Page 29 of Hope’s Enduring Echo

Leo

Leo’s stomach was growling by the time he and Mr. DeWeece reached the shade-drenched valley floor where the Wards’ cabin stood. By now, the Wards were probably around their table, enjoying their supper, and he wondered if he should interrupt them. But then he spotted Mrs. Ward on her knees beside her garden plot. Beyond the garden, Jennie was making her way down the clothesline, plucking pins and draping clothing articles over her arm.

Gripping the bone tight to his chest, he broke into a run made clumsy by the uneven ground. Mrs. Ward sat back on her heels and watched his approach. He drew to a stumbling halt next to the garden and smiled while extending the bone like a trophy. “We found another one.”

The woman’s eyebrows rose. She called over her shoulder, “Jennie, come look.”

Jennie dropped the stack of rumpled shirts, dresses, and trousers into a basket and crossed to them, her brown eyes locked on the dirt-crusted bone in Leo’s hands. When she was close enough to touch the bone, she met Leo’s gaze. “Did you find the skeleton?”

He’d anticipated more enthusiasm based on previous encounters. Maybe she was tired. He hoped he wouldn’t disappoint her with the answer to her question. “Not yet. But we must be getting closer.”

Mr. DeWeece ambled up beside Leo. “Certainly, locating a second bone is a strong indication we’re on the right path. We see the discovery of this bone as a true victory.”

Mrs. Ward stood and brushed dried grass and dirt from her apron skirt. “Congratulations. We’re very happy for you.” Her lips curved into a smile, but her eyes remained devoid of real happiness.

Leo glanced from mother to daughter. Something was wrong, and he thought he knew what. The information he’d delivered from Dr. Whiteside must not have been helpful. Sympathy struck hard. He lowered the bone and leaned closer to Mrs. Ward. “Is there anything I can do?”

The woman gave a start. She brushed at her apron again, her gaze darting to Mr. DeWeece. “Oh, we’re fine. Just weary from today’s…labor.” She slipped her arm around Jennie’s waist, and another sad excuse for a smile flashed on her face. “You gentlemen didn’t stay for pancakes this morning, but you must be hungry now. Would you like to join us for supper? I have a pot of stew simmering on the stove and a pan of cornbread ready to serve with it. It’s nothing fancy, but there’s plenty.”

To Leo’s chagrin, his stomach chose to rumble. He forced a laugh to cover the sound. “Thank you, but we have to get the handcar back to Canon City.”

Mr. DeWeece turned a speculative look on Leo. “The line slopes downhill toward town. I could man the handcar by myself if you’d like to stay. Then you’d have the opportunity to discuss our proposition with Miss Ward and catch the train when it comes by.”

Leo glimpsed hidden meaning in the man’s expression—DeWeece, too, sensed something was amiss. His obvious concern for the Wards increased Leo’s respect for him. Leo gave a nod and turned to Mrs. Ward. “I would like to talk to Jennie about something important, so, ma’am, I accept your kind invitation.”

Mr. DeWeece tipped his hat. “Very well, I’ll leave you folks to your evening. It was nice seeing you again, ladies. Leo, farewell.” He strode in the direction of the footbridge, the pack jouncing on his back as he went.

Leo waited until DeWeece was too far away to hear their conversation. Then the troubling thought rolling in his mind blurted out. “The doctor in Pueblo can’t help Mr. Ward.”

At his stark statement, both women winced. Jennie sucked in her lips and looked aside. Mrs. Ward shook her head slowly, her expression sad. “I’m afraid not.”

Leo’s shoulders slumped. “I’d hoped…” He tightened his grip on the bone, inwardly praying for something to relieve their obvious distress. “I wish there was something I could do to make things better for all of you.”

Jennie jerked her gaze back around. “I wish there were medicines for sicknesses of the mind. There are cures in the drugstore for everything from abdominal distress to yellow fever. I read all the labels while sitting at the counter, drinking my soda. You hand over twenty-five cents for a bottle and your sickness is gone. Doctors are so smart. Why can’t they make a twenty-five-cent medicine to cure endless sadness?”

Leo longed to hug her and take some of her pain, but all he could do was hug the bone and offer a look of sympathy he hoped she could read in the ever-thickening shadows. “Maybe there will be someday.” He sighed and searched their faces for a small element of hope. “There wasn’t anything in the packet that gave suggestions for making Mr. Ward better?”

Mrs. Ward touched Jennie’s arm. “Get the rest of the laundry, honey, before it’s too dark to see what you’re doing. I’ll wake your daddy from his nap and put supper on the table.” Jennie hurried off, and Mrs. Ward turned to Leo. That sad smile formed again. “Come inside, Leo. You can wash up and help me set the table.” Then she glanced at the bone and crinkled her nose. “But please leave that on the stoop.”

Jennie

After supper, Mama lit the lantern and gave it to Jennie. “Walk Leo down the hill, but don’t dawdle, all right?” Jennie understood Mama’s meaning. She wasn’t to linger over conversation and accidentally share their financial dilemma. After keeping the secret for so long about being the linewalker, adding another one shouldn’t be difficult. But somehow it was.

She nodded to her mother, then turned to Leo. “Are you ready?”

Leo grabbed his hat and knapsack, which he’d left beside the door. “I am.” His gaze drifted to the bone he and Mr. DeWeece had located. “You’ll put that in a safe place, won’t you? Somewhere Rags can’t reach?” His worried scowl drifted to the pup lying on his belly under Daddy’s chair and gnawing a piece of rope Daddy had found in the shed.

“It’ll be in my room, up high.”

He raised one brow. “Could you take it there now?”

Jennie swallowed a chortle. He was as protective of that bone as a mama bear with her cubs. But she couldn’t blame him. “All right.” She set the lantern on the side table, picked up the bone, and placed it on her bureau. She closed her bedroom door, then rattled the knob to be sure it was latched. “Safe and sound.”

He let out a little sigh. “Thank you.” He crossed to Mama. She’d settled at the table with a cup of tea and her Bible—probably planning tomorrow morning’s reading. “Thank you for the good supper, ma’am.”

“You’re very welcome, Leo. We enjoyed your company.” She glanced across the room to Daddy, who sat at the window with his chin resting in his hand, staring outward. “Please feel free to stop by anytime.”

Leo nodded. After a moment’s pause, he crossed to the window. “Good night, Mr. Ward. Take care.” Jennie held her breath, and Leo seemed to do the same. He stayed by Daddy’s chair for several seconds, but Daddy didn’t even look up.

Jennie’s air wheezed out, and Leo nodded, as if Daddy had thanked him for his concern. Or maybe he was agreeing with her long sigh. Jennie took hold of the lantern. “We better go so you don’t miss the train.” Without a word, Leo followed her out the door. As they headed down the rise, she said, “When I’ve finished my drawing, I’ll leave a note at the rock so you know to collect it and the bone.”

“Thank you, Jennie.” The lantern’s glow highlighted his grateful smile. “Please don’t feel obligated to put off more important things to work on it. I doubt that Mr. DeWeece will start writing his planned article until we’ve located the skeleton or collected enough bones to make an accurate identification of the species.”

A wry chuckle spilled from her throat. “I can’t put it off too long. Mama will want it out of the house as quickly as possible.”

He grinned, remembering Mrs. Ward’s sour face as Jennie carried the bone through the cabin. “That’s true enough. Maybe you’ll be with us when we find the next one. Then you can sketch the location, too.”

Her pulse skipped in anticipation. “That would be so much nicer than a bone all by itself on a piece of paper.” The flatter ground angled to the east, and she moved in that direction. “I’ll do my best to draw it accurately, though.”

“I know you will.” Leo’s tone held confidence. “I need to bring the bone that Rex found to you so you can draw it, too. I’ll drop it by Monday afternoon when I come out to explore.”

She could hardly believe an important man like Mr. DeWeece had asked her to make drawings of archaeological finds. When Leo shared with her and her folks the possibility of having her sketches being printed in a magazine, she’d nearly swooned. The news wasn’t as good as being able to send Daddy to Pueblo, but the request had flattered her and given her heart a much-needed lift.

“Bring the”—she’d forgotten the word he used to describe precisely where the bone had been unearthed—“numbers you want written on the page for the new bone. I’m sorry we don’t know exactly where Rex found the first bone.”

Leo shrugged. “It would be nice to know, but”—a grin split his face—“it’ll make a good story, won’t it? How a dog dragging home a bone set off a hunt for an entire skeleton.”

Jennie couldn’t stifle a snicker. “I can imagine the title, ‘Dog Digs Up Bone, Discovers Paleozoic Creature.’?”

Leo threw back his head and laughed. “Write that down and I’ll show it to Mr. DeWeece. He might like it enough to keep it.”

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Absolutely nothing had changed for Daddy, but even so, she was smiling. All because of Leo. He was medicine for her soul. She stopped and faced him. Yellow light from the lantern encircled them as if they were caught in a beam of moonlight. She gazed up at him and cracked the door to her heart. “I’m going to miss you when you leave Canon City.”

Tenderness softened his expression. “I’ll miss you, too. You’re very dear to me, Jennie. I’m grateful to have met you.” He gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “I realize you and your mama were disappointed by the news you received today from Dr. Whiteside, but please don’t sink into despair. No doctor can give the final word. Only God can.”

Jennie ground her teeth, resentment boiling. She’d longed for an opportunity to share with her friend the many emotions churning within. Now he stood before her, compassion glimmering in his dark-blue eyes. She could ask him why Jesus had made the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead resurrect but didn’t fix Daddy’s mind. In fact, it seemed He was trying to not fix Daddy. Why else would He make them aware of the Pueblo hospital, inspire Daddy to agree to go, then yank the chance away from them? While she tried to form her thoughts into words, a tremble tickled the soles of her feet. The train was coming.

Leo must have felt it, too, because he took a step away from her and sent his gaze up the rails. Regret pursed his face. “I’d better get across the footbridge or I’ll miss my ride.”

Miserably, she nodded. “Yes, you need to go.”

She followed him to the bridge. It was dark enough that the engineer might not see him if she didn’t signal with the lantern. Leo went all the way to the other side of the tracks and leaned against the rock wall, but Jennie stayed in the middle of the bridge, holding the lantern out. The rumble and clatter of the cars grew louder.

Suddenly Leo cupped his hands beside his mouth. “Jennie!”

She hollered back, “What?”

“Remember…hold on to hope!”

Tears stung. She’d promised him weeks ago she would do so. He’d been a good friend to her—she wouldn’t break her vow. On the tail of her inward commitment, she remembered the preacher’s admonition from the pulpit the Sunday in June when she and Leo attended church together. His words tiptoed through her memory.

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Patience—another virtue Leo had encouraged her to practice.

Scripture snippets from other times, other sermons, whispered to her. Challenged her.

Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing in prayer…

The train bore down, shaking the bridge. The noise and movement made her pulse pound in her temples and brought an attack of dizziness. She set her feet wide for stability and swung the lantern back and forth. Mr. Rawling must have noticed, because brakes squealed, the ear-piercing sound reverberating against the rock wall. As the locomotive shuddered rhythmically on the track, it seemed to chant, “Patience-hope-prayer-patience-hope-prayer…”

She stayed in place while the train heaved into motion again, then watched it disappear around the bend. Finally, she turned toward home. The train’s clamor faded, but the reminders of being patient, harboring hope, and continuing in prayer stayed with her every step of the way. Until she reached her stoop.

She stood outside the door, her fingers on the doorknob, worry sealing her in place. Out there with the river singing and the breeze whispering, it was peaceful. Even under her skin at that moment, thanks to Leo’s encouragement and reminders from God’s Word, she’d found an element of peace. But when she went in—when she saw Daddy’s morose bearing and Mama’s weariness—would her peace once again shatter?