Melody was awake long into the night. The feel of Charlie’s arms around her, his lips on hers, was still firmly etched in her memory. His whispered words of love echoed in her ears. She could still see the intense look of love in his eyes as he pulled away. She wrapped her arms around her body and sighed.
He was there all along. Being her friend—showing her kindness and understanding. Listening to her talk of her outings with other men, and all the while wanting to court her. He was an amazing man, and she’d nearly pushed him out of her life altogether. A part of her had wanted to wake Da up and ask for his opinion of Charlie, while another part of her already knew that he approved. Da would never have allowed Charlie so much inclusion in their lives otherwise. She thought of all that was yet to come. Charlie. Her father. Her life in Cheyenne. Already it seemed that things were happening faster than she could keep up with. Before summer was out, she might very well become an orphan and a wife.
17
“Everyone settle down,” Charlie said, getting the dozen or so boys ready for Sunday school. “Remember when we talked about the Battle of Jericho? What did God call Joshua and the Israelites to do?”
The boys finished taking their places, and one boy raised his hand.
Charlie smiled. “Yes, Bobby?”
“They marched around the walls, and the walls fell down.”
“Exactly right. God brought the walls down, and His people were able to lay claim to the city. This wasn’t the way that the Israelites thought God would give them Jericho. Marching around the walls didn’t seem at all a likely way for the obstacle to be removed. Yet sometimes that’s how it goes with God. He does things in His own way, and while it doesn’t always make sense to us, we need to do what God calls us to do.”
The boys were listening much better than they had the week before, and Charlie was pleased to see they seemed genuinely interested.
“Have you ever been told to do something a certain way and it didn’t make sense to you, so you didn’t do it that way?”
Most of the boys nodded. Charlie smiled. “And what happened?”
One of the boys blurted out, “I got a whuppin’.”
The other boys laughed, and Charlie nodded. “Remember to raise your hand if you want to speak. Anybody else?”
One of the older boys named Mark raised his hand, and Charlie called on him. Mark came to stand beside the desk. “Once, when we lived in Missouri, my ma sent me out to pick berries. She always told me to beat around the bushes to make sure there weren’t any rattlers or other snakes. I thought it was silly and decided not to do it. Then I got bit by a rattler and almost died.”
The other boys looked at Mark in surprise. Perhaps a little admiration too. Not many of them could boast of living through a rattlesnake bite.
“That’s a very good example, Mark. Thank you for sharing it.” Mark sat back down, and Charlie continued. “Sometimes the instructions or rules we’re given to follow make no sense to us. God calls us to trust Him no matter what. It doesn’t mean we’ll have an easy time of it, but obedience to God is always best. Yielding to Him will always bless us in the long run, so do what God tells you to do, even if it doesn’t seem right by the world’s way of doing things.”
“And we won’t get bitten by a snake,” another of the boys replied.
Charlie didn’t reprimand him. Instead, he smiled. “Obedience often keeps us from bad situations. Today we’re going to talk about a man who didn’t want to obey God’s calling, and he met up with some very bad times. His name is Jonah.”
Charlie was still feeling exhilarated on Monday morning. He had declared his love to Melody, although she’d said very little in return. He knew her feelings were overwhelmed—a mixture of grief and surprise. He hoped he’d made things better for her ... more reassuring rather than confusing.
She hadn’t been at church, so he’d had no chance to speak to her, and he felt that rather than go and impose himself on her at such a difficult time, he’d give her a day or so to think about all that had happened. It would also give him time to consider his next move.
He unlocked the bank door and let himself in. It was bittersweet to find the place empty. Jefferson used to beat him in and got things set up and ready to go for the first customers of the day. Now that fell to Charlie to do. Only his heart was not in it. Especially after his successful time teaching.
Last night he had written his father a long letter explaining his desire to teach. For the first time, he wrote in detail what teaching meant to him and why he no longer wanted to work in the bank. He promised his father he would stay with it until another man could be hired to take over the savings and loan, but he also asked that his father make it soon. Charlie intended to take money left to him by his grandfather and invest in building a small school. He wanted it ready for the fall so he could start advertising for students right away.
He knew it would take a lot of work to get teaching materials and books ordered for September, as well as desks and chairs. After writing his father the letter, he had started making a list of what he needed to purchase. First atop the list was a house and property where a school could be built. He saw no need for anything fancy regarding the school. Asimple building, say, twenty by twenty, would be plenty big enough. He figured he could take on twenty boys at most. In his mind, he saw it set up with simple wooden tables and chairs, a large chalkboard, and maybe a big table where they could conduct science experiments. The very idea excited him so much that he could hardly focus on the day ahead when there was so much to plan.
For instance, where in town should the land for the house and school be? Charlie felt certain he needed to have Melody’s thoughts on the matter. He was even more confident after their time together that she was the one for him. They might not marry for a while. He knew her focus right now would be her father, and there was no way of knowing how much longer he had on earth. Then there would be her time of mourning. She might be someone who didn’t feel comfortable marrying before a substantial amount of time passed after her father’s death. Still, he thought it only right that she know his intentions toward her and that he get her opinions on a place to live.
There was already a property Charlie had in mind. A house was being built next to an empty lot where Charlie could easily put in a school. He liked the idea of keeping the school and house close together. That way he would never be all that far from home. The property was situated on the northeast side of town in an area that was just starting to see settlement.
He smiled at the thought of making his dreams a reality. As he went about his bank duties, he couldn’t help but make mental lists of all he would need to do for the school. Maybe later in the day he could close the bank for a time and go visit the land agent.
Humming to himself, Charlie went to the small safe and unlocked it in order to put money in the teller’s cage. Theempty interior stopped his humming immediately. He went to the cash drawer in the teller’s cage. Had he forgotten to put the money away on Friday?
He turned the key in the lock and gained access to the drawer but found that it, too, was empty. He hurried to his office. The door was still secure. He let himself in and looked around. Nothing appeared disturbed, but neither had the front office. He went to the larger safe and opened it. The money was there, much to his relief.
He pulled out the ledger and the notes he’d left himself last Friday. He counted the money in the safe and noted that it was all there. The only money missing was a little over one thousand dollars from the smaller safe.
There was only one other person who had access to the bank and to the small safe and cash drawer: Jefferson. Charlie hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. He’d forgotten to demand Jefferson leave his keys when Charlie fired him. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but that seemed the only logical answer. Everything had been locked up tight. There was no sign of damage, and nothing but the money Jefferson could access was missing.
