Let There Be Light (36 page)

She greeted one of the general store’s faithful customers who was coming out of the post office, then moved inside and drew up to the counter. Postmaster Bill Marvel smiled at her. “Good morning, Jenny.”

“Good morning, Mr. Marvel. I need to tell you that some mail may be coming to me as Jenny Blair. It’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with it. ‘Blair’ was my mother’s maiden name, and I’m using it for a very special reason.”

“Whatever you say, Jenny. I’ll see that you get the mail when it comes.”

She handed him the envelope addressed to Daniel Tyler with
Jenny Blair
in the upper left-hand corner, along with her post office box address. “And here’s a letter to be mailed.”

Marvel didn’t look at it but simply dropped it in the box of outgoing mail. “Anything else, Miss Jenny?”

“That’s all for now, thank you.” She turned and went out the door.

A feverish excitement made her tingle all over as she thought about the letter being on its way to Daniel Tyler. “Papa,” she said in a whisper as she walked briskly down the street toward the general store, “if this Daniel Tyler is the man who took your life, I will avenge you. And I have a strong feeling it
is
him!”

Thinking of Tyler, Jenny wondered if her father’s killer knew where in Pennsylvania he was from. Then she shrugged it off, telling herself that even if Tyler knew Captain William Linden was from Harrisburg, he could make no connection.

She entered the general store and smiled at Zack and Emma Henderson, who were both behind the counter getting ready for the day’s business.

Emma elbowed her husband. “Zack, do you see what I see?”

Zack nodded. “Uh-huh. Our little Jenny is smiling. We haven’t seen her smile like that for quite a while.”

“No, but it sure looks good on her, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does, Em. Sure does.”

Jenny moved behind the counter and began taking out pads and pencils. “How are my two favorite bosses today?”

“We’re fine, honey,” said Emma. “What has you in such a good mood today?”

Careful. Don’t give them even so much as a hint
. “Oh, nothing I can really put my finger on,” she lied. “I’ve just decided I’ve been down-in-the-mouth long enough. I woke up this morning and told myself it was time I was rising above the heartaches I’ve been carrying. My parents are gone. I have to face that fact and get on with my life.”

Moments later, they opened the store and customers were filing through the door.

As the morning progressed, Jenny had a hard time keeping her mind on her work. She kept thinking of Dan Tyler and pictured him lying in a coffin with his arms folded across his chest—the chest that would have a bullet hole right through his heart.
Yes, you dirty killer, and after they have buried you, I’m going to spit on your grave!

That afternoon, Jenny was busy tallying a bill for a customer at the counter when she saw Laura Denton come into the store.

Laura smiled and gave a tiny wave. “Hello, Jenny.”

Jenny smiled back. “Hello, Laura. Nice to see you.” She finished tallying the bill, took the customer’s money, and gave him his change.

She had waited on three more customers when she saw Laura standing in her line, which was longer than Emma’s line.

Several minutes later, Emma looked at Laura, who still had two people ahead of her. “Laura, I can take care of you here.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Henderson, but I need to talk to Jenny. Let one of these people in this line step over there.”

Emma called for the next person behind Jenny’s present customer to come to her, which she did. By the time Laura stepped up to the counter, there were no others in either line. Emma said, “Jenny, I’ll go back and help Zack with that paperwork in the office. Give a holler if you need me before I get back.”

“Will do,” said Jenny, then smiled again at Laura. “So how’s everything with you, Laura?”

“Just fine, Jenny. And you? There’s a sparkle in your eyes that I haven’t see for a while.”

“I’m doing better, thank you.”

Jenny tallied the bill and put the small amount of goods in a paper sack.

When Laura had paid her and was ready to take her sack and leave, she said, “Jenny, have you been reading the passages in the Bible that I underlined?”

Thinking that she had just read them that morning to use them for her testimony to Daniel Tyler, she said, “Sure have.”

“Do you understand them better?”

“Well, a little bit, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. I mean no offense, Laura. It’s just that … well, it seems too easy. I’d think a person would have to do more than simply put their faith in Jesus to make it to heaven. I’d think they’d have to do lots of good deeds and never do any bad deeds.”

“Honey, I explained that to you. Salvation isn’t something you
can earn by doing good deeds or merit by not doing bad deeds. It’s by grace, not works.”

Jenny shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to read those passages some more.”

“Yes, Jenny. Please do. And I suggest you read more Scriptures too. You can read the whole gospel of John, and while you’re reading, let God speak to your heart. One day soon the light will break through into your darkness, like it did mine.”

Jenny nodded.

Laura picked up her sack, then reached her free hand across the counter and touched Jenny’s arm. “I bought the Bible for you and am encouraging you to read it because I care about you, honey. I want to have you in heaven with me for all eternity. You understand that, don’t you?”

Jenny made a smile. “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Laura.”

When Laura had passed through the door, Jenny’s mind went to the
Box B Ranch
in Arizona. “I’ve been thinking, cowboy,” she said in a whisper, barely moving her lips, “if you’re the Dan Tyler who took my parents from me, whether you want me as your mail order bride or not, vengeance will be mine. I’ll get you no matter what!”

I
T WAS A HOT DAY IN MID-
A
UGUST
as Dan Tyler drove the
Box B
wagon through the gate, onto the Mogollon road, and headed for town to pick up some supplies.

It was late morning, but the temperature—according to the thermometer on Suzanne Brady’s back porch—was already 101 degrees.

The dust lifted from the hooves of the horses as they trotted along the road with catclaw and mesquite lining it on both sides. A hot wind was blowing, and Dan heard its melancholy moan in the mesquite. Squinting his eyes as he held the reins, he ran his gaze over the sunbaked land all around him. He noted the dancing heat waves off to the north with the blue distance of the San Francisco Mountains seemingly in motion.

As he turned his attention back toward Mogollon, he shifted on the seat and looked at seemingly distant lakes quivering in the mirage of heat waves.

Dan smiled to himself. In spite of the heat, he was adjusting happily to the desert more every day. He was beginning to feel a part of the land and loved its vast openness. In daylight, the wide open spaces and the endless blue sky did something to him. And at night, the great black velvet canopy, with its silvery moon and the shimmering heavens, affected him in another marvelous way.

“Lord,” he said, “thank You for bringing me to Arizona. Thank
You for my job and for the blessing Suzanne has been to my life. And again, Lord, as I’ve prayed many times a day since placing my ad in all of those newspapers back East, I’m asking You to show me the right young lady to be my mail order bride—like you did for Jack Sparks and those other fellows.”

Dan thought about the six letters he had received from young women already in response to the ad. Each one appeared to be a fine Christian, but none of them seemed right. Upon placing the ad, he had claimed Colossians 3:15 to guide him to the right woman: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.”

The Lord had not given him peace about any of them, so he had written and told them this in a kind way, saying he wanted God’s will for their lives, as well as his own.

Dan’s eyes drifted to the massive collection of giant cacti on both sides of the road. Clay and Joel had told him these lofty, fluted columns of green were called saguaro, the mighty sentinels of the desert. Another odd-shaped cactus sprinkled among the saguaro was the ocotillo. Each of its branches rose high and symmetrical, furnished with sharp blades that seemed to be at once both leaves and thorns.

Suddenly movement in the sky overhead drew Dan’s attention. Looking up, he saw two bald eagles in flight. Since coming to Arizona, he had seen a lot of birds: the magnificent swift-winged hawks, the great blue condors, and the grisly red-necked vultures. All of them held a fascination for him, but not the degree of fascination he had for the majestic, broad-winged bald eagles. He had often marveled at the eagles as they sailed wondrously, with graceful movement of wings, sometimes shooting across the heavens like thunderbolts, and at other times, circling around and upward to suddenly vanish in the deep blue.

Lifting his hat to use as a shade for his eyes against the blazing Arizona sun, Dan wiped sweat from his brow and focused on the two eagles. He noted that they were male and female. Eyeing the larger and imposing male eagle, he said, “What a fortunate fellow you are! I almost wish I was an eagle, like you—having a mate and nesting on the lofty crags of those mountains up north. I hope you appreciate what you’ve got.”

At that moment, a still, small voice somewhere deep in Dan’s heart said, “Be patient, son. You will have your mate.”

He experienced a singular exhilaration and became conscious of the quickened beating of his heart. “Thank You, Lord.” He set his eyes on the town, which was only a mile away.

Dan went first to the general store and made grocery purchases Suzanne wanted him to pick up.

His next stop was the hardware store. He needed some new tools and supplies for the repair work he was doing on the barn, the outbuildings, and the corral gate. When he stepped into the store, Jack Sparks was stocking one of the shelves with nails of various sizes. He set his single eye on Dan and grinned. “Howdy, Arizona cowboy!”

Dan chuckled. “That sounds good to me. You doing all right?”

“Sure am. What can I sell you today?”

“I need a hammer, a crowbar, some wire, and some nails and screws.”

“Well, you came to the right place. Let’s see what we can find.”

After they had carried the items Dan needed to the counter, Jack started tallying the bill.

“Lorna doing all right?” asked Dan.

Jack paused in his figuring. “Sure is.” A grin spread over his face. “But then, being married to me, how could she do otherwise?”

“I’ll say no more!”

Jack laughed, shook his head, and went back to his arithmetic. A moment later, he came up with the total, drew a line under it, and looked up. “That’ll be twelve dollars and ninety-four cents.”

Dan plunked down a twenty-dollar bill. “Can you squeeze twelve ninety-four out of that?”

“It’ll be difficult, but a man with my expertise and intelligence can do it.”

Dan shook his head. “Why do I come in here?”

Jack handed him the change. “Because you like dealing with an intelligent expert like me.”

“No. Because it’s the only hardware store in this town.”

They both laughed together, and while Jack was bagging the items, he asked, “How’s the mail order bride situation doing?”

“Well, when we talked about it last, I had received three letters.”

“Uh-huh. And you had written those young ladies and told them you didn’t have peace about asking them to come.”

“Right. Since then, I’ve received three more.”

“Oh. And …?”

“Same thing. One of them was a blue-eyed blonde but I just couldn’t get peace from the Lord to invite her to come. And the same thing with the other two.”

Jack slid the paper bags across the counter to Dan. “I commend you, my friend. I well remember the temptation to invite a particular young lady who seemed just right when I was seeking my mail order bride. When I started to write the letter, it was like I had a tornado churning up inside me. No peace. If I’d ignored it, I would have gotten the wrong woman. Sure glad I let the peace of God rule in my heart. Lorna was definitely God’s choice for me. You’ve told Lorna and me about your fixation for blue-eyed blondes, but you don’t want to make a drastic mistake and get the wrong gal, no matter what color of hair and eyes she has.”

“That’s for sure.”

“I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. Lorna and I are praying daily that the Lord will help you to know when you get the letter from the right young woman.”

“I appreciate that more than I can tell you, Jack,” Dan said, picking up the paper bags. “See you later.”

“Keep us posted.”

“Will do.”

Dan’s final stop was the post office. He pulled the wagon to a halt, tied the reins to a hitching post, and went inside.

Bill Marvel was waiting on a customer at the counter. He looked past the man and said, “Hello, Dan. Be with you in a minute.”

Dan smiled and nodded.

Marvel’s minute was almost exactly sixty seconds. When the man turned and walked away, Dan stepped up to the counter. “Just need the mail, Bill.”