Ruth helped round up the goats. When it was all said and done, there was still one missing, but it was well past the dinner hour, calling for a break.

"I hope you used that thing on the goats," Mary said, eying her slingshot when they came into the house.

"It might have been easier corralling them back, ornery little things," Ruth said. "Doubt they would've learned anything from it though. There's still one missing, the littlest one."

"She's the one that ate my hat. You can shoot her right in the—"

"Momma," Ruth said overcome with mirth and surprise.

"She'd deserve every bit of it and more. I wouldn't be surprised if she's the ringleader in these escape operations."

James came in at that moment and saw Ruth with the slingshot and a tender smile appeared as he remembered. "I ain't seen you with that in a coon's age. That was your favorite toy growing, wasn't it?"

"It really was. Might take it with me this time. It ain't a deadly weapon but it's got its uses."

Laura and her family showed up during lunch to visit with Ruth and Kid since they were leaving early tomorrow morning. "Let your daddy and brothers finish finding that fool goat. Ya'll should visit," Mary ordered.

As the adults talked, Danny slowly eased his way over to Kid and then asked abruptly, "Have you ever seen a real Indian?" Danny held an old arrowhead in his hand that he'd found down by the river. Like most boys and even grown men, the west excited him and held an inexplicable appeal. Danny was eager to hear any stories that Kid could supply.

The room fell silent. Everyone was interested in what Kid would say.

Kid nodded. "Even talked to a couple of them once."

"No fooling?" he asked, drawing even nearer.

"No fooling," he answered, his lips twitching.

"What were they like?" he breathed, looking at Kid with complete awe.

"Like you and me."

Danny's nose wrinkled in disbelief.

Kid smiled. "Oh sure. They dress a little different, talk a little different. The ones I met had leggings made from animal skins, shoes with beads and porcupine quills, and wore their hair long, but they were just people. They eat, they sleep, they have mommas and daddys just like us."

"Then why is everybody so scared of them?"

"People are scared by differences and not just with Indians. They focus on what's different instead of focusing on what's the same. But one important difference is that some of them don't know God. They never even heard of Him and there's cowboys out there—"

"Like you," he added.

"Like me who've forgotten Him." He put his hat on Danny and the brim fell down below his ears and covered his eyes. "Your aunt is going to help them remember Jesus loves them and help them get better when they're sick."

"Don't they learn about Jesus at church?"

"They don't have a church."

"You mean they've never even been inside a church?" he asked, not able to wrap his mind around that thought when church was such a big part of his life.

"No," he answered.

He was considered all he'd been told with little boy seriousness; he could see now that maybe they did need his aunt to help them, but he still wasn't happy about them leaving.

Trying to take his mind off of it, Kid pulled Danny up on his leg. "You want to ride a wild horse like a real cowboy or like a cowgirl I saw once?" he asked, sharing a wink with Ruth.

Danny smiled from ear to ear as he shook his head vigorously. Kid bumped his leg slowly up and down. "She started off at a gentle trot. Then the horse was stung by a bee." He started jerking his leg wildly, causing Danny to squeal with laughter cling to his leg tightly. He held on to Danny's waist and had him hanging to the side as he bounced. "And then she veered off to the side. First to the right and then to the left. And then the horse stopped for water and she flew off the saddle," he said, vaulting him off his leg with his hands still firmly on his waist until he reached the floor.

Ruth had watched the interactive storytelling with a smile, the longing for a child growing as she saw how artful his interactions with Danny were. Kid would make a wonderful father. "That's not exactly how I remember it," she commented.

Danny ran over to Ruth. "You want a turn?" he asked, generously offering the use of Kid's leg.

Kid smiled devilishly, hinting he would enjoy letting her ride.

She flushed. "I believe I'll pass for now." Her hand began to move like a spider up Danny's arm. "I'd much rather give you a visit from a tarantula instead."

Danny had loved the tarantula story and wanted to hear again and again how large it was. "I want one as a pet," he suddenly declared just as the tarantula was about to attack with tickles.

She laughed. "You'd make your poor mother faint."

"I wouldn't faint," Laura declared. "I'd beat it with my broom first."

"Oh no, Momma. He'd be a nice spider," Danny insisted.

"Who knows?" Anna remarked with a laugh. "He might have something there. Tarantulas as pets might be the next big thing."

Mary shuddered. "I doubt that. Would you really want a pet spider?" she asked her grandson.

"I could feed it grasshoppers," Danny said, his eyes big with delight, picturing the scene in his head.

"I reckon you might could," Ruth agreed, "but then what would it eat in the winter? You wouldn't want it to starve, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," he said solemnly.

"Right now you got your hands full with all your pet chickens," Laura said.

"Those aren't pets. They just give us eggs." His eyes lit up. "Can I have a puppy?"

"We'll see, son," Douglas said. "Let's see if you can show us how good you can do with your chores and we'll talk about it."

Robert came in.

"Did you find her?" Mary asked.

"No, I came to tell you, Ruth, that you have quite a few visitors," her brother informed her.

"Me? Well, invite them on in," Ruth said, figuring it was a few friends come to say goodbye.

"Can't. There's too many of them," was his reply.

She followed him out with a puzzled expression and was astounded at the number of people gathered out in front of the house, families from church. She spotted right away that some of the men were holding up benches.

"The ground ain't the most comfortable place for sick folks to sit. You should have seats for them to sit on," explained one of the deacons.

"And we wanted to let you know that your home church will be praying for and supporting your ministry," the pastor said, speaking for them all.

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes overcome by the gift from the community that she thought had written her off. They were simple benches nothing fancy but to Ruth they were the most beautiful pews she had ever seen.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Mike and Joan hung toward the back but their presence revealed their regret even though they still had too much pride to admit they'd been wrong to her directly, but maybe God was working on them.

Her parents were behind her on the porch. James had his arm around Mary and they were standing very tall and with smiles. Her parents might not be thrilled that she was going west again especially because she would be so far from them, but as Anna said, they were proud of her.

There was the sound of a goat bleating. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as it made its way through. The wayward animal had returned home on her own and Ruth laughed as the bleating sounded like well wishes. Clyde was quick to tackle it and haul it to the barn.

"I'm too overcome to say more than the Lord will bless you all for this," Ruth told them. "I can't begin to tell you how much this all means to me and I covet your prayers. I can't invite all ya'll in because there's so many of you, but give us a moment and we'll see if we can't get some coffee together for the adults to warm up by and some water for the youngens." Joy and praise to the Lord bubbled in her soul as she turned to help get the drinks.