To Know Her by Name (39 page)

“I don't think she'd be too interested in the stew Lavena made, buddy,” Travis replied kindly.

“Where is Lavena?” Garrett asked, having just missed her nearly constant presence of the last few months.

“She went home to get some rest, but dinner should be ready. Maybe you and Wyatt ought to head down to eat.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I'll walk you down, but then your mother and I need to sleep. We were up most of the night waiting for the baby to come.”

The boys made no argument to this, and after they'd kissed their mother and Kaitlin, they quietly left the room. Leaving the baby with Rebecca, Travis walked down with them. To his great pleasure, they found Pup in the kitchen putting Sunday dinner on the table.

“We had a baby sister,” Garrett wasted no time in telling her.

Pup smiled at him and then stood aside while the boys went to the table.

“Will you be all right with them for a while?” Travis, coming forward, asked.

“Yes,” she assured him. “Take all afternoon if you have need. I can sleep in the hills tonight if necessary.”

“Why don't you just plan to stay over—not to be with the kids the whole time, but so you can have a fresh start in the morning?”

This hadn't occurred to her. “All right,” she said at last.

Travis thanked her and gave each boy a tender kiss, hugging them to his chest. He left them with an admonishment to be “on their best” for Pup. They sat at the table, and both boys returned thanks for the food. However, they had little interest in their plates. As Pup was coming to expect, they began to chatter the moment they had a chance.

“We held her,”Wyatt, who was the first to speak, said, “but I didn't know how.”

“Her middle name is Gwen,” Garrett filled in, forgetting that Pup didn't know the baby's first name. “It's for us. Mama thought it up. Gwen is spelled G-E-N.”

“No, Gary, you forgot my letter,” Wyatt corrected him. “It's G-W-E-N. The G is for Gary, and the W is for me.”

“That's wonderful.” Pup smiled with delight, knowing she would never have thought of such a thing.

“She's all pink and soft, and she didn't stink at all. Sarah said babies do, but ours doesn't. Sarah had a baby at her house awhile ago. Her name is Mary Ann. She had dark hair. What hair did our baby have, Wyatt?” Garrett suddenly couldn't remember.

“Dark, too, I think.” Wyatt's brow furrowed with concentration.

“The baby Jesus had dark hair,” Garrett said proudly. “Papa told us.”

With the mention of Jesus, Pup's mind wandered. She had never considered what Christ might look like, but being of Jewish descent, dark coloring could only be expected.

“You put your knife in your coffee,” one of the boys matter-of-factly informed her, and Pup gave a little start. It was true. She'd put her knife into her mug to stir the coffee, but she hadn't even added milk. She now mentally scolded herself.
You're in charge of these boys. You can't wander away like that.

With that she pulled her mind back to the business at hand, the business of keeping two little boys occupied for the afternoon.

“A baby girl!” Margo Harwell exclaimed. “Did you hear that?” she turned to ask her husband, Lucky, who was Travis' foreman at the Double Star. “Wait until the girls hear.”

“Come on in,” Lucky was saying to Pup and the boys. As soon as they cleaned the kitchen, the boys had begged Pup to take them to see the Harwell girls, whose small home was right on the ranch next to Lavena's. Now that she was in their home and had met them, Pup realized she'd seen this couple at church both Sundays.

“I'll get Sarah and Mary,” Lucky said.

“I told Lucky,” Margo went on when he left, “when we didn't see Travis at church that I was sure Rebecca was having her baby. I could tell when I talked to her yesterday morning that it would be soon.”

“Hi, Sarah; hi, Mary,” Garrett was the first to say as two small, dark-haired girls, one struggling to remain on her feet, came from the other room. “We had a baby girl.”

“You did?” Sarah looked pleased.

“Yeah. You wanna see her?”

With that the boys were off. They explained about the name Gwen and that her real name was Kaitlin. Their words tumbling over each other, the boys further announced that they could call her Katie and that her last name was Buchanan just like theirs. Pup felt her heart melt all over again as she listened to them.

At one point she thought the children might disappear and leave her to find her own conversation with the Harwells, but the boys were not yet willing to be far from home. Sarah asked them to stay and play, but they said they wanted to get back.

Pup knew her own sense of relief and thanked Lucky and Margo for their brief hospitality. The three of them trekked back toward the ranch house, and Pup found that they didn't even need to go inside, only to be closer to home. They checked out the barn and fed some sugar to the horses. Next they sat on the porch, fanning themselves with papers they had folded. Then the boys caught and played with as many crickets as they could find.

Pup had just offered to get them something cold to drink when Travis came out the front door. The boys were thrilled, and Pup could see that he felt he could act like their father again.

“How's it going?” he asked as he took a seat.

“Just fine. We've been to see the barn, we walked the trail for a time, and we even visited the Harwells.”

“Sounds like quite an adventure.”

“Indeed. How is Rebecca?”

“She just woke up and says she feels great. She's feeding the baby right now but would still like you to come up.”

“I'll go then,” she said with a smile. After Travis explained which bedroom to look for, she went inside, washed up a little, and took the stairs on quiet feet.

To her surprise, Rebecca was in a large chair, her feet on a footstool, a cradle right next to her. She was just putting the baby to her shoulder when Pup appeared at the door.

“Come in,” she said softly, smiling at the other woman.

“How are you?” Pup's voice was hushed, too.

“Fine now, but for a little while there I didn't think I was going to make it.”

Pup smiled compassionately and came close. Rebecca shifted her bundle so the other woman could see.

“Oh, my,” Pup whispered softly. Kaitlin was precious. For a moment Pup couldn't take her eyes off the sleeping infant. She had thought that Katherine Taggart was small, but newly born Kaitlin Buchanan was especially petite. Pup took in the fair eyebrows that weren't even half the length of her own small finger. The back of Kaitlin's hand didn't look more than half an inch across.

“Pretty amazing, isn't it?” Rebecca commented.

“Yes, it is. She's so tiny and sweet.”

“The boys were thrilled.”

“Oh, yes. We've already been to see Harwells so they could hear the news, and of course the boys told them all about Gwen. That was pretty ingenious on your part.”

Rebecca smiled with pleasure. She had been proud of that idea. Kaitlin was put into her cradle, and after Pup had taken a seat, the women fell into easy conversation. Pup questioned Rebecca about being out of bed, but Rebecca simply told her that she didn't try it unless someone was in the room with her. After all the hours of delivery, she said, staying in the bed was intolerable.

They had been talking for more than half an hour when Travis and the boys joined them. Again the twins were pleased to see their mother and baby sister, but it wasn't long before they grew restless. Kaitlin was still asleep, and Rebecca was ready to go back to bed, too. Travis assisted her and then took his sons on a walk.

When Pup gained the kitchen, she found Lavena already working on supper preparations. Seeing this, Pup went on a walk of her own. She prayed for this special family, thanking God for the hospitality they had shown. She included Lavena as well, and sincerely told the Lord that it was going to be hard to leave in the morning.

33

Pup left the ranch before eight o'clock Monday morning. She could already tell that the day was going to be hot and was eager to be well into the hills before the sun rose too high. Her talk with Travis on Saturday night, specifically the part about God's job, was still on her mind.

There's so much, Lord, I think I could become overwhelmed. Travis reminded me not to try to do Your job but just to be very good at my own. I'm encouraged by that, Lord, but I don't know if I understand what my job is. He couldn't have been talking about the treasury department because he doesn't know about that. Show me what he meant, Lord. Show me exactly what You want me to know.

And such was her prayer all the way through town. She was so centered on what she was thinking that once again she nearly passed up the general store. She was certain to be back next week—both Travis and Rebecca had made it clear she was welcome—but it never hurt to lay in a store for the week. She came jolting back to earth when she got her mail. Alone with her thoughts and just one small piece of paper, Pup read: “Need you in Denver ASAP NW.”

It was over. Her time off as well as the opportunities to go to church had come to an end. How would she get word to Travis? How would she explain? For a moment she asked herself if getting close to these people had been worth it, but her mind had no more asked when she had her answer: It had been completely worth it. Indeed, at this point she would almost be willing to give up her job in order to stay here to learn and fellowship some more.

In the next instant Pastor Henley came to mind. It wasn't at all hard to visualize the kindness in his eyes. Knowing she had to see him, she walked from the post office wondering just exactly what she would say. However, not knowing did not stop her from stowing her things on Ginny's back and heading to the parsonage.

Just minutes later she was tying the horse's reins to a post on the street and approaching the door. From outside it sounded as though someone was singing. Pup hesitated. A moment later, however, the music stopped, and she knocked before she could change her mind. Her summons brought a warm-smiling Mrs. Henley to the door, and Pup knew in an instant she'd done the right thing.

“Hello, Mrs. Henley.”

“Well, Callie, it's good to see you. Come in.”

Pup entered the neat surroundings of the Henleys' living room and remembered the warm hospitality from a week before.

“Do you know if Rebecca had her baby?”

“Yes. A girl,” Pup was able to report with a smile. “Kaitlin Gwen.”

“The boys must be thrilled,” the older woman said sincerely. “They both told me they wanted a baby sister.”

“They're pretty excited.”

“I'll bet they are. Can you sit for a while?”

“Well, actually I came to see Pastor Henley. Is he available?”

“He sure is. Sit right down, and I'll go get him.”

Pup knew she was welcome, but she didn't sit. Questions assailed her:
What will I say? How will I explain? I can't tell him anything. Right now I don't even know what I'm doing here.

“Callie,” the pastor called kindly as he entered, Beryl right behind him. “This is a pleasant surprise. Can you stay awhile?”

Pup sat in one of the two rocking chairs and then glanced between them. She felt awkward and almost anxious. Desperate to make Pastor Henley understand that she had to leave but didn't want to, Pup felt the familiar frustration of not being able to even tell him why. Seeing the look, Mrs. Henley thought she understood.

“I'll go into the kitchen,” Beryl offered.

“No,” Pup assured her, “it's all right. I just needed to let you know something.” She paused here, wondering how this could be so difficult. “I have to go away for a time,” she began simply.

“All right.” Pastor Henley's voice was gentle. Whenever he looked at her kindly, Pup felt emotions that were new to her. They somehow made her want McKay to be with her, to hold her hand or put his arm around her.