Argosy Junction by Chautona Havig

actually said that she’d never have a friend of the Argosy’s as a guest.” Matt stood shuffling his feet, disappointed that he had to leave. “I just couldn’t go without saying thanks and telling you how much I enjoyed meeting you. Here’s my address—”
    Warren Argosy slammed his fist down on the table and strode from the room. Lane offered an apology. “He almost moved us when this all happened. He knew it’d be like this, but our land—”
    Martha rose silently and followed her husband. Patience stood, looked from Tad, to Lane, back to Matt’s disappointed face, and stomped her foot in frustration. “I hate those mean people. I do! I hate them!” Tears exploded, and she rushed from the house.
    Matt stood. “May I?” Lane nodded and Tad lowered himself back into his chair. Jude and Levi exchanged confused glances.
    Matt found Patience sobbing into Boozer’s fur in the barn. Unfamiliar with little girls, and as uncomfortable as any man around feminine tears, he sat beside her and stroked her hair. She turned to him and clung to his shirt, wailing about the injustices of life and declaring her undying hatred for the Brethren .
    “Shh—don’t, Patience, don’t.”
    “But—” Ready to defend her beloved new friend, Patience wasn’t one to be hushed, even by Matt.
    “I mean it; you’ll be the one hurt in the end if you do. Hate is a cancer. It eats away at you until you rot and die, but the thing that you hated is untouched by it.”
    “They hate us and we’re not untouched! It’s not fair!”
    Using his sleeve, he wiped tears from her face and nodded. “You’re right, life isn’t fair. But, we have different injuries from their hate. We get scratches and cuts and if we let them, stabs with a knife, but these are wounds that can heal. The only way to get rid of cancer is to kill it with other poisons, or to cut it out of us.”
    “And hate is cancer?”
    Smiling, he nodded. “It’s emotional cancer. So is bitterness and jealousy.”
    “But, I don’t want you to go. You just got here. You saved for all those years and missed all those wonderful movies, and now you don’t get to stay. That’s just mean.”
    “He doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to.” Lane’s voice drifted in from the barn door. “Dad said to invite you to stay here. We have plenty of room, and you’d get a more realistic picture of life on a Montana ranch here than at Gideon’s anyway.”
    Matt would have demurred. Truly. It was on his lips to make some sort of weak protest at the least, but Patience squealed, jumped to her feet, and practically dragged Matt back into the house. Seeing her father, she rushed to his arms and jumped into them.
    “Thank you, Daddy!”
    “Well, I didn’t issue the invitation for your benefit, but you’re welcome. Sorry, Matt, looks like you don’t have a choice on the subject. Impatience here already accepted for you.”
    With the grin that they all were growing to love, Matt tugged Patience’s hair. “She was a bit misnamed wasn’t she?”
    “Oh Patience wasn’t named to reflect her personality, but as a reminder to my wife.”
    Martha blushed and scuttled to the kitchen where the sounds of banging pots and pans immediately followed. Warren winked to Matt as he followed. “She kept whining about wanting it all over, and I kept telling her to be patient. When the baby finally arrived, the midwife asked her name and we both blurted, ‘Patience’ in exhausted disgust. Poor thing.”
    Patience spun around the room sending her dress flying out and looking like a bell. “I like my name. I get a new Pilgrim costume every year because of it. I bet I wouldn’t get one anymore if my name was Lane or Carrie. I got the best name ever!
    “Matt, can I go get your suitcases from your car? I’ll be careful with them.”
    He started to protest that he could do it himself, but Tad shut him down. “Let her. It’ll keep her out of trouble. I’ll go