The Diary of Jerrod Bently - J.W. Osborn (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📗

“I’ll try,” he said “But no promises, except to love, honor and cherish until death do us part.”
“That is good enough for me,” Victoria replied “But I don’t want to wait. Do you?”
“No,” Doc replied “Right now would be good enough for me if there was a preacher around.”
“We could see Reverend Wilks this afternoon,” she suggested.
“That suits me just fine,” Doc replied “and you have made me the happiest man alive today.”
“The Reverend should be at home this afternoon,” she added as she crossed to the front of her shop and hung up the “Closed” sign. Then a serious expression crossed Doc’s face as reached out to her and took her hands in his again. “Are you sure about this, Victoria,?” he said “I know I kind of sprung this on you, but I know you are the one for me and I kind of think you feel the same way.”
Her smile was warm and she never had looked more beautiful to him than she did at that moment. “Doc,” she said “ I am very sure that I want to be your wife, more than anything else in the world. And now, Mr. Stevens,” she added “I am going home to change my dress and I will meet you at the church at 1:00.”
He kissed her again. “I will be there,” he replied happily “and that is only in a half an hour, so hurry. No matter what dress you put on, Victoria, or how you wear your hair, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known.”
“Thank you,” she said as they walked through the door arm and arm.

I believe there is such a thing as love a first sight and I think that is what hit Doc and Victoria on the day they met in the bake shop. Now back a while ago, before all this happened, Doc had gone on ahead of the herd with a list of supplies for Scrub Pot and he’d never come back. But no one in camp ever expected the turn of events that was coming next. Least of all Scrub Pot himself.

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As you might have guessed, Floyd Jax delivered the chuck wagon to Scrub Pot had ordered and then spent the better part of the day helping him load it in front of the general store. Now with the wagon full of staples, such as flour, sugar, coffee and canned items, Scrub Pot mounted to the driver’s seat and untied the reins from the break lever. He scowled at the lazy mules in front of him. He was still stinging over the idea that Doc was probably going to leave our out fit to become the new sherrif of Portersville. Sam had revealed her true identity to the crew and what else could happen before he got back to the herd? The old man did not want to know as he cracked his whip over the heads of his team.
“Get up mules!,”he growled as the heavy wagon moved forward. Floyd Jax sat next to him. The young man was tired, and the trip back to camp with this grumpy old Indian did not seem like it would not be a pleasant one. That was when he remembered the note Sam had given him. Floyd fumbled in his jacket pocket hoping it was still there. It was. Finding it, he pulled it out. “Miss Sam said I was to give this to you,” the drover said “I forgot I had it when we got to loading the supplies. Scrub Pot grunted and took it from him. Floyd looked around as they drove out of town, trying to ignore the sour look on Scrub Pot’s face. Then suddenly, the old man began to laugh. Floyd turned to him surprised, and stared.. “What’s so funny?, ” he asked.
“You didn’t read Sam’s note?”, Scrub Pot asked.
“No,” Floyd replied “It was written to you and besides that I can’t read anyway.”
“Too bad,” Scrub Pot replied as a wide grin crossed his face. “ I will share it with you.”
Now Floyd was interested. “All right. What is the news, Scrub Pot?”
“It seems I a needed back at the camp as soon as these mules can get us there,” he said “There is going to be a wedding.”
“A wedding?”, Floyd answered mystified by the idea “I knowed that Bently has it bad for Miss Sam, but...” Scrub Pot cut him off “Not Bently and my grand daughter,” he said “Angus Watson and that Pawnee Squaw who has made my life miserable for far too long.”
“Don’t you need a preacher for a weddin”?”, Floyd interjected.
“Yes,” Scrub Pot replied proudly “And that would be me.”
“You’re a preacher?”, he inquired, completely shocked by the old man’s revelation.
“The Reverend Zachariah Dodge,” Scrub Pot replied proudly.
Floyd shook his head. “Now I knowed you weren’t like them injuns Bently talks about all the time, “ he said “But I had no idea you was an educated one, let alone a preacher man.”
“Ordained in 1863,” Scrub Pot replied proudly.
“Well I’ll be a monkey’s butt,” Floyd replied “I had no idea. I thought you was some kind of Indian chief.”
Scrub Pot just laughed and urged the mules to a quicker pace.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Doc looked up at the sky as he rode up to the parsonage next to the First and only Methodist Church of Portersville. It looked like it might rain, but he didn’t care. He was planning to marry the love of his life. He dismounted and tied the black to the hitching post outside the modest home of Reverend and Mrs. Dallas Wilks. He knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to answer. The door opened and there stood Alemda Wilks. Her matronly smile welcomed him.
“Why hello, Sherrif,” the woman said, as she tried hard to not think of the last time she had seen him’ with the remnants of Victoria’s jam cake all over him. Doc politely removed his black hat. “Afternoon, Ma’am”, he said “Is the Reverend at home today?”
“Is this an urgent matter, Sherrif,?” Mrs Wilks asked, a worried expression crossing her face.
“Well, Ma’am,” Doc drawled “In a way it is. I have asked Mrs. Langford to be my wife and we need your husband to marry us.”
A smile lit up her face and sparkled in her green eyes. “ Has Victoria given you her answer?,” Almeda asked excitedly.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Doc replied respectfully “she said “yes”. Now if I may speak with the Reverend, we would like to be married this afternoon.”
Almeda ‘s smile faded. “I am so sorry, “ she said “Dallas has been very sick since the other night and the doctor says he has to stay in bed until he is better.”
Doc hid is disappointment well. “I am sorry to hear that Mrs. Wilks,” he said.
“Over in Clover Hill, ” she said, thinking of the best alternative to help the couple, “It is about a day’s ride. I am sure you could find a preacher who could marry the two of you. It is a small town, but I know there is a church there.”
Doc set his hat squarely back on his head. “Thank you, Mrs. Wilks,” he said formally “and I hope your husband is well soon.” At that he turned to walk away.
“What about the wedding, Sherrif?,” the church matron asked.
Doc turned back to look at her, that cock eyed smile on his face. “Oh, there is going to be a wedding, Ma’am,” he said confidently “I know just where I can find a preacher and it ain’t a day’s ride either.”
Mrs. Wilks watched him as he untied the black and swung into his saddle. “Do you want me to get the church ready?”, she asked.
“Yes Ma’am,” Doc replied as he turned his horse around to leave. “When Victoria gets here, tell her to wait for me. I’ve gone to get a preacher.”
“You can tell her yourself, Sherrif,” Mrs. Wilks said “She is walking up the lane right now.”
Victoria looked up to see Doc on his horse and moving toward her. She tightened her shawl around her shoulders as he rode up beside her and stopped . He saw the worry in her brown eyes and smiled , reassuring her. “I am going for a preacher, Victoria” he said.
“What has happened to Reverend Wilks?” she asked.
“He has taken ill, and can’t get out of bed,” he replied.