Page 3 of Hope’s Enduring Echo
Etta Ward
Etta pushed a few straggling strands of hair from her forehead and looked at the little mantel clock counting its steady ticktock on the shelf. Almost six. A good half hour past Jennie’s usual return time. Where was that girl? She picked up the wooden spoon from the edge of the stove and gave the fried potatoes another stir. Claude liked his taters all the way done, but the slices might be as dried out as boot leather if she didn’t serve them soon. Maybe she should fill a plate for him. Accustomed to eating at five-thirty, he was probably ravenous by now.
She laid the spoon on the edge of the cast-iron frying pan and turned. “Claude, would—”
From his chair in front of the window, her husband sat up and pointed. “Here comes Jennie. And she’s got somebody with her.” He leaned forward, and Etta could sense him bristling. “A fancy fellow from the looks of it.”
Etta hurried to the window and peered out, her hand braced on Claude’s bony shoulder. “My, he is dressed like a gentleman, isn’t he?” Worry pricked. “You don’t suppose the city council sent an official out to check the waterway and found Jennie walking it, do you?”
Claude shifted in the chair, dislodging Etta’s hand. “He looks a little young to be an official. Besides, the only time they send someone out is when we report a problem somewhere on the line. That ain’t been the case since last winter.”
Etta leaned closer to the window. Claude was right. The man was dressed as fine as a big-city lawyer, but his face was youthful. And he was almost as handsome as Claude had been when she first laid eyes on him twenty-five years ago. She set her gaze on Claude’s profile, seeing not his frown, thinning gray hair, and puckered brow but instead the smiling young man he’d once been. Love swelled up inside her, strong as ever, the one thing that hadn’t changed since his accident. Her hand moved to his shoulder again as if it had a will of its own. She rubbed a gentle circle, her eyes sliding closed and a prayer forming in the center of her heart.
Restore him, Lord. Please restore him.
“What’s that he’s toting?”
Claude’s gruff query drew Etta from her reverie. She looked out the window. Jennie and the young man were only yards from the cabin now, and she easily recognized the object in the man’s hands. “Well, now, it seems he’s got an old dried-up bone.” She crinkled her nose. “I hope he doesn’t think he’s bringing it inside.”
She hurried across the creaky wood planked floor to the open doorway and stepped out on the flat stone serving as a stoop. “Jennie, you’re late.”
Jennie jogged the final distance, remorse pinching her face. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Etta smiled and lightly tugged Jennie’s ragged brownish-blond braid. “No harm done.” She shifted her smile to the young man, who stopped a few feet away as if uncertain of his welcome. “And who do we have here?”
Jennie waved him closer. “This is Leo Day, Mama. He’s a paleontology student from the college in Denver, but he’s spending his summer in Canon City.”
Suddenly Etta understood why he was holding on to that bone like it was a jeweled crown. She also understood Jennie’s delay. Her daughter must’ve gotten caught up chatting with this visitor. Good for her. Jennie needed, even deserved, those kinds of youthful interactions. “Is that so?” She extended her hand to the college student. “I’m Etta Ward, Jennie’s mama. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Day.”
The young man swept off his hat, anchored the bone beneath his elbow, then gave her a brief, firm handshake. “Thank you, ma’am, but please call me Leo.”
“Leo”—she took a step backward—“come on in and meet Jennie’s daddy.” He and Jennie moved forward in tandem. Etta gestured to the bone. “You can leave that here at the stoop. Nobody will bother it.” The young man surrendered the bone, and then he and Jennie followed her in. Jennie moved to the washstand, but Leo trailed Etta to Claude. “Claude, this is Leo Day. Leo, my husband, Mr. Ward.”
The two shook hands, and Etta couldn’t help but notice how frail Claude’s once strong hand looked next to Leo’s. Restore him, Lord. The prayer had almost become a mantra. When would God finally grant her plea? She shoved the errant thought aside and feigned a cheerful tone. “Leo is studying paleontology at the university. Isn’t that interesting?”
Claude squinted one eye at the college student as if taking aim. “Studying old bones, huh?”
“Yes, sir. That’s why your daughter”—Jennie ambled near, and Leo bounced an appreciative grin at her—“thought I should talk to you.”
“Me?” Claude snorted. “I don’t know anything about paleontology.”
Jennie wrung her hands. “But haven’t you seen the place where Rex found some bones, Daddy? I thought maybe you could—”
Claude thrust his palm into the air. “I can’t go traipsing over the hills, Jennie, so get that thought out of your head.”
Jennie bit her lower lip and turned aside, causing Etta’s heart to roll over. There was a time Claude never interrupted anything his daughter said—when he listened closely and answered kindly whatever questions she asked. Claude’s impatience wasn’t with Jennie—it was with himself. But the wedge between them was fast growing into a chasm, and if something didn’t change, they might never be able to bridge it.
Etta put her arm around Jennie’s shoulders. “Supper’s getting cold. All of us…let’s sit around the table and eat. Leo, please tell us about your studies while we’re eating. That will give Claude time to recall where that bone might’ve come from.” She gave Jennie a little pat. “Set another plate at the table, honey, while I help your daddy.”
Claude clamped the arms of the chair and pushed himself to his feet, grunting. “I can get myself to the table. Just see to the food.”
His tone chastened her. And embarrassed her. What must this visiting college student think? But she gave her husband’s arm a gentle pat. “Of course, Claude.” She scurried to the stove.
Leo
“My father is the minister at a Presbyterian church in Denver.” Leo answered Etta Ward’s questions between bites of roasted salt pork, fried potatoes, and apple pie. He hadn’t packed a lunch before boarding the train that morning because he hadn’t planned on hopping off. He was hungry after his hike on the pipeline with Jennie. Though simple fare, the food was tasty, and the Wards were kind. Well, the Ward women were kind. Jennie didn’t say much, but she listened with rapt attention to everything he said, often nodding and smiling at his replies to Mrs. Ward’s friendly inquiries. The women put him very much at ease. Mr. Ward? The man was more taciturn than anyone else he’d ever met.
He tamped the remaining piecrust crumbs with the tines of his fork. “Actually, I come from a long line of preachers. My father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all led congregations. Great-grandfather Day served in England, though.”
“My, you should be proud of your family’s faithful heritage.” Mrs. Ward’s eyes shone with admiration. Would she change her opinion if she knew how badly he’d disappointed his father by choosing a vocation other than ministry?
Leo wiped his mouth with the square of cotton he’d been given to use as a napkin and laid the cloth aside. “Yes, ma’am. I’m grateful for the foundation of faith I was given by my parents.” He valued it. He clung to it. He only wished he could make Father understand that he could share his faith while working as a paleontologist, too.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Mrs. Ward stood, crossed to the stove, and retrieved the tall blue-speckled coffeepot. She poured richly scented brew into Mr. Ward’s cup and then her own before placing the pot in the middle of the table. “Do you have siblings?”
“Yes, ma’am, two younger sisters. Daisy is almost ten, and Myrtle is twelve. They’re pests.” He laughed. “Or so I thought before I left home for college. Now I kind of miss them.”
“Our Jennie’s an only child.”
Leo nodded, uncertain what to say. Clearly, this family was eager for company. He’d been welcomed to their table and plied with questions from the moment he sat down. But he couldn’t stay much longer. The train to Canon City would depart Salida at six o’clock according to the schedule he’d been given at the depot that morning. Somehow he had to get himself on board when it went past the Wards’ cabin. Before he did so, he had questions of his own to ask. Questions Jennie said her daddy could answer. If he’d be neighborly enough to do so.
Sucking in a breath of fortification, he turned to the man who sat sipping his coffee. “Sir, may I talk to you about the bone your dog found?”
Mr. Ward didn’t angle his head in Leo’s direction, but his eyes shifted and met Leo’s. They were as deeply brown as his daughter’s but not nearly as warm. “Go ahead.”
Not the friendliest tone he’d ever heard, but at least he seemed willing to listen. “Thank you. Do you happen to know where it was located? I believe it’s part of the skeleton of an allosaurus. If I could find more of its remains, I’d have a better idea if my supposition is correct.”
Mr. Ward set the cup on the table and cradled it between his palms. “I can’t say for sure. But if I was to venture a guess, I’d say probably from one of the ridges south and west o’ here. Rex did a lot of exploring up there.”
Leo waited for further information, but Mr. Ward went back to sipping his coffee.
Jennie cleared her throat. “Daddy, are you talking about behind our cabin, or the rise on the other side of the river, behind the train?”
“Behind the cabin,” he said in a way that intimated Jennie should have already known the location.
A flush brightened her cheeks, and she ducked her head for a moment. Then she looked at Leo. “I think I could point you in the general direction.”
“But not tonight yet.” Mrs. Ward shook her head. “It’ll have to wait for another day.”
Although eager to explore, Leo agreed. Heavy shadows encompassed the valley. When night crept in and full dark fell, nocturnal creatures would start prowling. He wanted to find remnants of a creature from long ago, not a live one with claws and teeth. “Of course. Besides, I need to find a curve where the train will slow enough for me to get on board when it comes by.”
Mrs. Ward’s eyes widened. “Oh my, I was enjoying our visit so much I forgot you need a way back to Canon City. Of course, we should send you out right away. And you go ahead and take that bone with you if it will help you in your studies.”
The woman endeared herself to him forever with her offer. He beamed at her. “Thank you, ma’am.”
She stood. “Jennie, light the lantern and walk Leo to our usual jumping-on spot.”
Leo jolted in surprise. Why would she send Jennie? Wouldn’t it be better, given the hour, for Mr. Ward to escort him?
Jennie rose and headed toward a beadboard cupboard in the corner.
“Get the pistol, too,” Mrs. Ward said.
“Yes, Mama.”
Alarm propelled Leo from his chair. “I don’t want to put Jennie in danger. I’m sure I can find a curve and get on without her help.” He couldn’t help gawking at Mr. Ward, sitting unconcerned and stoic, his focus on his cup of coffee.
Mrs. Ward chuckled softly. “Now, Leo, Jennie’s familiar with this ridge, and our getting-on spot isn’t far at all. It’s only a safeguard to have the pistol. In all our years of living here, we’ve never had to fire it in defense.”
Her calm statement relieved Leo, but he still didn’t understand why the parents left this responsibility to their daughter. His father would never send Myrtle or Daisy out with a stranger as night was falling.
Jennie returned to the table, a pistol tucked in the waistband of her britches and a lighted lantern hanging from her hand. “Where are you staying in Canon City?” She’d been so quiet during the meal, it almost startled him to hear her musical voice.
“The St. Cloud Hotel.” The desk clerk had told Leo that the lobby doors locked at nine o’clock. If he didn’t make it back before then, he’d need a key to get in. He reached into his trouser pocket, ascertaining he hadn’t misplaced his key when he leaped from the train and then splashed across the river. To his relief, the leather tab and key were safe inside.
Jennie’s face lit brighter than the match she’d struck to light the lantern. “You are? My aunt and uncle manage the St. Cloud. Maybe you’ve met them—Prime and Delia Flankston?”
Leo shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall meeting them.”
Mrs. Ward was beaming as if he’d given them a gift by registering at the two-story brick hotel in the center of downtown. “Oh, you surely will eventually. Delia’s my little sister. I thought her a pest when I was growing up, the same way you do with your sisters. But now I’m so grateful for her. She’s my best friend.” Mrs. Ward caught hold of his elbow and walked him to the door, Jennie close behind them. “When you do meet them, be sure and tell them hello from Mr. Ward, Jennie, and me, will you?”
“Yes, ma’am, I will.” Leo stepped outside and reached for the bone. Then he thought better of it. “May I leave this here for now? I might drop it when I get on the train. I don’t want to damage it.” He gazed at the bone glowing white under the lantern’s soft beam. Would he find the entire skeleton? Would his name show up in a journal somewhere as the one who made a new discovery? If so, would Father be proud of him?
“Of course you may, young man.” Mrs. Ward spoke so kindly it made his chest ache in a strange way. “I’ll even bring it inside so it’ll be sure and be here when you return.” She picked it up, grimacing a bit, and set it just inside the cabin. She touched Jennie’s back. “Hurry, now, honey. We don’t want Leo to miss the return train.”
Jennie nodded and hopped from the stoop. The lantern swayed, making the circle of light dance. “C’mon, Leo. It’s not far.” She took off at a half trot.
“Good evening, ma’am.” Leo walked backward, waving to the smiling woman framed in the cabin doorway. “Thank you for the fine supper.”
She waved in return. “You’re welcome. We’ll see you again soon.”
He spun forward and caught up to Jennie, warmth flooding his chest despite the cool evening air. He hoped he’d see them again. He liked Mrs. Ward. And he liked Jennie. But Mr. Ward? He wasn’t so sure about him.