Chapter 15

 

 

That next morning, according to Jacobi’s plan, I ran down to Mr. Holland’s livery with the required deposit and rented us a spring-board wagon. I drove it back up to the hotel and waited, anxious to get out to the Adams’ place and take a look.

I’d dreamed again of the cabin. In my dream, I could see everything clearly, including the horses in the corral, the barn with one door open, and the small cabin itself, smoke curling out of the chimney again. Of course, I knew that dreams were made of the heart’s desire, as Mama had always said. Probably when we got to the place Miss Laura and Jacobi had spoken of, it would be nothing at all like the vision in my dream.

What if someone else had already bought it? My heart sank at the thought. I’d been too excited to sleep last night, my head filled with thoughts and possibilities. There would be another place, if that one was already taken, I tried to reassure myself. But I’d already pinned so much on that particular piece of property that it was impossible to try to think of any place else as being quite as good—even though I hadn’t seen it. I squirmed on the seat impatiently, wishing they’d hurry up.

Finally, Jacobi and Miss Laura came out of the hotel together. I set the brake and climbed into the back of the wagon as Jacobi helped Miss Laura up. He climbed up, still a mite stiffly, and released the brake.

“How far is it?” I asked.

Miss Laura smiled at me. “Not far. We’ll be there before you know it.”

She was right, too. None of us were saying much of anything. Jacobi handled the team easily, and as usual, he missed no detail, his eyes scanning the road as he drove. Miss Laura seemed happy to just be with us. She moved a little closer to Jacobi once we got out of town, and he put his arm across the back of the seat.

That made me smile. The more I was around Jacobi, the more I was becoming like him. I wasn’t missing any details, either.

“It’s just over this next hill,” Miss Laura said. She turned around and patted my shoulder. “Here, on our side of the road, Will.”

As the property came into view, I felt like my heart would burst.

It was all I’d seen in my dreams, and more. The corral and livestock pens were posted and gated, which had taken lots of hard work. A couple of the side rails had fallen out of the notches that had been cut for them, but we could fix that, easy. Even if some of the fencing needed repair, the hard work of putting it all up in the first place had already been done.

The cabin came into view a little farther down the road. Jacobi drew the horses to a slow stop, taking it all in from the top of the rise where we sat.

Miss Laura looked at him as if to question, but whatever she saw in his face brought a shy smile to her lips.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” she asked softly.

He didn’t say a word for a few seconds. Then he nodded. “Yeah. It is.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “You think this might fit the bill, son?”

For some reason, that made my breath catch. No one in my life had ever much cared what I thought about anything, but Jacobi had been different. There had been a bond between us from the very start that had been lacking between my father and me. Maybe it was because of what we’d both lost; because of what had been taken from us, and then given back in a way that was different, but wonderful, all the same.

“I like it,” I answered, keeping my answer short so my emotion wouldn’t betray me.

Jacobi shook the reins and the horses started forward once again.

I swallowed hard. I was on my knees looking over the sideboard, watching the fences and corrals and outbuildings go by.

This place had belonged to someone who had tended to it with lots of love and pride. It made me sad to see the fence rails falling out, laying on the ground. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be hard to fix, I knew Mr. Adams, whoever he had been, wouldn’t’ve stood for those rails being on the ground for one minute longer than necessary. I felt a kind of pulling in my chest along with a desire to jump out of that wagon and go do what I could to fix it right then. But, I knew that was silly. It wasn’t my business to take care of it. Not yet, anyway.

Jacobi drew the horses up in front of the cabin and set the brake. He and Miss Laura both sat still, just looking at the little place, as if trying to see any flaws.

There were none. It seemed perfect. It had been made of logs, but was set on a stone foundation. The door faced eastward, inviting the morning sun to spill through the real leaded glass windows on either side of the entrance.

Jacobi climbed down and helped Miss Laura from the wagon, and I jumped down beside her. She reached out and put her arm around me, like it wasn’t nothin’ for either one of us to be ashamed of. An’ Jacobi smiled, never sayin’ a word to her about how she shouldn’t do it.

“Let’s go have a look,” Jacobi said, leading the way to the front door.