Miracle Downs
Third Novel in The Picnicker Trilogy
by
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Thus, the Friars’ congregation numbered himself and eleven-plus souls recorded in the chapel roster, the plus being Clint and Callie’s unborn baby. In addition, he could enjoy a rather lengthy list of prospects: Louis, Bets, Pammy, Spade, Iola, Marcelene, and Sean. He felt the property was emerging from the depths of winter though the season was near a change in the opposite direction. His private evening prayers took exceedingly longer than they had a year ago when he had simply followed Old Testament Jabez’ lead and asked for an increase of territory. He always began with Clint and Callie. For them he asked wisdom, patience, and a healthy and exceptional child.
Then would come Polly, Lord love her. There were days that he struggled to “love thy neighbor as thyself” where that woman was concerned, outspoken and brash as she was. Yes, there was a good heart there he knew, and God had plopped that good heart in the middle of the compound. Similarly, did Jabez’ consternation at facing such unfamiliar territory prompt him to beseech guidance and safety? Understandable.
“Back to prayer, Lucas,” he disciplined himself.
When he began on the boys Bud always came to his mind first. Bud – lovable and impressionable. “Oh, Lord, may someday his parents have time for him. Until then, thank you for bringing him into our fold. Thank you, for his straightforwardness, as when he chided me not so gently for always ‘praying out of a book.’ He was right. I was wasting precious time looking for suitable prayers when my heart knew what they should say all the time.
“Hawkins – Dear Lord, let him find a way to keep his self respect and still get rid of that awful haircut.” (Suddenly, he had it. Bees. Hawkins love bugs and insects of all kinds. A honey supply would help on the grocery bill. Hawkins would be fascinated with a hive or two. But best of all, bees would not be pleased with that gunk he smears on his hair to keep it upright. Maybe he would trade a hive for that fearsome headdress and give Clint a way out, preserving his respect.) “Thank you. Father, I will go to work on it in the morning.
“Victor – blessed are they that mourn. We are waiting, Lord. His mother is waiting, Lord. Bless and it shall be blest forever. Heal them both … in your own time, of course.
“Noah – Creator, does every stray animal have a sixth sense about where the boy is? He cannot turn even one of them away. Remind me to recommend James Herriot to Callie for him to read.
“Titus – He must learn to love himself, whom you made, and allow others to like him, at least a little. Help Callie to know how to teach him to read. That is so important in his world today. Forgive me, Omniscient God … I know I did not have to tell you that.
“Here’s where Joplin comes in, Lord. He is going to wallop the self-pity out of that roommate of his if it kills him. Incidentally, I feel like walloping Joplin when he does a wipeout on the back of the pew at the end of the benediction at Morning Prayer. Help me to tell the difference between respect for the Lord’s house and self-expression in that boy. That You made him and sent him to us, I have no doubt. Now I could use a little help here, Lord.
“Jamison C. Butterfield – Oh, Lord, heal his infirmity if it be your will. If You see best to leave the thorn in the flesh with him, then please, walk with your arm around him.
“Lester – What a promising young man! How good of Spade and Iola to sacrifice for his need! Do not allow us to let them down.
“I don’t pretend to tell you how you should do your work, Lord, but this is how I see it. Now I sleep, knowing you are going to be up all night working more miracles than we can ever imagine.”
Friar Lucas then slipped back into habitual formal mode, ending his prayer with, “Through Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.” One more time he recalled his most favorite of memories – the day that Clint and Callie drove out of this very yard and he had been led to send them off with the sign of the cross. He smiled and slept in peace.
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About the Book
THE PICNICKERS
A BLANKET BENEDICTION
MIRACLE DOWNS
With the Picnickers, South Dakota born author, Floy Timmerman, began what grew to be a trilogy. In a pioneer saga of the Dakota Territory Hesseman family, the reader received an invitation to join the tables of a reunion where relatives merge information, piecing together events that shaped the fabric of their present-day family.
The story chronicles Elizabeth, who with her one time circus performer husband Tabor, leaves verdant Iowa and migrate to the newly opened Rosebud reservation land in South Dakota.
Readers became so emotionally involved with the eleven young Hessemans that A Blanket Benediction was written to lead one step forward and two steps back to the origin of an Indian blanket that had survived into the next generation. In A Blanket Benediction, Callie, daughter of the youngest Hesseman, Maureen, persists in following the blanket’s trail across Dakota and north into Canada. Clint, whose own ancestry designates him a dubious choice of traveling companion, devotedly supports her in unearthing the root of her mother’s curiosity.
Roman, a Canadian Native American, gifts Callie with his endearing enlightenment and Friar Lucas, the last remaining monk in an abandoned monastery, latches onto the young couple’s potential for preserving his own hope and dream.
About the Author
Floy Timmerman, author of I Never Knew You Had a Canary and The Picnickers responded to requests for ongoing word of the Hessemans with A Blanket Benediction and Miracle Downs. A collection of inspirational readings yet to be titled will follow.
A retired teacher and administrator, she lives in her modest Colorado home with her husband and near her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She enjoys writing, playing the organ, and volunteer library work.
Even though the nearby Rocky Mountains call her name, she finds herself retreating to Picnicker days when driving through the Missouri River Hills of Dakota, where to the east of the Lewis and Clark Reservoir, the pristine struggles to remain and tempt us with a mere glimpse of the most beautiful landscape this side of eternity.
She is available for speaking to classrooms and adult groups on a wide variety of topics embracing pioneer life, language arts, and publishing experiences.