Returned to the Fold by Barbara V.

Word Count – 2,734

Written for an Easter 2023 Easter challenge.

There was a lot of active around the hacienda this Saturday. Maria and some of the ladies at Lancer were baking and cooking for the Easter celebration on Sunday. The eggs were gathered, boiled and painted. They were in the ice house to cool. Teresa had given Scott and Johnny their orders and they were on their way to pick up Aggie Conway. Johnny rode beside the wagon on Barranca, and young mare was tied behind the wagon.

Aggie came off her porch to greet the brothers. She had a stack of straw hats and a large box filled with ribbons, lace, bows, fake berries and scraps of fabric. Johnny relieved her of the hats and Scott took the box. “Well, you have quite the haul of sewing scraps here.”

“Yes, all of the ladies in our sewing circle and around town saved these scraps for the children.” She grabbed the basket holding cookies to share with the children.

“Miz Aggie, can I help you with that? It might be too heavy for ya.” Johnny gave one of his smiles.

Aggie tried to hide her laugh, knowing Johnny’s fondness for cookies. “No dear, that won’t be necessary, I can handle it.”

“If that’s cookies I smell, keep Johnny away from them. Having all those kids we have to settle down, we don’t need to add another one to the group.” This gave Aggie a laugh and Scott received a Madrid stare from Johnny.

“Hey Scott, that ain’t right. I never had any sweets today. Maria threw me out the kitchen.” The stare turned to a pout now.

“Oh Scott you boys are doing so much for the children. I believe that deserves a cookie, maybe two.” She reached over to the basket and grabbed two cookies for each.

“Why thank you Aggie.” He looked at his brother already biting into one. “And Johnny, just these two.”

“I hear ya; don’t be so bossy. Thanks Miz Aggie they’re great.”

The three made pleasant conversation as they headed to the orphanage. When they arrived they were met with excited shouts from the children, and a warm greeting from Fr. Miguel.

“Good morning my friends; God has blessed us with a beautiful spring day. Come let us go inside. Pablo, Francisco please help to carry these goods from the wagon.  Johnny I see you brought a fine young mare for the boys to train with. They love the riding lessons from you as well as learning the care of an animal.”

Scott was handing the contents of the wagon to the two older boys. Johnny took the mare and saddle into the little corral, and turned Misty loose to get used to her surroundings. He then headed to the mission.  Fr. Miguel was serving lemonade to the guests, and handed a glass to Johnny. Scott and Aggie were explaining the purpose of the box and hats. Aggie had the floor.

“Fr. Miguel since the girls really aren’t interested in learning riding, roping or other male interests we decided to bring the straw hats and a box of ribbons, lace and fabric to have the girls decorate their own Easter bonnet. The ladies of the sewing circle, and even Molly at the millenary pitched in to supply the scraps. Each girl will design her hat adding a personal touch.”

Aggie was handing out the hats to the girls and there were only six. “Oh, do we have one missing? I thought we needed seven hats.”

“Yes Mrs. Conway. That would be Bonnie. She’s in the sleeping area. She was told to sit quietly and think about her actions and consequences” Fr. Miguel was shaking his head as if in defeat. “The child is unhappy here and has not yet settled in. She will not talk or play with the other children. They try to make her feel welcome. Today was another of her bold attempts to change her circumstances.”

Johnny was heading out to the corral when he heard this. “Did that little miss run away again? Padre would it be okay if I went to talk to her a bit; maybe I can help.”

“Of course Johnny; the only time I have seen her smile is when she knows you‘ll be visiting. After your talk, please tell her she can come join the other girls. Her punishment time is over.”

Aggie was showing the girls how to use the scraps for their designs.  Scott came in through the side entrance looking for Johnny. “Aggie have you seen that brother of mine? I thought he may be in here begging more cookies from you.” Scott walked to Aggie’s basket and took a cookie, smiling as he did.

“Maybe you should start the boys off until Johnny joins you. He’s talking to Bonnie who is in trouble again.”

Johnny walked into the sleeping area. Bonnie was sitting on her bed, legs drawn up and arms wrapped around them. Bonnie was a thin child, small for her age of seven. She had red hair in braids, freckles and big green eyes. She was in overalls and a too big shirt. She looked up and saw it was Johnny. He was smiling down at her as she jumped off the bed and ran to his arms. After placing a kiss on her head, Johnny sat her back down. “Hi little lady, how are ya? Fr. Miguel told me you got in a bit of trouble today.” Bonnie shook her head. “Yeah I did sorta; I ran away.” Johnny sat on the bed Bonnie had just returned to. “Ya wanna talk about it? I’m a good listener.”

“Oh Johnny I don’t belong here. Fr. Miguel has enough kids to take care of, and I ain’t much good anyway.  Before Pa left me on the side of the road, he told me I was born under a dark star and I would never amount to anything. I guess he was right; but Fr. Miguel said God loves everyone. I don’t think God would spend much time on me. He has a lot of good people to care for.” Johnny was stunned at the little girl’s words. He reached and took her small hand in his.

“Bonnie, your pa was wrong. You are just as good as anyone else, but you are wrong about God. Let me tell you a story I heard when I was younger than you. There was an old abuelo, uh grandfather who would tell us stories from the bible. Mama and I did not go to church much, but I liked those stories he would tell.”

“One day a shepherd who was lead his flock of one hundred sheep to safety before a storm. One of the sheep strayed from the rest. It seemed to everyone that the shepherd should be happy he still had ninety nine sheep safe. The shepherd left out to find the missing sheep. He looked and did find his missing sheep. He brought it back to the fold. He was very happy to bring the little sheep back.”

Johnny could see he had Bonnie’s attention.  “You see that shepherd is a lot like God. If one of his flocks goes astray, he’ll find that one person and bring him or her back.  Fr. Miguel is kind of like that shepherd too. He does have several children in his care, yet when you run away it is kind of like that little sheep. When Fr. Miguel goes searching for you, he wants to bring you back to his flock. He worries about all of you. He does God’s work down here.”

“Is that true Johnny that God takes care of everyone, even someone like me?” Johnny pulled Bonnie into a hug. “Yes, it’s true. I went astray for a time too, but he brought me back to the fold.” He had hoped he told the story correctly as he recalled it.

“Now sweetie Fr. Miguel said you could come out after we talked. Miz Conway is out front with the other girls. They are decorating their Easter hat. There’s one for you as well. C’mon lets go see.”

“Aw, Johnny that’s girlie stuff; just like wearing that dress for Easter. I like what I have on now.”

“Bonnie it’ll be fun, you’ll see.” He took Bonnie’s small had as they headed for the room where Aggie and the girls were working. “Okay, I’ll do the hat thing, but I ain’t wearing no dress for Easter.” Smiling, Johnny delivered Bonnie to Aggie who was helping the other girls.

“I guess I better go see that Scott is teaching the boys right. ‘Mr. I was in the Calvary’ may be teaching ‘em to salute him. I’ll go teach them right.” Johnny snagged another cookie on his way out.

Scott and Johnny spent the afternoon schooling the boys in riding, caring for a horse and keeping their saddles in good working order.  Aggie showed the girls what to do; then she left them on their own to create their bonnets.  Bonnie could not get the hang of it, but Aggie explained it, and Bonnie was working hard on her hat.

It was late in the afternoon when the trio left the orphanage heading home. They were talking as to how their day went. “Hey, Misty was really good with the boys. Miz Conway you don’t have any more cookies in the basket do ya? I’m starving.”

“I am afraid not dear. I’ll bake you some more when we get Easter out of the way.”

Aggie was dropped off at her home and the boys headed back to Lancer. After reporting the day’s activities, it was time for supper.

Plans were in place for Sunday. The morning would begin with the Easter service. Johnny had asked his family if they would come to the service at Fr. Miguel’s church. They all agreed. The church was quite full as most of the ranch families were Catholic.  Everyone was settling in with Johnny ushering his family to one pew. Just as he sat down Fr. Miguel with a concerned look rushed to him.

“Johnny, Bonnie is missing! I was getting the children ready to attend the service and she was nowhere around. I am sorry, I must go find her.”

“No, you have a sermon to preach. I’ll go find her.” Johnny started to leave he noticed commotion at the back of the church. Val Crawford was standing there holding Bonnie’s hand. Fr. Miguel and Johnny were surprised when they saw the child in a pretty yellow dress, and her decorated hat. Johnny went to Bonnie and picked her up. “Bonnie, honey we were worried. I thought you were finished with all that running off. Thanks Val.” Val tipped his hat and headed to the back of the church.

“But Johnny, I wasn’t running away. I waited til everyone left to try on this dress. I didn’t want them laughing at me. I was gonna walk to church, but Sheriff Crawford passed and gave me a ride. He’s really nice. I didn’t mean to make you and Fr. Miguel worry.”  Johnny hugged her and brought her to the pew where all the children from the orphanage were sitting; each proudly displaying their new clothes. She took her place among them.”

Johnny returned to his smiling family and the service began. Fr. Miguel spoke on the resurrection and the true meaning of Easter. The sermon was not long as most people were anxious to leave for the day’s planned activities.

The children returned home to change from their dress clothes into something more comfortable. They would be collected later and brought to Lancer for the Easter party. It would be a great time for adults and children alike. The food was prepared earlier in the morning. The cake and other deserts were ready.  Teresa had some of the hands hide the Easter eggs for her. Johnny, Scott and even Murdoch helped set up additional tables and benches. People started arriving for the festivities. The tables were laden with mounds of food and another held the deserts.

One wagon arriving was Fr. Miguel and all of the children from the orphanage. Johnny was surprised to see Bonnie in a dress though not her Easter dress. She saw Johnny and ran to him. He picked her up. “Well little lady, you sure look pretty Today. Are ya ready to have fun?” Bonnie hugged Johnny’s neck.

“Oh yes. Fr. Miguel told me what would go on.”   She looked at Murdoch and smiled. “Thank you Mr. Lancer for inviting us to the party.” Murdoch smiled and patted her face. “That is quite alright my dear.”

Scott walked up as Bonnie ran to join the other children who had come from the surrounding towns. “Isn’t she a little young for you Brother?” He received a Madrid stare as he turned to leave.

Once all the children and guests arrived Murdoch asked Fr. Miguel to say an Easter blessing. The children were so excited Murdoch decided to hold the Easter egg hunt first; they were too wound up to eat. “Okay we will begin with the Easter egg hunt. Children please got a basket from Mrs. Conway or Mr. Hoskins. Once each child had a basket the hunt began. Johnny was pleased to see Bonnie joining in the hunt. She seemed to be having fun.

One of Maria’s very young grandchildren was not finding many eggs. He was growing frustrated and started to cry.  Bonnie was close to him and went over to him. “Hi I’m Bonnie. Why are you crying?” The little boy looked at her with tears on his cheeks. “I can’t find any eggs. All I found was one.” Bonnie looked in the child’s basket. “I have a lot of eggs but I don’t need that many. I will give you half of mine, okay?” The child tried to compose himself. “Really, you mean it?” Bonnie brushed the child’s hair from his eyes. “Sure. Sit down here. You can pick out half of mine. What’s your name little boy?” “Mateo; I like you Bonnie.” Mateo reached over and hugged Bonnie.

The Lancers were watching the interaction and noticed Fr. Miguel. He had unshed tears in his eyes. This is like an Easter miracle. I cannot believe the change in that child. Johnny, thank you so much for all your help. The talk you had must have been powerful. Johnny was blushing from the neck up. “Aw, it weren’t much. She just got lost for a bit and now she is found.”

After the egg hunt was completed, everyone sat down to enjoy the feast.  The desert table was nearly empty and Johnny headed for one of the remaining slices of pie. Bonnie ran up and he got her a slice. “Let’s sit for a spell.” As they ate Johnny told her that was a very nice thing to do for little Mateo.  “Well I remembered that story you told about God loving all of us. He was not a lost sheep but Mateo needed someone to care about him. I figured if God can love somebody like me I would try to do better.” They sat in silence finishing their pie.

“After the celebration started to wind down, the adults were saying their thanks to Murdoch as they gathered their sleepy children. Fr. Miguel came over and told the Lancers how grateful he was that the children at the orphanage could enjoy such fun. He shook each man’s hand and squeezed Johnny’s “Thank you again my friend for all your help with Bonnie. I think she will get better in time.”

Cipriano and Jelly were helping to load the orphans in the wagon for the trip home. They were all waving and shouting good-byes. Before Bonnie got in, she ran to Johnny. “I got something for you, Johnny.” She held out a beautifully painted Easter egg. “Thank you Bonnie you’re sweet; love ya.” He reached down scooping her up for a good-bye kiss.  He walked to the wagon and put her in, and then they were gone. 

“Well boys, this was a good celebration. Johnny, Fr. Miguel says you seemed to work magic on little Bonnie. Care to share with us?”  Johnny smiled “Maybe sometime I will. Happy Easter.”

End