Love's Abiding Joy (Love Comes Softly #4)(24)

Henry, too, was anxious for news from the home area. Though Clark and Marty knew few of the people that Henry would have claimed as neighbors, they were able to tell him some of the general news from the district.

Soon after the evening meal, the Kleins left for home and the boys were tucked in for the night. After their double portion of bedtime stories, they settled down, not to be heard from again till morning. Missie declared that the excitement of Sundays always tired them out.

Marty too felt tired, even though she had gradually been catching up on her sleep. Willie informed her that it was the change in the altitude. Marty was willing to accept any excuse for her laziness. All she knew was that she was longing for her bed.

She hid a yawn and tried to get back into the conversation. Clark and Willie were making plans for the morning. It sounded like wherever they were going, it would be a long ride. Willie was asking Missie if she wished to go. Marty was already stiff from her short ride of the day before. She wasn't sure that she could handle another horseback ride, but Missie was answering, "I thought Mama an' I should go on over to see Maria. I can't understand why they have missed two Sundays.



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If it's okay with Mama, we'll go an' see what we can find out. I'm anxious for Mama an' Maria to meet. You'll never believe Maria," Missie said, turning to Marty. "She speaks very good English now. Me--I hardly got a decent start on Spanish."



So it will be the saddle again tomorrow. Marty winced at the thought. Not only would she ride tomorrow, but from what she had understood, she would ride a long way. The De la Rosas were not near neighbors.

Marty nodded her head in agreement, hoping that Missie did not read the hesitation in her eyes.

Missie continued, "We should leave by nine. I think that we'd better take the team so Mama won't need to ride so soon again, not being' used to it. 'Sides, it's a fair ways an' we'll need to take the boys. Could you have Scottie see that the team is ready for us, please?"

Willie nodded and Marty sighed in relief. Everyone, now having settled on the plans for the morrow, decided that sleep would be needed to carry them through. They bade each other good-night and headed for their beds.



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Chapter Eleven




Marty Meets Maria



The sun rose over the distant hills early the next morning and right from the sunrise seemed to pour forth angry heat.

Around nine, Willie brought the team around, and Missie loaded her canteens and her sons. Marty placed her bonnet firmly on her head as protection from the sun and wished for a cooler gown.

"My, it be warm!" she exclaimed, but Missie did not seem to be bothered by the warm day.

"A breeze should come up an' cool things off some," she responded, clucked to the team and they were off.

They had not gone far before Marty could feel the breeze, though she might have been tempted to refer to it as a gale. It was not cooling. In fact, Marty felt that the wind was even hotter than the sun. It whipped at her cheeks, drying and warming them. It tore at her skirts and made the brim of her bonnet flap in agitation. Marty did not care for wind, and she wished that the one which was blowing now would blow elsewhere. "I guess I've gotten used to the wind," Missie remarked



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as Marty tried to hold her bonnet down with one hand and her skirts with the other.

Nathan and Josiah rode comfortably on the first part of the journey; then began the persistent question, "How much longer?" Missie dealt with it good-naturedly until Nathan began to tease his younger brother for lack of something else to do, and then she stopped the horses and lifted the youngsters down for a break. They were each given a drink from a canteen and a couple of cookies and instructed to play in the shade of the wagon while the ladies stretched their limbs in a short walk. There was no shade for walking, so there was no temptation to linger. In fact, Marty was glad to be back in the wagon and moving again.

When they came to the river, Marty glanced up and down its length for a bridge. There was none. Missie confidently headed the horses into the stream, explaining as she did so that it used to flow deeper at that point until the men of the area widened the riverbed some and allowed the stream to spread out. "Now," said Missie, "it's safe to cross here most any time of year."

Marty, relieved to hear that it was safe, still gripped the wagon seat with white knuckles until they climbed the bank on the other side.

Crossing the river was the most exciting part of the journey for the boys. Marty heard them squeal with delight as the swirling water foamed about the wagon wheels. Once across, they began to coax their mother to hurry the team and complained that they were too crowded, too hot and too hungry.

Missie eventually handed the reins to Marty and took Josiah on her lap. Without Josiah to torment, Nathan too became quiet.

It was almost noon before the De la Rosas' buildings came into view. Marty saw a large, low ranchhouse, built of the same stone as Missie's home though not quite as spacious. It nestled among brown hills, and there was not even a spring to add greenness to the area. Missie informed Marty that the De la Rosas were fortunate in having all the water they needed from the deep well they had dug. The well now was showing its



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worth as a windmill turned busily in the ever-present wind, causing a pump to send a constant stream of water from its spout into a large animal trough.