A Man for Temperance (Wagon Wheel) by Gilbert Morris Page A

someone was breaking into the house.
    The house was silent, however, and she heard nothing, then finally, as her custom was, she began to pray. She had gone to bed thinking about the problem of getting the children to their families, and now she began to argue with God. God, do You really want me to take Timmy and the rest of these children back East? You know I couldn’t do it alone.
    For a long time she prayed, but nothing came from heaven. Not a voice, not a thought, not an impulse. She didn’t want to wake the children, but she prayed fervently, whispering in a passionate way.
    She was bending down to pull the covers up when suddenly a thought pushed its way into her mind.
    There was no other way to describe it. The thought actually pushed its way in! It was as if she were in a room and the door had opened and a stranger had come in and placed himselfbefore her. She fell silent and waited for the thought to leave, but it persisted.
    For twenty minutes she struggled, and finally she remembered how Jacob had struggled all night long with an angel. She remembered, too, that the Bible said Jacob struggled so hard he was injured in the wrestling match.
    The struggle was fierce though not physical; and, finally, by the time dawn began to lighten the line of hills in the east, she knew she had heard from God. Her face was marred with tears, and she said, God, I don’t understand any of this, but I’m going to do my best to obey You no matter how foolish people think it might be.
    * * *
     
    BRENNAN LOOKED UP FROM where he was lying on his cot. He had not slept at all the previous night, for thoughts of prison weighed heavily on him. He heard Benny saying something but paid little attention, but when Temperance spoke to him, he slowly got to his feet and walked over to look down at her. “What do you want?” He saw that her face was pale and that her hands were not steady, so unsteady in fact that she laced them together to keep them still.
    “I’ve come to ask you something.”
    “What would you have to ask me?”
    Taking a deep breath, Temperance looked him in the eye. Even in his misery, he was aware of something, not for the first time: She was not beautiful, but she had a great deal of vitality and imagination—although she kept those qualities under restraint. He knew she was a strong woman, and suddenly itoccurred to him that she was capable enough to draw a gun, shoot a man, and not go to pieces afterward. She had, in fact, the courage and simplicity of action that, at this moment, seemed nearly primitive. “What do you want?”
    “What would you give,” Temperance asked, keeping her voice steady, “to get out of this place?”
    “You mean to escape?”
    “Yes.”
    “Just about anything.”
    Temperance clasped the bars and put her face close to them. Her voice was driving and insistent, and he saw her earnestness. “If I get you out of here, will you take me and the children back East?”
    Brennan blinked with surprise and then snorted, “Are you crazy, Peabody? You can’t break me out of the jail.”
    “Yes, I can. I’ve got a plan.”
    “I don’t know what it is, but it’ll never work.”
    “But if it could work, what would you do?”
    “To stay out of the pen? I’d do anything.”
    “I think you’re a man without honor.” She reached into her reticule and drew a thick, black Bible out. “Will you put your hand on the Bible and swear to me that you won’t leave me and the children? That you’ll get us over the trail somehow?”
    Brennan shook his head. “That Bible don’t mean anything to me, but I’ll give you my word. As far as I know, I haven’t broke it since I’ve been grown.”
    “Put your hand on the Bible and swear.”
    Brennan put his hand out. “What do you want me to say?”
    “In your own words promise me, on your soul, that you’ll get us back if you can.”
    “I promise you that I’ll get you back East and the kids, too, if it kills me doing it.”
    The two stood