Mountain Mischief

By Lydia H. (ages 9-13 category)

 

Amy’s POV

Amy Matterson stumbled across the road. She had been walking for hours. I’m so tired. No. I have to keep going. Besides, if I die I won’t hurt so much. Yep, I should keep going. She kept walking. Finally she got to the outstretch of town.

I’m so tired, she thought, just before she saw a house. She quickly tried to move towards the side of the tree. No one can see me. No one.

            She looked around her. Maybe I should stop for a minute. She sat down under the tree and fell asleep to the sound of rustling leaves.

*****

Justin’s POV

            Justin whistled as he urged Pal to a faster gait. He couldn’t wait to get home to Lucy and the kids. And supper, he thought. I can’t wait!

            As he turned around the corner, he noticed a small lump under the sycamore tree. What is that? He stopped the buggy and walked over to where the lump was. To his surprise he found a girl. He shook her shoulder gently.

            “Hey, wake up,” he said softly.

            “What . . . huh . . . who are you?” the dazed girl asked.

            “I could ask the same of you,” Justin replied. “I’m Justin Carter.”

            “Oh, I’m, uh, Amy Patterson,” the girl looked at him closely then suddenly sat straight up. “Oh, no! You need to get away from me! I have to go!”

            The girl jumped up and was just about to run when Justin grabbed her arm. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Justin asked.

            “No! You have to let g-”

            She didn’t finish what she was saying, because just then she fainted. Justin caught her just as she was falling. He brought her to Pal and climbed up with her in his arms.

            Why did she want me to let go? Is something wrong with her? Should I bring her to Doc Weaver? What should I do? Justin thought. He finally decided to bring her to the doctor. If she was sick he didn’t want Sammy or Gracie to catch it. Or Lucy!

            When he got to the doctor’s house, he dismounted and tied his horse up. Justin knocked on the door and Mrs. Weaver answered.

            “Well hello, Justin,” she greeted. “What are you doing out at this time of night? Is something wrong with Lucy?”

            “No, I found this girl and I think something’s wrong with her,” Justin answered. “Is Doctor Weaver home?”

            “Yes, he just got home,” the old lad said. “Come in, come in.”

            Justin stepped into the big house and Mrs. Weaver led him into the parlor where Dr. Weaver was sipping a steaming cup of coffee. He explained the matter to Dr. Weaver after greeting each other.

            “Can I have a look at her, Justin? What did you say her name was?” Dr. Weaver asked.

            Justin handed Amy over and sat back down to watch as Dr. Weaver set her on the sofa and inspected her. He took a while checking her over.

            “Why, Justin,” the man exclaimed, “she has influenza!”

            Justin jumped up. Oh no! That’s why she didn’t want me near her! I might have caught it! If I did, I might spread it to Lucy and the kids!

            “Doctor, how contagious is Influenza?” Justin asked.

            Dr. Weaver looked solemnly at Justin. “Justin, I know you know how contagious it is. You may have caught it, but we won’t know until you show symptoms.” He looked down at Amy. “Where should I keep Amy?”

            “I don’t know. I didn’t know what she had when I brought her here. Is there anything you can give her?”

            “Nothing but prayer and rest.”

            Justin sighed. “I can’t bring her to the Ó. Not with Thomas and Susie. And the new baby. There isn’t anywhere she can go.”

            “How about Kate’s house up in San Fransico,” Dr. Weaver suggested.

            “But what if the kids get it?”

            “Good point.” Dr. Weaver started to pace the floor.

            Andi can’t keep Amy. Not with the twins and Jared. Chad can’t. Kate can’t. Melinda can’t. What about Mitch? No, he can’t either. Who can watch her? He wondered.

            “Dr. Weaver, could you take care of her?” Justin asked.

            “I’m sorry, Justin, but I’m too busy with Mrs. Barton’s baby,” the doctor said regretfully. “I really wish I could.”

            Justin sighed. “Lucy’s probably worried about me by now. Are you sure Mrs. Weaver couldn’t take care of Amy?”

            “No, I’m sorry.”

            As Justin walked out of Dr. Weaver’s house he finally realized he hadn’t prayed about the matter. Lord, I don’t know what to do about Amy. What if I’ve caught Influenza? I can’t spread it to Lucy. God, please show me the way.

            After praying he felt much more relieved. Being so caught up in thinking, he didn’t notice the dark cloud gathering above. A sudden crack of thunder pulled his thoughts back to reality, as Pal shied and then bolted.

            “Whoa, there, boy!” Justin tried to sooth. “It’s all right. Just a bit of thunder. It’s not bad.” His pleading worked to no avail. Pal stayed at a breakneck speed. Justin looked up and realized they were heading in the direction of the mountains.

            Oh no! God, no! Not the mountains! Please, Lord, no!

*****

            Pal kept on running until he reached the sierras. After about an hour of trying to calm Pal, Justin had finally given up. By the time Pal finally stopped, they were halfway up the mountain.

            I guess there’s nothing left to do except try to find a shelter, Justin thought. To his surprise, he found a cabin a little into the woods. He put Pal in a little lean-to and brought Amy into the cabin. He set her on the bed and went to look at the supplies.

            There was a good bit of food in the cabinets. Half a bag of flower, canned soup, some sugar, rice, coffee, salt, alcohol, a big pot, a pan, and spoon.

            How come the cabinets are so full, Justin wondered. Has someone been here recently? If so who?

He filled up the pan with water as he thought. It was finally full and he walked over to Amy. Pulling out his bandana, he dipped it in the pan of water. Gently he placed it on Amy’s head.

God, I don’t know what to do. Please let the rain stop by morning. Please keep Amy safe. Heal her and bring me back to my family, he prayed.

*****

The next morning the rain did let up. But the yard was to full of water and Pal refused to walk. Amy did seem a little better.

As Justin was attempting to cook a few biscuits and voice suddenly asked, “Mr. Carter, what are you making?”

Justin spun around. “Amy, you’re awake! How do you feel?”

Amy coughed. “Tired and thirsty.” She looked around. “Is this your house?”

Justin put the ‘biscuits’ over the fire. “No, my horse bolted on the way to my house and we ended up here. Do you think you could eat biscuits?”

Amy stuck up her nose. “Are they edible?” she asked.

Justin laughed. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.”

The biscuits did end up being eatable and soon both had filled their stomachs up. Amy took another nap and Justin went to check on Pal. A surprise awaited him at the lean-to. Pal was gone!

Justin rushed to the cabin. If someone had let Pal loose, he was probably still hanging around. Justin opened the door and rushed into the cabin. No one was there. He let out a sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Carter?” Amy asked.

“Nothing.” Justin felt her forehead. “I think the fever’s gone down a bit. Would you mind telling me what happened before I found you under the tree?”

“Well,” Amy started, “My parents died when I was young from Influenza, so my Aunt Rachel took me in. We lived together for a few years and then Aunt Rachel died giving birth to her first child. She and the baby died. Her husband died soon after. Then I got sick. I ran away from any help I saw, because I didn’t want anyone getting sick from me. Then as I was going through Fresno I fell asleep under the tree. Then you found me.”

“So you’re an orphan?” Justin asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

*****

            That afternoon as Justin was checking to see if Pal had come back, he heard a noise coming from the cabin. He quietly hurried to the cabin. He had just opened the door when a hand clamped over his mouth.

            “Don’t fight or the girl gets it,” a voice hissed.

            Justin went limp. He would wait to resist until Amy was safe. The man pushed Justin into the cabin.

            “Sit down by the bed,” the man commanded, as another man grabbed a rope. “We can’t risk any trouble.

            Just as the man began to tie Justin up, he kicked out and hit the man in the knee. The man swore as he rubbed his sore shin. Justin took his moment and punched the other man in the stomach. He doubled over on the floor groaning. Justin was about to grab the gun that had fallen on the ground, when the first man pointed his gun at Justin.

            “Don’t move or I shoot,” the man threatened. Then under his voice, “Fool.”

            Now what can I do, Justin wondered. I should have punched the other man in the head. God please help me and Amy get out of this.

            “Sit down. I’ll tie you up since Rob couldn’t do it.” The first man started tying Justin up.

            Justin saw his chance. He lifted his foot up and kicked the man in the chest. The man, caught off guard, fell backwards. Justin reached for the gun but the man called Rob had recovered.

            “Get away, Carter,” he growled. “And no more tried escapes.”

            Justin calmed down and was tied to the bed post. It was not a comfy thing to be tied up, especially if you were tied tight.

*****

Lucy’s POV

            Lucy looked out the window. Justin should be home by now. What happened? Maybe Pal got spooked by the storm. I hope not.

            “Mama.” Gracie walked and pulled on her dress. “Where’s Daddy? I miss him.”

            Lucy bent down and picked the little girl up and patted her back. “I don’t know, Gracie. I don’t know.”

            Sammy came running in just then. “Mama, Mama, I found Pal. Daddy’s not on him.”

            Lucy started. “Justin’s not on him?” She ran outside. “Sammy, how would you like a ride to Grandma’s house?”

*****

            As the buggy pulled into the Circle C driveway Mitch ran up.

            “Hi, Lucy,” he greeted. “Watcha doing way out here.”

            Lucy jumped right in. “Justin hasn’t come home since yesterday.”

            Mitch’s grin faded as he helped her down. “What do you mean? Are you sure he’s not at the court house.”

            Lucy walked quickly towards the house as she said, “I checked on our way here. I haven’t seen Justin since yesterday.”

            Soon everyone was seated in the parlor. Mitch had gotten Chad, and Riley and Andi had come to visit. Lucy told all she knew about Justin’s absence.

            Chad jumped up. “We should get a search team. Justin wouldn’t joke around like that. I’ll get the Sheriff.”

            “I’m going with the posse.”

            All eyes turned towards Lucy.

            “What?” she asked. “He’s my husband.”

            “All right,” Mitch agreed. “If I know Lucy, she’ll go even if we say no.”

            Lucy laughed. “Then you know me well.”

            The search team was soon arranged. He wasn’t there so the team spread out. Lucy was part of the team going towards the mountains.

            “Don’t worry, Lucy,” Mitch said. “We’ll find him.”

*****

            Justin watched the men. Based on what he’d heard, they were bank robbers. Apparently when they were leaving a bank they’d robbed, they had been caught. They escaped and ran into the mountains, lodging in the cabin. The had gone to see if they were being followed when Justin had shown up.

            “What we goin’ t’ do with the Carter?” Rob asked.

            “I guess we’ll leave him an’ the girl here,” the other man who was obviously the leader said. “Girl’s got Influenza anyway.”

            “So, Ken, we’re goin’ t’ leave them here? Tied up?”

            The man named Ken nodded. “Nothin’ else we kin do but kill him otherwise. He knows who we’re and what we did.”

            Rob nodded. “But wont he get the fever?”

            “Well,” Ken said, “Maybe his wife’ll find ’m. Nope. He’s stay’n ’ere. Not our response’bility .”

            Well, Justin thought, at least they’ll be gone.

            “I’m hungry. What’s there to eat.”

            “The Carter cooked biscuits. There was some left.”

            The robbers had no sooner finished then a horse whinny was heard. Rob went out to check on the horses, while Ken stayed with Justin and Amy.

            A sudden gunshot rang through the air and Ken shot up.

            “What? Who are you? Huh?” Ken said as the door opened and Lucy rushed in holding a gun.

            “Hand over your gun,” Lucy commanded. “I know how to use this.” She cast a glance at Justin and Amy.

            Justin nodded. “She does. I taught her myself.”

            Ken slowly handed his gun over. By then Sheriff Tate had walked into the cabin and soon tied him up.

            Lucy rushed over to Justin. “Oh, Justin, what happened?”

            Justin told the story while she untied him. He hugged her and rubbed his sore wrists. Mitch walked into the cabin.

            “I’m glad we brought Dr. Weaver. That crook’s gonna need him.”

*****

            “Daddy!” Justin held out his arms for his children. They rushed into his wide-open arms excitedly. “You’re home!”

            Justin hugged them tight, glad that everything was over. Amy had lost her fever “All by the will of God” as his mother had said. He hadn’t caught it either (praise God!).

            “Hey, Justin.” Lucy walked up. “I was going to tell you at supper yesterday, but . . .” she smiled, “we’re going to have another baby.”

            “A-another?” Justin stammered. “Lucy, that’s great news!”

            God sure has given me a great family hasn’t he. I’m so grateful. Thank you for your many blessing, Lord!