would need his friendship more than ever.
“He will have it,” Matt vowed one afternoon while returning from town. “For as long as he wants to stay, the Diamond S will be Seth Anderson’s home.” Comfortably slumped in the saddle, Matt gave Chase free rein and let his thoughts drift like a tumbleweed skipping along with the slight breeze. Feelings that had been growing ever since the telegram came surfaced then burst into full-fledged determination. They spilled into a prayer that hovered in the quiet air.
“God, if there’s any possible way to get Sarah Joy Anderson out of her stepfather’s clutches, please show me what it is. For Seth’s sake,” he hastily added.
Only for Seth’s sake?
a little voice whispered inside him. Matt tried to ignore it, but the face in Seth’s photograph shimmered in the quiet air until Matt whacked Chase with the reins. The unaccustomed blow, light as it was, sent the startled buckskin into a gallop guaranteed to banish the mirage and bring any once-bitten, twice-shy rancher back to his senses.
Chapter 8
N ineteen hundred miles east of the Diamond S Ranch, Sarah wearily rose from her corn-husk mattress at the crack of dawn. She shivered in the early morning chill and hastily wrapped herself in her mother’s old dressing gown. The tattered garment not only offered warmth but also the feeling of being enfolded in her mother’s arms, comfort that Sarah sorely needed. Ever since Gus had sold her to Tice Edwards—being sold was exactly what it amounted to—Sarah’s days had been filled with continued drudgery and her nights with fear. Nights in which she racked her brain to think of a way to escape.
So far none had appeared, in spite of her desperate prayers for God to make a way. Now she sighed and reached for her mother’s Bible. During the final weeks of Mama’s illness, Sarah had let her scripture reading fall by the wayside from lack of time and energy. “Lord, I’m stuck in St. Louis until I can figure out how to earn enough money to leave here,” she whispered into her harsh pillow, careful not to disturb her sleeping half sister. If Ellie awakened, all chances of quiet time for Sarah would flee before the petulant child’s demands.
Sarah knelt on the rough floor beside the window and stared out into a day as gray as her life. “I need the wisdom of Solomon to know how to endure Tice’s unwelcome advances, God. He’s made his intentions clear—he will court me briefly and then wed me.”
Fierce determination surged through Sarah’s body. She would not marry Tice. She would kick and scream and tear the wedding gown he had ordered made for her until everyone in St. Louis heard. Surely someone would come to her rescue!
Who?
a little voice mocked.
Tice Edwards has this town, including the police chief and who knows how many others, in the palm of his hand
. Despair threatened to overwhelm her, but words her father had spoken long ago swept into her heart. Sarah could picture his face, haggard from illness, when he said:
“Seth, Sarah, you will be faced with many hard decisions throughout your life
.
There is only one way to choose rightly. First, consider all the possibilities and the likely consequences. Next, take them to the Lord in prayer. Finally, wait for His answer.”
He had raised his head with a look so loving and kind Sarah knew she would never forget it.
“Most importantly, once you make your decision, go straight forward, not looking to the right or the left, and carry it out. If it later needs to be altered, our heavenly Father will guide you.”
He hesitated a long moment, closing his eyes as if he needed to gather strength. When he opened them again, a smile lifted his lips, and the blue eyes so like Seth’s and Sarah’s twinkled.
“Most folks disagree, but I believe it’s better to make a decision that may later have to be amended than refuse to make any decision at all.”
That is what Seth did
, Sarah thought. A spurt of courage
“He will have it,” Matt vowed one afternoon while returning from town. “For as long as he wants to stay, the Diamond S will be Seth Anderson’s home.” Comfortably slumped in the saddle, Matt gave Chase free rein and let his thoughts drift like a tumbleweed skipping along with the slight breeze. Feelings that had been growing ever since the telegram came surfaced then burst into full-fledged determination. They spilled into a prayer that hovered in the quiet air.
“God, if there’s any possible way to get Sarah Joy Anderson out of her stepfather’s clutches, please show me what it is. For Seth’s sake,” he hastily added.
Only for Seth’s sake?
a little voice whispered inside him. Matt tried to ignore it, but the face in Seth’s photograph shimmered in the quiet air until Matt whacked Chase with the reins. The unaccustomed blow, light as it was, sent the startled buckskin into a gallop guaranteed to banish the mirage and bring any once-bitten, twice-shy rancher back to his senses.
Chapter 8
N ineteen hundred miles east of the Diamond S Ranch, Sarah wearily rose from her corn-husk mattress at the crack of dawn. She shivered in the early morning chill and hastily wrapped herself in her mother’s old dressing gown. The tattered garment not only offered warmth but also the feeling of being enfolded in her mother’s arms, comfort that Sarah sorely needed. Ever since Gus had sold her to Tice Edwards—being sold was exactly what it amounted to—Sarah’s days had been filled with continued drudgery and her nights with fear. Nights in which she racked her brain to think of a way to escape.
So far none had appeared, in spite of her desperate prayers for God to make a way. Now she sighed and reached for her mother’s Bible. During the final weeks of Mama’s illness, Sarah had let her scripture reading fall by the wayside from lack of time and energy. “Lord, I’m stuck in St. Louis until I can figure out how to earn enough money to leave here,” she whispered into her harsh pillow, careful not to disturb her sleeping half sister. If Ellie awakened, all chances of quiet time for Sarah would flee before the petulant child’s demands.
Sarah knelt on the rough floor beside the window and stared out into a day as gray as her life. “I need the wisdom of Solomon to know how to endure Tice’s unwelcome advances, God. He’s made his intentions clear—he will court me briefly and then wed me.”
Fierce determination surged through Sarah’s body. She would not marry Tice. She would kick and scream and tear the wedding gown he had ordered made for her until everyone in St. Louis heard. Surely someone would come to her rescue!
Who?
a little voice mocked.
Tice Edwards has this town, including the police chief and who knows how many others, in the palm of his hand
. Despair threatened to overwhelm her, but words her father had spoken long ago swept into her heart. Sarah could picture his face, haggard from illness, when he said:
“Seth, Sarah, you will be faced with many hard decisions throughout your life
.
There is only one way to choose rightly. First, consider all the possibilities and the likely consequences. Next, take them to the Lord in prayer. Finally, wait for His answer.”
He had raised his head with a look so loving and kind Sarah knew she would never forget it.
“Most importantly, once you make your decision, go straight forward, not looking to the right or the left, and carry it out. If it later needs to be altered, our heavenly Father will guide you.”
He hesitated a long moment, closing his eyes as if he needed to gather strength. When he opened them again, a smile lifted his lips, and the blue eyes so like Seth’s and Sarah’s twinkled.
“Most folks disagree, but I believe it’s better to make a decision that may later have to be amended than refuse to make any decision at all.”
That is what Seth did
, Sarah thought. A spurt of courage
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