Blessed are the Merciful (28 page)

Seth took Bettieann back to the hotel so she could unpack and freshen up. He picked her up an hour before suppertime to take her to the parsonage and introduce her to Pastor and Mrs. Ken Myers. Again, Bettieann was welcomed warmly.

The pastor took them to his office and spent a few minutes talking about the wedding, and marriage in general, showing them some Scriptures on the subject.

Later, as they were eating together at the hotel restaurant, Seth set loving eyes on Bettieann and said, “I have a little surprise to show you in the morning.”

“What kind of a surprise?”

A boyish grin curved his mouth. “Our house.”

“Our house?”

“I rented it the day you wired me to say you were coming.”

“Well, you stinker! I figured since you took three of my trunks to your boardinghouse, we’d be living in your room.”

“You’ll love the house, I guarantee you! And someday when we’ve been able to put away a little money, we’ll buy us one of our own.”

“Oh, darling, I can hardly believe this is really happening!”

“Well, it is. Believe me.” He paused, then said, “Since we have a week for our honeymoon, how would you like to take a little trip for a couple of those days?”

“A trip? To where?”

“North Platte.”

“That’s west of here, isn’t it?”

“Almost three hundred miles. It’s right at the spot where the North Platte and the South Platte come together and become the Platte River. It empties into the Missouri just a few miles south of where you sit at this moment.”

“Well, thank you for the geography lesson, Deputy Marshal Seth Coleman.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

“I’ll go anywhere with you, darling; you know that. But why have you chosen North Platte for our little trip?”

“I want you to meet a very good friend of mine.”

Her dainty eyebrows lifted. “You have a friend way out in North Platte, Nebraska?”

“My attorney in the Lawrence Sheldon trial.”

“Oh … Adam Burke! His name was mentioned in all the newspapers. I’m sorry to say that Adam Burke had more faith in your innocence than I did.”

Seth reached across the table and patted her hand. “That is in the past. Adam was planning to open up his own law firm in North Platte, and I want us to go see him, if he’s there. If he’s not … we’ll have had a nice little honeymoon trip. I owe him a lot, Bettieann, and I want you two to meet each other. Besides that, he was about to get married the last time I saw him. I’m sure you’ve heard of Philip
Conrad III, who has the big law firm in Philadelphia.”

“Oh, sure.”

“Adam was engaged to Philipa Conrad, his daughter.”

“So we’ll be hobnobbing with the elite in North Platte, will we?”

Seth laughed. “Well, I guess you might say that. Is it all right with you, then, if we go?”

“Certainly, darling.”

Three days later, Seth and Bettieann were married by Pastor Ken Myers in his office. Mrs. Myers and one of the church deacons were witnesses.

Adam Burke walked to work on a bright, clear morning and arrived at the office just as Olivia Dahl’s fiancé pulled his wagon to a halt at the hitch rail.

“Good morning, Olivia, Russ,” Adam said.

Both returned the greeting as Russ hopped out of the wagon and helped Olivia down.

Adam unlocked the front door of the office and held the door for Olivia. As she moved past him he looked across the street. Gordon Burke stood on the boardwalk alone, watching him. Adam turned his back and closed the door.

It was almost noon when Adam came out of his office with a client and noticed a man and woman seated on the other side of Olivia’s desk. He could see the young woman’s face, but the man’s back was to him.

“I’ll have Olivia get your papers in the mail right away, Mr. Snelling,” Adam said. “You should hear back from us within about ten days.”

“Fine,” Snelling said, and headed for the door.

“Mr. Burke,” Olivia said, “these people want to see you. I told them you wouldn’t be able to until this afternoon, but the man is
wearing a badge and insisted that you see them as soon as you came out of your office.”

The man stood up and turned around. “Hello, counselor.”

Adam could hardly believe his eyes.

Bettieann and Olivia looked on with pleasure as Seth Coleman and Adam Burke embraced and pounded each other on the back.

Adam turned to Bettieann, then looked at his friend. “All right, Seth, who is this lovely lady?”

“I want you to meet my new bride, Bettieann!”

“Your new bride? When did this happen?”

“Yesterday. We’re on our honeymoon. I’m working out of the Omaha U.S. Marshal’s Office.”

Adam shook his head in wonderment. “Omaha! So you met this pretty girl in Omaha, huh?”

“Well, no actually. It’s a long story.”

“Hey, I want to hear it right now. I don’t care how long it is. Can I take you to lunch?”

“I think we could handle that,” Seth said, smiling at Bettieann. She nodded her head and smiled.

Over lunch at one of North Platte’s cafés, Seth and Bettieann told Adam the whole story.

“My, my, my,” Adam said, shaking his head. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that you two got back together. And now, here you are husband and wife!”

“We give the glory to God,” Seth said. “Only He could have done this.”

“Yes,” Bettieann said. “To God be the glory!”

Adam hesitated a moment, then said weakly, “That’s for sure.”

Adam put his friends up in North Platte’s finest hotel, and that evening they had supper together in the hotel’s café.

“Adam, I recall that the last time I saw you there was a wedding date set with Philipa Conrad,” Seth said while they were eating.

Adam nodded. “Long story. I’ll make it short. Philipa broke off the engagement. She didn’t want to come to Nebraska with me. To her, this part of the country is the back woods. This is where I had my heart set on living the rest of my life. So, I came alone.”

“Well, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“It’s all for the best. Philipa is definitely a high society girl. She belongs in the East.”

“Any young ladies in your life?”

Adam looked glum. “None. Unattached or unmarried young ladies are hard to come by in these parts. All these months I’ve been in North Platte I’ve found no prospects.”

“Well, you know that Bettieann and I were brought together again by the mail order bride system. Maybe you ought to put some ads in newspapers back East. Might find you a good wife that way.”

“I made the bold statement not long ago that I would never order myself a bride through the mail. But it’s making more sense now. Maybe I should put some ads in some papers. I’m beginning to think if I don’t, I’ll be a bachelor the rest of my life.”

The next morning, Adam put Seth and Bettieann on the train for Omaha and told them to come back and see him when they could. Seth gave Adam their address and told him to let them know when he found the right young lady. He and Bettieann wanted to come to the wedding.

Rachel Mason was working in a Memphis flower shop and enjoying it immensely. She had made many friends in the stores and shops around the area. She loved living with Aunt Esther, who was such a kind and caring woman and always seemed to look for the good in everyone and every situation. She certainly lived what she believed.

Rachel willingly went to church with her aunt and listened politely to the preacher, though she still clung to what her father had taught her about life, death, and eternity. And she was never so rude as to turn away whenever the dear woman talked to her about Jesus
Christ. Her life with her aunt was pleasant and good.

The one flaw in Rachel’s world was her father. His drinking was getting worse instead of better. Most days he was so drunk there was no communication between them at all. She thought about going elsewhere to get away from the situation, but each time it crossed her mind she reminded herself it wouldn’t be right to saddle Aunt Esther with her father. And even if she could do that, where would she go? Young ladies couldn’t just strike out on their own. She had no other family who could take her in.

There seemed to be no way out.

On a mild April evening, after helping Aunt Esther clean up the kitchen after supper, Rachel took a shawl, went out onto the front porch, and sat down in the big swing.

Her thoughts drifted back to happy days when her mother was alive and her father had conquered the bottle. Tears brimmed her eyes and left tracks on her cheeks as they spilled down and dripped off her chin.

Esther Holden left her brother passed out in his room and went in search of her niece. When she reached the parlor, she heard the squeak of the front porch swing. She eased up to the window and saw Rachel weeping.

Esther moved into the hall and took her shawl off its hook, then quietly opened the front door. Rachel was startled when Esther laid a hand on her shoulder. Her head whipped around and she quickly brushed away the trace of tears on her cheeks.

Esther rounded the swing, sat down beside Rachel, and took the girl’s soft hand in her own. “Honey, I know you’re feeling downcast and mixed-up. Let’s talk about it, okay?”

Rachel looked away.

“Sweetie, two heads are better than one. And a burden shared is always halved.”

“Aunt Esther, I don’t want to put any more strain on you than my father has done already,” Rachel said, staring straight ahead.

“But I love you, and I want to help if I can. It would be easier for
me to know the problem and help you with it than to worry and wonder what is wrong.”

Tears gathered in Rachel’s eyes again, and with a trembling voice she began to talk about the burden her father’s drinking had put on her. She talked about the few young men she had dated, and that each time one came to the house, her father had embarrassed her, and the young man had not returned.

She had come to the point where she was ashamed to have anyone know he was her father. She had never mentioned him to anyone she worked with at the flower shop. She had even considered running away, and would have if she had somewhere to go.

Esther put an arm around her and hugged her close, telling her they would work out a solution together.

Rachel broke into sobs, but managed to tell Esther how selfish she felt because she wanted to run away from a bad situation.

Esther held her niece and asked God for wisdom as she patted the girl’s hand.

Soon Rachel pulled herself together and Esther reached out to cup the girl’s chin in her hand, gently turning her head to look into her eyes.

“Rachel, dear, I understand what’s going on inside you. There’s nothing selfish about wanting to get away from the shame and heartache your father has brought on you with his drinking. You’re nineteen years old … a young woman. You want a life of your own, and that’s how it should be.”

Aunt and niece continued to talk in hushed tones for a long time, thinking of and discarding many possible solutions. They didn’t come to any perfect answer, but Rachel felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her. She hugged her aunt and thanked her for talking to her.

The night air that drifted through the city from the Mississippi River had dropped the temperature considerably.

“A nice cup of tea would warm us, don’t you think?” Esther said shivering.

“Sounds good.”

They both finished two cups, then Rachel hugged her aunt, bid her good-night, and disappeared down the dim hall.

Esther went to her room, dropped to her knees beside the bed, and asked God for strength and wisdom. She thanked Him for His mercy and patience with the lost and begged for the salvation of Joseph and Rachel. Her mind went to a favorite passage from the Psalms: “Wait on the L
ORD:
be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the L
ORD.”

Esther wept as she prayed, “Help me, Lord, to wait on You and not to faint. Please help me to pray in faith, believing.”

With an open, trusting heart, Esther Holden left her burdens with the One whose yoke was easy and whose burden was light.

“R
ACHEL, DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE
devastating fire that wiped out one of the shipping companies on the docks last night?” Esther Holden asked.

“My coworkers at the flower shop were talking about it today,” Rachel said. “Sounded pretty bad.”

“I read about it in the paper while you were in your father’s room trying to get him to eat some supper. You can take it to your room and read it if you want.”

“I’ll do that. I didn’t get much food down him, either. Just a little beef broth. Do you suppose when he gets too weak to get out and walk to the store for his whiskey, maybe he’ll sober up?”

“Maybe. I’m sure not going to buy the stuff for him.”

“Trouble is, he’s probably got bottles stashed in places around here we haven’t even thought of.”

Soon niece and aunt bid each other good-night and went to their rooms. Rachel got into her nightgown, turned the bed covers down, and propped up the pillows against the headboard. She opened the newspaper and read the front page story of the fire at the docks, then browsed through the rest of the paper. She came to the classified section, and her eyes landed on a page that carried ads for mail order brides. Rachel’s mind raced as she ran her eyes up and down the columns.