Let There Be Light (28 page)

“Jenny, I hate to tell you this, but your mother is in bad shape.” He repeated what Della Martin had told him in the examining room about Captain William Linden’s death in the prison camp, wanting to be sure he knew the facts. Jenny told him he had them right.

The doctor sighed. “Jenny, she is going to need constant care. We’ve got to keep her here in the hospital.”

Jenny nodded. “Of course, Doctor. I want her to have the best of care.”

“I want you to go on home. This blow has hit you hard too. You won’t be alone, will you?”

“We’ll stay with her, Doctor,” said John Bowden.

“Good. Go now, Jenny. Come back in the morning.”

As the Bowden buggy moved through the streets of Harrisburg, Jenny told her neighbors that she really needed to have some time alone. She would be all right. They told her they understood, but that if she needed them, all she had to do was step outside her door and call for them. She asked if they would go to the general store, notify the Hendersons of what happened, and tell them she would have to have time off from work to spend at the hospital. The Bowdens assured her they would take care of it.

When Jenny arrived home and entered the house, her heart felt like it was made of cold lead. Suddenly the decorations and the signs she had made for her father seemed to mock her. In a rage, she ripped the signs off the walls and threw the flowers in a trash can on the back porch. All the while, she screamed repeatedly that she was going to hunt down Sergeant Dan Tyler and kill him.

Day after day, Jenny fed on the anger that was coursing through her toward the man who had murdered her father. Myrna was steadily
growing worse, drawing deeper into her depression and away from her daughter.

Jenny’s mind went continually to the man who had taken her father from her, and she resolved that wherever Dan Tyler was, she would find him. He was going to pay for this with his own life. She was so full of hatred toward Tyler that she had no appetite. She fed on the deep need of revenge that consumed her. Tyler would be sorry one day.

As the days passed, Jenny stayed by her mother’s side as if her presence was paramount to Myrna’s healing. Pale and wan, she often whispered to her unresponsive mother, begging her to come back to her.

Della Martin was finally able to get Jenny to start eating again, but the portions she put down were very small. Della also did her best to convince Jenny that she needed to rest her mind and body. Jenny only shrugged and continued her vigilance, all the while making plans of vengeance on Dan Tyler.

On the sixth day since Myrna had been hospitalized, Jenny was standing over her bed. Her mother had been incommunicable the entire time, even though she was awake from time to time. Myrna did no more than mumble and stare blankly into space. At the moment, Myrna was sleeping.

Jenny looked down at her with sad but loving eyes.

Suddenly Myrna jerked, shook her head, opened her eyes for a few seconds, made a guttural sound, closed her eyes, and went limp. Jenny dashed into the hall to find a nurse. The first one she saw was Millie Conrad. Ignoring her, she ran up to a nurse who had treated her mother and was just coming out of a nearby room. “Please! My mother is getting worse. Hurry!”

When the two of them entered the room, the nurse saw that Myrna’s face was purple, and quickly checked her pulse and looked for a sign that she was breathing. After a few seconds, she turned to Jenny. “I’m sorry, Miss Linden. She’s gone.”

Jenny collapsed on a chair and began sobbing uncontrollably. The nurse hurried to the door, and calling to another nurse, told her to bring one of the staff doctors immediately.

The doctor arrived quickly. While the nurse was trying to console Jenny, she asked the doctor to examine the dead patient to see if
he could tell the cause of death.

After examining Myrna’s body for several minutes, the doctor stepped to Jenny. “Miss Linden, your mother died of a stroke. As you know, I have attended her many times since she has been here. One of the predisposing conditions that brings on a stroke is hypertension, which your mother has been suffering all along. Hypertension often thickens the arteries, which is called arteriosclerosis. It did so in your mother’s case. The thickening of her arteries finally took its toll. I’m sorry.”

“You’re very kind, Doctor,” said Jenny. Her throat was tear-clogged, but her mind went to Dan Tyler.
He’s the one who’s going to be sorry
.

T
HREE DAYS LATER
, J
ENNY
L
INDEN STOOD
beside her mother’s coffin at the cemetery. Zack and Emma Henderson had closed the store so they could attend the simple graveside service, conducted by the Bowdens’ minister. Jack and Dorothy also stood with Jenny, as did Dr. Adam Griffin.

The undertaker and an assistant stood back several feet, waiting to put the coffin in the ground when Jenny and her friends were gone.

The radiant sunshine that brightened the cemetery was a mockery to Jenny because of the darkness that seemed to surround her. While the minister was speaking words that meant little to her, Jenny stared forlornly at the deep rectangular hole that waited to receive her mother’s body.

There was very little money to spend on the funeral. The coffin was a plain pine box. Myrna’s body was wrapped up to her neck in a beautiful quilt she had made shortly after William had gone off to the War. It had often adorned her bed. Now it would be used to cover her lifeless form in the darkness of the grave.

The minister finished his brief message and nodded at Jenny. Jenny stepped to the open coffin, carrying a small bouquet of flowers she had gathered from her own yard. The Hendersons, the Bowdens, and Dr. Griffin moved up behind her.

Jenny bent down and kissed her mother’s cold cheek. Choking on the tears that clogged her throat, she managed to say, “Good-bye, Mama. I love you.”

Having spoken those final words, Jenny stepped back, looking at the still form of her mother in the coffin. The undertaker stepped up, quietly closed the coffin lid, then returned to the spot beside his assistant.

While the minister and Jenny’s friends looked on, she placed the flowers on the coffin lid, stood there a moment, then turned to her friends and thanked them for being there.

Dr. Griffin gave her a brotherly embrace, as did Zack and John. Emma and Dorothy put their arms around her and held her for a few minutes, then each kissed her cheek and released her.

“We’ll take you home, honey,” said Dorothy.

“Jenny,” said Zack, “you get yourself a good rest. Emma and I will manage. Don’t come to work until you feel up to it.”

Jenny gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. I’m sure I can be back on the job within two or three days.” Glancing once more at the coffin, she turned and walked away with John and Dorothy.

When the Bowden buggy pulled into the Linden yard, John and Dorothy walked Jenny to the door and offered to come inside with her. She explained that she needed to be alone, but thanked them for their kindness to her. They made sure she understood that if she needed them, all she had to do was let them know. Both of them embraced her one more time and headed for their buggy.

Jenny moved inside, closed the door behind her, and walked slowly into the parlor. This was the only house she had ever known, and at that moment, it was quieter than she could ever remember. To her, it was like the silence of a tomb.

She walked to the rocking chair by the large front window and laid a hand on its high back. It seemed so empty. She rocked it slowly for a minute, then lowered her tired body into it and stared at the same view her mother had gazed upon day after day, year after long year, waiting for Captain William Linden to come home from the War.

Jenny’s mind wandered back over her happy childhood as she grew up in this house with her parents. As with every family, they
had good and bad times, but always they had each other and the love that bound them together. Now there was only herself.

She left the rocking chair, and with an aching heart, she moved slowly through the house, entering every room and recalling memories of the past. With each memory, her heart grew heavier.

When she had been all through the house, Jenny returned to the parlor and began to pace the floor. Wrath burned in her soul toward Dan Tyler. Her mind went back to the day her mother died. She was standing over her mother’s body in the hospital room after the staff physician had gone. The nurse had an arm around her, still trying to console her, when Dr. Adam Griffin came in. He had just arrived at the hospital to visit some of his patients and had learned from a nurse that Myrna Linden had died.

While the nurse sat down with Jenny, Dr. Griffin examined Myrna’s body, and agreed with the staff physician that Myrna had died of a stroke. Dr. Griffin then added, “With the emotional problems your mother was already suffering, Jenny, no doubt the shock and violent impact of your father’s death was what brought on the stroke.”

With those words echoing through her mind, the hatred she felt for Tyler twisted her face. The bloody murderer had now taken both of her parents from her. “I’ve got to find him and put the punishment on him he deserves!”

Pondering the situation, Jenny sat down in the rocker again and stared out the window. She knew that if she went to the Confederate capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, they would no doubt still have records of all the men who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Once she learned where this Dan Tyler lived, she would go there and find a way to shoot him some dark night without being seen by anyone. She would never rest until the man who took both her parents from her was dead.

With her mind made up to make the search for Dan Tyler until she found him, Jenny hurried out the door and headed toward downtown.

Zack and Emma were both behind the counter when Jenny came into the store. Emma had a customer, but Zack was busy filling a large glass jar on the counter with candy canes.

As Jenny moved around the end of the counter, Zack looked up. “Hey, little gal, I told you to get some rest. We can handle things here.”

“That’s right, dear,” Emma said, turning toward her. “Now you go home and rest.”

“I didn’t come to go to work. I need to talk to Zack.”

“Oh. All right. Let’s go back to the office.”

When they entered the office, Zack pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit down, Jenny.”

“Thank you, but it won’t take that long. I just wanted to tell you that I need to take a week or so off.”

“Why, of course. You’ve been through a lot.”

“No, no. Not to rest. I have to make a trip in regard to my father’s death. I can’t tell you exactly how long I’ll be gone, but I don’t think it will be much more than a week. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“That’s fine, Jenny. Take as long as you need. A little trip will be good for you after all you’ve been through. Your job will still be here waiting for you.”

Jenny hugged him, speaking words of appreciation, then hurried out of the store, waving to Emma as she passed the counter.

When Jenny arrived home, she went to her father’s den and took a .38 caliber revolver from a drawer in his desk. She swung the cylinder out to make sure it was loaded, then snapped it shut and slipped it into her purse.

At that moment, there was a knock at the front door. She laid the purse on the desk and went to the front door to find Laura Denton standing there. “Laura! How nice to see you. Please come in.”

As they walked toward the parlor door, Laura said, “Honey, I just arrived back in town last night. You know that Shirley Atwood is living in Pittsburgh now?”

“I’d heard that.”

They moved into the parlor.

“I’ve been visiting Shirley. I went to the general store to see you a few minutes ago, and the Hendersons told me about your father
having been murdered and that your mother died three days ago. They said she was buried this morning.”

Jenny’s countenance was a grayish color. “Yes.”

“I came to tell you how sorry I am for what has happened.”

They embraced, then Jenny said, “Come over here and sit on the sofa.”

Laura settled on the sofa and placed her large purse at her feet. Jenny sat down beside her. “It’s sweet of you to come and see me, Laura.”

Laura patted her hand. “I care about you, Jenny. Do you mind talking about your parents? I’d like to know more about what happened to both of them.”

“I don’t mind.”

Jenny gave Laura as little information as possible, saying only that a Confederate guard at the Andersonville Prison Camp had murdered her father. She then explained in brief about her mother’s stroke that was brought on at the news of her father’s death.

Laura tried to comfort Jenny, and while speaking to her in a kind, tender manner, she reached into her purse and took out a small Bible.

Jenny stiffened at the sight of the Bible.

Laura reminded Jenny of the times she and Shirley had talked to her about the Lord during their school days, then brought up the day at the store when she and Shirley tried to help her to see that she needed the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour.

Jenny nodded. “I mean no offense, Laura, but I still can’t see it.”

Laura smiled and opened the Bible. “I want to show you something. She turned to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and drew closer to Jenny so she could hold the pages in plain view. “Follow it while I read it to you.”

Jenny was uncomfortable with what was happening, but did not show it.

“Verses 3 through 6,” said Laura. “ ‘But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves
your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ ”

Laura looked at Jenny, who had noticed that the four verses had been underlined with red pencil. “It says the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who are unbelievers, Jenny. Notice the small ‘g’ on the word ‘god’. That’s not the God of heaven. That’s Satan, who is indeed the god of this world. Satan is the one who has blinded the human race so they can’t see the truth. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Here, it says Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.