Seventeen

It was past noon when Gabe and Ben came back to the boardinghouse. Faith had served lunch for her boarders, and they’d taken off for town or to visit friends afterward. Matt and Hope had gone to visit friends, and Rose was resting upstairs before coming back down to help Faith start supper.

“Anything left to eat, sis?” Ben asked.

“I can make you a sandwich.”

“That would be great.”

Both men seemed much more relaxed than they had been when they left. “Thank you, Lord,” Faith whispered as she fixed them each a sandwich from the leftover roast of the night before.

“We have a plan in place, but the marshal asked us to keep it quiet. He wants reactions to what might happen Monday to be genuine. But I think he’s going to get to the bottom of it all,” Gabe said.

“I sure hope so. It’s one thing to be accused of something you’ve done. Another entirely to be accused of something you’d never do,” Ben said. “I’d thought about staying out at the farm this weekend and sending word to you by one of the neighbors that might be coming in. But I’m sure glad we came on into town. I can’t believe Jarvis can win this thing, but we need to keep in mind that if that should happen, the Lord will see us through.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling myself all day,” Faith said. “We’ve started over once; we can do it again with the Lord’s help.”

“We checked with a lawyer, and he said that if Jarvis is awarded the claim, he felt sure that he’ll have to pay you something for the improvements that have been made,” Gabe said.

“And I can’t see how it could happen any other way,” Ben said.

“Neither can I. Well, I’m going down the street to get some work done. Time passes faster when I’m busy.”

“You’re right about that. I’ll be down to help out after I visit with Faith for a few minutes.”

Gabe nodded. “See you then. Thank you for the lunch, Faith. We should have stopped and got something at a café instead of making more work for you.”

“You’re welcome, Gabe. It was no bother, really.”

Gabe hesitated at the door for a moment and then opened it to go out. “See you later.”

“See you later.”

Faith turned to see her brother watching her closely, a smile on his face. She picked up his and Gabe’s empty plates and took them over to the sink. “Want some coffee?” she asked, knowing what his answer would be and already pouring him a cup.

“Yeah, I’d like a cup if you’ll sit with me for a bit.”

“I’ll be glad to take a break.” She joined him at the table. “Besides, I want to hear how you like the farm and—”

“I want to talk to you about Gabe and your feelings for him.”

“What are you talking about?” She’d just brought her cup to her lips, but her hands began to tremble, and she quickly returned it to its saucer.

“Faith, I’ve seen how the two of you look at each other. You care about him. He cares about you. In fact, I think he’s in love with you.”

Faith’s heart swelled to near bursting at her brother’s words and then quickly deflated as if pricked with a pin. Unbidden tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “It’d be best if he’s not.”

“Why? I know you care for Gabe. It’s been clear to me since long before I ever went to the farm.”

“You are right. I won’t deny it. But nothing can ever come from it, Ben.”

“Why not?”

Faith shook her head as tears she’d tried to hold back began to flow, and she brushed them with her hands. “No man is going to want to marry a woman who can’t give him children. I saw the disappointment in Noah’s eyes. I don’t want to see it in Gabe’s.”

“Faith, I’m sorry. But if a man loves a woman, he can accept a lot of things. You didn’t know you wouldn’t have children when you married Noah, and he loved you anyway.”

“But I saw that love change over time, and—”

“Faith, Gabe isn’t Noah. If you love him and if he asks you to marry him, tell him what you’ve told me. Then let him decide.”

“I don’t know if I can bear to tell him. It’d just be better if he doesn’t ask.”

“I have a feeling he’s going to ask, so you might as well be prepared for it. I love you, sis. I want you to be happy, and I think that can happen if you will allow Gabe to make his own decision about having children.”

“He won’t want me once he knows I can’t have any.”

“Don’t make up his mind for him, Faith. Let him be the one to do that.” Ben got up and kissed the top of her head. “Are you okay?”

At her nod and sniff, he said, “Trust that the Lord has a plan, sis. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.” Faith watched her brother go, thinking that she knew God had a plan. But she fully believed it was for her to accept the fact that she and Gabe weren’t meant to be.

❧

In spite of Monday’s hearing looming over their thoughts, they managed to have a wonderful Lord’s Day. It was good to be in church together—the sermon seemed meant just for them. It was taken from Psalm 56:3 and talked about putting one’s trust in the Lord when one was afraid. It went straight to Faith’s heart. She’d been afraid of so much in the last few days. Perhaps she hadn’t trusted the Lord for the outcome the way she should. By the time the service was over, Faith was determined to turn her worries over to the Lord.

She’d put a ham on early that morning, and it was done to perfection for Sunday dinner. Several trees at the back of the lot gave good shade, and Gabe and Ben set up a croquet course under their branches. Everyone took a turn playing later in the day when it cooled off a bit.

Somehow word had gotten around that someone was causing problems for Faith and Gabe, and her boarders were a little concerned about what would happen if Jarvis won his case, yet they were very supportive, asking if they could do anything to help.

“Thank you so much. We’d appreciate your prayers,” Faith said. “It’s all in the Lord’s hands now. Hopefully it will all be settled tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m going to give my witness if needed,” Rose said. “I know when you came in to town, and they aren’t about to find you guilty of coming in and jumping a claim if I have anything to do with it.”

Faith bent down and hugged the woman, who’d just brought out a pitcher of lemonade. “Thank you for all the support you give me, Rose.”

She’d come to love Rose like a mother. She felt blessed that the Lord had led her to them.

By the time she went to bed that night, Faith felt hopeful that things would turn out all right, but she was ready to accept whatever happened the next day. She fell into a deep sleep, and it was only hearing a commotion outside her window that woke her the next morning. The sun was barely up when she looked out the window to find men swarming her lot with picks and shovels. She threw on her clothes and hurried outside to find Ben and Gabe already sipping coffee and watching her yard being torn up.

“What is going on here? Ben? Gabe? Why are you sitting here letting these men dig up my yard?”

“Don’t have much choice, Faith,” Gabe said. “Those are the marshal’s people. They are looking for the money Jarvis may have buried back there.”

“Oh. . .”

“Go grab a cup of coffee and join us.”

“I don’t have time for that. I have to make breakfast for the boarders.”

“Well, will you bring ours out here?” Ben asked.

“Ben, we can go get it ourselves when it’s ready,” Gabe said. “Faith works hard enough as it is.”

“Okay. Please call us when it’s ready, sis,” Ben grinned and winked at her.

Faith shook her head and sighed as she went back in to make breakfast. The hearing was set for one o’clock. She certainly hoped they found something before then, but from the piles of dirt outside, she was beginning to doubt that they would.

Just as she’d set everything out on the sideboard and rung the bell to tell her boarders breakfast was ready, there seemed to be more commotion outside, and she ran out to her porch.

“What is it this time?” But no one had to answer; she could see that the deputies had unearthed a box, and Jarvis seemed to have shown up out of nowhere.

“Why, Logan must have buried that there.” He nodded at the marshal. “I told ya Logan was a crook!”

“Jarvis you’d better go easy on the accusations. We’ll settle it all at the hearing,” the marshal said. He nodded to two of his men. “You keep an eye on him and make sure he shows up at one o’clock sharp.”

“Yes, sir.”

The marshal tipped his hat to Faith. “Mornin’, ma’am. Sorry to mess up your yard. I’ll make sure my men put it back the way it was. See you after awhile.”

Faith only nodded. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or frightened about what was going to happen at the hearing, so she closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer. “Dear Lord, please be with us today, please let the truth come out, and please let us keep our claims. Especially Gabe, Lord. He’s done so much for us, been there whenever we’ve needed him. And I love him, Lord. He’s already suffered so much sorrow. Please don’t let him suffer more. Thank You for everything, most especially for Your Son and our Savior. It is in His name I pray. Amen.”

❧

By the time the hearing got underway, there was standing room only. Jarvis made his claim, but when asked where his witnesses were, he could call on no one. “That don’t mean anythin’. I put claim to that lot where sits that boardinghouse. It’s rightly mine.”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve made that claim, Jarvis. But it’s time to put a stop to it one way or another,” the register of deeds said.

Faith was questioned first.

“To your knowledge, Miss Anderson, when did your brother come in to Guthrie?”

“He left camp the night before the run to go to the front of the line,” Faith said truthfully. “And I know my brother, sir. He would not have come in early.”

“And when did you come in?”

“I got here late on the twenty-second. So many people were here I had trouble finding my brother.”

“And is there anyone who can witness that?”

Rose stood up. “I can, sir. Faith and her niece and nephew left camp the same time I did. As soon as that gun went off on the twenty-second.”

“And Gabe Logan. When did he come in?”

“I don’t know that, sir. He wasn’t with us.”

“He came in with me,” Ben said. “We were on the front of the line, and we took off about the same time when the gunshot went off to let us know we could. We reined in on our lots at the same time.”

“Do you have any other witnesses to that?”

“He does,” a man from the back of the room said. “I read about this in the paper and had to come. This Ben Thompson and Gabe Logan were at the front of the line with several others and me. Not one of us made a move before that gun went off.”

“And who are you, sir?”

“I’m Jed Green. I met these fellows at the line. They took off like a shot once that gun went off. But not a minute before.”

“Gabe Logan, when did you get into town?”

“I believe it was about midafternoon. Didn’t look at my watch. Didn’t figure it mattered. But I can tell you true. No one I know came in early or jumped a claim. Ben and I went over every inch of those lots to make sure no one else had put a stake down.”

“Is there anyone who can vouch for that?”

John Littleton came forward. “All I know is that I was there before these two men came in to town. And I never saw this Jarvis fellow until the next morning, when he accused Ben of stealing his lot. Now he’s saying Gabe Logan stole his or wants Faith’s. Which is it? He doesn’t seem to know what lot he says he laid claim to. I can’t believe we’re even having a hearing on this.”

“He’s a lyin’, too,” Jarvis yelled. “All these people are friends. They’d say anything to help each other. And Logan would say anything to help Thompson’s sister. He wants that lot for himself.”

“I have a lot, Jarvis. I don’t need Miss Anderson’s.”

“But that’s where you hid the money you stole in Arkansas City! That there box they found today is proof he’s a criminal like I told you, Marshal. When are you gonna arrest him?”

Total silence fell on the room as everyone waited for the marshal’s answer.

“Jarvis, there’s only one way you could know Gabe stole that money. And that’s if you saw him do it.”

“I did! I’ve been telling you that.”

“In Arkansas City on the 10th of November of last year?”

“That’s right.”

“Well Jarvis, it appears to me that you are the liar. There is no way you could have witnessed Mr. Logan robbing that dry goods store because he was in a jail in Wichita, Kansas, on that date for a crime he didn’t commit. And I have proof of all that.”

“Why—why. . .” Jarvis seemed at a loss for words.

“Furthermore,” the marshal continued, “the only way you knew about the robbery and the location of the box that had been buried was because you were the one who robbed that store. And you are the one who came in early and buried that box. That’s why you wanted that lot so bad. Deputies, arrest this man.”

Jarvis tried to get away, but Gabe wrestled him to the ground before giving him over to the deputies. “Glad that’s all settled, Jarvis. Now you can pay for your crime.”

The register of deeds pounded his gavel. “This hearing will come to an end. Gabe Logan and Faith Anderson are the owners of the lots they’ve registered. There’ll be no more hearings on this subject.”

Ben gathered Faith and Gabe in a big hug, and everyone who’d come to help them came to congratulate them. Finally, it was over.