A Gathering of Memories (23 page)

“Aaron, we were just looking for you. We need your money in this poker game.” The men around the table laughed, and Aaron Marks pulled out a chair and joined them.

“Where’d you go? We had to wait the game for ya.”

“A man’s got to answer the call of nature sometimes.” The words were said with good humor and again the laughter around the table was too loud, the result of “a few too many.” Had the vision of the men been a little less blurred, they might have noticed the ashen complexion of Marks’ face, and how his hand shook as he lifted his glass to drink and then picked up his cards.

Mid-morning of the next day, Luke and Silas were working with a buyer from Delton. A bit of light dickering over the price of a mare was taking place when Silas looked up to see Rufus Collins entering the barn. Silas met him near the door, and the men spoke in quiet tones.

“What’s happened, Rufus?” With his heart pounding, Silas asked the question directly. The look on the face of Baxter’s sheriff was foreboding.

“Ward Jackson was murdered sometime last night—hit over the head with a shovel. Sorry to tell you like this, Silas, but I knew you’d want to be the one to tell those kids.”

“Who would do such a thing?” Silas was stunned.

“We don’t have any suspects at this point. Jackson had just arrived back in town.”

“We knew he was here because he came by yesterday looking for his wife and kids.”

“I never did locate him. How’d he know to come here?”

“Mandy left a note for him at their house.”

“So he knew about his wife?”

“No, Mandy told him after he got here. He decided to leave the kids with us. He told us he was headed back out of town and that he’d be in touch.”

“When was this?”

“Just after lunch. When do you think he died?”

“I can only assume but I’d say not too long after sundown. The palm of one hand was cut and the shovel laying next to him had a splintered handle.”

“What would he have been digging?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Who found him?”

“Aaron Marks.”

“Aaron Marks?”

“Yeah. Said he had business with Jackson and heard he was back in town. Said when he went out there this morning to see him, there he was—dead on the doorstep.” They talked for a few minutes more, and then Rufus headed back into town.

Silas was caught off guard when Mandy came out to the barn only a few minutes after he’d left.

“Why was the sheriff here, Silas? Has something happened to my pa?” Her face told him she suspected the worst.

“He’s dead, Mandy.” Silas said the words gently, wishing he’d had more time.

“Oh, Silas, no! He just got back. We didn’t get to see him at all!” Silas reached forward and drew her into his arms. He saw that Luke had discreetly taken their customer to the far side of the barn. Silas led a crying Mandy over to a nearby bench.

“How? What happened?” she spoke through her tears.

“It was at your house. He was hit with a shovel.”

She was again overcome. Silas would have given anything to spare her the gruesome details, but they were going to come out sooner or later and it was best she hear it from him.

“I was hanging up some laundry when I saw the sheriff ride away. I knew, I just knew, something awful had happened.” She worked at composing herself. “What am I going to tell Becca and the boys? Carrie will be okay, but how will I ever explain it to them?”

Silas had no answers for her at the moment. He was sitting beside her, holding her hand, when Luke approached. Silas explained in as few words as possible. Luke suggested, with his eyes on Mandy’s white face, that he go for Mark.

“No, I’ll be okay. I just need a few minutes before I go in to see Carrie and the kids,” she answered for Silas.

“Why don’t you let me tell them?”

“Thank you, Silas, but I think I should be the one.”

“Why is Mandy crying?” The question came from Clovis, who with Levi suddenly darted into the barn. Mandy was given as little time to adjust as Silas had been given.

“We know you said you had to see a buyer, Silas, but we saw him leave and thought it was okay to come in.” Levi said these words, a little intimidated by the serious look on the big man’s face.

“Come here, boys.” Levi and Clovis unquestioningly obeyed their sister. There were still some tears on her face but Mandy’s voice was clear as she reached out and touched them, explaining what had transpired.

Silas thought if he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget the look on Levi’s face when he found out that his father was dead. Neither boy cried, but while Clovis was understandably upset and even a little confused, Levi, after a momentary look of pain, visibly built a wall around himself. His expression became very guarded.

“I suppose you’re going to tell me
this
was God’s will.”

“Levi,” his sister said almost sternly, upon hearing the cynicism in his young voice. “There were years of hurting before I understood how much God cares for me, and I’m hurting right now, but Levi, I have hope, something I never had before I trusted in God. Pa is dead and I can’t change that, but I do know that God still loves us and always will.”

For an instant her eyes dared him to refute her, then she grabbed him and hugged him to her fiercely. His sturdy brown arms went around her neck and he held on as though for his life.

After a moment Mandy’s arms opened and Clovis was pulled into their circle. There were more tears, many of them, but Mandy spoke to them tenderly and held them close. Luke and Silas, looking on, could only marvel at the special way she had with them and the tremendous love that obviously filled her heart for her young brothers.

Everything was strangely familiar and Mandy felt like her heart would burst as she looked at yet another pine box, this one holding her father.

It was the morning of the next day and she’d had to remind the children that the only reason they’d waited so long with their mother’s funeral was that they’d hoped their father would return home.

Well, Ward Jackson had come home, and less than 48 hours after seeing him standing in the living room, his casket was being lowered into the ground. The faces around the gravesite were more familiar this time. Ross had deliberately positioned himself next to Mandy. She had not spoken to him, however.

None of the children cried. Silas and Amy were near, but the five Jacksons seemed to huddle together at the edge of the grave. They were still standing in the same position when the service ended and people came over to offer condolences. Mandy and Carrie thanked everyone as they passed by, and when it was down to Silas and Amy, Mandy spoke.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever stop wondering where Pa was and how it would be to go back and live with him when he came. I worried at first, but lately I just prayed when I thought of it. Now the wondering is over.”

“If you’re trying to ask us if you’re still welcome in our home, the answer is yes.”

“Are you sure? There won’t be anyone else coming for us.”

“We understand that, and the offer still stands.”

“Thank you,” Mandy said simply, her eyes still on the grave.

“We’ll be at the wagon.” Amy spoke the words as she and Silas moved away.

Mandy turned to her siblings. “We can, if you want, go back and live at the house. I could get work in town, and we’d get by somehow.”

“Do you want to go back there, Mandy?” Levi asked.

“I want to do whatever everyone else wants, just as long as we’re together. Carrie, where do you want to go—out there or with Silas and Amy?”

“With Silas and Amy.”

“Levi?”

“Silas and Amy.”

“Clovis?”

“Silas and Amy.”

“Becca? Becca? Are you going to answer me?”

“What if Pa needs us?”

Mandy hunched down in front of her sister and spoke with her face close. “Becca, Pa won’t be home anymore. He’s dead, and even if we went back to the house he wouldn’t be there. Do you understand?”

“Like Mama.”

“Yes, like Mama.” They hugged then, and Mandy wondered what was going on in her young mind.

“We’re going to stay with you,” Becca informed Silas and Amy at the wagon. They accepted this silently, even as their hearts welled up with joy. As the wagon moved in the direction of Grandma Em’s, all the children stared in grief at the place that would forever hold the physical bodies of their parents.

Mandy had determined not to make a fool of herself, as she felt she had done with Ross on their prior meetings. Ross, though unaware of her thoughts, felt her reserve with him even
after they’d arrived at Grandma Em’s. He hoped it was because of her grief and not something more permanent, as he suspected.

Ross had rejected Mandy, deliberately. Oh, it had been subtle, but it was rejection. Even as he felt a deep sense of loss, he reminded himself that he was the one to blame. She had wanted to get close to him, even before she was saved, but with just enough words and actions, he had carefully kept her at a distance. And now he ached to be close enough to her, emotionally and physically, to allow him the right to comfort her.

But Mandy and Carrie were in deep conversation with Aunt April and as much as he wanted to join them, he didn’t feel he had that right.