Angel in Horsehair

by Karalyn K.

AGES 10-13

69-Angel in Horsehair

Prologue 

      Levi Swanson crept into the kitchen, not to interrupt his aunt’s pitiful pleading. 

     “Mother, please don’t make me go to Aunt Rebekah’s, I’ll die of boredom!”

      A week ago, Aunt Rebekah had sent a telegram inviting the women to come to San Francisco for a ladies’ time. She wrote that she would like to visit a new clothing store, and get them some more appropriate dresses—whatever that meant. And since Levi was staying with the Carters, Aunt Rebekah thought it would be more enjoyable with no men around.

      “No, Andrea. This will be a good learning experience for you.”

      “But you aren’t going—”

     “Only because I am still getting over my cough,” Elizabeth clarified.

     “But—”

     “Andrea, it is final.”

     Andi consented grudgingly. This would surely be the most boring week of her life. 

*****

      Levi strolled leisurely in the pasture behind the ranch house. It was so peaceful, a great place to think. He soon came to a grove of trees on the prairie. Levi sat himself at the base of one of the oaks and laid his head back against the rough bark, soaking in the cool breeze that rustled the leaves. I wonder how mother is doing right now. 

     His grandma had insisted that he spend his last few weeks before school with them. That was before the invitation from her sister-in-law. Now he only had ten days left until he would go back to San Francisco, and his aunts would return to their home. Levi dreaded the stuffy city where he couldn’t ride horses whenever he wanted, and always had to be proper for Aunt Rebekah, but he still missed his mother and sisters.

     As he sat there, he began to get drowsy. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he heard a twig snap behind him. Levi’s eyes shot open, and he bolted upright. Heart racing, he looked around to see what had startled him. Peering closely, he thought he saw someone scamper into the thicket.

     “Wait, you there, stop!” he raced after the stranger.

     Being a fast runner, he began to gain on him. He could tell it was a boy, probably close to his age, dressed in ragged clothes. Once close enough, he jumped and tackled the boy. 

     The stranger shrieked at the unexpected fall, but quickly gained back his wits. Squirming under his pursuer, he tried to escape, unsuccessfully. Twisting around under Levi, he tried to push him from on top of himself.

     “Let me go! You’re hurting me,” squeaked a high-pitched voice.

     Levi, seeing the stranger's face and hearing their voice was stunned. “You-you’re-a girl!” he stood, pulling the stranger up with him and keeping hold of her wrists.

    “Let me go!”

     “But how-who-what— I mean, who are you?”

     “None of your business.”

     “I’m not letting you go until you tell me. So let's make this as pleasant as possible.”

     She fought to free herself, but saw it was no use. “My name is… Anne.”

     “Really? To be honest, I don’t believe you,” he retorted.

     “Why not?”

     “Why should I? I don’t know you, and the name Anne?” Levi made a face, showing his dislike of the name. “No, I don’t think so.”

     Anne looked at Levi, “You really aren’t going to let me go until I give you a satisfactory answer are you?”

     “Nope,” he offered a lop-sided smirk.

     I might as well trust somebody. Lord, don’t let this be a mistake, she prayed.

      “My name is… Angelica, Angelica Gentry. Yours?”

     “Levi Swanson. Where are you from?”

     “Nowhere specific.”

     “You don’t have a home? Where is your family?”

     “That’s none of your business,” Angelica yanked her arm from Levi’s loosened grip. “Where am I anyway?”

     “The Circle C Ranch. My grandma, Elizabeth Carter, is the owner. The house is about a quarter mile east of here.”

     “That explains why there are cattle everywhere,” she mumbled under her breath.

     “Huh?” 

     “Oh, nothing. If you could point me in the direction of the nearest town—”

      “Wait a minute,” Levi interrupted, “You should come back to the house. I’m sure Grandma would want you to stay at least for supper.”

    “I don’t know…”

     “I insist.”

     Food would be nice. I haven’t eaten good in weeks. “Alright… thanks.”

     He grinned, “My pleasure Angelica.”

     “Please, call me Angel.”

*****

     “Grandmother?” Levi called as he and Angel entered the house. He led the girl into the sitting room, where Elizabeth sat mending a pair of Mitch’s trousers.

     “Yes, Levi? Oh, I didn’t realize we had company,” she stood, setting her mending aside.

     “This is Angelica Gentry. I found her in the back pasture.”

      “Hello Angelica, I’m Elizabeth Carter.” 

     “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry I couldn’t get cleaned up. Levi insisted you wouldn’t mind.” 

     “Not at all, and it is a pleasure to meet you as well.”

     “Thank you.”

     “Now Angelica, won’t you join us for dinner?” Elizabeth inquired. “I would hate for you to leave so soon.”

     Thank you, God! “If you’re sure, then thank you.”

*****

     So Angel stayed with the Carters for dinner, and all that night as well. Upon Elizabeth’s insistence, the girl consented to stay with them until they could locate her parents. But, if up to her, that would not be any time soon. 

     In the days that followed, Angel grew to trust the Carter family. She and Levi became close friends, and Levi told her he liked having someone on his side for once.  Justin had looked in the records to try and locate anyone by the name of Gentry, but was unsuccessful.  And Angel was of no help to the matter. So he and Elizabeth had decided to stay with them for the time being.

     It was early Thursday evening, and Angel was out grooming Patches. She seemed to have a bond with the little paint, and spent quite a bit of time with it.

      Levi had just finished helping his uncles and was going to ask Angel if she wanted to go riding. As he entered the barn, he heard a quiet voice coming from Patches’ stall. He approached carefully, attempting not to interrupt her.

     “... I just can’t tell them, Patches; they’ll probably send me to an orphanage. And Uncle Rupp will kill me if he ever finds me. Sacramento is a ways away from here, but nowhere is far enough from him. Why didn’t I go to town first thing and smuggle onto the next train like I have been doing?” Her words turned into a prayer, “God, why did You let my parents die? Couldn't you have let me end up with anybody else besides Uncle Rupp? He beat me! I know You say to trust You, and You’ll work it all out, but did I do something to deserve this?” Her voice squeaked, then turned into sobs and she buried her face in Patches mane. 

     Levi stood outside the stall in horrified shock. He’d figured she’d had a difficult past, considering how quiet she was about it, but he never thought it could be anything this bad. He slowly crept out of the barn, then ran to the house as fast as he could. I’ve got to tell Grandma and Uncle Justin! 

     When he relayed to them what he had just heard, Elizabeth was aghast, but Justin stood still, a stone expression on his face.

     “Well, this explains why she was so reserved. Just to clarify, you said she’s an orphan, and her uncle, with whom she was placed, abused her?” At his nephew’s nod, Justin continued, “Then we can waste no time. The sheriff must know this. First I need to talk with Angelica. Where did you say she was?”

     “Angel is in the barn with Patches. Justin,” Levi turned imploring eyes on his oldest uncle, “please don’t be too pushy. I know what you’re like when you get into lawyer mode.” 

     “Levi, let’s not waste any more time,” he made a gesture toward the door. 

     Reluctantly, the boy exited the house, approaching what would surely be his demise. He didn’t want to witness more crying, and he couldn’t imagine that Angel would be happy with his eavesdropping. Upon entering the barn, they found Angel still grooming Patches. To Levi’s relief, his friend had pulled herself together, and even offered them a small, fragile smile as they joined her in the stall.

     “Hello Levi, Justin.”

     Levi nodded, nearly having a nervous breakdown. This was going to be an awkward conversation. 

     “Hello, Angel. I have something to talk to you about. I’m going to ask you some questions, and I know some of them might be a little difficult, but you need to answer. It’s for your own safety, okay?”

     Angel suddenly felt uncomfortable. What does he mean by he needs to talk to me? Angel slowly backed away.

     Justin walked to her and knelt down to be on eye level with her. Levi stayed unmoving, hoping that they would forget he was there.

     “Angel, I think it’s time you told us about your parents.”

     “They’re just unavailable right now, okay?” 

     “Then why are you an orphan?”

     Angel stared at him, eyes growing wide in shock. “How did you find…” her voice trailed off in realization and horror.

     She jerked as Justin’s gentle hand squeezed hers. 

     “Levi heard you talking to Patches. Angel, why didn’t you tell us? We would never put you in an orphanage, you should know that by now.”

     “I-I was just so scared. I thought you would... You can’t send me back to uncle Rupp, you can’t!” she exclaimed, tears racking her body. 

     “Shh, shh,” Justin wrapped his arms around the frail, shaking girl, “We won’t send you back to your uncle, Angel; we would never do that. We’ll take care of you. You’re part of our family.” Justin’s kind words quieted her sobs.

     Levi approached and consciously hugged his friend.

     Angel looked at Justin. They were her family. He was right. She could trust them, and everything would be alright.

*****

     That night Angel told the Carter family everything: about her parents dying from cholera, being placed with her uncle who later abused her, running away by sneaking on and off of trains and about everything up to stumbling upon Levi nearly a week ago. 

     “I just can’t believe anyone could be so cruel to a poor child!” Elizabeth exclaimed, wiping tears from her pale cheeks.

     “How long were you with your uncle before you ran away?” Mitch asked, concerned.

     “Nearly three years. He wasn’t bad at first. In fact, he was downright nice. But then he got to drinking, and it just kept getting worse. I eventually just got fed up with it,” her lip quivered, but she remained stone faced.

     “And you said you’ve been on the run for two months?” Mitch  sounded exasperated. “That is rotten. Why didn’t you go to the sheriff?”

     “I was too afraid that he would send me to an orphanage. And I couldn’t have testified against Uncle Rupp in court.” 

     “Angel,” Chad broke in. He had been silent the whole time, so it was startling when he finally spoke. “You don’t have to worry about your uncle anymore. The name Rupp sounded vaguely familiar, and I just remembered why.” All curious eyes were fixed on his stern face. “When I went to Sacramento to get that new bunch of bulls a little over a month ago, I saw the newspaper there. It said something about a drunk man with the name Rupp… killing a sheriff.” He took a deep breath, shaking his head. “It said he was shot and later died from the wound.”

     Gasps filled the room, and Justin’s jaw dropped. Horror filled Angel’s pale face as she sat unable to move from the sudden shock. 

     “Uncle Rupp,” she muttered, “Uncle Rupp, how could it ever come to this? Why couldn’t you have listened in church all those years ago?”

     Levi sympathetically pulled her into a hug, “It’s okay, Angel, we’ll get through this. Together.”

*****

     Angel had prayed more that night than she had in years, and felt at peace, even through deep sorrow for her uncle. 

     A few days later she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

     “Come in,” she called lightly.

     Justin walked in and sat beside the young girl on her bed. “Angel,” he started, “I’m sorry to say this, but you’ve probably figured out that you won’t be able to stay here much longer. Not only will Levi be leaving for San Francisco soon, but the judge believes that the best situation for you would be with a family with both a mother and father. Now I know this may be a bit sudden, but I know a couple in Fresno that are not able to have children, and are looking to adopt. I talked to them and they said, if you agreed, they would like to meet you. Their names are Jason and EmmaLee O’Harah.”

     Angel thought for a minute, then agreed to meet them the next day.

*****

      The night after meeting the nice couple, Angel and Levi sat in the hayloft for the last time talking.

     “So you really liked the O’Harahs?” Levi questioned.

     “Yes, I don’t know what it was, but from the instant I met them I felt like I belonged. EmmaLee is a lot how I remembered mama being, and Jason was nice, too. They’re wonderful. I wish Uncle Rupp didn’t have to die in order for me to stay with them, though.”

     “Angel, that’s something I never understood,” Levi stated. “How could you forgive your uncle and just let it go like that?”

     “It wasn’t easy to let go, but you know I’m a Christian, and God sent His only son to die so that I could be forgiven. I just don’t see how I couldn’t I forgive my uncle?”

     “That’s some forgiveness.”

     “I can tell you about it if you want,” Angel offered.

     “I’d like that Angel. I’d like that a lot.”

*****

     The next day before boarding the train to San Francisco, Levi and Angel hugged. 

     “I’ll miss you, Levi. Come back real soon.”

     “I will, and I’ll miss you too. And Angel, thank you—for being my friend, and for introducing me Jesus. I’ll never forget it.”

     “You’re very welcome.”

     “Levi,” Justin called, “Time to go.” 

     He ran to catch his uncle, “Bye Angel—and thanks again!”

     Later, the train came in with Andi and Melinda eager to greet their family.

“Well, I hope nothing exciting happened while we were gone,” Andi exclaimed hugging each member of her family.

     Chad chuckled and Mitch and Justin shared smirks.

     “Nothing too exciting.”

     “Yeah…” Chad agreed with his younger brother, “We only met an Angel.”