Read Online The Coming Storm by Tracie Peterson - Free Book Online
Authors: Tracie Peterson
Ads: Link
I hope you and Pa will come to visit us. You’ll always be welcome.”
“Well, farms don’t run themselves, so I doubt it’ll be anytime soon,” she replied, a tinge of regret in her voice. “But you’ll be in our prayers, and I’ll write.”
Cole nodded just as the rooster began crowing. “Looks like I’d best be on my way. I’ve got a good piece to ride before I catch up to Mr. Keefer.”
Mary Selby uncharacteristically grabbed hold of her son and embraced him long and hard. Cole couldn’t help but sense desperation in her action. “Please be careful. Let me know as soon as you can that you’ve arrived safely.”
“I promise,” Cole said. His mother’s uneasiness momentarily unnerved him. He shook it off and tried not to overreact. “I’ll probably be there about the time the corn gets as tall as you. So just think on that and start looking for a letter a few weeks later.”
She nodded and let him go. Cole mounted his horse and looked around for his father. “Where’s Pa?”
“Waiting by the gate. I told him I needed a moment with you. He said he’d meet you there.”
“Thanks. Thanks for everything. I hope we see each other again . . . soon.”
“I pray that as well.”
Cole hated that his mother sounded so worried, but he urged Buddy, his faithful sorrel, out of the barn and down the path toward the front gate. There were really no words of comfort he could offer her, so instead he prayed that God might ease her worry.
Spotting his father, Cole dismounted and walked the remaining few yards. “Guess it’s time for me to get going,” he said. The morning dawn was lighting up the day and soon it would be warm, maybe even hot. In Kansas, his father liked to say, a fellow never knew whether to wear a heavy coat or a straw hat.
“Your ma found you, then?”
“Yeah. She seems really worried. I hope you’ll be able to put her mind at ease.”
“She heard tell of wagon trains being attacked by Indians. Someone from the church mentioned it last night. It’s all she’s been able to think about ever since.”
“Well, that explains it,” Cole said, trying hard to sound lighthearted. “Silly gossips. Don’t they know the Bible teaches against that kind of thing?”
His father met his gaze and nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will be, Pa. You should have word back from me no later than September. I’ll even try to drop you a few lines along the way.”
“All right, then. Be off and give that little lady of yours our best.” He extended his hand, but Cole pulled his father into an embrace instead.
“I will. Give Ma my love and know that you have it too.”
He quickly released his father and remounted the horse. If he didn’t leave now, he’d get all weepy—something he was definitely not used to.
Cole moved out the open gate and headed to Topeka. There was still something he had to do. The telegram Daniel had sent confirmed that the wagon train had left Independence on the twentieth of April. But it also asked Cole to pick up additional ammunition and maybe an extra rifle or two.
Apparently the Indians were on the warpath.
CHAPTER 6
“A RTICLE FIFTY-TWO OF THE A RTICLES OF W AR DECLARES, ‘Any officer or soldier who shall misbehave himself before the enemy, run away, or shamefully abandon any fort, post, or guard which he or they may be commanded to defend, or speak words inducing others to do the like, or shall cast away his arms and ammunition, or who shall quit his post or colors to plunder and pillage, every such offender, being duly convicted thereof, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.’ ” Zane listened to the words of his superior as the proceeding against him concluded. He’d prayed about doing the right thing and knew that being here—admitting to desertion—was the right thing. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier.
“Sergeant Chadwick, do you have anything to say in your own
“Well, farms don’t run themselves, so I doubt it’ll be anytime soon,” she replied, a tinge of regret in her voice. “But you’ll be in our prayers, and I’ll write.”
Cole nodded just as the rooster began crowing. “Looks like I’d best be on my way. I’ve got a good piece to ride before I catch up to Mr. Keefer.”
Mary Selby uncharacteristically grabbed hold of her son and embraced him long and hard. Cole couldn’t help but sense desperation in her action. “Please be careful. Let me know as soon as you can that you’ve arrived safely.”
“I promise,” Cole said. His mother’s uneasiness momentarily unnerved him. He shook it off and tried not to overreact. “I’ll probably be there about the time the corn gets as tall as you. So just think on that and start looking for a letter a few weeks later.”
She nodded and let him go. Cole mounted his horse and looked around for his father. “Where’s Pa?”
“Waiting by the gate. I told him I needed a moment with you. He said he’d meet you there.”
“Thanks. Thanks for everything. I hope we see each other again . . . soon.”
“I pray that as well.”
Cole hated that his mother sounded so worried, but he urged Buddy, his faithful sorrel, out of the barn and down the path toward the front gate. There were really no words of comfort he could offer her, so instead he prayed that God might ease her worry.
Spotting his father, Cole dismounted and walked the remaining few yards. “Guess it’s time for me to get going,” he said. The morning dawn was lighting up the day and soon it would be warm, maybe even hot. In Kansas, his father liked to say, a fellow never knew whether to wear a heavy coat or a straw hat.
“Your ma found you, then?”
“Yeah. She seems really worried. I hope you’ll be able to put her mind at ease.”
“She heard tell of wagon trains being attacked by Indians. Someone from the church mentioned it last night. It’s all she’s been able to think about ever since.”
“Well, that explains it,” Cole said, trying hard to sound lighthearted. “Silly gossips. Don’t they know the Bible teaches against that kind of thing?”
His father met his gaze and nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will be, Pa. You should have word back from me no later than September. I’ll even try to drop you a few lines along the way.”
“All right, then. Be off and give that little lady of yours our best.” He extended his hand, but Cole pulled his father into an embrace instead.
“I will. Give Ma my love and know that you have it too.”
He quickly released his father and remounted the horse. If he didn’t leave now, he’d get all weepy—something he was definitely not used to.
Cole moved out the open gate and headed to Topeka. There was still something he had to do. The telegram Daniel had sent confirmed that the wagon train had left Independence on the twentieth of April. But it also asked Cole to pick up additional ammunition and maybe an extra rifle or two.
Apparently the Indians were on the warpath.
CHAPTER 6
“A RTICLE FIFTY-TWO OF THE A RTICLES OF W AR DECLARES, ‘Any officer or soldier who shall misbehave himself before the enemy, run away, or shamefully abandon any fort, post, or guard which he or they may be commanded to defend, or speak words inducing others to do the like, or shall cast away his arms and ammunition, or who shall quit his post or colors to plunder and pillage, every such offender, being duly convicted thereof, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.’ ” Zane listened to the words of his superior as the proceeding against him concluded. He’d prayed about doing the right thing and knew that being here—admitting to desertion—was the right thing. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier.
“Sergeant Chadwick, do you have anything to say in your own
Similar Books
