Mary Connealy (32 page)

Judd looked around the campsite. “If they’d have done for McClellen, they’d have come back into the camp hootin’ and hollerin’. You’re right. We break camp.”

Harley was already saddling his horse. Judd noticed he wasn’t particularly interested in what the rest of them did or if Judd agreed with him. Harley had lived longer than most men in his profession, and Judd trusted his instincts.

Harley said, “Let’s head into the Santiagos for a few days then figure what to do next.”

“What if you’re wrong?” one of the men asked. “What if Percy comes back? He won’t be able to find us.”

“The three best trackers we have went with him. They’ll find us.” Judd hoped they wouldn’t, since he was sure they’d have a posse with them when they came back—
if
they came back. He knew what kind of a man Percy was. A low-down, cowardly coyote who’d sell his own mother to save his skin.

“We’ll drop back and come up with a new plan to get that ranch,” Judd said. “We killed Edwards; we can kill his twin brother.”

“We’ve been watching long enough to know McClellen’s nothing like his tenderfoot brother.” Harley spurred his horse and didn’t look to see if anyone in the gang was with him.

Judd fell in behind him. As he pushed his horse into a gallop, he realized he was running. This was the second time McClellen had made them run. The defeat tasted like ashes in his mouth.

T
he ranch settled into a routine with the capture of the four outlaws. Every cowhand did his work as usual, but all kept their guns close at hand and stayed on razor’s edge. As a week slowly passed, Sophie began to hope the rest of the gang had hightailed it.

Parson Roscoe picked this Sunday to yell at them again. Sophie thought the man was on to something, changing the tone of his sermons from week to week. She certainly listened to every word he said. But why wouldn’t she? He’d obviously heard how Sophie had lied by omission to her husband, and he’d written the sermon just to scold her.

She thought it was rather rude of him to pick on her, especially since she’d been trying to be more loving and a more obedient wife. But she had only decided about being a better wife after the run-in with the outlaws, so maybe the parson already had his sermon written, based on the way she used to act. Besides, it was a full month into her marriage, which was kind of late to begin behaving herself, so she figured she deserved it.

She probably also deserved to have Sally and Mandy clinging to her, one on each side, and Laura sleeping dead away on her lap. The seemingly boneless little girl seemed to gain weight with each passing moment.

“How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit?”

Sophie didn’t like to think Satan had filled her heart. She would have sunk further into her seat if she could have—she was practically slouched out of sight as it was.

“You didn’t really tell a lie,”
a quiet voice whispered. Sophie suspected it was the voice of Satan himself, tempting her to justify her disobedience to her husband. Mentally, she told him to get away from her.

I’ve already decided to change
, she thought.
You aren’t going to convince me to keep sneaking around
.

Sophie snapped her attention back to the parson when he thundered, “Later Ananias’s wife came in to the assembly and repeated the lie she and her husband had agreed on.”

That’s when Sophie realized the parson was reading a Bible verse, and it wasn’t her heart that Satan had filled but the heart of Ananias.
Whew!

“Peter said to Sapphira, ‘How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’” Parson Roscoe’s voice kept gaining strength.

Sally and Mandy squirmed closer. Sophie, ever the mother, glanced down the row at Beth and saw that she was now sitting on Clay’s lap with her face buried in his chest. Sophie wondered if the McClellen clan shouldn’t start sitting nearer the back.

“‘At that moment Sapphira fell down at Peter’s feet and died.’” The walls of the church nearly vibrated as the parson roared out the last word. Parson Roscoe stopped to take a deep breath and mop the sweat off his brow.

Sophie wondered if Sapphira wasn’t Hebrew for Sophie. It was close enough to sting.
I’m done with lies, Lord
, Sophie prayed in her heart.
I am. I’m going to love everyone and be honest right down to the ground. You gave me a miracle, and I won’t give back anything but my very best. Now could You please make the parson quit yelling at me?

God had given her a miracle all right. But He didn’t give her another one now. About halfway through the sermon—which stretched on so long Sophie began to wonder if there weren’t more liars in the building than just her, since God should have told the parson that she got his point right off—Sally relaxed her death grip on Sophie’s arm. Sophie looked down to see her little girl fast asleep. Sophie looked sideways at Clay, who caught the glance and smiled. He reached across Sally and lifted the, by now, two-hundred-pound Laura out of Sophie’s arms and settled her beside the clinging Beth. Then, with a deft move that should have required a third hand, he shifted Sally’s slumbering form so it rested on his arm, instead of Sophie.

Sophie whispered, “Your arm.”

Clay mouthed back, “I’m okay.”

Sophie wanted to protest, but having the weight lifted off of her was too heavenly. She sighed aloud in relief and Clay smiled at her.

The parson began to wind down shortly after that. “Ananias and Sapphira died because God looked into their hearts and knew that there was no repentance and no love. There was time for both of them to change their minds and tell the truth. There is time for all of us, right now, to accept the love of God, repent of our sins, commit our lives to Jesus Christ, and accept His salvation.”

The parson lifted his Bible, draped open over one hand. “It’s the eternal theme. It’s love. There are no lies when there is love. Can any of you imagine a more complete waste of time than lying to God?”

Several people in the congregation shook their heads, and Sophie found her head moving along.

“He already knows.” The parson lowered the Bible and leaned forward. “He knows the truth in everyone’s heart. Save your energy for something that has a chance of success.”

Sophie reached her hand over the top of Sally’s nodding head and rested it on Clay’s strong, wounded arm. She didn’t say anything, since they were in the front row after all. But she smiled at him and made a promise to herself that she’d tell Clay all about her booby traps and hidden weapons this very day. Why, she’d tell him on the trip home without another moment’s delay. No more lies. None ever. Sophie felt a lightness come over her heart, and she knew it was the right thing to do.

With a quick prayer for forgiveness and a promise to God that she was going to start a new life this second, much as she’d promised last week, Sophie turned back to the parson and sang along to “Amazing Grace.”

Just as the song ended, a loud
crash
sounded from the back of the church. It woke Sally and had both Beth and Mandy turning around in their seats.

“Is everyone all right back there?” the parson asked with a worried frown.

When he talked like that, Sophie couldn’t resist looking behind her, even though it was bad manners to turn around in church. She thought the noise came from the farthest back pew, which was teeming with toe-headed little boys—the Reeves family.

“Did something get broken?” Parson Roscoe peered toward the noise.

One of the five-year-old triplets poked his head out from where he was crouched behind the pew. He said, in a tone that screamed of a guilty conscience, “No, sir.”

As the raggedly dressed, dirty-faced, little boy stood up, no one could fail to see the wooden rack in his hand that was only moments ago nailed on to the end of his pew to hold the hymnal.

“Mark, you little liar.” One of his older brothers elbowed the little boy.

Everyone in the church started to chuckle.

The parson walked down the center aisle and extended his hand to the little boy. “Don’t worry about the book rack. It can be fixed.”

Daniel Reeves stood up and took the piece of lumber out of his son’s hand before the parson could reach it. “I’ll repair it, Parson. A Reeves fixes what he breaks.”

“I’ll bet that keeps him busy,” Clay murmured.

Sophie tried not to start laughing again. She was a bit surprised to see Adam standing against the back wall of the church. He hadn’t ridden in with them. Luther and Buff were on either side of him, all of them standing, although there were a few seats left. She saw Eustace and Whitey standing off to the side a little, and several others of the McClellen hands were about the room. It struck her that they were doing more than attending church—they were standing guard. It sent a chill down her spine to realize that, even in this holy place, they all needed to be on guard.

As she turned back to the front of the church to await the closing prayer, her eyes swept the cheerful congregation. She was relieved to see that the people seemed to be unconcerned about a child doing a bit of damage. Then she noticed Miss Calhoun.

Miss Calhoun sat rigidly facing forward. Sophie had the impression she’d never turned around. This was a woman who minded her manners. A look of such profound disapproval was etched on her face that Sophie wondered if it might be frozen in place.

Sophie shook her head as she considered what kind of teacher Miss Calhoun must be if she couldn’t accept high spirits and a few mishaps from active little boys. Or maybe there was something more going on. Maybe the Reeveses had begun coming to school this week and proved to be too much for her to handle.

Well, Sophie imagined she’d find out today. Miss Calhoun was coming to eat with them after church. Even after the craziness of this week and the outlaws, Sophie hadn’t forgotten that, and she had a wild turkey she’d snared early yesterday roasting, waiting for their return.

Sophie sighed when she thought of the meal ahead. She had to tell Clay to build them a bigger table and a few more chairs. As soon as she thought it, she cheered up. She would never have considered asking Cliff to take on such a project. And Sophie also knew it was significant that her first thought hadn’t been to ask Adam to build it.

Yes, she was going to let her husband handle nearly everything that could even begin to be considered man’s work from now on. And she was going to obey him, be honest with him, and most of all love him with all her heart.

“You are the sneakin’est, most disobedient wife in the whole state of Texas!” Clay snatched his hat off his head and whacked his leg with it. Sophie suspected what he really wanted to whack was her backside.

The horses pulling the wagon jumped a bit at the sudden motion behind them and picked up their speed.

Sophie looked over her shoulder at Miss Calhoun, who was riding her own horse. She was trailing along behind them far enough to avoid the dust, so she didn’t hear Clay growling.

“Now, Clay, I know you’re angry. But remember that I’ve already promised not to do anything like this again.”

“Rocks! You were hauling rocks!” Clay clobbered his leg a few more times.

“I told her not to, Pa,” Sally piped up from the wagon box.

Sophie glared over her shoulder at the little tattletale, and Sally subsided into a sitting position on the floor of the wagon.

Sophie just barely heard her daughter mutter, “Well, I did.”

“I deserve any yelling you want to give me.” She stared straight forward, fully intending to accept any criticism Clay handed her way.

Clay wedged his hat roughly back on his head. “I fully intend to. When I think what could have happened to you on that hillside hauling rocks, I want to—”

“Just know before you start with your lecture,” Sophie interrupted him, “that I’m used to doing for myself. I’ve been on my own completely for two years, and what with the war and all, I spent most of my married life fending for myself.”

“I realize that.” Clay clucked to the horses to keep up their speed. “But things are going to—”

“So it’s been a hard-learned lesson not to just do whatever needs doing.” Sophie gave her chin a firm nod.

Laura, still asleep, began to whimper on Sophie’s knee.

“I’ll take her, Ma, so Pa can finish up telling you how stupid you are, without being interrupted.” Mandy poked her head between Sophie and Clay, scooped Laura up in her arms, and went back to sitting.

Sophie straightened her skirt. “Yes, go ahead, Clay.”

“Now, Mandy, I’m not going to tell your ma she’s stupid. She don’t like that, and I’d never do something she said she don’t like.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sophie figured she deserved whatever Clay dished out. “You can call me stupid if you want to. As of today I’m going to learn a new way. If I want something done, I’m going to tell you.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid, Sophie.” Clay seemed to be sidetracked from his lecture, and Sophie really wished he’d get on with it.

“Sure you do,” Sophie reminded him. “You called me stupid for going out at night when there might be cougars to eat me, and you called me stupid—”