Whispers in the Wind (25 page)

“Dane, remember when you showed me Romans 8:28 and said the Lord had a purpose for you being falsely accused of the murder of Benny Jackson so you could be locked up in this prison?”

“Yes, and I know what you’re going to say. Tharyn—my little adopted sister—suggested the same thing when she was here Wednesday. God’s purpose for me being locked up in this prison and placed into this cell with you was to bring you to the Lord.”

“That is exactly right. If you hadn’t become my cell mate, I would have died lost and gone to hell. I’m sure, Dane, that the Lord will clear you of the crime so you can go on to pursue your career as a doctor.”

Encouraged by this, Dane said, “I know it will happen when it’s God’s time for me to be released. Do you think you’ll be able to sleep tonight?”

“I believe so. The Lord has given me such peace inside.”

“Good. We’d better turn in, then.”

The next morning at dawn, both Jubal and Dane were awake. As they were dressing, Dane said, “Jubal, there is one other Scripture verse I want to show you before—before the guards come to take you.”

“All right.”

Dane picked up his Bible and opened it to the Psalm 23. “Pastor Wheeler preached on this not long ago, and I’d like to share it with you.”

“Sure.”

At that moment, they heard the big steel door come open down the corridor. Both looked to see two guards coming toward the cell.

Jubal’s heart quickened pace.

Both of them knew the names of the guards. As they drew up, Dane said to guard Hank Overton, “Mr. Overton, could I have just a couple of minutes to show Jubal something in the Bible before you take him?”

“Okay, but only a couple of minutes. The hangman is ready, and he’s an impatient sort.”

Dane nodded, then held the Bible in front of Jubal. “Look here at verse 4 in Psalm 23. David, a saved man, says to the Lord, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ Will you take note, Jubal, that David does not call it the valley of death? He calls it the valley of the
shadow
of death. Pastor Wheeler pointed out in his sermon that for the lost person, it is indeed the valley of death. Total darkness. No light. But he showed us in Scripture that Jesus is the Light. And when a saved person dies, the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is with him. So there is light. That’s what it takes to make a shadow, isn’t it? Light?”

Jubal nodded. “Yes. There can’t be a shadow unless there is light.”

“David said he would not fear because the Shepherd would be with him. David’s Shepherd is also
your
Shepherd, Jubal. And he said he would be comforted when he died. You will too, my dear brother in Christ.”

Tears filmed Jubal’s eyes. “Yes. I know I will.”

“Pastor Wheeler also pointed out something else here.”

“Dane,” said the other guard, “you said a couple of minutes. You’re already past that.”

“Just one more minute, please.”

“All right. Hurry.”

Dane pointed to verse 6 in the same psalm. “Look here, Jubal. David tells us where saved people go when they die. ‘I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.’ That’s heaven, Jubal.
Heaven! That’s where you will be in—well, just a little while.”

Jubal nodded and wiped tears from his cheeks. “And because you cared about me and showed me how to be saved, I’ll meet you there someday.”

“You sure will.”

Jubal hugged Dane, then turned to the guards. “Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

The man who was headed for the gallows walked away with the guards. When they reached the steel door, and the guards were opening it, Jubal looked back to see Dane with his face pressed to the barred door, looking at him. He waved and Dane waved back.

Dane was tense as he stood at the cell door for several minutes after Jubal had vanished from sight, then finally turned and sat down on his bunk.

He tried to imagine what was happening at the gallows that stood at the rear of the building.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Lord, please continue to give Jubal peace as he faces the noose.”

D
ane Weston was still sitting on his bunk almost an hour later when he heard the door open and saw the normal group of guards enter, who would be escorting the prisoners on that floor to the mess hall for breakfast.

He rose from the bunk with a heavy heart over Jubal Packer’s execution and moved slowly to the cell door. It was guard Hank Overton who moved up to his cell and unlocked the door.

“Breakfast time, Dane. Hungry?”

“Not exactly.”

“The execution?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let me tell you about Jubal. I’ve walked a lot of condemned men from their cells to the gallows. He showed absolutely no fear when he was being led up the gallows steps. Oh, I’ve seen some of them try to act tough when they were about to be hanged, but I could tell it was a facade. Even the toughest of them usually break down about the time the noose is being cinched tight on their necks.”

“I can imagine.”

“But not so with Jubal. He wasn’t putting on a mask of toughness at all. There was just obvious serenity and peace of mind. I mean, even when the noose was looped over his head and tightened on his neck.”

Dane sighed. “Oh, I’m so glad.”

“It was like you had shown him from that verse in Psalm 23. God would comfort him at his time of death. Well, He did, Dane. It was quite evident that Jubal had comfort when he was facing death like no man I’ve ever seen.”

Overton stepped into the corridor and Dane followed. As they headed for the big steel door with other guards and prisoners ahead of them, Dane said, “Thank you for telling me about Jubal. I’m so glad he finally believed what I showed him in the Bible about salvation and forgiveness of his sins and turned to Jesus before it was too late.”

“Ah, Dane?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I … ah … I’d like to know about being saved too.”

“Well, I’d love to show it to you.”

“All right. I’ll find time to come to your cell as soon as I can.”

Dane smiled at him. “My time is your time, Mr. Overton.”

Shortly after Dane had returned to his cell from breakfast, he was taken to the visiting room where Pastor Alan Wheeler was waiting to see him. Wheeler was glad to learn that Jubal Packer had indeed received Christ as his Saviour, and to hear what guard Hank Overton had told Dane about the peace Jubal had at his execution. He would tell the story to the church from the pulpit tomorrow morning.

Dane passed on Jubal’s apology for having refused to see Pastor Wheeler when he had come to talk to him about salvation.

Later in the morning, Dane was called back to the visiting room, and was glad to see Dr. Lee Harris. The doctor was also happy to hear of Jubal’s salvation and of the peace he had demonstrated when facing death at the gallows.

As with the pastor, Dane passed on Jubal’s apology for his refusal
to see the doctor when he had offered to talk to Jubal about salvation.

At midafternoon, a guard came to Dane’s cell and told him he had another visitor. When he sat down at the barred window, he smiled at Russell Mims. “Sure is good to see you. I appreciate so much your walking Tharyn over here so she can see me. She said you’d be coming by yourself today.”

Russell grinned. “Well, that’s the way it was supposed to be, but guess who’s down in the waiting room?”

Dane shook his head in amazement. “So she came, too?”

“Yes. She insisted I come up first, since it’s been a while that you and I have seen each other.”

“Some kind of girl, isn’t she?”

Russell nodded. “I was so glad to hear from her when she visited you yesterday that Jubal had opened his heart to Jesus. How did it go this morning when the guards came to take him to the gallows?”

Dane told him of the peace that Jubal showed at the cell, then shared the story told him by Hank Overton about Jubal’s peace demonstrated when the noose was cinched around his neck.

Russell smiled. “Everybody in the colony will be glad to hear about this.”

Dane told Russell about Romans 8:28 fitting with his being arrested and put in prison for the crime he did not commit, and how Jubal brought up that if he had not been his cell mate, he would have died lost.

“God really knows what He is doing, doesn’t He, Dane?”

“That’s for sure. I’m thinking that since Jubal got saved, the Lord may be going to clear me of the crime soon.”

“Oh, I hope it will be
very
soon. That would make everybody in the colony happy.”

Dane’s brow furrowed. “Speaking of the colony, Russell, I’m really concerned about your lack of food. You look a little thin yourself.”

“Well, I admit we miss the money you were putting in the
kitty for our food. Tharyn said she told you the begging hasn’t gone too good of late.”

“Yes, and she told me about the café’s garbage cans even being short of discarded food.”

Russell nodded.

“I’ve been praying about that, Russell. The Lord has promised to take care of His own children, and I know He won’t let you starve. But it seems He wants all of us to pray harder about it.”

“And we are, Dane. We will also be praying hard about the Lord getting you out of here and back with us.”

With that, Russell left the visiting room, and moments later, a guard brought Tharyn in. She was thrilled to hear how it had gone with Jubal, and she would pray that the Lord would soon deliver Dane from prison so he could be back with the colony.

The next morning, Dane was sitting on his bunk, thinking about the services that were going on at his church and wishing he could be there.

His attention was drawn to Hank Overton, who stepped up to the cell door. “Dane, I’ve got a little free time. Would you show me how to be saved?”

Thrilled to do so, Dane moved up to the cell door, Bible in hand.

Twenty minutes later, a happy Hank Overton walked away from the cell, a child of God. Dane wiped joyful tears from his face and sat down on the bunk. “Thank You, Lord. Mr. Overton was also in Your Romans 8:28 plan for my being put in this prison.”

Time passed, and on Monday October 9, Dane was visited at separate times by Pastor Alan Wheeler and Tharyn Myers. Both had done their best to encourage him, saying they believed that
with Hank Overton also being saved, it would be soon that the Lord would see that he was cleared of the murder charge and released.

On Tuesday afternoon, a guard escorted Dane to the visiting room. A smile lit up his face when he saw that his visitor was Dr. Lee Harris. As he drew up to the barred window, he was about to sit down when he noticed that Dr. Harris had his black medical bag with him.

“How come you brought your medical bag in here with you?”

The doctor let a grin curve his lips. “Well, my boy, I brought it because I want to give it to you.”

Dane frowned. “I’d love to have it, sir, but don’t you need it?”

“Not anymore. As of yesterday afternoon, I’m retired. I’m now a man of leisure!”

A sadness registered in Dane’s brown eyes. “Y-you sold your practice?”

“Yes. To a fine young Christian physician. His name is Dr. Stanley Norris. He has agreed to look after the street children as I have—especially those in your colony.”

“Oh, that’s good. So you’ll be moving to Virginia now?”

“That’s right. I’ve already purchased a good-sized wagon, and at this moment, I’m having a canvas cover put on it. As I told you, this would be the only way we can transport Lawanda down to Roanoke.”

Dane nodded. “Well, sir, I’m really happy for you. But I have to say I’m selfishly sorry for me, my colony, and all the people you have so faithfully cared for.” His eyes widened and he put a hand to his mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, Dr. Harris. Please forgive me. It was unkind of me to say that. You and Mrs. Harris certainly deserve to live out the rest of your lives close to your family in Virginia. And you deserve to have time to enjoy the things that you have put aside for so many years to dedicate your life to healing and helping others. But—but I will most certainly miss you.”

Dr. Harris looked at him kindly. “I’ll miss you too, Dane. And believe me, I’ll miss practicing medicine, and I’ll miss all my friends. But, Dane, I’m so very tired, as is Mrs. Harris. We need to spend our remaining years at a slower, less demanding pace.”

“Of course, sir. I understand.”

Harris lifted the medical bag. “I want you to have this as a keepsake to remember me by.”

Dane smiled. “Dr. Harris, you have no idea how much I appreciate your giving the bag to me. Just having it to touch and hold will give me hope that someday I can use it as you did to heal and help people. Thank you, sir. Thank you with all of my heart. I will always treasure it.” Tears clogged his throat. He swallowed hard. “And—and I will always treasure your friendship.”

“That goes both ways, son. You have been such a blessing to both Mrs. Harris and me.” He paused, looked at the bag, and said, “It’s empty, so the guards will bring it to you.”

“All right.”

The doctor turned to the guard who had brought him in. “Will you see that this is given to Dane?”

The guard moved up, took the bag in hand, and opened it to make sure it was empty. “Yes, Doctor. I’ll see that he gets it.”

Dr. Harris thanked him, then turned back to the window. “Dane, I would be honored if you will use it when you become a doctor.”

Dane started to speak, but before he could say a word, Harris said, “I am absolutely confident that the Lord will see to it that you are cleared of the murder of Benny Jackson. You are going to get out of prison, and the Lord is going to make sure that you get your education and become the physician and surgeon you’ve dreamed about.”

“You are indeed a great encouragement, Dr. Harris. I promise you that when I become a doctor, I will use the bag. And sir, I want to thank you again for leading me to the Lord. I will never forget you.”

“That also goes two ways, son,” said the doctor, reaching into his shirt pocket. He took out a slip of paper and slid it through the small space beneath the barred window. “This is my son and daughter-in-law’s address in Roanoke. I want you to write me when you get out, and let me know what happens next in your life. You can address your letter to me in care of my son.”