Sooty And Shielded

Sooty and Shielded

We put our hope in the LORD.He is our help and our shield.

Psalm 33:20

The Civil War raged, and Mrs. Walden had been warned bushwhackers were coming. Praying, she gathered their meager possessions and guns and placed them under the feather bed. She dusted her daughter’s face with flour, circled her eyes with soot, and laid the tiny, frail girl in bed, instructing her, “Whatever happens, don’t move.”

Mrs. Walden hurried to the front porch, sat in the rocking chair, placed a shawl on her lap, and opened the family Bible. Four men rode their horses into the yard, one circling to the back. Before they could dismount, she stood. Holding the Bible to her breast, she beckoned to the leader. “Thank you, Doctor, for coming. Oh, thank you for coming all this way!”

The men drew their guns and, with wary eyes, scanned the house and yard. Slowly, they approached the porch.

Grabbing the leader’s arm, she pulled him onward. “Oh, hurry, sir. It could be the dreaded fever that has taken so many of our neighbors.”

The men stopped and glanced through the screen door. She pushed them through and then ordered them to wait while she soaked rags in coal oil for protection against the bad air. The leader backed up, bumping into those behind him. Continuing to beg for help, Mrs. Walden prodded them forward until they stood in the bedroom. Breathless, they stared at the young girl, her face white as snow, black circles around closed eyes.

The girl’s eyes flew wide open and a scream of quivering terror filled the room. The lead man wrenched his arm from Mrs. Walden’s grasp. Stumbling and cursing, with feet flying, the men jammed through the doorway, leaped over the front steps, mounted their horses, and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

—Lisa Buffaloe

Thank you, heavenly Father, for being our hope and our shield. Thank you for protecting Mrs. Walden from those men and for protecting us from harm. Amen.