“Are you headed home Katie, or out to Taylors’?”
“I’m going to walk out to Joey Parker’s and then to Taylors’. I’ll see you when you get there.”
It was the Saturday afternoon of Kaitlin’s first week at the mercantile and she and Sean had both worked that day. Marcail was with May. Sean watched his sister head out of the store, his heart a little doubtful about what she was doing.
Sean had more work to do and he told himself, as he headed back to the loading platform, that Katie wouldn’t do anything stupid.
Kaitlin’s first view of Joey Parker’s home made her wonder if it had been such a smart idea to come. It wasn’t the house itself, but the location. Kate knew that the church was not too far away—but no one would be there on a Saturday night. There was a wooded area that bordered two sides of the house, giving it a feeling of being closed off from the world.
She had prayed very seriously about coming here and just how God would want her to handle her relationship with Joey, or if she was even to have a relationship with him.
The event that clinched the decision for her was remembering the way he had hung around the church. He hadn’t been back since she took him in and sat with him but Kate was sure he was interested. This little boy needed Christ.
Her thoughts kept her feet moving toward the rundown building. Kate stepped carefully around the junk in the front yard and at one point caught her dress on some rusty barbed wire. Her hand returned again and again to her nose and she tried not to think about what might be causing the dreadful odor that hung in the air.
Her knock at the front door brought furious barking from within. If Kaitlin hadn’t been frozen in terror she’d have bolted for her life. She thought she might faint when the door was thrown open and a dog the size of a small horse, stood in the doorway, barking as though he was going to devour her on the spot.
“Stop it Frank, be quiet,” Joey maneuvered himself beside the huge animal and was shouting almost as loud as the dog barked. It took Kate a moment to realize they’d been joined by a third person.
“You must be Joey’s father.” Kaitlin had to shout to be heard. “I’m Miss Donovan, Joey’s—”
“Shut up!” the man suddenly bellowed, and Kate, Joey and Frank all halted in their tracks. The dog lay down next to the stoop with his head on his paws, looking for all the world like an innocent pup.
Kaitlin’s hand had gone to her throat and she was hoping Parker wouldn’t ask her in because she didn’t think she could move her legs. She was also conscious of Parker’s eyes on her, so she tried to collect herself enough to speak.
“I hope I’m not coming at a bad time, but I really wanted to see Joey. I’m his teacher, Miss Donovan, and I’ve missed him since school let out. I came to see how he was doing.” Kate made an instantaneous decision about returning to this place.
“Mr. Parker, would you have a problem with Joey coming to visit me in town?” There was no reply. In fact, Kate was beginning to wonder if he’d understood anything she said.
If Kaitlin thought the yard smelled bad, she didn’t know what to think of Parker himself. His shirt had holes in it and was covered with grease and dirt. His boots hung open and Kate could see no socks on his dirty legs. His binders hung down around his knees and she was a little worried he was going to lose the filthy pants he wore.
Most of his teeth were missing and his hair and beard needed trimming. He wasn’t that much taller than Kaitlin but looked a good deal heavier, with a stomach that protruded far over the waistline of his pants. His eyes were dark and watchful and they looked Kate in the eye with a keen intelligence she’d not been expecting.
When a full minute had passed and Parker had still not spoken Kate tried again, this time with Joey.
“How have you been Joey?”
“Fine.” His voice was carefully neutral but his eyes revealed that he was glad to see her.
“Joey, would you like to come and visit me? I work during the day, but if you want to come any evening during the week, I’d welcome you. Do you know where I live?”
“Yes, Miss Donovan.”
“Good! Then all we need to do is get your father’s permission.” Kate turned with a smile she didn’t feel and looked inquiringly at the man. When he still did not give an answer, she managed to stretch her smile a little farther and say with false cheerfulness, “Well Joey, it seems your father has no objections so I’ll expect to see you sometime next week.” Kaitlin watched as the little boy looked to his father. He must have seen something affirmative because he looked back at Kate and gave a slight nod, his face lighting briefly with a look of yearning.
“I’ll look forward to seeing you. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Parker. Bye now.”
Kate forced herself not to look back until she was just about to step out of sight. When she did turn around, she saw that they were both as she’d left them—even the dog was still lying quietly. She gave a small wave that Joey returned. A few seconds later the trees hid her from view and her tears began to fall.
“You can’t have him, Kaitlin. As much as you want to go back and steal that little boy and cherish him forever, you can’t.”
Kate cried and walked in the direction of the Taylors’, praying as she went that Joey would come next week. She didn’t think she could ever go back to that place. But then Joey’s dirty little face and yearning eyes swam before her. She told the Lord that she had to reach that boy, that she’d do whatever He asked of her if it would give her a chance to tell him of Christ’s love.
“Did Kate head home to get her things?” Rigg asked. He and Sean were closing up for the night.
“No, she sent everything out with your dad this morning when he picked up Marc. She went to see Joey Parker.”
“Is that what she said?”
“Yeah. She plans to walk to your folks’ after.” Sean felt uncertain and then fearful at the look on Rigg’s face. What was this Parker guy like? Sean didn’t ask the question aloud, but followed Rigg as he made a beeline for the wagon.
Kate had her tears under control by the time Rigg’s wagon rolled into view. The horses were approaching so fast that Kaitlin thought something might be wrong. Rigg jumped down almost before the wagon stopped and ran toward her through a cloud of dust.
“Are you all right?” He grasped her upper arms and waited for her to answer.
“Yes. What’s happened?”
Rigg didn’t answer. His relief was so great that he pulled Kate into his arms and held her almost fiercely. She was too surprised to be upset and looked at him with wide eyes when he once again held her away from him.
“Was Parker home?”
“Yes, he was there.”
Rigg’s hold tightened and Kaitlin flinched.
“I don’t want you to go there again.” Rigg’s eyes had gone black and he strove desperately to control his voice. “It’s not safe for a woman alone and I want your promise that you won’t go back.”
“I can’t do that. I mean, I invited Joey to come and see me but if he doesn’t, I just might have to come back out here. So I can’t make you that promise, Marshall.”
It was more than clear to Kate that Rigg was not satisfied with her response. She watched as he pulled in a deep breath and relaxed his hold on her arms.
“Will you make me this promise—that you won’t come out here again without telling me?”
“Yes.” Kate was able to answer him right away. The pain and worry in his eyes were very real.
“Please tell me why it’s so dangerous,” Kate said softly.
Rigg hesitated and then glanced at Sean who had come to stand with the horses.
“A woman was raped in these woods a few years back. There was no proof as to who did it, but the description the woman gave and everything she said pointed to Parker. He was even arrested but the woman was afraid to come in and identify him. Without some evidence they had to let him go.”
Kate’s hand had come to her mouth and Rigg pulled her into his arms one more time. This time, when he released her, his hand came up and the backs of his fingers stroked feather-light down her left cheek, his eyes once again telling her how frightened he’d been.
They were all a little drained as the wagon moved toward the Taylors’ and Rigg found himself touching Kate as they talked.
“Did I hurt your arms?”
“No,” she assured him softly.
He leaned forward slightly to see her face better and for a long moment their eyes met. It was Kate’s turn to touch Rigg when she saw the caring in his gaze. And he briefly covered the hand she put on his arm with his own, thanking God as he did for this woman and also asking Him to keep her safe.