did last night.”

“What?”

“He called Mom over to the house and talked to her in his den. He wants her to stay on as ranch cook. He’s going to raise her wages so we can make it, and he said Mom and I could still live in the ranch foreman’s house. He hired Lloyd Jensen as foreman, and since Lloyd is single, he’s going to keep living in the bunkhouse. Lloyd volunteered, so Mom and I would have a place to live. Your father is paying Lloyd even more because of this.”

Jordan let a slight smile curve his lips. “Well, I’m glad for both you and your mother, and I’m glad Papa is treating you so well. But he sure doesn’t think much of me.”

“Sure he does. Like I said, he’ll get over it in a few days. He’ll still want to set you up with your own ranch when you’re of age.”

“I’m not sure he will,” said Jordan, “but one way or another, I’m still going to have my own ranch someday. I’m going to get married, have a family, and be a cattle rancher for the rest of my life. It’s all I want.”

“You think you’ll marry Nellie Freeman?”

Jordan’s eyebrows arched. “Well, that sort of depends on whether you are going to want her, doesn’t it?”

“It did till I got saved. Now I know Nellie isn’t for me. Somewhere in this world, God has a Christian girl all picked out for me, and in His own time and His own way, He will bring us together.”

“Oh. Well, I guess that does shed a new light on the Nellie situation. Have I been seeing right? Has she been a little distant to you since you got saved?”

“Yes. But that’s all right. Like I said, God’s got the right girl all picked out for me.”

“We haven’t talked about the future for a long time, Knight. Are you still settled on journalism as your life’s career?”

“Sure am. I definitely know that my main talent is with words.”

Knight went on to say that Claude Hayward, owner of the
Elkton Sentinel
, was teaching him how to write newspaper articles, and every week he would give him an assignment for a particular article to write as if it was actually going in the paper. He also said that two weeks ago, Mr. Hayward had printed the article he had written about Idaho’s wildlife, surprising him.

“And that was a good article,” said Jordan. “I really liked it.”

“Thanks,” said Knight. “Having it actually printed was a real encouragement. My parents, Pastor and Mrs. Steele, and many of the townspeople told me how well they liked it. Mr. Hayward says I definitely should pursue writing as my career. I really love journalism. I hope someday I can own a newspaper, myself.”

“That would be great,” said Jordan. “I hope you can, too.” He sighed. “I wish your father was alive to see you become a success. My father doesn’t care what happens to me, just so he doesn’t have to look at me. If he really cared, he’d have been here to see me by now. All I wanted was for him to come so I could ask his forgiveness. But he’s so ashamed of me, he isn’t about to forgive me for what I did.”