One More Sunrise (14 page)

The valley in front of them widened toward the foothills, and farther beyond was lost in a vast sweep of pines and aspens beneath the fading light of the western sky that lifted the dark peaks of the rugged Rockies into bold relief.

As John guided Ebony off the road to the right and led Wally down the tree-lined lane of the Brockman place, he pointed toward the beautiful white two-story house that stood in a grove of cottonwood and weeping willow trees. “Well, there’s your hotel for the night, my friend.”

Wally smiled. “Looks good to me!” He let his eyes roam over the place in the fading light. A small barn and other outbuildings could be seen behind the house, all painted white. A split-rail fence formed a corral around the barn. The house had a wraparound porch and black shutters adorning all its windows. “Beautiful place, Chief.”

“Thank you,” said John as they rode past the house, where the guests’ horse and carriage stood near the front porch.

As they drew near the barn and corral, another big black gelding trotted up to the corral gate, whinnying.

Ebony whinnied back.

Pulling rein, Wally looked at him behind the corral gate. “Wow! What a magnificent animal! You must like black horses.”

“I like all colors of horses, Wally,” said John as they drew their mounts to a halt. “But this is Breanna’s horse. His name is Chance. I saved your life once in Kansas—”

Wally regarded him quizzically.

“Well, Chance saved my life once in Montana when he was a wild stallion. I brought him home and gave him to Breanna. He will always be something special to me.”

Wallly chuckled. “And, Chief Brockman, you will always be something special to me.” John’s face flushed as they dismounted. They removed the saddles and bridles from their horses, put them in the corral with Chance, and headed toward the house.

It was a warm September evening. The doors and windows of the house were open. The warm glow of lantern light spilled out across the wide porch and on to Breanna’s flower beds.

Wally drew in a long breath through his nostrils. “Something sure smells good, Chief.”

John had already noted the sweet scent in the air. “Yes, that’s my wife’s famous fried chicken and biscuits. I keep telling her she should open her own restaurant, but she insists she is already busy enough.”

Wally laughed, and just as they were drawing up to the back porch, Breanna appeared in the open doorway. “Welcome, Wally,” she said as the two men mounted the steps.

“Thank you, ma’am. It sure does smell good!”

Breanna smiled at him, then took hold of her husband’s hand. “I’ve been keeping supper hot on the stove.”

“I’m sorry for being late, sweetheart. Deputy Dan Lynch came in with an outlaw he’d been trailing, and—”

“You don’t have to explain, darling. I know how it is at the chief U.S. marshal’s office.”

When they stepped into the kitchen, Ginny was there. She smiled at Wally and curtsied. “Hello, Mr. Talbot,” she said, then rushed into her father’s arms.

As John lifted her up, he kissed her cheek. “I love you, sweet baby.”

She then kissed his cheek with a big smack. “I love you too, sweet Papa.”

Breanna said to John, “Take Wally into the parlor, honey, and introduce him to the Tabors. Ginny and I will have supper on the table in a few minutes. Kitty and Tharyn insisted on helping us, but I won out.”

John chuckled. “Don’t you always?”

Breanna punched him playfully in the midsection. “We won’t talk about my argumentative prowess right now.”

John chuckled again. “Come on, Wally. Let’s go into the parlor.”

When the two men entered the parlor, Paul dashed to his father, and after they had hugged, John introduced Wally to David and Kitty Tabor, who were in their midfifties. He then introduced him to beautiful twenty-two-year-old Tharyn, who had long auburn hair and expressive blue eyes.

As everyone sat down, John said, “Wally, David is president of Denver’s First National Bank. I believe we told you that these people go to the same church we do.”

“Yes,” Wally said. “It’s quite obvious that the Brockmans think an awful lot of you folks.”

“That works both ways, Mr. Talbot,” said Kitty.

David set kind eyes on Wally. “Breanna has filled us in on you, Mr. Talbot. You must—”

“You can call me Wally, Mr. Tabor.”

The banker laughed. “Then you can call me David.”

A broad smile spread over the farmer’s face. “Okay, David. You were saying …”

“I was going to say that you must have deep feelings toward this man who saved you from being gunned down by a professional gunfighter, then led you to Christ.”

Wally nodded, glanced at John, then looked back to David. “The English language doesn’t have the words to say how I feel about Chief John Stranger Brockman, sir.”

At that moment, Breanna appeared with Ginny at her side.
“Okay, folks, supper’s on the table.”

As they were all walking toward the dining room, David sniffed the delightful aromas that were filling the house. “Mmmmm! I can hardly wait, Breanna. If it tastes half as good as it smells all of us are in for a real treat.”

Kitty patted his arm. “You know Breanna always fixes your favorite food, dear. That’s because anything to eat is always your favorite food!”

As they passed through the dining room door, David patted his slight paunch. “Well, it’s true, Kitty darlin’. Eating is one of my favorite activities!”

Everyone laughed.

Candlelight in the chandelier above the table gleamed onto a lovely yellow damask tablecloth. Yellow napkins were folded and lying on each blue and white plate. Breanna had made a captivating centerpiece of white and yellow daisies, and their fragrance filled the air.

David rubbed his stomach. “Boy, am I hungry!”

Breanna laughed. “Well, there’s plenty, David. I want you to fill up.”

Kitty said, “You needn’t tell him that, Breanna. He always does fill up when we eat at your house!”

Breanna directed her guests where to sit at the table.

When everyone was seated, John set his gray eyes on his friend from Kansas. “Wally, would you ask the blessing on the food, please?”

Wally smiled. “I would be honored to do so, Chief.”

Heads were bowed, and eyes were closed.

Wally thanked the Lord for the food, asking Him to bless it to the nourishment of their bodies, then said, “And, Lord, thank You for sending the Stranger to me that day in Wichita twelve years ago, when—” He choked up, cleared his throat, and wiped at the tears that were filling the corners of his closed eyes.

No one opened their eyes as Wally wept for a few seconds, then finally got his amen out.

Wally set his gaze on John. “I’ll never be able to thank you properly for saving my life, and for leading me to the Lord.”

John smiled. “Wally, you have already thanked me sufficiently. Let’s eat!”

During the meal, the conversation led to Tharyn, and the fact that the Tabors had chosen her off an orphan train nine years ago, took her home, and adopted her immediately.

This caught Wally’s interest. He looked across the table at Tharyn. “I’ve heard a lot about the orphan trains, Miss Tharyn. I’ve read some stories in the
Wichita Herald
about some of the orphans that have been chosen there over the years. Would you mind telling me your story?”

Tharyn smiled. “All right, sir. I was born and raised in New York City—Manhattan, to be specific.”

“Mm-hmm.”

When I was thirteen years old, my parents were killed when a team of frightened horses hitched to a wagon full of building materials ran them down in front of our tenement.”

Wally’s brow furrowed. “Oh my. I’m so sorry, dear.”

Tharyn smiled thinly and nodded. “You see, Mr. Talbot, like you I know what it is to have someone save my life. I would have been trampled to death like my parents were if a fifteen-year-old boy named Dane Weston, whom I had just met that morning, hadn’t dashed up and removed me from the path of the charging horses just before they hit my parents.”

Wally moved his head back and forth slowly. “This Dane Weston must have become a real hero in your eyes.”

“He really did. Especially because he risked his own life to save mine. Dane could have been trampled to death too, had his timing been off just slightly.”

“Some young man, I’ll say.”

“Yes, sir. You see, Dane was an orphan who lived on the streets in downtown Manhattan. He just happened to be in our neighborhood at the time. Since I had become an orphan, Dane took me under his wing, so to speak, and made a place for me with his colony of orphans in an alley. And—and it was Dane who witnessed to me about salvation and was responsible for me becoming a Christian.”

“I’ll say it again. Some young man! Did Dane come west on the orphan train too?”

Tharyn felt a pain lance her heart. A lump formed in her throat. She managed to swallow it, and said, “No, sir. He … ah … he stayed in New York.”

To change the subject, David said, “Breanna told us about your family, Wally. How about some details?”

Wally was happy to tell the Tabors about his family, and did so through the rest of the meal.

When everyone had finished eating, John, David, Wally, and Paul went to the parlor while Breanna, Kitty, Tharyn, and Ginny cleaned up the dining room table and went to the kitchen to wash and dry the dishes.

For the next half hour, amid much giggling and laughter, the ladies had an enjoyable time talking as they worked together. When they were finished, Breanna looked around to make sure the kitchen was spick and span, then excused herself. “I’ll be right back. Kitty, would you mind getting some dessert plates and cups and saucers down from the cupboard? You know where they are.”

Kitty smiled. “Sure.”

In a few minutes, Breanna was back, carrying a three-tiered white cake that was smothered with fresh strawberries and mounded with whipped cream. “I had this stashed in the ice house to keep it cool.”

Kitty looked at the cake, then at Breanna. “Honey, that looks scrumptious. Just wait till David sees this. You’re really spoiling him!”

Breanna giggled. “I love to spoil people. It gives me so much joy.”

“Well, then, go right ahead,” said Kitty as she and the others watched Breanna cut a large piece of cake.

A big smile graced her features as Breanna said, “This piece is for David.”

Later while everyone was enjoying the delicious dessert, John explained to the Tabors about Wally coming from Wichita to visit his old friend Bill Altman and his wife in Central City, and how he had the joy of leading Bill and Darlene Altman to the Lord.

The Tabors expressed their joy in the salvation of Wally’s friends, then John said solemnly, “This is a special blessing because Bill Altman has consumption. Dr. Robert Fraser in Central City is estimating that Bill will die within a few weeks.”

“Oh my,” said Kitty.

“There’s no hope that he could have a turn for the better, Wally?” asked Tharyn.

“No, Miss Tharyn. I asked Dr. Fraser the same question, but he assured me that Bill won’t be here long. The consumption is just too far advanced.”

Breanna set her soft gaze on Wally. “But, praise the Lord, isn’t it wonderful to know that you will be with your friend Bill forever in heaven?”

Wally brushed a tear from the corner of his eye. “It sure is, Mrs. Brockman. It sure is.”

The conversation turned to other things, then gradually began to wane. Finding a silence in the group, Tharyn said, “I had an interesting day today. I got to assist Dr. Lyle Goodwin on an abdominal tumor surgery. This was my first time ever to assist in this kind of a surgery, and I learned a lot.”

“That’s good, honey,” said Breanna. “And it’s always good to work with Dr. Goodwin, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes. You must have thoroughly enjoyed all those years you worked for him at his clinic.”

“I sure did. He’s such a precious man, and a fine Christian too.”

“Yes. I sure wish he wasn’t about to retire.”

Breanna nodded. “He doesn’t want to, but his age is making it more and more difficult to keep up with the workload.”

Wally’s eyebrows arched. “I didn’t realize you were a nurse, Miss Tharyn.”

“That she is,” spoke up Breanna, “and an excellent one too. In fact, she’s one of the best in the business. In just over two years, Tharyn has now become the top surgical nurse at Mile High Hospital. She is in demand more than any other surgical nurse on the staff.”

Tharyn blushed.

Breanna went on. “You see, Wally, when Tharyn and I first got acquainted, she was thirteen years old. She told me she wanted to be a nurse one day, so I spent time with her, teaching her about the medical profession. I saw immediately that she had a genuine aptitude toward nursing. She finished her schooling and entered the Denver School of Nursing at the age of seventeen. When she graduated three years later, with her certified medical nurse’s degree, she was at the top of her class. My brother-in-law, Dr. Matt Carroll, is superintendent of Mile High Hospital. He hired her the day after she graduated.”

Wally nodded. “So the head man at the hospital is your brother-in-law.”

“Mm-hmm. He is married to my sister, Dottie.”

“Mr. Talbot,” said Tharyn, “Breanna was a marvelous help to me when we worked together, which was often. She taught me so much.”

Wally looked at Breanna. “So you worked for the hospital too?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re not working now?”

“I worked full-time at the hospital until five months before Paul was born. And now having Ginny too, I want to spend as much time with my children as possible. Periodically, however, whenever my brother-in-law needs help at the hospital, I do that. This gives Tharyn and me time to work together some, which we enjoy very much.”

A smile spread across Tharyn’s lovely face. “That’s for sure!”

Wally placed the tips of his fingers to his temple. “I just thought of something. In my conversation with Dr. Fraser in Central City, he said something in passing about bringing patients here to Mile High Hospital when he has to do serious surgery on them.”

“He sure does,” said Breanna. “We all know him well. He is a fine, dedicated Christian, as is his dear wife.”