Read Providence for Free Online Page A

here. Nocona would surely recover with her spirit guiding him.
    ***
    If she could get some nourishment
into him, let his young body begin the healing process, he might recover in
time. So many things could go wrong, though. If he had lost too much blood, if
infection set in despite her best efforts, if the bone had been chipped, he
might lose the use of that arm, so many possibilities. What would the men
think, what would they do if he didn’t recover? The thought made Kate weak and
sent chills up her spine. Still kneeling before the injured boy, she bent her
head in earnest prayer for his life to be spared and his body to be made whole
again. Taking her strength from faith, she rose to face the waiting men.
    ***
    Jake Insley woke with the dawn as
he did every morning. Nana was already awake, busy putting coffee and bread,
butter and jam on the small table in the corner. Jon was still asleep, Smokey
curled up at his feet.
    “Still don’t cotton to dogs in
the house.” Nana Insley said firmly.
     “Nana, we’ve had the same
conversation ‘ most ever’ day for the last two
years.” Jake replied grinning, his eyes twinkling at his stern wife. In the
thirty years they had been married, he had grown to love the gruff nature that
covered her large and loving heart. “You know how he feels ‘bout that pup.
‘Sides, I seen you sneak ole Smoke a treat now and again, haven’t I?”
    “Humph!” Nana turned back to her
tasks, smiling secretly to herself.
    The small soddy that the Insleys
occupied was set back against the side of the knoll west of the Shaughnessey
home, close but not visible to the main ranch. When the Shaughnesseys and the
Insleys had left Missouri for good and made the land run back in ‘89, they had
agreed to find two quarter sections right together, and combine their efforts
to really make a go of it in their strange new home.
    Jake Insley had been a freighter,
carting goods between the forts and the stage stations in the Indian Territory.
He knew the land well, had seen the rich fertile ground and knew that this was
truly a land of opportunity. As Jake brought these stories home, his friend,
Will Shaughnessey and his pretty new wife, Kate were excited about the prospect
of a new life. Convincing Nana of that had proved to be the challenge. She was
set on staying put in Missouri till the end of her days. “I’ll not be moved to
a land of savages, Jake Insley. My girl is buried here, and this is where I’ll
be buried as well,” had been her final word on the subject.
     Their only daughter Hannah
had died giving birth to Jonathan. Her husband had disappeared the next day,
filled with grief and unable to care for a small son. Jake and Nana grieved the
passing of their daughter, but her place in Nana’s heart had been stolen by the
helpless creature that lay in the old wooden cradle that had once held Hannah herself.
In the sixteen years that ensued, Jon became their son and their joy.
    “Wake up you sleepy head!” Roared
Jake good naturedly.
    Jonathan rolled over sleepily,
then stretching, rose from his warm nest of covers. “What’s to eat, Nana?”
    “All you ever think about these
days is that stomach of your’n! Here.” Said Nana thrusting a bundle into his
hands. “Bread, ham and the last of the dried apples. You be sure to get
yourself down to the big house for breakfast proper after you milk them cows!”
    “Yes’m.”
    “We’ll be plowing the wheat field
today. I’m headed to the barn now to hitch up the girls and make sure the
plow’s ready,” added Jake.
    “Aw, papa, Miz Kate said she was
goin’ to ride the fence lines this mornin’, don’t you think she’ll be needin’
my help?” Jon implored.
    Jake looked at the boy’s earnest
face. “We’ll ask Kate does she think she’ll need you. But I’ll be depending on
you for plantin’ tomorrow.”
     “Yes, sir, papa.” Jon’s
face beamed at the prospect of mending fences and tending the herd. Jake watched
him leave,