Before we get on to the story, I'd like to thank Isabella and Mackenzie Morganthal for letting me use their twin photos for my book!!! Yay!!! Thanks so much, ladies!! This means so much!! If you haven't already make sure to check out their sites by clicking theirs names above!!👆👆
Alright here goes! I really hope you enjoy this!!
Chapter 5
Sunday
Dawn
was peeking into the shaded homestead when the tired outlaws arrived home, un-captured
and un-followed by the posse. The men were tired and snappy, constantly
cussing. But the female in the family was full awake, alive, and ready to take
on the world. She hadn’t had so much to do in forever: running all night from a
posse, leading false trails, and completely getting out of the law’s grip.
Although her family had done the work of diverting the law, she still felt the
excitement from it.
“You seem
wide awake.” Her pa’s anger was evident in his voice. “You tend the horses.”
Lexie
nodded. She normally didn’t like her pa just shoving her around like that, but
her happiness of finally having something to do overcame the anger from
building.
The
boys, all except Robbie, went off to the barn. Robbie headed behind the house,
more than likely to bury the money.
Lexie
gathered up four of the horses and headed to the barn to stable them. She felt like skipping but didn’t know how
well that would work while leading four horses.
As she
stabled the animals her mind diverted to the night before; the riding away… her
nerves. But Lexie had forgotten about nerves or her conscious telling her to go
back. That had all been replaced with the excitement of actually feeling alive.
She had felt so dead the last few weeks. So lifeless. She felt like life was
passing her by. But actually going out and doing something, even of it was robbing, made Lexie feel so good. So
very good.
After
finishing with the four horses she went back for hers. She didn’t see Jack
around or his horse in the barn so she assumed that he was already off to work.
Jack was already in bed by the time she left last night so she doubted that he
even knew she was gone, seeing as how he left before daylight every morning.
After
she finished the stabling for her horse she went inside and settled onto her
cot. She didn’t even remove her shoes.
She was
so wound up she didn’t even think she could sleep. She had butterflies in her
stomach from excitement. But then her thoughts took a turn. What was she doing?
What had she done?
She
swallowed as she felt the butterflies being replaced by sickness. She had, in a
way, been a part of a bank holdup. She had been riding all night from the law.
What had she been
thinking? Why had she done it? Why had she found this exciting?
Lexie
felt so ashamed and confused. Her conscious was coming back.
Lexie’s
breath grew short. Oh my. I was in a robbery.
I-I-….
Lexie rolled onto
her side and sobs erupted. It wasn’t long until the broken girl fell into a
deep sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lizzie’s mind wondered the entire service at their small, local church.
She was sorry to admit to herself that she had hardly heard a word spoken by
the minister and her mind had wondered at different parts during Sunday songs.
As her
family walked down the aisle of wooden pews she made up her mind to focus on
the present moment.
“That
was a wonderful message, very encouraging.” Pa spoke while shaking the minister’s,
Pastor Hans, hand. They now stood at the top of the stairs leading up to the
little white church.
“Thank
you, praise God.”
“Very,
very, much needed.” Ma said as she reached out to shake the minister’s hand.
“It’s
all God.” Pastor Hans smiled.
“I liked
it too.” Betty said with a toothy grin.
James,
Ben, and Emma all echoed their agreement.
Then
there was an awkward silence.
Lizzie
was looking up at the sky, aiming for them not to notice. But it only made it
worse.
Lizzie
removed her gaze from the sky and noticed everyone’s eyes upon her. She knew
the pastor didn’t crave praise but her avoiding the conversation about the
message was evident.
“Oh.”
She startled. “Your messages are always God given and wonderful.” Lizzie
brushed over the awkward scene.
“Thank
you, Lizzie. I pray God will use me this way.”
Lizzie
smiled. “Of course.” She waved bye and quickly dismounted the stairs, walking
over to their wagon.
“Liz, dear.”
The prissy voice of Kora Smith sounded behind her.
Lizzie
turned around with a smile. “Hello, Kora, Tammy, Susan.” She acknowledged the
two friends that were standing with her.
“Might
we have a word?” Kora said with a smile. Her blue eyes shone.
“Sure.”
Lizzie said nervously. The girls sounded as if they were up to something Lizzie
wanted no part of.
Kora
took her arm and they all walked further away from the wagon into a little
shady, wooden area. Lizzie’s family had spread out talking to their different
friends.
Kora’s
blond hair was in a bun at the nap of her neck. Her bonnet was blue with
flowers around the brim. “Lizzie, dear. As you know, the community round-up
starts in just two weeks.” Her voice was in a whisper and sounded urgent.
“Yeah,
I know. What of it?”
Tammy
and Susan cast knowing looks at each other.
“Now,
Lizzie.” Kora went on. “We know you’ve always been more on the tomboy side.
Wearing pants. Toting guns. But you’re still a woman.”
Lizzie
frowned. “I’m aware of that. And I’m not a tomboy; I just like to wear pants
and I wear guns for protection.”
Kora
inhaled in an irritated manner. “Whatever you say, Lizzie dear. But the fact is:
we girls are setting ours sights for some young gentlemen. We are seventeen now
and marriage is getting so closer in our future.”
Lizzie
was a little confused. “Okay, I’m happy for you.”
“Lizzie, don’t you have your sights set on a
young man?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I
haven’t met him yet.”
Kora
rolled her eyes. “Now, Lizzie. You know lots of nice young men around here.
Several, I’m sure, that are very interested in courting you. Why are you being
so stubborn? You’re nineteen years old. You don’t want to be an old maid.”
Lizzie’s eyes widen. “Um, excuse me? I’m not
looking for a husband and I don’t think I’d consider myself an old maid yet.”
“Oh,
Lizzie, really. You wouldn’t think you’re an old maid if you were sixty. But
the fact is; you don’t want to be the awkward girl. All the girls around will
be waiting for a man during the roundup. You don’t want to be the strange one.”
Lizzie
stared at her with a blank stare. Then her eyes drifted to the girls behind
Kora.
“You
just think about it, dear. We know you’ll see that being an old maid is quite
lonely.” Kora gave her arm a little pat. With that, they turned and walked
away.
What just happened? Did they really just do
that?
Lizzie
shook her head and walked out of the clearing. Those girls were so irritating.
How dare they come and stick their nose into her personal life. And why would
they tell her to her face they thought she was an old maid? OOHHH!
Lizzie
climbed on the back of their wagon with an angry huff. Her family hadn’t
arrived yet.
She was
boiling mad at those prissy, gossiping, interfering… Lizzie paused. But what if
they were right? After all, she was passed the normal marrying age. But she
never thought she was considered an old maid. Maybe she should start to think
about courtship and marriage. She knew some of the local men probably would be
glad to come and call. They had expressed interest before, only Lizzie hadn’t
given them the time of day. Lizzie huffed. Now she was all confused.
She
glanced over and saw Sam Bailey looking her way. He was one of the ones that
had expressed interest. Lizzie looked away. But should she have?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a simple mistake and she’d never make
it again.
That
was the conclusion Lexie came to after waking up, still plagued with guilt. She
had thought about it for ten minutes and that was what she resolved to herself.
Feeling a little better, she stood up and walked outside. The bright afternoon
sun made her eyes squint. She had slept longer then she thought.
Her
green skirt swished as she walked down the stairs. She figured her family was
all still asleep in the barn. They probably had drunk themselves to sleep.
“Lexie.
’Afternoon.” Lexie spun around to see her Pa standing behind her. “All slept up,
I see.”
She
nodded.
He
started closing in the distance between them. “Hun, I thought since we get
along so well now that you’d like me to teach you a few things.”
Lexie
felt very uncomfortable. What was Pa up to now?
She shifted.
“Teach me what?”
“Oh, I
don’t know. I figured you’d want to learn a little shootin’. You ain’t never
done it before.”
Lexie’s
pulse quickened. What, did he just want her to learn to shoot for protection?
Maybe he was wanting to include her in more stealing.
“Why?”
“Why?
For protection, that’s why. A girl ain’t safe anymore. Besides, you don’t wanna
go back to sittin’ on that porch.”
Lexie’s
stomach lurched. The thought sickened her. But she couldn’t start learning to
shoot. That would mean more helping her brothers in stealing. So it was back to
the porch.
“What
do you say, honey?”
“Sure.”
Lexie couldn’t stop the word from coming. It just came out.
“That’s
a girl, honey.” He looked toward the barn. “Boys, come on out and bring some
bottles.”
Lexie
numbly followed. Her dark, long hair hung loose over her shoulders.
Who
knew, maybe her pa wasn’t trying to get her to steal. Maybe since she was
involved in one incident he wanted her to be able to defend herself in case
they were discovered.
The
boys filed out, all eying her with mischief glee. They all carried empty
whiskey bottles. They set them up on the top rail of the corral.
The
boys moved over to Pa and her and in a flash, Pa drew his gun and shot all six
of the bottles. Blasting them to pieces.
Lexie
jumped.
The
boys laughed.
“That’s
the way it’s done, girl.” Pa pointed his empty gun at her.
Lexie
swallowed hard, her eyes were wide. The whole thing was startling her.
“I
couldn’t do that.” Her voice was hoarse.
“Sure
you can. Just aim.”
“How…how do you do that?”
The
boys all erupted in laughter.
“Now
you all shut up. Lexie was pampered by her mom for all those years she was
still around. She don’t know no better.” He turned to Lexie. “Now this is how
you do it.” He went on to explain on how to shoot the six-shooter in his hand.
Lexie paid close attention. Not wanting the boys to all laugh at her again.
“Here,
you do it.”
The gun
was in her hand.
Lexie’s
mouth was dry as she turned toward the six new bottles that Robbie had set up
while pa was teaching her how to shoot this weapon.
A new
thought entered Lexie’s mind. She wondered how many people this gun had killed.
How many innocent people her pa had
pulled the trigger on.
She
lifted a shaky arm and pointed at the first bottle. She tried to steady her
right arm and fired. The bottle didn’t fall. The boys laughed.
She
took a deep breath and swallowed. She tried again.
She
fired. Nothing.
She
fired again. Still nothing.
Lexie
paused a moment, trying to still her shakiness, before firing again. Still
nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
The boy’s
laughter was louder now.
Lexie
was mad. They actually thought she couldn’t do it. Well, she’d show them. She
was tired of them thinking she was the weakling around here.
She
raised the gun up and fired. The bottled smashed to pieces. Silenced settled
over the scene.
A
smiled spread across Lexie’s face. Pride swelled up in her chest. She had done
it. She had shown them.
Lexie
lowered the gun to her side. She had really done it.
“That’s
the way, girl, that’s the way.” Pa cheered her on.
The
boys were still silent. Or maybe they were embarrassed. Yeah, those know-it-all
boys were embarrassed.
This
made Lexie thrilled. She had proved them wrong.
“You
wanna shoot some more, Lexie?” Pa asked.
Lexie
smiled. “Yeah.” She really did want to. This was fun. This was action. This was
satisfying. This was a heap better then
boring yourself out of your wits by sitting on your porch.
Lexie’s
mouth was still dry but she was having a so very much fun. Very, very much fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey, can I come in?” Emma’s sweet voice
asked from the other side of Lizzie’s closed door.
“Yeah,
sure.” Lizzie said from the spot on her bed. She sat twiddling her thumbs,
trying to sort out all her concerns and confusions.
Some of
her thoughts wondered to the conversation she had with Kora earlier. Should she
start to consider marriage? She had always planned to wait for the man God had
for her. But did waiting mean she shouldn’t open herself up to the possibility
of letting a young man call?
But
that wasn’t her main worry tonight. She still had the worry gripping her
stomach. Worry for her sister. The sister who she had not seen since they were
nine years old. The sister Lizzie didn’t have a clue in the world where she
was.
“I
finished the dishes.” Emma announced as she settled herself across from Lizzie.
“Thanks
for doin’ them. I just didn’t feel like it tonight.”
Emma
smiled. “It’s fine. Hey, what’s wrong anyway? You sure ain’t been acting yourself
today.”
Lizzie
sighed. “I’m sorry. I know I was real embarrassing at church today.”
Emma
chuckled. “I thought it was funny. I wasn’t embarrassed.”
A silence
settled over them. Emma waited patiently. Lizzie knew she was just waiting,
waiting if Lizzie wanted to talk. She wasn’t trying to force her. She was just
there in case Lizzie wanted to spill out her feelings.
Emma
had grown up so much lately. She had gotten so… so mature. She was helping with
more household chores and Lizzie and she had really grown closer. Sharing
personal things.
“Em, I
had a dream last night. About Lexie.”
Emma
slowly nodded. “Wanna tell me about it?”
Lizzie was
quiet for a moment, then nodded. She told her the frightening dream she had the
night before. She told her how Lexie was older. She told her how she was by the
bank.
“I
prayed for her. And, as you know, it’s hard for me to mention her. It’s too
painful.” Memories would come back… memories of Lexie getting torn from her
arms. Memories of how Lexie was always crying and clinging to Lizzie, she always
needed her. And yet there was nothing Lizzie could have done to save her sister
from being taken away.
Emma’s
face held compassion. “I’m sorry. You prayed. You just have to trust, trust
that God will work in her life.”
Lizzie
felt her eyes water up. “I-I just wish I knew where she was. Do you have any
idea how it is to have your sister, your twin, a part of you, torn away from
you? And you having no idea, no idea whatsoever, where she is?”
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalm 3:3 KJV
