Texas Sky , livre ebook

Scripture references are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover design by Terry Dugan Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo courtesy of Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Library
A TEXAS SKY Copyright 2000 by Lori Wick Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wick, Lori.
A Texas Sky / Lori Wick p. cm. -(Yellow Rose Trilogy ; 2) ISBN 0-7369-0187-6
1. Texas Rangers-Fiction. 2. Kidnapping-Fiction. 3. Texas-Fiction. I. Title. PS3573.I237 T49 2000 813 .54
00-028127
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 / BC-MS / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I had never known a Renaissance man before I met you. Poetry. Basketball. Cooking. Baking. Wrestling. Tag. Sewing. Football. If I were to include the entire list, my pen would run dry. But the sweetest thing about being a mother to a Renaissance man is that he also knows how to love. Thank you for your love of me. I know mine started the moment I saw you.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Epilogue
About the Author
Books by Lori Wick
Acknowledgments
I had such fun with this book, during which many lives touched my own. This page is to thank
Merry Hahn. Thank you for letting me borrow the spelling of your name. You, Norm, and the kids are so precious to our family. We thank God for you. May we long serve Christ together, honing and sharpening each other as the Word commands.
Mary Vesperman. This is the one that fell apart, Mary. Thank you, dear friend, for giving me permission to start over. When all is said and done, I think this was the best work. God bless you.
Diane Barsness. It s so fun to have a friend who loves a good romance and laughs in all the right places. Thanks for being there on days when I wonder if I m going to survive parenthood. Our friendship is such a good reminder that through God s help, our mothers did.
The Caminiti kids. Thank you for being great friends to our gang. Your examples do not go unnoticed. No matter where your paths lead, I pray that all of you will walk strong in obedience and trust in our saving God.
My Bob. The vocabulary lessons never end. From constabulary to coffers, from tertiary to tributary, thank you for always bringing in new words, explaining them with clarity and patience, and expanding my world in this small way. Of all the things you say, however, my favorite is about your love for me. We don t live under a Texas sky, but my Wisconsin sky would be very small without you.
Prologue

June 1882 Wellsville, Texas
H OW IS HE? M ARTY B RACEWELL ASKED anxiously as he entered the bedroom, not remembering to remove his hat or offer any of the standard greetings.
Doing a little better, Desmond Curtis said. Slate and Cash were just here, and although Dakota s as weak as a girl, he s in a good frame of mind. Desmond, knowing how Brace would feel if he knew the whole truth, did not elaborate, but he knew that Dakota was doing as well as he was because of how significant his brothers visit had been.
Hey, Dak, Brace said softly, watching the Ranger s eyes come open a little. As a point in fact, all three men were Texas Rangers, but only one of them had nearly bled to death from numerous gunshot wounds, and he was still very injured.
Hi, Brace, Dakota tried to say, but his mouth was too dry. Desmond helped him with a drink, but they had to go slowly-they would probably have to go slowly for a long time.
Sorry I took so long. I was up north and just got back.
It s all right, Dakota managed.
What happened out there? Brace asked, not really expecting an answer. Dakota tried anyway.
I thought I had the jump on them, but there were more men than I figured. I went down fast. Had no choice.
Brace felt his throat close. This man was one of his best. To see him shot-up and helpless was hard. He cleared his throat, telling himself this was no time for tears.
You ll be back soon, ornery as ever.
No doubt, the man in the bed agreed, a small smile coming to his lips. I ll see you in a few weeks.
Brace was suddenly angry. That this would happen to one of his best infuriated him!
If you so much as show your face near my office inside of six months, I ll shoot you myself, Brace warned. And I mean it!
Dakota could only nod. Right now six months sounded too soon. Sleep was coming in again, but that was all right. For the first time in his life, Dakota James Rawlings had Someone he could talk to.

Dakota heard gunshots a few days later, as real as the ones that had taken him down. His eyes flew open and he gasped, remembering with painful clarity where he was.
Easy Desmond s voice came softly to his ears, and Dakota turned to find him sitting next to the bed.
Dakota tried to tell Desmond he was thirsty but couldn t manage it. Thankfully the older Ranger knew the signs. He lifted a cup for the injured man. Dakota thanked him with a slight raise of his hand, amazed at how spent he was.
Better?
Yeah. Is it hot in here, or is it me?
Both I would guess. It is June.
Dakota nodded a little, and Desmond thought he would fall right back to sleep. Drained as he seemed, Dakota s eyes stayed on a faraway spot on the wall, and he began to speak.
Do you know what I thought of when everything started to go black?
No. What?
Something Slate said to me, Dakota said as he licked his lips. Of all the things to remember, I recall something he said when I was angry. Dakota s mind went back to a cloudy day in Shotgun. As the result of a senseless shooting, a woman had just been buried. At the funeral Dakota thought they should have talked about the woman and not about God.
What did you want Pastor Caron to say, Dak? his brother asked him. What would you have deemed appropriate?
A little more about the woman herself, for starters. He turned it into a sermon!
She was a changed person because of her faith.
Dakota s eyes narrowed, telling Slater he was not happy with that answer, but his brother went on anyway.
If I m a different person because of my beliefs, Dakota, and if I were to die, I would want other people to know they could have the same hope. Maybe you should be listening instead of criticizing.
My life is fine! Dakota did not hesitate to clarify.
If that s true, then why does this have you so upset? If everything is fine, you should be able to shrug this off and go on with your life.
Dakota s eyes now met Desmond s.
In so many words, Slater said it shouldn t bother me if I didn t believe as he did-but it didn t work that way. It bothered me so much, I left angry.
So the turning point came when Slate and Cash were here?
Much as it hurt, Dakota s chest lifted with his sigh. My very last thought before I lost consciousness was that I had waited too long. When I woke up and they were sitting here, I knew I d been given a second chance. Another sigh escaped the injured man. As you well know, I ve been a fool many times, but not this time. I grabbed that second chance.
Desmond had a comment on his mind, but he could see that it was going to have to wait.
Do you think he can eat something? Geneva Curtis asked from the doorway.
No, her husband answered with a shake of his head. He just slipped back out.
Geneva came and stood close, her hand on Desmond s shoulder.
He will make it, won t he, Des?
I think so, that man replied with his eyes on Dakota s face. As Dak just put it, he s been given a second chance. I ve been wrong before, but some thing tells me he ll get out of this bed and want to know everything God has ever said-and in the first hour, if I can tell him.
Geneva chuckled softly and exited the room ahead of her husband. Her only thought was Look out, Texas, Dakota Rawlings is nearly on the loose.
One
July 1882
I F YOU SO MUCH AS SHOW YOUR FACE NEAR my office inside of six months, I ll shoot you myself.
Sitting alone by the window, Dakota Rawlings remembered the words of his supervisor from just a month earlier and sat back, a thoughtful frown between his brows. He didn t know if he could stand five more months of inactivity. When Brace had first uttered these words, it had been an emotional time. Dakota had been certain he hadn t meant a literal six months, but his first letter-telling Brace when he thought he could come back-was hotly returned in a no-nonsense way.
Dakota s hosts, Desmond and Geneva Curtis, were out at the moment, so the house in Wellsville was quiet. Their home sat right in the middle of town, but the street was not a busy one, and for a moment, Dakota thought he was very much alone. He d just eaten a large lunch and still had half a cup of coffee to drink, but he was not particularly eager to continue sitting at the window.
As a new believer in Jesus Christ, he d spent almost two hours studying the Bible that morning and had understood some new truths. Desmond had been a great help in this area, and Dakota was still amazed at how pertinent the Bible was to his life right now. Not many months back, he would have said that old Book was outdated and unrealistic. He was learning every day just how wrong he d been.
Knowing he did not want the rest of the coffee, Dakota went to the sink, rinsed out his mug, and wandered onto the front porch. It was blistering hot, much as it was every day at this time. That was Texas in July-something they all had to live with.
He wrote a quick note and took himself out for a walk. It was too hot to be out for long, but he had to stretch his legs. He hadn t planned to feel this good. Only five weeks ago he d been shot so badly they thought he would die, but God had had other ide