Under the Distant Sky (2 page)

“Yes…I’m really sorry. I wasn’t aware that she was there until I saw you whisk her out of my path. I—”

“Patty Ruth!” A breathless Hannah Cooper dashed across the boardwalk and reached for her little girl. “Is she all right, Ray? What happened?”

“She’s fine, Hannah. She ran out of the store, shouting something about the wagons, and jumped into the street right in the path of this gentleman, who was moving at a good clip beside the wagons.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the rider said, touching the brim of his hat. “I was trying to catch up with a wagon at the front of the line. I shouldn’t have been riding so fast. I just didn’t see her.”

Hannah looked at Patty Ruth and then at the man. “She shouldn’t have been in the street, sir. I’ve told her not to step off the boardwalk unless she’s with an adult or her older brother or sister.”

“Well, the main thing, ma’am, is that she’s not hurt, thanks to this quick-thinking gentleman.”

Wilson stepped close to the man’s horse and extended his hand. “Name’s Ray Wilson, friend. I own the saddle shop here.”

“Bob Ross, sir,” the rider said, as they shook hands. He turned his gaze back to Hannah and said, “I heard you call her Patty Ruth, ma’am.” He reached his hand into his pocket. “Is it all right if I give Patty Ruth some money to buy some candy?”

“That’s very nice of you, Mr. Ross,” Hannah said with a smile, “but since her parents own the store, she can have all the candy we allow her.”

Bob Ross looked up at the sign beneath the false front on the store. “So you would be Mrs. Cooper? Well, I’m glad to meet you, ma’am. Would there be anything else I could do for Patty Ruth to make up for her scare?”

“It wasn’t your fault, Mr. Ross. Anyway, she’ll be fine now.”

“All right, then, ma’am. I’ll be on my way. ’Bye, Patty Ruth.”

“’Bye,” Patty Ruth said in a weak voice.

When Ross was gone, Hannah Cooper turned to Ray Wilson and said, “There are no words to express my gratitude, Ray.” Then she looked toward the sky and spoke in a low tone, “And thank you, Lord, for having Ray here at the right time to rescue my baby girl.”

“Mama,” Patty Ruth said, watching the wagons go by, “are we gonna buy a covered wagon and go west like you and Papa talked about?”

Hannah avoided Ray’s inquisitive gaze as she said, “Well, honey, I’m not sure. Papa and I have talked about it some, but that’s as far as it’s gone. There are a lot of things to think about when a family leaves their home and moves west.”

As Hannah eased her daughter to the ground, she noticed that Patty Ruth wasn’t holding the bear. “Honey, where’s Ulysses?”

Patty Ruth glanced around in a panic. “Where’s Ulysses? Oh, Ulysses?” she wailed.

Ray Wilson’s eyes flicked to the spot where he had rescued the little redheaded girl. He stepped off the boardwalk, picked up the bear, and dusted it off as more wagons and riders passed by. “Here you go, sweetheart. I hope Ulysses isn’t hurt.”

Patty Ruth took the bear, checked his black shoe-button eyes, turned him over twice, and said, “He’s not hurt, Mr. Wilson. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He patted her head as he said, “That little bear seems to be pretty special to you. I don’t think I ever see you without him.”

“I take him everywhere ’cept to church. Mama makes him stay home when we go to church.”

“Is that because he can’t sing the hymns?”

“He can sing ’em! Mama just can’t hear him, so she makes him stay home.”

“Ulysses is Patty Ruth’s best friend and most prized possession, Ray,” Hannah said. “Her Grandma Cooper made him.

She’s no longer with us.”

“Oh, I see. That does make him special then, doesn’t it?”

Hannah looked down at her daughter, who was holding the bear close. “Patty Ruth…”

“Yes, Mama?”

“What do you say to Mr. Wilson for saving you from being trampled?”

The little redhead smiled and said, “Thank you for saving me from bein’ tramped, Mr. Wilson.”

“Trampled, honey,” Hannah said.

Patty Ruth raised her free arm toward Wilson, indicating that he was about to get a hug.

He bent down and let her wrap an arm around his neck. “You’re a mighty sweet little girl, Patty Ruth. Say, did you give Ulysses his name?”

“Well-l-l… Papa helped me a little bit.”

“Uh-huh. And is he named after President Grant?”

Patty Ruth nodded. “President Ulysses S. Grant used to be a soldier in the Cibil War. My papa was a captain in the army. He fighted for President Ulysses S. Grant when he was a gen’ral.”

“I know, honey, and your father was a real hero, too. He—”

At that moment, Solomon Cooper appeared at the door of the store and stepped onto the boardwalk. “What’s going on out here?” he asked, putting his arm around Hannah.

Solomon was a slender, clean-shaven man, standing an inch over six feet. His thick, reddish-brown hair was like Patty Ruth’s. He walked with a limp—a souvenir from the Civil War at the battle at Shiloh.

Hannah tilted back her head to look into her husband’s eyes as she said, “Ray just saved our baby girl from being trampled by a horse.”

Hannah briefly explained the near tragedy, and Solomon breathed a prayer as he took his little daughter into his arms
and thanked Ray Wilson for his quick thinking.

Just then, several customers entered the general store, and the Coopers excused themselves.

As Ray Wilson turned to enter his saddle shop, he met the gaze of a man who had witnessed the brave act.

The man nodded and smiled. “I was right here and saw it all,” he said, lifting his hat. “Mighty fine thing you did. You could’ve been trampled, yourself, you know.”

“I’d risk life and limb for that little girl anytime,” Ray said. “They don’t come any better than Patty Ruth Cooper.”

T
he Cooper family lived on a small farm half a mile north of Independence. The schoolhouse was situated on the north edge of town, making it a relatively short walk for the three older Cooper children.

The three-room schoolhouse allowed a division of grade levels that separated the Cooper children—first through third grades in one room, taught by Miss Stone; fourth through sixth in another, taught by Miss Powers; and seventh through twelfth in another, taught by Mr. Barrick.

Mary Beth loved her teacher, Miss Henrietta Powers, who was a Christian and always started the day with prayer. Mary Beth’s goal in life was to be a teacher, and she wanted to be exactly like Miss Powers. She paid close attention to Miss Powers’s gestures, how she walked, sat at her desk, wrote on the blackboard. She was especially intent on the way Miss Powers spoke. Sometimes, when she was alone, she practiced trying to sound like Miss Powers.

At the end of lunch period, while the teachers stood on the porch, a wagon rattled into the schoolyard. The teachers recognized elderly farmer, Jess Pemberton at the reins. He spoke to Misses Stone and Powers first, then to Barrick. “You folks hear about Patty Ruth Cooper?”

The trio exchanged glances, then Barrick replied, “Guess
none of us have, Mr. Pemberton. I hope something bad hasn’t happened to her.”

“Almost did. ’Bout an hour and a half ago, she just about got trampled by a gallopin’ horse. I just thought I’d come by and tell it like it happened so’s if the other Cooper kids heard about it before goin’ home, they’d have the facts. You know how secondhand information can get twisted.

“Well, I just didn’t want Chris, n’ Mary Beth, n’ B. J. to hear somethin’ that would make ’em think their little sister had been hurt. I saw the whole thing, and she’s fine.”

Hannah Cooper and her youngest daughter left town in the family wagon at about two o’clock. Hannah seldom worked at the store, but this morning she had filled in for their full-time worker, Randy Chase, who had gone on family business to Kansas City. He was the oldest son of their pastor.

When they pulled into the Cooper yard, Biggie, the family dog, bounded off the porch, tail wagging a friendly welcome. Biggie—short for “Big Enough”—was a small black-and-white short-haired terrier, and the special object of affection in the Cooper household. He ran alongside the wagon as Hannah drove toward the barn and corral.

The big bay gelding in the corral with the white blaze face and four white stockings was Papa’s horse, Nipper. Patty Ruth had ridden Nipper lots of times while Papa held the reins and walked in front of him.

The smaller gelding was a strawberry roan named Buster. He was Chris’s horse. Patty Ruth had never ridden Buster because Chris said he and Buster understood each other, and if someone else rode him, it could mix Buster up.

Patty Ruth knew Chris considered himself to be an expert horseman, and she smiled to herself as she looked at Buster.
Chris wasn’t really an expert; he just acted smart in the saddle to impress Lula Mae Springer, who lived on a farm two miles down the road. Chris was always riding over there on Saturdays to see Lula Mae, and sometimes on weekdays if there was time between chores and supper.

Both Nipper and Buster nickered as Hannah and daughter alighted from the wagon. Biggie got himself petted by his favorite redheaded five-year-old, then dashed to Hannah for attention as she unhitched the horses from the doubletree. She took time to pat Biggie’s head and rub his sides while Patty Ruth opened the corral gate.

Patty Ruth went upstairs and sat on the window box in her and Mary Beth’s room. She fixed her eyes intently on the road and watched for her brothers and sister to appear. She wanted to hear Mama tell them how close they had come to losing their sweet little sister that morning.

There they were, right on time, at 3:30.

Patty Ruth heard Mama tell Biggie that the kids were coming up the road, then the front screen door squeak open and close. Biggie came into view, barking happily, as he charged through the yard and hurried to meet the other Cooper children.

Patty Ruth ducked back from the window and tiptoed down the hall to the edge of the stairs. “Listen, Ulysses,” she whispered to her stuffed bear, “they’re gonna be glad nothin’ bad happened to me.”

Patty Ruth was surprised when she heard her siblings ask Mama about her near miss by the big horse. Somehow they had learned before leaving school that Patty Ruth was almost killed.

All three asked questions, but Mary Beth’s voice was the loudest. Then Patty Ruth heard her mother say something she couldn’t make out.

Whatever it was lost its importance, for she heard Mary
Beth running toward the staircase, saying, “I’m going up to see her!”

Patty Ruth darted back to the bedroom and quickly hopped on her bed just as Mary Beth appeared at the open door. Patty Ruth gave her sister a solemn look but didn’t speak.

Mary Beth, the only blonde in the family, had dimples and a beautiful smile like her mother. As she moved toward Patty Ruth’s bed, she smiled. “Hi, honey. We heard at school what happened this morning…and Mama explained it to us just now.”

Patty Ruth gave her a pitiful look, but still said nothing.

Mary Beth sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on Patty Ruth’s shoulder. “I’m sure glad you didn’t get hurt. I know it must have frightened you. Are… are you okay?”

Patty Ruth sighed, placed the back of her hand to her forehead, and said as she had practiced, “Oh, I’m all right, Mary Beth, but you almos’ didn’ have a little sister no more. That big ol’ horse jis’ about killed me.”

Mary Beth knew her little sister well and could see she was all right. She glanced down for a moment to cover her laughter and said, “Well, sweetie, we can thank the Lord that Mr. Wilson was there to keep you from getting killed.”

Patty Ruth sent a wounded glance toward the door. “Where’s Christopher and B. J.? Don’t they care that I almos’ died?”

“We’re right here, little sister,” came Christopher’s voice at the door.

B. J. took a step ahead of Chris and moved up close beside the bed. “Mama told us Ulysses almost got killed, too, Patty Ruth,” he said, eyeing the stuffed bear pressed close to his little sister’s heart. “Is he okay?”

“Yes,” Patty Ruth said with a sigh, making the most of the attention she and her bear were getting. “Mr. Wilson had to grab me pretty fast, ’cause that big ol’ horse was gonna tramp
me. An’ I dropped Ulysses. He fell pretty hard, but he just got dusty.”

“Trample, honey,” Mary Beth said.

“Mm-hmm. That’s what that big ol’ horse almos’ did to me.”

“Well, I’m just mighty glad you and Ulysses are all right, Patty Ruth,” Chris said. “I sure wouldn’t want anything to happen to either one of you.”

Patty Ruth managed a weak smile. “Thank you.”

B. J. grinned. “Patty Ruth, if you had been killed today, I would’ve taken care of Ulysses for you… for the rest of his life. He could even sleep in my bed with me.”

Patty Ruth sat up and frowned. “No you wouldn’, B. J.! If’n… if’n I had died, I would’ve tooken Ulysses to heaven with me. Me an’ Ulysses would sit on Jesus’ lap together.”

Hannah Cooper had come to the bedroom door in time to hear this last remark. Now she leaned against the door frame with her arms folded and set her chocolate-brown eyes on Patty Ruth. “So you’re going to sit on Jesus’ lap when you get to heaven, are you?”