Part Three: The Favor

He didn’t know she was on her way. The truth is, he wasn’t aware of her existence. Earlier that afternoon, she had boarded a train in Newport, Tennessee, heading toward Missouri.

He looked up from where he worked in his garden. Up the lane came a young man who was a farm hand of his elderly neighbor. He stopped working and walked out to meet the boy.

“Howdy, Mister Sid.” The boy bellowed. He knew to give plenty of notice.

“Howdy, Will.” Sid thundered back. “What brings you down here?”

“Mrs. Franz was wonderin’ if you’d want to come to supper this evenin’?”

“What’s the shindig?”

“Don’t rightly know, myself. Ain’t nobody else comin’ as far as I know.”

“I’ll be there. Tell her I ‘preciate that. ‘Bout what time?”

“She was thinking right on about sundown. She thought you’d have plenty of work you’d want to finish beforehand.”

They talked about the crops and the weather before the young man left.

That evening, he exited his front door, turning North toward the barn. He saddled his horse and headed Eastward, down the lane toward the main road.

His house was tucked back against a wooded hillside, and the country lane trailed gently away from his home, curved over the hill, and through a pasture. It meandered underneath a line of trees and played hide and seek with a brook running along the bottom of the length of the hill.

It was a wisp of a road. He was the only one who ever used it.

He reached the end of the lane and turned left. The horse clopped on the wooden bridge spanning the creek. The dirt road passing by his place led to Mrs. Franz’s home.

Portions of the road had washed away from the last rain, creating an uneven surface. The holstered pistol bounced against his leg as he passed over.

He wondered why he was invited to supper. Mrs. Franz wasn’t in the habit of cooking much nowadays, especially for guests. She hadn’t been in the best of health. Her husband had passed away, and she had offered Sid a fair price for a large portion of her land. He had taken hold of the opportunity she presented, increasing his acreage over double what he had.

The sun was about three fingers over the horizon. His eyes scanned the road ahead. He didn’t like staying out past dark too much.

He wasn’t scared of the dark. He didn’t like not being able to see what was lurking in the dark. He preferred daytime when he had more of a fighting chance if such an occasion arose.

He thought back fifteen years earlier when his decisions about being in the dark were solidified in his heart and mind.

He didn’t keep his mind in the past too long. It was best to learn from the past but not to linger there. He focused primarily on the road before him and the surrounding area; he glanced behind him often.

He arrived at the neighboring farm, and Mrs. Franz had a table spread fit for a King. She had cooked some beans and salt-cured pork, along with some fresh corn.

It was a good meal, better than what he’d made for himself in a long time. He could get used to this kind of cooking.

The conversation during the meal was about the weather, the crops, and the cattle. They discussed the happenings in the nearest town down south a few miles.

During the course of the meal, he had gotten the feeling she wanted to discuss something else with him. Although, she was reluctant.

“Sid, thank you for coming over this evening.”

“Well, Mrs. Franz, thank you for the invite.”

“I do have a favor to ask of you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I don’t much trust anyone else to help me with this.” She paused before continuing, “I have a great niece coming from East Tennessee to help me for the foreseeable future. And I need someone to pick her up at the train station.”

“The train station? That’s quite a ways.”

“I know. That’s why I don’t feel comfortable sending young Will. Oh, he’s responsible enough, but I’d be more comfortable with you. Seeing how you’re older and more equipped with more experience.”

“Experience?”

“Yes, you’d be more of a hand at transporting a lady across the countryside than anyone else around here. And I trust you more than anyone else.” She added, “I know you’d treat her respectfully.”

“Mhmm.”

“So what do you say, Sid?” She queried. “Would you do me that small favor?”

Small. He leaned back against the wooden chair and poked at the pork still on his plate.

She continued, “I’d hire someone to help take care of your crops while you’re gone.”

“Well, the closest train station is a couple of days away.”

“I know it. I’d be willing to pay a couple of responsible young men to help. Your choice, of course.”

“That’s four days total.”

“Mhmm.” She had already planned everything.

“Why, Mrs. Franz, I’d like to help.”

“But?” She noticed his reluctance.

“I appreciate your confidence in me.”

“Yes?”

“I’d feel a little more comfortable having someone go with me.” He leaned forward. “I don’t know this girl.”

“She’s not a girl.” She interrupted. “She’s a woman. She’s tough and can take care of herself just fine. But I don’t want her walking here from the station. And I’m in no condition to fetch her myself.”

“Yes’m.”

An awkward silence filled the space between them.

“I’ll do it. I’d be glad to go get your niece.” He said finally.

She smiled. “Thank you, Sid.” She knew he would.

As Sid rode home that night, he was on extreme alert. Although the full moon lit the landscape more than usual, it was enough to think he saw more than what was there. It was exhausting to detect sights in the gray, misty moonlit night. He was concerned about being out so late.

He couldn’t hear past the sound of hooves pounding the red dirt. He would stop every few minutes and survey the darkness with keen hearing.

He could hear the crickets, the wind in the trees, and the comforting sound of the gray tree frog.

He was more concerned with what he couldn’t hear. Mrs. Franz lived two miles and a thirty-minute horse ride down the road from his country lane.

He made it home in an hour and a half and collapsed on his bed.