Read Online Dorothy Garlock by A Gentle Giving - Free Book Online

sure she believed them. “She’s hurting and lashing out at the person who brought the bad news.”
    “Pa . . . pa— Pa . . . pa— Pa . . . pa—” A wail like that of a wounded animal came from inside the wagon, followed by hysterical sobbing.
    *  *  *
    In a small plot set aside by the army when the station was an outpost of Fort Kearny, Gilbert Frank was buried alongside drifters, soldiers, outlaws and pioneers who had died on their way west to settle the new land. Willa, Charlie and Jo Bell followed the two freighters who carried the blanket-wrapped body to the secluded area. Mr. Byers and his stock-tender, a whiskered old man named Rusty, were the only others present when Gil Frank was laid to rest. Willa recited
The Lord’s
Prayer
and then led Charlie and Jo Bell away while their father’s grave was filled, making him a part of this wild country forever.
    Her father’s death had left Jo Bell in a strange state of shock. She had meekly put on the dark dress Willa found in her trunk: a dress that no doubt had belonged to her mother. She let Willa pin up her hair and put a black straw hat on her head. Her eyes were swollen, her face pale, but for once she looked more woman than child.
    Charlie had not tried to talk to his sister. He had shown surprising maturity when his father’s body had been brought back to the wagon and placed on the ground cloth. With Willa beside him, he had gone through his father’s pockets, placed the contents in a small cloth sack, then folded his father’s hands across his chest. He and Willa had sat beside the body until Mr. Byers had come an hour after sunrise to tell them the grave was ready.
    After the service Jo Bell climbed inside the wagon and laydown on her bunk. It was clear to Willa and Charlie that any decisions regarding the future would be made without her.
    For the graveside service, Willa had dressed herself as modestly as was possible in one of Starr’s dark dresses. She removed it now and put on the checked gingham dress. Overnight her situation had changed. She couldn’t abandon Gil Frank’s children after what he had done for her, even if his motives had been selfish. She would have to stay with them until they reached their uncle’s ranch.
    She found Charlie sitting on a log, his back to the camp, Buddy sitting between his knees. His hands were buried in the dog’s fur. He sniffed and blinked away tears when Willa sat down beside him. She reached for his hand.
    “Don’t be ashamed of crying, Charlie.”
    “Papa said . . . men don’t cry.”
    “Sometimes they do. If they don’t cry on the outside, they cry on the inside. Papa Igor said that tears had a way of building up inside you and making you bitter if you didn’t let them out.”
    “Are you goin’ to . . . leave us?” Charlie blurted, trying to keep his voice from cracking.
    “I had planned to ask Mr. Byers for work, but if you want me to stay with you and Jo Bell, I will.”
    “Please, Willa. Please . . . stay. I don’t know what to do. Jo Bell ain’t goin’ to be no help at all.”
    “The only thing you can do is go on to your uncle’s ranch.”
    “I don’t even know where it is. Papa didn’t talk to me . . . much.”
    “Your father told me it would take about a week to get there. The station is a post office. Maybe Mr. Byers knows. He may even know someone who can take you there.”
    “I’m so glad you’re here, Willa—you and Buddy. Stay with us until we get to Uncle Oliver’s. He might not want us there without Pa.”
    “He will! You and Jo Bell are his sister’s children. Remember what you told me the other night? You said things have a way of working out.”
    “Jo Bell is actin’ strange—for her.”
    “I know. She needs time to come to terms with what has happened. We can leave Buddy with her while we go down and talk to Mr. Byers.”
    “I’ll take Pa’s rifle. We’re alone now, Willa. You’d better put that little derringer in your pocket. Do you know how to