Measure of Grace (32 page)

Diana was still jittery about meeting Jordan, and a bit on edge at the thought of marrying a man she had never met. Knowing Jordan was wealthy helped a lot, however. She had known nothing but a poor farmer’s existence all of her life.

Drying her eyes and adjusting herself on the seat with the soothing rumble of the wheels beneath her, she concentrated on what life would be like on a sprawling cattle ranch in the west. After a few moments of this, she switched her thoughts to Jordan Shaw, trying to picture what he might look like.

Was he tall and slender? Or short and stocky? Or maybe tall and stocky? Or short and thin? Was he dark or fair? She would have to wait until that moment she met him when she stepped off the stagecoach for the answers to these questions. But one thing she knew. Any man who had a way with words like Jordan did was quite intelligent and had a tender heart.

The coach rocked slightly as the train began a long curve. Instantly, her head began to pound. Pressing fingertips to her temples, she knew the headache had come as a result of the mental anguish she was suffering because of leaving her beloved family.

Closing her eyes, Diana leaned her tired head back on the seat, and after a few minutes, was asleep. Soon she was dreaming about a handsome young man who stood in front of the Wells Fargo station in Elkton, heading toward her with a smile as she was about to step down from the stagecoach. She sighed in her sleep and a gentle smile curved her lovely lips.

Late the next night, Diana arrived in Kansas City, Missouri. She left the train and waited in the depot until the train came in that was bound for Portland, Oregon. This train would take her as far as Boise, Idaho, where she would board another one for Ketcham.

Early the next morning—Sunday, November 24
—
Diana boarded the Portland-bound train. She was alone on the seat once again and let her thoughts trail to her mother and siblings. Her heart ached for them, but the pain of the ache eased when she remembered that if her father behaved himself, he would be released from jail on Thursday. She was thankful for the way God had worked it so she would be gone by then.

After eating breakfast alone in the dining car, Diana returned to her seat, looked out the window at the sun-drenched plains of Nebraska, and thought about the moment when she would first lay eyes on Jordan at the stage station in Elkton.

By the time she sat down at the small table in the dining car for lunch, the sun had disappeared behind heavy clouds. When she returned to her seat, she saw windblown flecks of snow smashing against her window. With each hour that passed, the storm grew
stronger. When she arrived late that afternoon in Cheyenne City, Wyoming, it had developed into a blinding snowstorm.

Diana watched several passengers leave her coach, bending their heads against the blowing snow, and soon new passengers were boarding, doing the same thing. She heard them talking about the storm, which had come down from Canada and hit the Cheyenne City area some forty-eight hours previously. They were saying it was the worst snowstorm to hit that part of the country in ten years.

Soon a woman in her late fifties drew up to where Diana was sitting. “Anyone occupying this place next to you, dear?”

Giving her a warm smile, Diana said, “No, ma’am.”

The woman brushed snow from her coat, laid it in the overhead rack, then sat down, placing her handbag on the floor by her feet. Sighing, she said, “Some storm.”

“Sure is,” said Diana.

Other new passengers were moving by in search of seats as the woman said, “I’m Cora Zeller. My home is in Portland, Oregon. I’ve been visiting my son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren here in Cheyenne City.”

Diana nodded, giving her another smile. “My name is Diana Morrow. I’m from Richmond, Virginia, on my way to Elkton, Idaho, to become the mail order bride of a young cattle rancher. His name is Jordan Shaw.”

Cora’s eyebrows arched. “A mail order bride. Well, I’ve heard of lots of them, but this is the first time I’ve ever met one.”

“I’ve never met one either,” Diana said, chuckling.

The whistle blew and soon the train was chugging out of the station, heading due west. While the wind hurled snow against the windows, Cora and Diana discussed the mail order bride system and how much it was being used by men in the west to provide themselves with wives.

“Diana, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you find it difficult facing the prospect of marrying a man you have never met and know very little about?”

“Well, I have to admit, Mrs. Zeller, it is a bit frightening, but it
isn’t as frightening as the thought of staying in Richmond.”

Cora saw the hint of fear in Diana’s eyes, but did not pry.

Soon the train was climbing into the Rocky Mountains on a steep incline. The storm was relentless as it continued to batter the sides of the coach, making it difficult for anyone to see out the frost-edged windows.

Diana laid her head back and closed her eyes. Moments later, she felt Cora moving on the seat and opened her eyes to see her pulling a big Bible out of her handbag. She closed her eyes again, then after a few minutes, looked at the Bible as Cora was reading it.

From the corner of her eye, Cora noticed Diana looking at the Book in her hands. After several minutes passed, and Diana still had her eyes on the Bible, Cora smiled at her and asked, “Do you know the Author of this Book, honey?”

“Well, ah, no, I don’t. As far back as I can remember, both of my parents taught my siblings and me that these born-again, Bible-reading Christians were nothing but fanatical fools.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Then quite recently, my mother went through a very difficult trial, and the pastor of a Richmond church talked to her, showed her some things in the Bible, and she was born again.”

“Oh, wonderful!” Cora’s face was suddenly beaming.

“Mama’s trying to lead her children the same way. She made me promise that when I get to Elkton, I will find a Bible-believing church and attend it.”

“Well, good for her. But you haven’t been born again.”

“No, ma’am. With all the things my parents taught me against the Bible, I’m very confused. Mama admits that she had been wrong to teach us what she did.”

“And what about your father?”

“Well, he’s still of the same opinion he always was.”

“I see. Well, I’m so glad to hear that your mother is now a Christian. Diana, I would be very glad to show you right here in the Word of God how to be born again.”

Diana drew a short breath and swallowed hard. “Thank you, ma’am, but with all the confusion in my mind from what I was taught in the past, I think it would be best if I wait till I get settled
in Elkton then go to church and learn about it.”

“But what if you were to die before then? According to what the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 3, you can’t go to heaven unless you have been born again. There is only one other place you can go, and that is the awful burning place called hell. Do you understand that?”

“Well, yes. Mama made sure I did.”

“Diana, your mother was right to do so. Do you understand that God’s Son came into this world for the express purpose of shedding His blood and dying on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, so we could be saved if we would come to Him for salvation?”

“Mama made it clear about that, ma’am.”

“Honey, Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified because it was the only way He could provide salvation. He died and they put His body in the tomb. But death couldn’t hold Him. He did just what He had predicted He would do. Three days after he was buried, He came back from the dead. And He is alive to save all who will come to Him in repentance of sin and ask Him to save them. If you die without receiving Him into your heart as your Saviour, you will spend eternity in hell.”

Diana’s face had paled significantly. “M-Mrs. Zeller, I … ah … am very tired. I need to get some sleep. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m really very weary.”

Cora nodded. “I understand that, honey, but you need to seriously consider your lost condition before God. It isn’t something to put off. I’ll be very happy to show you from the Bible exactly how to be saved so you can clearly understand it.”

Faking a yawn, Diana put a hand to her mouth, made her eyelids look heavy, and said, “I will seriously consider it, ma’am. Right now, I need to get some sleep.” As she spoke, she slid down a bit on the seat and closed her eyes.

“All right, dear,” said Cora.

The train continued to make its way higher into the Rockies while the storm howled outside. Cora read her Bible for a few minutes, then lay her own head back, closed her eyes, and silently prayed for wisdom and power that she might be able to lead the girl to Jesus.

Diana was dreaming that the stagecoach was pulling into the Wells Fargo station in Elkton when she was rudely jarred awake by the wheels of the train screeching on the tracks as it slid to a sudden halt.

At first, she was unable to make the correlation between dream and reality as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She frantically looked around her, and realized she was aboard the train, and her dream was just that. A dream.

Shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs, Diana saw the passengers trying to see out the snowy windows while they talked in low, worried tones, wondering why the train had come to a halt while they were still in the mountains. The snow was pelting the windows, driven by a savage wind.

They were in the midst of a blizzard.

Diana looked at Cora, who was listening to two men across the aisle discussing the sudden stop, and said, “Mrs. Zeller …”

Cora’s head came around to see the girl’s eyes wide with fear. “Yes, honey?”

“Why have we stopped?”

“I have no idea. But don’t be afraid. God is in control, as always.”

Diana was amazed that she saw no fear in Cora’s eyes. Peace and control were reflected there.

Taking the girl’s trembling hands in her own, Cora gave her a cheery smile. “It will be all right, dear. It’s probably just something to do with this terrible storm. I was really rather surprised that they didn’t keep the train in Cheyenne City until the storm had passed. We may be delayed here for a while, but the Lord always knows best.”

Feeling somewhat better, Diana tried to look out the window into the dark night, shivering with each blast of wind that sent blinding icy pellets against it.

The two men across the aisle rose from the seat, and one of them looked around at the confused passengers and said, “Folks, my name is Dale Manning. My friend is T. J. Smith. T. J. and I are going to go and see if we can find out why we’re stopped.”

Even as both men headed for the door at the front of the coach, there was a thundering roar toward the rear of the train. It went on for two to three minutes, then all was quiet.

Quickly, Manning and Smith left the coach.

Time dragged as they awaited some word on the situation.

Soon the front door opened. The engineer and the fireman hurried through the coach, each carrying a burning lantern. There was a sudden babble of voices as people asked what was going on, but the two men moved on out the rear door without making a reply.

Only seconds passed until the door at the front opened and the conductor came in, hurrying toward the rear of the coach. Passengers asked him what had happened, but he only shook his head, saying he didn’t have time to stop and tell them. Some were shouting angrily at him as he moved out and closed the rear door behind him.

Immediately, the two men who had left the coach earlier came in the front door and stopped. Dale Manning ran his gaze over the confused, frightened faces of the passengers and said, “We only had a brief moment with the conductor, folks, but he told us the engineer stopped the train when the headlight on the engine showed him that an avalanche had occurred, and the tracks ahead were buried under tons of snow. There are steep slopes above us on the right, and the snow simply slid down the mountain and covered the tracks. The roar we all heard after the train was stopped was an avalanche behind the train. We are now trapped between two avalanches.”

Women gasped and some of them began to whimper, as did some of the children.

At that moment, the engineer, the fireman, and the conductor came through the rear door. Again, there was a babble of voices as people began asking questions.

One frightened woman’s voice rose above the others as she cried out, “Tell us! Are we in danger?”

“Now, ma’am,” said the conductor, “just settle down. We’re not in any real danger. We just have to get a grip on ourselves and—”

“Why don’t you tell them the truth?” said Dale Manning.
“They all have a right to know just what danger we’re in.”

Diana grabbed Cora’s hand, trembling. Cora patted her arm, attempting to calm her.

All eyes were on the conductor. He choked up.

The engineer cleared his throat and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we … ah … we are on the edge of a deep canyon. The fireman and I saw this before we ever left the engine. We went to the rear to see just how bad the avalanche is behind us. It’s dark out there, but it looks every bit as bad as the one in front of us. I … ah … hate to tell you this, but an avalanche could come down on the train any minute and shove it over the edge into the canyon.”