John Griffith and Jessica were next. Theirs was the shortest trip, but John was anxious to get back in time to get in half a day’s work. As he and Jessica loaded Rachel and the two boys into their small wagon, the children wailed and made solemn vows to each other about all they would do when they got back together again. The women hugged Jessica. The men shook hands with John. Jessica’s baby was chucked under the chin and held up and cooed at, and then they were off, heading east.
Though he had the farthest to go, Joshua seemed the least concerned about getting an early start. Benjamin, Nathan, and Matthew helped him pack the wagon and hitch the team. Lydia and Caroline stayed at Mary Ann’s, gathering the leftovers from the night before—fried chicken, corn bread, some apple pie—along with the first of the season’s sweet corn and tomatoes from the garden. By the time the men returned with the wagon, the Steeds from Independence had enough food to take them safely on to New Orleans.
Finally it was time to load up. Matthew stepped forward and stuck out his hand to Will. There was four years’ difference in age, and technically they were stepuncle and nephew, but they paid that no mind, for they had become close friends. “Remember,” Matthew said, “you and your pa promised to take me to St. Joseph the next time you go that way.”
“We will,” Will vowed.
“Count on it,” Joshua added firmly. “We’ll be back through here in four to six weeks.”
Olivia went to Mary Ann and threw her arms around her waist. “Good-bye, Grandma.”
Mary Ann held her tight. At almost eleven years old, Olivia was growing fast now and was only an inch or two shorter than Mary Ann. Mary Ann bent down and kissed her cheek. “Good-bye, Olivia.”
“I’m so glad I have a grandpa and grandma now,” Olivia said fiercely.
Mary Ann had to blink quickly. “And we’re so glad that we’ve got such a lovely granddaughter as you.”
Olivia hugged Rebecca, her grandfather, and Nathan and Lydia and their children in quick order. But when she turned to Matthew she became suddenly quite demure and merely held out her hand. Matthew gave her a hurt look. “What? No hug for your Uncle Matthew?” He swept her up, swinging her off her feet, making her squeal in surprise. When he set her down finally, she shot a quick glance at Lydia, who smiled and nodded with a knowing look, then climbed up on the wagon, quite out of breath.
Savannah was in the arms of her grandfather. She was talking in a steady stream of her peculiar jabber, speaking to no one in particular. Caroline came to them. “All right, Savannah. It’s time to go. Say bye-bye to Grandpa.”
Savannah’s blue eyes surveyed her mother’s face gravely, but she didn’t move. Then she turned away, pointing over Benjamin’s shoulder and launching into a nonstop explanation about something that caught her eye. Benjamin chuckled. “You want to just stay here with Gampa?” he said. The red head bobbed up and down vigorously without turning around.
“Benjamin,” Mary Ann chided, “don’t make it harder than it is.”
Benjamin reached in his pocket and withdrew a small piece of hardtack candy. “Here, Savannah, this is so you’ll remember Gampa and come back soon.”
Savannah snatched it and popped it in her mouth, looking very smug about the whole thing. Caroline shook her head at her father-in-law. “You are shameless. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Benjamin said cheerfully. Then suddenly he pulled Savannah to him. “Good-bye, little sweetheart. You come back and see Gampa real soon.”
He stepped forward and handed Savannah to her mother. For a moment, he stood there awkwardly. Then he put his arms around mother and daughter. “Thank you, Caroline,” he whispered. “Thank you for not giving up on an ornery old man. Thank you for what you’ve done for all of us.”
Caroline’s eyes widened, then instantly filled with tears. She started to speak, but couldn’t get it out. She just went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Mary Ann was to them now as well. Then Lydia and Rebecca were there, all trying to hold one another. Caroline reached out and touched Mary Ann’s face. “Dear Mother Steed. I feel like I’ve known you for years. And my children do too. Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
Mary Ann could barely speak. “If you hadn’t come, none of this—” She couldn’t finish. She finally sniffed back the tears and looked at her little granddaughter. “And maybe if you come up here often enough, I’ll even get this little scamp to pay some attention to someone besides her grandfather.”
Savannah was watching her grandmother with those same wide eyes. The soberness of her expression suggested a much greater age than her fifteen months. Then she startled everyone. “Bye, Gamma,” she said, and leaned forward and gave Mary Ann a wet and sticky kiss smack on the lips.
“Oh, you precious little thing!” Mary Ann cried, holding her hands. “Grandma will buy you a whole bag of candy for that.”
Pleased with the delight she had caused, Savannah proceeded to dole out kisses to the rest of the family. Finally Caroline turned and walked to the wagon. Joshua took Savannah from her, and Nathan helped her up onto the wagon seat. Then Joshua handed up the little girl.
He turned to Nathan. For several seconds, the two brothers just looked at each other, then suddenly they were embracing, pounding each other on the back. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be. Joshua moved swiftly now. He gave Rebecca a huge bear hug, whispering something into her ear about Derek that made her laugh and nod happily. He grabbed Matthew’s hand and shook it firmly. “St. Jo. No later than the middle of next month. Agreed?” Matthew grinned back his answer.
Nathan’s firstborn son stood beside his father, waiting expectantly for his turn. Joshua walked to him and stuck out his hand. “Young Joshua?”
He took it and gripped it firmly. “Yes, Uncle Joshua?”
“You make me very proud of my name. I promise you I will not do anything to bring it shame.”
“Me too,” the boy said, beaming proudly.
“And I haven’t forgotten my promise to have Will teach you how to drive a team of horses, either.”
“Great!” Young Joshua said, nearly whooping it out.
Joshua took a step to the left and stooped down. He took Emily by the hand. “And here’s our birthday girl, a big six years old today.”
“Yep,” she crowed.
His voice got very soft. “A little Lydia, as pretty and wonderful as your mother. If I had known it was going to be your birthday, I would have brought you something. But next time I come I’ll bring you whatever you want. What will it be?”
There was not an instant’s hesitation. “A dress!”
“Done!” he laughed.
“Emily!” Lydia said in dismay.
“Now, Mother,” Joshua said, “you stay out of this. This is between me and your daughter.”
He straightened, and in doing so came up to face Lydia. Neither moved for a moment, then she opened her arms. He stepped into them and hugged her tightly. “If my brother doesn’t treat you right,” he growled, loud enough for Nathan to hear, “you let me know, and I’ll set him straight.”
She laughed. “I will.” Then she was instantly serious. “We’re so glad you’re back, Joshua. This has been a wonderful three days.”
He nodded. Then at last it was time for his parents. They were standing together now, watching him. Mary Ann was still weeping quietly, but there was no sadness in her eyes, only joy. Joshua swept her up, lifting her off her feet. “Oh, Mama, forgive me,” he whispered. “Forgive me for all those stupid, terrible years.”
When he set her down she took his face in both hands, pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear. “All what years?” she said.
They hugged again, then Joshua stepped back. The hesitancy was evident in his eyes. Benjamin saw it too. Three days before, when they had stood like this, facing each other across the room in Nathan’s cabin, Benjamin hadn’t had the courage to move until Joseph prompted him. Now, however, he did have it. He simply stepped forward and put his arms around his son. For almost a full minute, they held each other like that, not speaking, not moving, just holding each other.
Finally they separated. Benjamin stuck out his hand and Joshua gripped it hard. “Thank you, Pa.”
“No. Thank
you
, son. Thank you for coming home.”
“It felt like home,” he said softly. “It really felt like home again.” He stepped back and looked around. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He scanned the faces of the family forming a half circle around him; then he turned and smiled up at his wife, who was crying openly now. “I think we’d better get out of here before we’re all bawling like babies.”
* * *
They were about two hours out of Far West. The team was moving steadily southward, not needing much urging, for they seemed to know they were on the way home. Caroline, Olivia, and Savannah had stretched out on the mattress in the back of the wagon and were asleep. Joshua sat beside Will, who held the reins lightly in one hand. They had not spoken for several minutes. Then Will looked at his father. “Pa?” He spoke softly so as not to wake the women.
“What, Will?”
“When is Grandma’s birthday?”
One eyebrow came up.
“I’d like to get her something for her birthday.”
Joshua looked at his son, not trying to hide his pleasure. “What a fine idea, son!”
“But when is it?”
He thought for a moment. “October. October third.” He was nodding. “We could get her something nice, then come up to Far West and throw a real birthday party for her.”
“I’d like that.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Will. We’ll talk to Mother when she wakes up.”
“What about Grandpa? When is his birthday?”
This time Joshua had to search his memory a little more diligently. It had been a lot of years. “It’s in May,” he finally said. “The eighteenth, I think.”
Will’s face fell. “Oh.”
“What’s the matter with that?”
“We missed it, then.”
“Ah,” Joshua said, seeing the problem. Then he brightened. “But what if we celebrated it with Grandma’s? I think that would be all right, don’t you?”
Will was instantly relieved. “Yes. What shall we get them?”
That was not an easy question to answer, and Joshua thought about it for a minute. “For your grandmother, I think we’d better trust your mother’s judgment. For Grandpa?” He shook his head. “That’s a more difficult question.”
They fell silent as they considered it.
It was almost five minutes later when Joshua straightened with a jerk. “That’s it!”
Will’s eyes had started to droop, and his father’s voice startled him. “What?” he said in confusion.
“I know what to get your grandpa for his birthday.”
“You do?”
“Yes. It’s perfect.”
“What is it?”
Joshua smiled slowly, savoring the idea. “Next week, how would you like to make a trip to St. Louis? Then you and me will pick out a gift that will make Grandpa’s eyes pop right out of his head.”
* * *
Late the following day, just before sundown, Rebecca stuck her head in the door of the cabin and called to her mother. “Mother, it looks like it’s going to rain.”
“Wouldn’t you know,” Mary Ann moaned. They had spent most of the day doing the laundry and had finished getting it all hung out on the line only a couple of hours previously.
“It’s coming fast,” Rebecca said. “And it looks like it’s going to be a real gully buster.”
Mary Ann put down the dish of peas she had been shelling and walked to the door. As she stepped out on the porch and looked to the west, her eyes widened. There had been a few clouds when they had started hanging the wash, but now the whole western sky was one solid mass of black, punctuated by rippling flashes of light. The great mass was moving toward them even as she looked.
“Get Matthew and your father,” she commanded. “We’re going to have to hurry.”
They barely made it. The first big drops came slashing in as Matthew ran in with the last of the sheets. Any vestiges of daylight were gone. Then the heavens opened. The rain came in horizontal sheets, pounding against the windows like bird shot. For the first few minutes, the lightning would flash, then six or seven or eight seconds later the thunder would crackle and roll across the prairie. But then the interval between flash and sound began to narrow rapidly.
Matthew stood at the front door. When the lightning flashed, he would begin counting slowly. “One, two, three. . . .” A rule of thumb was about one mile away for every five seconds counted.
“For heaven’s sake, Matthew, get away from that door.”
He turned to face his sister, grinning. “Ain’t gonna strike here. I’m just counting to see how close they are. I love a good thunderstorm.”
But as he turned back, there was a tremendous flash of light. Every detail in the cabin was thrown into brilliant relief. Matthew jerked violently, but even before his mind could react, the sound hit them. It was like a giant tidal wave smashing against the walls. Even the logs seemed to rattle with the blast of the thunder. Instantly there was the smell of ozone in the air.
Matthew fell back a step, half-blinded. “Heavenly days!” he cried. “What was that?”
Benjamin was up and to the door. He too was a little dazed. “That hit somewhere close. Real close.” He moved quickly to the back window and peered out to see if the outbuildings were all right.
Matthew stepped back inside. He gave Rebecca a long look. “Maybe you’re right. I think I will shut the door.”
* * *
The next morning, Rebecca and Mary Ann were about halfway through hanging the wash out to dry again when they heard someone calling. Rebecca turned, squinting a little in the bright sunlight. Then she smiled. “It’s Lydia.”
Nathan’s wife was in a hurry. She was coming from the direction of town and had her skirts held up enough to stop them from dragging through the puddles. Mary Ann put the wash back in the basket and turned. She raised one hand to wave, then dropped it again slowly. She could see Lydia’s face more clearly now. It looked frightened and filled with concern.
Alarmed, Mary Ann dropped the clothespins into the basket now as well and started walking toward her daughter-in-law. Rebecca had seen it too and joined her mother. “Lydia,” Mary Ann called as they approached each other. “Is everything all right?”