her he was riding to town to see the doctor when he heard what sounded like a buckboard pulling up outside.
Clint ran outside and saw a man helping a woman from the wagon. When the man moved aside, the woman looked at Clint. “Son!”
Jumping from the porch, Clint ran to his mother and scooped her up in his arms. His emotions were so close to the surface that he couldn’t speak for fear of crying like a baby. He couldn’t remember being so happy in his entire life.
“Son, I knew you had been home earlier when my Bible was missing!”
“Ma, I thought you had died! That’s why I left.” His voice quivered as he tightened his arms around her. “It’s so good to see you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when you needed me. I’m sorry I stayed away so long.”
Ingrid held Clint’s face between her hands and looked into his eyes. “Shush, now. There’s no need for you to be sorry about anything. All that is important is you came home. I knew you would come back.”
“Where were you when I was here before?” Clint asked.
“Caring for John,” Ingrid responded.
“John?”
Ingrid pulled back and pointed to the man standing beside them. “This is Dr. John Sims.”
Clint shook his hand. “Doc, I’m so glad to see you. Amelia has the fever. I brought her back with me.”
“Oh, no!” Ingrid ran up the stairs and into the house, with Clint and the doctor behind her.
“She’s in my room.”
The three of them entered Clint’s room, and Amelia opened her eyes. Seeing Ingrid, she started to cry. “I knew you were alive. I tried to tell Clint.”
Ingrid sat beside Amelia, and the doc walked to the other side of the bed. He placed his hand on her forehead and gave her a gentle smile. “Hi, Amelia.”
“I’m so happy you recovered, Dr. Sims,” Amelia said as she brushed her tears away.
The doctor turned to Clint and indicated for him to follow him from the room. He asked Clint to tell him about Amelia’s symptoms on the way home.
Clint told him about the spikes in her fever and how delirious she’d been on occasion.
“I’m going to get my bag.” The doc turned toward the door.
“I’ll take care of your horses,” Clint offered.
“Would you mind tending the dogs in the back of the buckboard?”
“Dogs?”
“Yes, a stray dog showed up at my office a few weeks ago, and she gave birth to two little pups. No one has claimed them, so I’ve been watching over them.”
Clint smiled wide, thinking he’d just had another prayer answered—his Christmas gift to Annie and Katie. “I’ll claim them.”
The doc returned his smile. “That’s a fine idea.”
* * *
While Clint and his mother waited for the doctor to examine Amelia, they fed the dog and made a bed for her and her puppies near the fireplace. Clint told Ingrid about his few days at Honey Creek, and how he’d found Amelia. “A lot of the folks from La Grange are panning at Honey Creek. Some of them want to return to La Grange as soon as they can.”
“They can come home now if they want to return. Many of the ranchers have already returned, and we haven’t had another case of yellow fever since John got sick. He’s received word from other towns that they haven’t had any new cases. It seems to have ended as quickly as it started.”
“Annie and Katie think Amelia is going to return to Honey Creek with me, but I think I should ride to Honey Creek and bring the girls back with me while she recuperates here.”
“Son, do you think you can make it back before Christmas?”
Clint reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll be back in time. I promise I will never miss another Christmas. I have plans for a magical Christmas.”
Ingrid smiled at him. “Are you ready to settle down on the ranch? If not, that’s okay. I can sell the place and move to town.”
Clint couldn’t imagine his mother living anywhere else. “I’m planning on staying right here.”
Ingrid leaned over and kissed his cheek. “That’s wonderful. Now, tell me about the families you met and how they are doing.”
Clint told her about meeting Whitt, Bo and Boone. “Those two boys are real characters. Whitt wants to come home.” He then told her about meeting Tom Nelson and his family. “All of the children are frightened that something will happen to their family. I fear they have lost the joy of