The Shepherd's Voice (38 page)

Finally, Andy spoke. “You make real good coffee, Akira. Better than my wife, but don’t tell her I said so.”

Gabe ran out of patience with both the silence and the attempt at small talk. “So what brought you all the way out here, Andy? Wasn’t for coffee. Not in weather like this.”

“No, it wasn’t.” The sheriff leaned back in his chair. “I’m on my way down to Boise. A friend of mine’s in the hospital there.” He gave his head a slight shake. “Nothing serious, but I wanted to talk to him a bit more. He mentioned something when we spoke on the telephone last week that’s been bothering me.” He looked at Akira. “This friend works for the state government, and he said there’s been some sort of talk—nothing official, mind you—about building a dam and flooding this valley to make a reservoir.”

“What?”
Akira and Gabe exclaimed in unison.

Andy nodded. His gaze dropped to his coffee mug. “Hudson Talmadge has been looking for loopholes that would allow him to take the land from you. You’re the only significant holdout. Most others who’d be impacted by a dam have sold to him.” He looked up again. “So far, he hasn’t succeeded in finding that loophole. He doesn’t seem to have much support. But I thought it couldn’t hurt to poke around a bit. See what else I can learn.”

“Surely he couldn’t
take
this land from us?” Akira whispered, looking at Gabe with unbelieving eyes. “We own it, free and clear. It was my grandfather’s. Now it’s ours.”

Gabe held her hand.

He knew his father hated to fail. Hudson would do anything
he had to do to get what he wanted. And sometimes men with power twisted the law to suit themselves.

“I’m not saying he’ll be able to do it,” the sheriff answered. “But forewarned is forearmed, as they say.” He took a last gulp of coffee, then set the mug on the table and rose from his chair. “I’d better get back on the road. I don’t want to get stuck in this storm.”

Gabe and Akira followed Andy to the door where they bid him a safe trip.

As they watched the sheriff walk to his car, Akira said, “Your father won’t succeed, will he?”

Gabe pulled her into his embrace. “No, he won’t.”

He hoped he spoke the truth.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Danny wanted a drink. He
needed
a drink. When was the last time he’d been sober for four days in a row? Five years? Even more? Too long ago for him to remember, he supposed.

Seated behind his desk, Hudson Talmadge peered at him with disdain, as if he were a bug about to be crushed beneath his shoe. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Sure I do. You bailed me out ’cause you want me t’do your dirty work.”

Hudson’s eyes narrowed.

The two of them were alone at the mill. Not even that secretary was around today. But why should he be? The lumbermill had shut down completely. Not a single employee left. The place was as quiet as a tomb.

“Look, Peck.” Hudson leaned forward on his chair. “This is your opportunity to get even with my son and his wife. No one will notice you as long as you’re careful. They’ll be too busy with their Thanksgiving celebrations.” His tone mocked the holiday. “And
if
you succeed, you can get away from Ransom with what I’ll pay you. You can go someplace with a warmer climate. You’ll have plenty to drink and plenty of friends to drink with.”

Danny could use a drink. His mouth was parched, and his
hands were trembling. There was liquor in that cabinet against the wall. He knew it was there because he’d seen the fancy crystal decanters last time he was in this office. But Hudson wasn’t offering.

What was worse was Danny didn’t have the money to buy a drink when he got back to town. He was broke, and unless he accepted Hudson’s offer, that condition wasn’t likely to change soon. With the close of the Talmadge mill, more folks had left town and others would be leaving soon. There weren’t going to be any odd jobs to be had for the asking. Nor would there be many kind souls left who were willing to give a handout to somebody like him.

“Well, Peck?”

Danny’s thoughts turned to Akira. She reckoned herself better than him. Holier than thou, as his ma used to say. Akira had never given Danny the time of day, but she’d let that convict move right in. As if Gabe was better than Danny.

He was tired of being looked down on. Tired of everybody’s self-righteous attitudes.

Hudson Talmadge wasn’t asking him to do more to Akira and Gabe than what they deserved. He wasn’t asking him to do more than what Danny wanted to do.

“All right.” He stood. “I’ll do it.”

There were eight of them around the Thanksgiving table this year, and it filled Akira’s heart with joy to look at the other seven: Lindy Jones, still pale but growing stronger with each passing day; Lindy’s two children, Ethan and Fern; Charlie and Nora Wickham; Brodie Lachlan; and Gabe. Mark Wickham had volunteered to stay with the sheep while the rest partook of the feast the women had prepared. Akira had promised to save him some of everything.

“Heavenly Father,” Gabe prayed aloud, all of them standing except for Lindy. “We ask Your blessing upon this food, which has been so lovingly prepared for us. We have countless reasons to be thankful on this day, Lord. We thank You for Your free gift of salvation, for the grace You’ve poured out upon us, the people You’ve called unto Yourself. We thank You for this good land, for the crops and the livestock, for the rain and the sun and even this season of snow. May we learn to draw closer to You and be able to say, like the apostle Paul, that we’re content, whether we have much or little. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.”

“Amen,” the others echoed.

They all sat down, and in a matter of seconds, the room grew noisy with several competing conversations, with laughter, and with the clatter of utensils against plates, platters, and serving bowls.

Akira’s heart was too full with thanksgiving to stop praying yet.

Thank You
,
Jesus
,
for sparing Lindy’s life. Thank You for Ethan and Fern. Help heal the wounds in their hearts
,
O God.

Her gaze moved to the opposite side of the table.

Thank You for Brodie. Lord
,
You know how stubborn he can be. He has yet to surrender to Your love. Break down those walls
,
Jesus.

Nora looks better
,
Lord
,
and I thank You for that. Continue to strengthen her. Bless Charlie for his hard work here on Dundreggan. Jesus
,
keep Mark warm out there with the sheep on this cold and windy day.

As she looked toward the opposite end of the table, Gabe glanced up and met her gaze.

Thank You
,
Father God
,
for my husband. Thank You for making us one. And thank You for this child
,
growing inside me
,
a child fashioned by Your loving hands and loaned to us for a time.

Gabe smiled, and she knew his silent prayers were much the same as her own.

“Ma?” Fern said. “I ain’t never seen so much food on one table before. Is this just for us here or is there more comin’?”

“Hush, child,” Lindy said, clearly embarrassed.

Akira laughed. “But she’s right, Mrs. Jones. It
is
a lot of food. Even for eight of us. Nine, counting Mark.”

“And it’s all delicious, too,” Nora chimed in. “Akira, you must give me your recipe for this dressing.”

“I’d be pleased to.”

“Miz Talmadge?”

“Yes, Fern.”

“Kin I have some
of everythin’?”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and Akira fought to keep them from falling. “Of course you can.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You can even have two helpings if you want.”

Pauline stood at her bedroom window, staring into the distance without seeing, lost in thought. Her parents would be sitting down to dinner about this time, joined by her cousins from Philadelphia who were visiting for the winter. They would dine on roast turkey and baked ham with a honey glaze and potatoes and gravy and those scrumptious rolls Cook made every year. Oh, and the pies and puddings. How she’d always loved Cook’s desserts.

There would be no special Thanksgiving meal in the Talmadge household today. In the past, she and Hudson had entertained to impress or to curry favor from the right people. Things were different this year. Hudson hadn’t told her, of course, but she knew he was in trouble. She could see it in his eyes. It was part of his rage. It was part of his madness.

“I should be more afraid.”

Odd, that she wasn’t. She couldn’t say why. It wasn’t because
she didn’t think Hudson capable of striking her again. She knew he might. In fact, she knew he would if she got in his way. And yet, she wasn’t afraid.

“Because greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”

She pressed the small Bible against her chest, taking comfort in the feel of it.

Amazing.

She looked up at the crystal blue sky. “For the first time in my life,” she whispered, “I understand what Thanksgiving is about. For the first time, I’m truly thankful. Because of You, Lord. All because of You.”

“I cain’t figure you out,” Ethan said as he trudged through the snow beside Akira, both of them carrying food for Mark.

“Why’s that?”

“I been goin’ into town for supplies and such ever since my pa died. I know what most folk think of Ma. Nobody’s ever tried helpin’ her before. They call her Looney Lindy, you know.”

“So I’ve heard. That’s unkind. No one should call another names.”

He was silent awhile before saying, “Ma would’ve died if’n Mr. Talmadge hadn’t come.”

“That’s what the doctor believes.” She glanced at the boy. “But God took care of her. And you and your sister, too.”

Ethan didn’t reply as they continued their climb up a small foothill.

On the path in front of them, Cam came to a sudden halt. The dog lowered her head and growled a warning.

Akira placed a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Stay here,” she
whispered as she passed him the plate she carried. She moved cautiously forward, wishing she’d brought her rifle. Heavy snowfall often brought predators down from the high country, looking for an easy kill.