Trust and obey Part Two

by Claire M.

Chapter Seven: How long?

           

A few weeks later, Melinda stood on the porch and waited impatiently for the buggy to drive into the yard. Kate was coming home today. Father had gone to San Francisco to get her after Aunt Rebecca had sent him a letter. Melinda wasn’t quite sure what that letter contained, but she was too happy to care. All that mattered was that Kate would be home at last. And then everything will be back to normal.

            The rattling of wagon wheels a minute later jerked Melinda’s head in the direction the noise was coming from. Sure enough, it was Father and Kate on their way home. Melinda was so excited that she almost forgot to tell the rest of the family that they were here. “Mother, they’re back!” she called.

Her whole family came on the porch and stood beside her. Melinda’s smile faded when they were close enough to see their facial expressions. She could see Kate’s red and angry face as she talked to Father. Kate was mad that she was coming home?

            The buggy came to a halt right in front of the house. Father helped Kate out and looked at her sternly. “Now you go to your room, I will deal with you later.” Melinda couldn’t have been more shocked when she saw Kate stomp her foot at Father. She watched as Kate, sobbing and angry, fled to the house with a bang of the door. Melinda turned back to Father who was shaking his head and sighing.

            “Elizabeth, she must be taught to mind us,” he said very sadly.

Had Kate argued and yelled at Father the whole ride home? Melinda wondered. She knew how much Kate could complain, and how much she hated when Kate did complain. Sometimes, Kate would complain the whole walk across the school yard. Or if she went riding with Melinda, she would complain about how hot it was, or how dusty it was, or how dry it was, or how it wasn’t shady enough, and the list went on and on and on.

            “She will be, James. We just need to give her more time. It’s not easy being the oldest girl. One day, Katherine will realize the wrong she has done.”  

Melinda agreed with Mother’s reasoning. She’ll be sorry alright, one day. The only question is, when will she realize? In ten years? Melinda hoped it wouldn’t be that long.

Chapter Eight: Will it Ever Stop?                                                                                                 

           

Melinda huffed as she lifted the saddle onto Coco’s back. “Coco, this has been, without a doubt, the worst month of my life.” Coco snorted in reply. “I mean it! You don’t know how bad it’s been.” She sighed. “Kate won’t do anything but complain and everything is, ‘San Francisco this’ or ‘San Francisco that’. You’d think that everything that ever happened in the world happened in San Francisco.”

            “Melinda! Hurry up! Nobody in San Francisco moves as slow as you do.” Kate’s impatient call came.

Melinda rolled her eyes. “See what I mean, Coco?” she muttered in her pony’s ear. “She complains and she compares everything here to everything in San Francisco.” Aloud she hollered back: “I’m coming!” She led her pony out into the yard.

            “Oh Melinda, if I knew you were going to ride that pokey old pony, I wouldn’t have come.” She sniffed her disdain at Melinda’s mount.

Melinda clenched her fists. “What else would I have ridden? You know my horse, Panda, isn’t ready to be ridden yet.”

Kate rolled her eyes.   “Ugh, whatever, just get on Coco and let’s go.”

Melinda didn’t enjoy the ride much that day. Kate kept on complaining about how nothing on the Circle C ranch was as exciting as it was in the city. “It’s too quiet here.” She grumbled.

“You call mooing cattle, squawking chickens, and whinnying horses ‘quiet’? How loud must San Francisco be?” Melinda wrinkled her nose. If it was any louder than a ranch, then she didn’t want to be there.

“San Francisco has a different sort of a sound. It has the sound of adventure, excitement, and fun, unlike this old ranch which is so predictable.” She sniffed.

“This ranch has its own share of adventure and unpredictability these days,” Melinda said under her breath. I wish we could all be one big, happy family again. I hate all this complaining, auguring, and bickering, will it ever stop?

Chapter Nine: Out of the Frying Pan…

           

“Do you want to go for a ride, Melinda?”

Melinda nearly dropped the book she was reading at the tone of her sister’s voice. Kate voice was almost… pleasant.  No, it was pleasant. She was sure she had heard her sister wrong. “What was it you asked?” Kate would probably be impatient at her question, but she had to be certain that what she had heard was real. But Kate’s reply wasn’t impatient… or anything close to it.

            “I asked if you would like to go riding with me. It’s a beautiful day.

It’s real all right. “Sure, big sister. I’d love to take a ride.”

***

            Melinda hadn’t enjoyed herself as much as she did that night in months. Kate had been pleasant and cheerful all throughout the ride and even through supper. At one point during the meal, Melinda had glanced over at Kate and saw a dreamy look in her eye. As soon as Kate caught her gaze, she gave her a huge smile.

Melinda hadn’t thought anymore about that dreamy look, she had probably just been thinking about what a nice time she had in the city. The days went on and Kate remained pleasant. Melinda enjoyed every moment spent with her sister, and often thought about how everything was changing for the better. Everything is back to normal at last!

Chapter Ten: And Into the Fire.

           

“Justin, can I come in?” Melinda peeped into her oldest brother’s room. She needed answers and she knew Justin was the only one who could give her those answers. Father was furious at Kate, for a reason that Melinda didn’t know. He was downstairs confronting her right now. Melinda could hear Father’s exasperated voice drifting up to the second story of the house.

            When Justin lifted his head, she could see that her brother looked worn out and sad. “Sure, Honey.” He motioned her to sit down. “Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Melinda was sure Justin already knew what it was she wanted to ask, but she went ahead and asked anyway. “What’s happening to our family? Why is Father so furious? Why is Mother so worried? Why are you so quiet? Why is Kate so upset? And why does Chad look like he wants to throw someone in the horse trough?”

            Justin sighed. “I honestly don’t know what will become of our family. Father is furious because Kate deeply hurt him. Mother is worried because she is afraid of what will happen to Katherine. I am so quiet because I am thinking. Kate is upset because she isn’t getting her own way. And Chad looks like he wants to throw someone in the horse trough because he probably does.”

            Melinda swallowed her surprise at her brother’s blunt answer. Chad was usually the one who was blunt, not Justin. “Justin, that doesn’t tell me anything! How did Kate hurt Father? What does Mother think will happen to Kate? Why are you thinking so much? What is it that Kate wants her own way about? And who does Chad want to throw in the horse trough?”

            Justin stood up and walked over to the window. Melinda watched him stare out of it. Finally, Justin turned back to face her. “I don’t know if I should tell you what Kate has been up to,” he said doubtfully.

            “Oh please Justin! Just because I am the youngest—well, baby Andrea is the youngest, but she is too little to understand—nobody tells me anything,” she said, exasperatedly. “She’s my sister, too. I should know.”

            Justin remained silent for a moment and Melinda was afraid that even her oldest brother wouldn’t tell her anything. She hadn’t tried to ask anyone else what was going on. Everyone else was handling this much worse than Justin. But finally, Justin nodded his head slowly. “You’re right, sis. You are old enough and she is your sister so you should know.” He paused a moment, then he began.

            “As you know, Kate ran off to Aunt Rebecca’s and Father let her stay a little while. A couple of weeks ago, Aunt Rebecca sent us a letter saying that Kate had fallen in with dishonorable company—or something like that—and that Father needed to come and get her right away,” Justin finished with a sigh.

            Melinda thought for a moment. “So that’s why she was mad at Father, and that’s why she has been grumpy and complaining for the last month or so.”

            “Yes,” Justin agreed. “But there’s more. Today when Mother went to town, one of her friends asked her why she was allowing her daughter to be in the company of a man by the name of Troy Swanson. Mother reassured her that she must be mistaken, but her friend insisted that this Troy Swanson had told her he was going to see Kate. Mother’s friend said she had seen him leaving town and she asked him where he was off to. He had replied that he was going to see Katherine Carter, and that Mrs. Carter had invited him over. Mother knew that she had never invited anyone to see Kate so she rushed home to find out if it was true that Katherine really was meeting a young man. She explained to Father what she had heard, and he was boiling mad. And, well you know the rest. Father is talking to Kate right now. The last thing I heard before trudging upstairs was that Kate had owned up to it when she was cornered, but she didn’t sound the least bit sorry.” Justin shook his head at the last part.

            Melinda had been holding her breath the entire time that Justin had said all of this. It was too hard to believe it all could happen to her family. “Oh Justin, this is awful.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “We’re losing Kate. She doesn’t want us anymore.”

            “It looks that way, Honey.” Justin agreed. “But all of what I just told you is not the worst part, sis.” Justin trailed off. Melinda waited for him to continue speaking, but he didn’t.

            “Justin, what is the worst part? What else is wrong?”

            “The young man she is sneaking off with is no good. He’s the worst drunkard in all of Millerton or most anywhere in California.” Justin bit his lip.

            Melinda’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh Justin.” She couldn’t find any other words to say. How could Kate do this to us?

            Justin nodded. “It’s true. He’s shot up the saloon many times. It’s also not infrequent that he’s in jail.”

            “Jail? You mean he’s an outlaw?” Melinda shuddered. An outlaw for a brother-in-law would mean lots of trouble for her family.

            “You could call him that,” he said with a sigh. “I wish I could say that was all that was no good about him, but I can’t.” Justin paused. “Kate isn’t the only girl he’s ever made love to.”

            Melinda’s eyes opened wide. She felt like she couldn’t breathe and that in all the world, there wasn’t enough air for her. “You mean…” Melinda just couldn’t go on, she felt sick.

            “That’s exactly what I mean. Kate isn’t the first victim of his scheme to get girls. This Troy Swanson is pretty handy with the ladies.”

            That was all Melinda could take. The steady stream of tears from earlier now became a fountain. “Oh Justin! Are we going to lose Kate’s love forever? What are we supposed to do?”

            It looked as though Justin might cry too. “I wish I had an answer about how Kate is going to deal with us, but I honestly don’t know. There is only one thing I can be certain off during these times that everything is changing, is that God never changes. And neither does what He wants us to do. He wants us to come to Him. He wants us to pray. We must pray, Melinda, we must pray that no matter what happens, His will would be done and that glory would be brought to His name.”

Chapter Eleven: Goodbye, Mindy

           

Melinda pounded up the ladder to the loft of the barn. Tears blurred her vision as she madly dashed up to the top. What’s happening to our family? I don’t want  this to go on anymore! God, haven’t we had enough? She plopped down in the hay and started crying as hard as she possibly could. Tears streamed down her face and she rocked back and forth against the pain of this last and worst thing of all the things Kate had done. She opened her hand and read the letter one more time.

Dear Father, Mother, and the Rest,

           

I am a grown woman and old enough to do as I please without anyone telling me what to do. I am free to make my own choices and that is just what I will do. I want all of you to know that no one in all of California treats anyone as bad as you have treated me. I never, ever want to see any of you again. I know you’ll never want to see me again either, and of that I am very glad.

Free at Last,

Kate

           

Melinda crumpled the letter into a tight ball and chucked as far as she could across the room. “I never want to see you again either, Kate!” she screamed. She didn’t care if anybody heard. The rest of the family was inside grieving together. Melinda wanted to be alone so she could think and scream. She was done being patient and waiting for things to get back to normal; Kate had hurt her too much.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Kate hadn’t been so nice during her last two weeks of being with them. How could anyone be so unloving as to hurt Mother and Father and the rest of us this way? How could she betray us like this? She is family and how can family hurt so bad?

Kate had ruined their life and Melinda was sure of it. She had run off, hid secrets, faked love for them, and now she was running away, hoping never to see them again. Melinda continued to let the tears flow long and hard. She sniffed.

            And then it occurred to her, she had just been blaming God for everything. “Oh dear Jesus, please, please forgive me, I just don’t want this anymore. Please, make the hurt go away, but only if it is Your will. Amen,” she prayed.

            Oh, I hope I am never this rebellious. I can’t stand the thought of making Mother cry, or making Father broken. Melinda suddenly took deep thought into everything she had ever done that made Mother displeased. The worst thing she could think of was her love for doing un-lady like things. I don’t EVER want the love for those things to get so strong that I would rather do them than listen to God, Mother, or Father.

She thought some more. Kate did the things she loved so much that she didn’t want to listen to those who knew what was best for her. Suddenly, Melinda suddenly realized that she wasn’t all that much different from Kate and that she let her passions drive her. That needed to be stopped. She had to turn back before it was too late. She needed to be what Mother and Father wanted her to be before she decided she needed to be what she wanted to be. The thought made her cry, and yet, all at once make her feel better because she knew that was what was right.

I need to end this before it gets out of hand like it did for Kate. I need to say goodbye to my old ways. I need to be who I should be, which is Melinda Carter. I need to say ‘goodbye, Mindy’.

(Not) The End

This story is concluded in Andrea Carter and the Family Secret