The Heart Remembers Read Online Free Page B

caught a glimpse of Melinda peeking at them from the edge of the parlor window from behind a drape.
    He took out a key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open, allowing Tharyn to enter ahead of him.
    Melinda was standing in the foyer, smiling at Tharyn.
    Tharyn stopped dead in her tracks, gasped, choked, and stared at her, eyes bulging, jaw working. The jolt of seeing Melinda standing there lifted her up on the balls of her feet and stripped away her breath. Her voice came out strangled as she cried, “Melinda! Y-you’re alive!”
    Melinda rushed to her friend, and the two young women were instantly in each other’s arms, tears flowing.
    Dane looked on, wiping his own tears.
    Tharyn and Melinda stood there for several minutes, sobbing happily, and clinging to each other. When their emotions had settled some, Dane gestured toward the sofa. “You two gals sit down here and talk for a while. I’ll go upstairs and build a fire in the guest room and the master bedroom.”
    Tharyn nodded excitedly. “Yes! Tell me what happened!”
    As Melinda took hold of Tharyn’s hand and started the story, Dane rushed up the stairs.
    Some twenty minutes later, when Dane returned to the parlor, Melinda was just finishing the story.
    “Oh, praise God!” exclaimed Tharyn. “Praise His name!”
    Dane stood over them and said, “I wired Tim, and I wired Melinda’s parents, letting them know that she’s alive and with us. I also wired Colonel Perry Smith at Fort Junction about nextMonday’s meeting with the Ute chiefs. I should be getting replies pretty soon.”
    At that instant, there was a knock at the front door of the house.
    Dane raised his eyebrows. “Hey, that may be a reply or two right now.”
    Tharyn and Melinda followed Dane as he hurried to the front door and opened it. He smiled at the sight of Central City’s Western Union agent and said, “Howdy, Charlie! Did you get a reply already to one of the telegrams you sent for me a while ago?”
    “Yes, sir,” replied Charlie Holmes, extending a yellow envelope to him. “Dr. Braden and the Kenyons sent this reply together.”
    “Thanks for getting it right to me,” said Dane.
    “You’re more than welcome, Dr. Logan. I’ll bring the reply from Colonel Smith as soon as it arrives.”
    Charlie looked past the doctor, touched his hat brim, spoke to the ladies, then hurried off the porch and made his way toward the street.
    Dane hastily opened the envelope, took out the telegram, read it quickly, then turned to the women. “Melinda, Tim and both your parents will be leaving Denver together at dawn tomorrow. They said to tell you they love you, and are so happy that you’re alive. They will come to the office, expecting you to be there with Tharyn and me, since they will arrive in Central City in late morning.”
    Melinda popped her hands together. “Oh, praise God! It will be so wonderful to see them!”
    Dane frowned.
    Tharyn saw it. “What’s the matter, darling?”
    He shook his head, running splayed fingers through his thick hair. “Tim and the Kenyons shouldn’t have to have their reunion at the office with several patients looking on.”
    Melinda shook her own head. “Dane, don’t worry about it.Just seeing them is all that matters. I don’t care if all of Central City is watching!”
    Dane grinned. “Okay, Melinda. We’ll do our best to give you at least a measure of privacy.”
    Melinda and Tharyn embraced each other again.
    Dane said, “Ladies, right now, I want us to go back into the parlor and kneel down at the sofa. I want us to thank the Lord together for protecting Melinda, sparing her life, and bringing her back to us!”
    The trio entered the parlor together, dropped to their knees at the sofa, and joyful tears were shed as Dane led them in prayer. When he said his amen, Melinda raised her eyes toward heaven and said aloud, “Dear Lord, thank You also for sending Dane to Chief Tando’s village so he could find me and take me away from