One More Sunrise (40 page)

“That is so clear, Doctor. I’ve never seen this before.”

“Do you want to be saved?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good! Now let me show you what the Bible says you have to do.”

Dane flipped to Romans 10. “Read me verses 9 through 13, Doke.”

Doke’s heart was throbbing. “ ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

Dane looked him in the eye. “Notice the use of the word
heart
. In verse 9 it says you must believe in your
heart
. In verse 10 it says it is with the
heart
that a person believes unto righteousness. A person can believe about Jesus in their mind, Doke, but that doesn’t save them. The heart is the very center of your soul. You must receive Jesus into your heart as your own personal Saviour. You do that by repenting of your sin and doing what it says here in Romans 10:13:
call
upon Him. Understand?”

Tears were misting Doke’s eyes. “Yes, Doctor. I want to call on Him and ask Him to come into my heart, forgive me of my sins, and save me
right now!
”

Dane closed his Bible and put his arm around Doke’s shoulders. “Let’s bow our heads, and you do exactly as you just said.”

When Kathryn Tully and Tharyn Tabor were in their room alone, Kathryn referred to the Scriptures on the subject of salvation that Tharyn had shared with her the past several nights. She told Tharyn she had not slept well since the first night. She wanted to be saved.

Tharyn had the joy of leading her to the Lord.

The next night, in their room—after Tag Moran had spoken roughly to Tharyn several times through the day—Kathryn took hold of Tharyn’s hand, a worried look in her eyes. “Tharyn, I can’t stand the way Tag is treating you. Of course it’s because you represent Dr. Logan to him. I’m afraid one of these times he’s going to harm you physically. He does have a vile temper, and he hates your young doctor with a passion. If you will agree to it, we’ll escape out of the bedroom window later tonight, when all of them are asleep.”

Tharyn’s eyes widened. “Escape? The
two
of us? You will go with me?”

“Yes! I want to get away from here too. We’ll go to the closest neighboring cabin in the forest. It’s about five miles to the southeast. I’ve never met the people who live there, but their names are Will and Nora Darby. We’ll explain the situation to the Darbys and ask if they will take us to the sheriff’s office in Fort Collins.”

“But—but—”

Kathryn frowned. “But what?”

“I’m afraid for you. If these outlaws would catch us, Tag would take it out on you!”

“They won’t catch us, honey. We can make it. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. We’ll wait till after midnight, to make sure they’re all asleep. Then we’ll climb out the window onto the roof of the back porch. It’ll be easy to get down to the ground from there. We’ll take your wedding dress with us.”

Tears welled up in Tharyn’s eyes. She hugged Kathryn, thanked her, then breathed softly, “Thank You, Lord! I know You
are going to take care of us.”

The next morning at dawn, John Brockman and his four deputies left their horses in the dense forest near the hideout, and approached the cabin on foot, guns drawn.

For safety’s sake, Dr. Dane and Doke were ordered by Brockman to stay with the horses. While the two of them watched the lawmen close in on the cabin, Doke said, “Dr. Logan, it’s just so good to be saved, to know that I’m going to heaven instead of hell. Thank you for leading me to the Lord.”

Dr. Dane smiled. “It was my pleasure, Doke.”

Inside the cabin, Lucinda had just discovered that Kathryn and Tharyn had gone out their bedroom window and run away. She ran down the stairs, announcing it to Tag and the others.

Filled with fury, Tag growled, “Breakfast will have to wait. Let’s go after ’em!”

With Tag in the lead, the gang dashed out the front door onto the porch. “Kathryn and Tharyn will leave tracks, and we’ll find ’em.”

Suddenly he skidded to a halt on the porch floor, his face an instant gray mask of surprise as he looked down the barrels of the five guns that were trained on him and his gang. If fear had bounds, then Tag Moran considered he had reached the outer limits. Bart, Jason, and Tony were in the same condition.

“Take those guns out of their holsters and drop them!” said the chief U.S. marshal. “Now!”

Tag’s legs went weak and his stomach felt like it was full of floating feathers. His arms were devoid of strength. Noting the determination on the faces of the five lawmen, he mumbled weakly, “Do as he says, boys. They mean business.”

While Tag and the others were being handcuffed with their hands behind their backs, and John Brockman was questioning Tag about the two women running away, Dr. Dane and Doke drew up.

“Did I hear right, Chief?” asked Dane. “Tharyn and another woman have run away?”

John nodded. “Yes. Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

Tag looked at Doke. His eyes were fiery, and his cheeks were locked in a flushed state of anger. “You dirty traitor! You led ’em here! Some friend you are!”

Doke met his fiery gaze. “I’m still your friend, Tag, but when I found out you told those two women at the church that you were going to kill Tharyn, I had to try to stop you before you did it. I’m glad to hear that she and Kathryn have escaped.”

Lucinda stood at the open door, tears in her eyes, as she looked at her handcuffed husband. Bart looked at her for a few seconds, then looked at his feet.

Chief Brockman said to his deputies, “Take these guys to Judge Yeager in Rawlins. I want him to know they are once again in custody. The judge can see to it that they are taken back to the prison. Dr. Logan and Doke will go with me. We’ll trail Tharyn and the other woman and find them.”

Having said thus, Brockman set his gaze on Lucinda. “We’ll leave you here, ma’am. No reason to take you to Rawlins.”

Lucinda’s lips were quivering, her face pinched. She avoided his gaze.

Brockman said to his deputies, “When you’ve seen to it that the gang has been put back in the prison, go on home. Once Dr. Logan, Doke, and I have found the women, we’ll bring them to Denver.”

The lawmen saddled and bridled the outlaws’ horses and hoisted them into their saddles. Bart gave his wife a despairing look as the lawmen led the gang away. Tag looked back and looked
accusingly at Doke.

In his saddle, Tag didn’t show it, but he knew this time he would hang. He was terrorized at the thought of dying. As a youth, he had heard an evangelist preach twice. In both sermons, the evangelist warned of a burning hell for those who died without Christ. Chills slithered down his back.

Lucinda stood on the porch and wept as she watched the deputies and the gang members ride down the steep slope into the forest and vanish from sight.

Being an experienced tracker, John Brockman soon found tracks left by Tharyn and Kathryn in the woods, descending down the mountain to the southeast. Leading their own horses on foot, John, Dane, and Doke followed the tracks through the forest.

As they moved slowly among the trees, Dane looked at John with a smile. “I’m so relieved to know that Tharyn is alive. Praise the Lord!”

“Amen!” John said.

“Amen!” Doke echoed.

John grinned at Doke. “Not saved much more than a day, and you’re already learning how to talk right, Doke.”

Dane laughed. “He’s learning fast, Chief.”

As they continued down through the forest, following the tracks left by Tharyn and Kathryn, Doke’s conscience was bothering him about his guilt in making it possible for Tag and the others to escape from prison. He finally confessed it to Dane and Chief Brockman.

John said, “Well, Doke, as an officer of the law, I must arrest you for what you did. But since you confessed it on your own and are truly sorry, I will take you to Judge Yeager in Rawlins and ask him for clemency on your behalf.”

Dane said, “Doke, you’re a child of God now. I’m sure that because you confessed this to Chief Brockman, the Lord will have mercy and make it so Judge Yeager doesn’t have you put in
prison.”

“I feel the same way, Doke,” said Brockman. “Don’t worry about it.”

It was almost noon when they found the women’s tracks leading to a log cabin beside a stream.

Dane’s heart leaped in his chest. Tharyn and Kathryn made it to safety! He ran ahead of the other two, jumped up on the porch, and knocked on the door.

John and Doke quickly followed and stepped up on the porch just as the door came open and an elderly woman appeared.

“Ma’am,” said an excited Dane, “are Tharyn and Kathryn here?”

Her wrinkled brow furrowed. She glanced at the other two—noting the badge on the tall man’s vest. “Well, just who might you be, young man?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am. My name is Dr. Dane Logan.”

She looked at Brockman. “I don’t have my spectacles on, but I think that badge says you are a United States marshal.”

John smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Chief U.S. Marshal John Brockman from Denver. Dr. Logan was to marry Miss Tharyn last week, but—”

“I know all about that.” She chuckled. “Well, that’s good enough for me. I jist didn’t want to be passin’ any information on about them two young ladies without knowin’ for sure who was askin’. I’m Martha Darby. I live here with my son, Will, and his wife, Nora. Please come in.”

“Are Tharyn and Kathryn here?” asked Dane, as she widened the door and they stepped inside.

“No, they’re not,” said Martha, closing the door behind them.

“Tharyn and Kathryn knocked on this door at four o’clock this mornin’. My son was already awake, though he was still in bed. He put on his robe and went to the door. Seein’ how frightened the young ladies looked, Will invited ’em in. After he had
dressed and awakened Nora and me, we went into the parlor together. Tharyn and Kathryn told us the story—about Tharyn’s weddin’, the abduction at the weddin’ by those bad guys, and Tharyn bein’ kept a captive at the cabin.”

Martha looked at Brockman. “You’re gonna go arrest them bad guys, ain’tcha?”

“Already did, ma’am. My deputies are taking them to prison right now.”

“Good! Well let me explain now. Will and Nora have taken those two young ladies to the Larimer County sheriff’s office in Fort Collins. They left about eight-thirty this mornin’.”

Dane’s eyes lit up. “Praise the Lord! Chief, let’s head for Fort Collins!”

“We’ll just do that,” said John.

The three men thanked Martha Darby for the information. Elated to know that Tharyn and Kathryn were all right, they mounted up and rode for Fort Collins.

W
hen Dane Logan, John Brockman, and Doke Veatch arrived at the sheriff’s office in Fort Collins and asked him about Tharyn Tabor and Kathryn Tully, Sheriff James Hoffman sat them down in front of his desk and said, “Well, gentlemen, I’ll tell you what. Those two young ladies are now on the train that left here for Denver just over an hour ago.”

John turned to Dane. “Looks like we missed them again.”

Dane smiled. “That’s all right, Chief. At least we know they’re safe, and soon Tharyn will be home with her parents. Thank the dear Lord for His loving mercy.”

“Amen!” said Doke.

“That’s right,” John said, nodding.

Hoffman grinned and leaned forward with his elbows on the desktop. “I took the young ladies to the depot myself. Tharyn asked me to send a wire to you at Central City, Dr. Logan. She wanted to let you know that she had escaped the clutches of the gang, was all right, and what time the train would arrive in Denver. She also asked me to wire the same message to her parents, and to add that she had a friend with her who would need to stay at the Tabor home for a while. I sent the telegrams immediately after the train pulled out.”

“Thank you for doing this for Tharyn, Sheriff,” said Dr. Dane. “I really appreciate it.”

The three men returned to their horses at the hitch rail in front of the office.

“Well, Doke,” said Brockman, “let’s ride for Rawlins. We’ve got to see Judge Yeager.”

While Doke was untying the reins from the rail, John turned to Dr. Dane. “When you and Tharyn set the new wedding date, Breanna, the kids, and I will be ready to do our part.”

Dane smiled. “It’ll be soon, I can tell you that.”

Dane started to say something else, but Doke spoke to Brockman: “Chief, do you think you can get me in to see Tag at the prison before he is hanged? I want to tell him about my getting saved and try to lead him to the Lord.”

John smiled broadly. “As chief U.S. marshal, I’m sure I can arrange that for you.”

John then turned to Dane. “You were going to say something a moment ago.”

Dane grinned. “I was about to tell you that Tag is heavy on my heart, and that since I know Tharyn is safe now, I would ride with you and Doke to Rawlins, go to the prison, and ask to see Tag so I could try to lead him to the Lord before he is hanged.”