Chapter Twenty-Six
Stevensville Church
Three days before Christmas
It was the day of the second meeting, and Luke was apprehensive about it.
Too much had happened during these last two days, and he still hadn’t fully recovered.
Losing his ranch a second time had been a tough blow, and although Madelaine, the children, and Caleb and Evelyn hadn’t been hurt, his ranch hand, Alvarez, was still missing.
Thankfully, he now had a new-old ally on his side, and despite their previous differences, Luke knew that he could trust Timothy wholeheartedly.
Both men had had a long conversation last night after everybody else had gone to bed, and they’d finally been able to talk it out.
Enough time had passed that Luke didn't want to be angry anymore.
So, while Caleb had gone to the fairgrounds to keep an eye on the possible horse thieves, Timothy was the one accompanying Luke to the meeting today.
Walking into the church at noon, Luke once again wasn’t sure what to expect. This second meeting would decide how many men he’d be able to count on for their ambush against the horse thieves, which was planned for tonight.
Once again, he was taken by surprise.
Although this was supposed to be a secret meeting, people had openly gathered here today, which wasn’t unusual in the days leading up to Christmas. The number of people who’d shown up was nearly as many as during the first meeting. It was impressive and very reassuring indeed.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, not everybody had come to support their fight. As soon as he stepped out, the bickering started.
“Heard your house burned down, Cross!” one man somewhere near the back shouted into the room. There were gasps, hushed chatter, and even the odd laughter.
“Twice in a row! What are the odds?” another added, and the background noises got a little louder.
Luke stepped in front of the altar, facing the crowd, raising both hands to calm the folks down.
“It’s true…” he began, swallowing hard, not sure how he should continue. Timothy stepped right next to him, and his silent presence gave him the strength he needed.
“It’s true,” he started again. “My ranch was attacked two nights ago, while me and my wife were at the Christmas Dance. The house burned down to the ground, I was robbed, and I have to assume that they have kidnapped one of my workers, too.”
Again, there were loud gasps; one woman made a wailing sound. Overall, the people seemed shocked and sympathetic to his plight.
“We can only assume that these were the same criminals who have been attacking ranches, stealing horses, and even murdering people for many years now!” he continued. The outrage over it all was palpable all across the room.
“What if my ranch is next? I’m right next to yours, Luke!” James Hargrove, Luke’s direct neighbor, and supposedly good friend, yelled. It stopped Luke in his tracks, because—if anything—he’d thought that James would have his back.
“What if it’s our ranch? We’re not far from you, either!” This time, it was the fearful voice of an elderly woman.
“None of us are safe!” James called to the crowd. Then he turned back to Luke. “What are you going to do to ensure our safety, sheriff?” Hargrove asked. “You haven’t done anything to stop these attacks from happening, and now they’ve burned your house down, again!”
The crowd began to cheer for James, and it became increasingly hard for Luke to calm them down so he could speak.
He felt uninhibited anger bubble up to the surface.
He would have liked nothing more than to put James in his place for being disruptive and needlessly riling everybody up, but he was all too aware that he would lose every single ally he had left in this room if he lost control now.
“That is the reason I asked all of you to come here today,” he called over the shouting and yelling. “To ask for your support in finally capturing the criminals and putting an end to it all once and for all!” Luke was almost forced to scream into the chaotic crowd.
Random people were yelling and fighting with each other, and there was no order anymore. Luke was seething at James, but Hargrove avoided his gaze.
Luke feared that this meeting was slipping away from him, so he took it upon himself to step up onto the pulpit from which the priest usually read his sermons to get a higher vantage point. “Please! Everybody calm down! This is not helping anybody!” he tried.
It was like Sodom and Gomorrah. People jumped up from their seats, the shouting and yelling rising to levels even Luke couldn’t overpower.
Suddenly, a shrill sound echoed through the entire church, which instantly shut everybody up.
All heads turned toward the corner where the reed organ stood.
Timothy had taken it upon himself to sufficiently pump the airbag with the air paddle so he could produce a booming sound by pressing a random key. It had the desired effect.
“Are we all a bunch of wildlings with no manners or reasoning?” his booming voice echoed through the nave.
Almost at the same time, the priest stepped in front of the altar, raised one hand above an opened Bible, and loudly began to recite a passage.
“Mark 4:39-40 – ‘And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down, and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’”
Luke watched as the entire crowd fell silent.
Looking back at Timothy, he saw him step next to him as he too recited something from his memory. “16. Psalm 37:8 – ‘Calm your anger and abandon wrath. Don’t be angry—it only leads to evil.’”
A young man rose from his seat in the midst of the crowd. “Isaiah 26:3 – ‘You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.’”
Luke tried to swallow around the lump that had formed in his throat when the young man nodded toward him and said, “We trust you, sheriff!”
Most shockingly, one of Isabelle’s most favorite quotes popped into his mind, and he looked up at the ceiling as he closed his eyes and spoke the words he’d heard her say so many times before.
“Isaiah 7:4 - “Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm, and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart. God is with you. Always!”
Of all people, James Hargrove was the one who provided the last one. “Timothy 1:7 - ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.’”
Luke felt humbled beyond words. The powerful words of the Lord were so much more than just phrases and sentences in an ancient book.
He couldn’t deny the strong pull that encompassed him in this moment.
Inhaling deeply, he nodded toward Timothy and the priest before he turned back toward the now-calm crowd.
“Can we get to business now?” Luke asked the silent room. “We’ve got work to do, and I still haven’t been able to tell you about the plan we’ve worked out.” The murmur in the room sounded mostly agreeable. “I need to know, who’s with us tonight?”
One by one, man after man rose from their seats and came toward the front. The group started with ten, maybe fifteen at first, but it quickly became so large that it pushed out the women and elderly from the front pews.
Luke began to lay out the plan he, Caleb, and Timothy had come up with the day before. He asked for volunteers who’d scout out the area near the house in the woods to make sure the gang was still there. Surprisingly, James was one of the first to volunteer.
“I need to see if you do your job right,” he said when Luke asked him about it.
The attack was planned to happen the next day, around midnight, which was the night before the auction, when the horse thieves would retire to their hangout in the woods and least expect it.
By the time everyone was informed and all the tasks, positions, and jobs were allocated, it was late in the afternoon.
Most men agreed that with a long night of scouting ahead, it was high time to go home and get a good supper in them.
As the last one left, Luke turned around when he heard hushed voices. Looking up, he saw Timothy and the priest, quietly talking to each other.
Gazing up at the stained-glass window, one panel depicting the crucifixion of Christ, the other showing Mary holding Christ in her arms shortly after, he remembered how much he had loved this church before his heart had died in that tragedy.
The faces of Madelaine, Simon, and Belle popped up in his mind, and he suddenly knew that his heart was no longer dead.
“Are You still there, God?” he whispered up to the window.
“Are You still listening? If You can hear me, God, I might need Your support tonight. I need You, I think. Help me catch these criminals. Help me protect this town and all the people who love You, especially Madelaine. If You can hear me—don’t do it for me, do it for them. ”