Measure of Grace (40 page)

Unknown to Knight, the identical battle was going on inside Diana. Even though she had only known this wonderful man since yesterday, she had fallen in love with him.
Lord, can love be limited by time? I’ve only known him two days, but I feel like I’ve known him all my life. I know he likes me, Lord, and I think he could learn to love me, given the chance. But … but what about Jordan? It was his ad I answered, not Knight’s. But Knight is a Christian—

Diana’s silent talk with the Lord was interrupted by the arrival of William and Mark.

Supper was eaten, with a discouraged William about to give up hope of finding his son. Knight, Mark, and Diana tried to encourage him, saying maybe they would find him tomorrow.

On Monday morning, December 2, in Richmond, Virginia, Chief Perry unlocked Stu Morrow’s cell door while men in the other cells looked on. “You could have been out on Thursday if you hadn’t mouthed off to Deputy Barnes, Morrow. I hope you learn to control that temper before it really gets you into trouble.”

Stu glared at him in silence.

“Two things before you go.”

Stu looked him square in the eye, waiting.

“Number one, you’d better pay Tom Wymore’s hospital and medical bills, or you’ll be right back in here. Understand?”

“Yeah.”

“And number two, if you beat on any member of your family again, I guarantee you’ll get no less than five years in the Virginia State Prison. Got it?”

Stu nodded glumly. “Yeah. I got it.”

“Let me make sure you understand,” said Perry, his lips drawn into a thin line. “Next time you beat on your wife, she won’t have to press charges. I know the reason she didn’t do it this time is because she’s scared to death of you. Well, next time it’ll be different. You are now on record with this office for what you did. You so much as lay a hand on her and it’s off to prison. If she tells us you have gone beyond reasonable discipline of your children, it’s off to prison. Is this sinking in?”

Stu nodded. “Yeah.”

“All right. Before you go home, you go to the hospital and to Tom’s doctor and make arrangements to pay them. I want to see it on paper today. Any questions?”

“No.”

“All right. Go.”

Stu Morrow walked out of the jail into the crisp December air and headed for the hospital. An hour later, he entered the police building and handed Chief Perry the necessary papers to prove that he had made arrangements with the hospital and the doctor to pay them over an agreed period of time.

The sunny kitchen of the Morrow house was scented with the savory fragrance of yeast as Martha took four loaves of hot bread out of the oven one at a time with her good hand, and set them on the cupboard to cool.

There was a prickling at the back of her mind as she covered the loaves with clean cloths. Martha was aware that her husband was to be released from jail that morning. As she worked about the kitchen with little Dennis observing, her ears were attuned to the sound of Stu’s imminent arrival. He would be walking from town.

Nervously, she glanced at the clock on the wall. 10:20.

Dennis was playing on the floor with a small hand-carved horse that Shamus O’Hearn had made him, and knowing that his father was to come home today, was full of questions. Martha tried valiantly to follow his train of thought and answered them as best she could.

Also at the front of her mind was Diana. She had told herself upon waking that morning that certainly a letter would arrive at the O’Hearn place for her in a few more days.

Suddenly Martha’s heart leaped in her chest when she heard the front door open and Stu’s big voice bellowing, “Martha, I’m home!”

Dennis’s head came up, and fear showed in his eyes. Leaving the wooden horse on the floor, he rushed to his mother, wrapped his arms around her legs, and hid his face in her apron. She nervously adjusted the cast in its sling, then lay her good hand on the child’s trembling shoulder. While heavy footsteps were heard in the hall, Dennis peeked up and saw the terror in his mother’s eyes, then quickly pressed his face into her apron again.

Martha patted his shoulder. “It’s all right, honey,” she said, “Papa isn’t going to hurt you.”

Dennis gripped her tighter, keeping his face hidden.

When Stu came into the kitchen, he looked at Martha, then at Dennis, then back at Martha and snapped, “Why didn’t you come and see me while I was in jail?”

She met his gaze, but did not answer.

Stu huffed and shook his head. “I suppose Derick, Deborah, and Daniel are in school.”

“They are.”

Stu looked around. “Where’s Diana?”

Martha swallowed with difficulty. “She isn’t here.”

“Where is she?”

Squaring her shoulders, Martha said evenly, “I can’t tell you.”

A deep scowl bent Stu’s face. “What do you mean you can’t tell me? Don’t you know where she is?”

Martha cleared her throat nervously, asking the Lord in her heart for protection. “What I mean is—I won’t tell you. Diana has her own life to live, and you are not going to interfere.”

The huge man’s features flushed. He stepped closer to her while a terrified Dennis clung to her legs. “You tell me where she is, or I’ll beat it out of you!”

“I happen to know that Chief Perry warned you what would happen if you ever beat me or one of my children again. It’ll be a lengthy sentence in state prison, Stu. Is that what you want?”

“How do you know what he told me?”

“He was here Saturday and explained it all to me. That’s how I know.”

Stu rasped, “Diana’s my daughter! I want to know where she is!”

“You mean so you can give her a beating like she can’t even imagine? Well, Derick, Deborah, Daniel, and I promised Diana we will never tell anyone where she is. And Dennis doesn’t know. You lay a hand on any of us, and you’ll be behind bars in a hurry.”

Stu regarded her with hot eyes for a long moment, then stomped toward the back door, went out, and slammed it behind him. Turning with a weeping Dennis still clinging to her, she looked out the window and watched her husband as he headed for the barn.

That evening, when the family was at the supper table, Stu ran his hard gaze over the faces of Derick, Deborah, and Daniel, and said in a gruff voice, “I want to know where Diana is. Now out with it!”

Derick looked at his father across the table. “Papa, we were here Saturday when Chief Perry came to tell us that if you ever beat on Mama or any of us again, you will go to prison for a long time. We love Diana, and I was there at the jail with her when you threatened to give her a beating. All of us love Diana. We don’t want you to ever touch her again. We know what you’ll do if you find her, so we’ve agreed not to tell you. If you want to try to beat it out of us, we can’t stop you. But one way or another, if you do, you’ll go to prison.”

Stu dropped his eyes to his plate, and silently finished his supper.

At bedtime, when Stu and Martha were alone in their room, she sat down on the edge of the bed while he was removing his shoes, and with her heart thudding against her rib cage, said, “There’s something I need to tell you, Stu.”

“Yeah? What?”

“When I was in the hospital, I found out that my roommate was a member of the same church Shamus and Maggie are. Pastor Sherman Bradford came into visit her regularly. One day he talked to me about being saved. He showed me things in the Bible I never knew were there. I learned how terribly wrong you and I have been about the Bible. To put it short and plain, Stu, I received the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart as my Saviour. I am now a Christian. I have such wonderful peace knowing that I’ll never go to hell, but that I am going to heaven. The children and I went to church yesterday, and will be going regularly from now on. I am going to be baptized as soon as this cast comes off.”

Stu’s mind flashed back to the day Pastor Sherman Bradford came to the jail and warned him of hell … the eternal prison. Ice-cold needles seemed to dance down his backbone.

Dropping the shoe he had just removed, he looked at Martha.

Expecting to see fire in his eyes, Martha had steeled herself for the onslaught. But instead of fire in his eyes, there was a softness she hadn’t seen in years.

Stu mumbled in a low tone, “It’s all right with me if you and
the kids go to church, as long as you don’t expect me to go.”

Martha blinked and nodded.
Thank You, Lord, for this measure of grace
.

When the sun was slanting toward the high peaks in the Sawtooth Mountains on Monday afternoon, December 2, Knight Colburn and Diana Morrow had spent another day together in their search for Jordan Shaw. They had no success in their search, but the time in each other’s presence had served to cause both to secretly fall deeper in love.

The sky was a brilliant blue and the light of the lowering sun made the snow on the mountains glisten like diamonds as Knight pulled rein. “Well, it’ll be almost dark by the time we get to the cabin. We’d better head on down there.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when they heard three rapid shots cut through the cold air.

Diana felt her heart jolt inside her body and put a hand to her mouth as the shots echoed. They looked at each other, eyes wide.

Jordan had been found!

Looking into Knight’s eyes, she saw reflected there what appeared to be the same feelings that she was experiencing. But she couldn’t be sure.

I know I have no choice
, she thought.
Even if it means living alone, I must tell Jordan of my salvation. Lord, I will not go against the plain command in Your Word. I will not marry a man who is an unbeliever. Please give me the courage and wisdom that I need to handle this situation
.

Holding each other’s gaze for a brief, silent moment, Knight and Diana turned their horses and began their slow descent down the snowy slopes toward the cabin and to whatever the future held.

As they rode, both of them had mixed emotions. They were glad and relieved to know Jordan had been found, but for Knight, it meant Jordan had claim on the young woman who had captured his heart.

For Diana, it meant she must tell Jordan immediately that unless he became a Christian, she would not marry him. She had
no idea what his response would be, but from what Knight had told her about Jordan’s rejection of Christ all of these years, she figured it would probably be negative. Stiffening her legs and pressing her feet hard against the stirrups as they moved down a steep embankment, she told herself that even if Jordan did get saved, it still would be wrong to marry him. She was in love with Knight. Again, she prayed for God’s help.

They reached ground that was relatively more level, and within a few minutes, they were drawing near the cabin. Suddenly Diana caught sight of movement among the trees off to her right, and focusing on the spot, she pointed. “Knight, there they are.”

William and Mark were riding toward them. “I don’t see Jordan,” Knight said, frowning.

“I noticed that right away,” she said.

Knight and Diana reached the cabin first, and dismounted. As William and Mark drew near, they saw that William was weeping.

“Oh no,” said Knight. “Looks like bad news.”

Diana nodded, her eyes fixed on William.

As they drew rein, William was now sobbing so hard he couldn’t speak.

Mark slid from the saddle, helped his father-in-law down, and looked at Knight and Diana. “We found a cave up at about ten thousand feet. By the tracks we saw in the snow all around the mouth of the cave, it had to have been the lair of Ol’ Halfpaw. The right forepaw definitely had two claws missing. As you said, Knight, the tracks were easily identifiable.”

Mark choked up, swallowed hard, and blinked at the tears in his eyes. “We … ah … we found Jordan’s torn-up coat and clothing inside the cave, along with what was left of his body. We buried the remains under some large rocks outside the cave.”

Even though Diana had never met Jordan, and even though in her mind, she had already given her heart to Knight, she gasped at Mark’s words. Stepping up to William, who was now weeping silently, she touched his arm and said, “Mr. Shaw, I’m so very, very sorry.”