14.2 "What if I did hurt the spiders?" He worried.

Wichita, Kansas - June 13, 1874

ARJ watched Mum snuff the candle near the bed a short time later, and a fixed beam of blue moonlight replaced the flickering yellow. ARJ turned to face the wall. He heard Mum lower herself to the chair near Dad and listened as Dad filled her in on the day's events. Their hushed conversation comforted him, making it difficult to keep his eyes open. 

Laughter rose through the open window from the street below. Down the street, a door slammed, a dog barked, and a wagon rumbled by, pulled by horses who pounded their hooves into the soft dirt of the road. Even the noise of a cow town couldn't keep him awake tonight. 

The delicate buttercup lay safely on the table, but the tiny spider drawing remained in the palm of ARJ's hand. He blinked, closed his eyes, and felt his breathing slow.

Home. The Isle of Wight. He wished he could drift across America and the ocean on a cool breeze, like a money spider ballooning a silky web to travel home.  

And then he was there…, home. ARJ walked next to his grandmother along the road near Chatham House. Finally, they came to a green meadow. Buttercups lined the way, and he stooped to pick a bloom, then turned to show it to Grandmother. "I'll see if you like butter!" she told him. "Hold the flower under your chin." Laughing, he did as instructed. "Yes, I see you do! Your chin has turned as yellow as butter!" He held it under her chin and then laughed at the result. 

"Grandmother, you also like butter!"

As he turned to pick another flower, the meadow was suddenly covered in silvery gossamer spiderwebs. They sparkled like diamonds with the morning dew. ARJ gasped in delight! "It's so beautiful!" An arm's length into the webs was a beautiful buttercup waving on a tall stalk. He stretched to reach it over the webs and noticed tiny spiders filled the silver strands. 

"Money spiders! Careful," Grandmother said, "it's bad luck to hurt a spider."

ARJ hesitated and then reached out again. From behind, a hare bounded by him, hind legs stretched and long ears flat across its back. It leaped into the gossamer, cutting through the webs across the meadow. ARJ ran after the hare, using the path it created through the field. Long strands of web clung to ARJ's legs, pulling at him, slowing him down. Finally, he freed himself and looked around for the hare but could no longer see it. Turning around to look for Grandmother, he saw her standing far off at the meadow's edge. She blew him a kiss and waved. ARJ looked forward again and saw two figures standing on the field's opposite edge. Mum? Dad? He started through the webs toward them as the money spiders wove silk thicker and thicker ahead of him. Fear filled his heart as he attempted to push his way through without hurting the tiny creatures, but Dad motioned for him to carry on. 

The webs reached silver tendrils higher and higher, trying to hold him back, but he struggled on toward his parents. After what seemed like hours, Dad was close enough to catch his arm.

"ARJ! Wake up! It's just a dream." Someone shook his arm. 'Dad?'   

ARJ cracked open his eyes. Early morning light filtered through the room, and he saw that Dad was dressed and ready for the trial. 

"Dad," he whispered, "I want you to stay with us. I don't want you to go to prison!" 

Tears flooded down his cheeks with the release of his worries. Dad sighed.

"Maybe you should stay here with Mum this morning." 

"Please let me go to the trial with Uncle Albert. I got through the spiderwebs, and I don't think I even hurt one spider. So maybe it will be alright."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Son."

ARJ told him about the dream while Dad scrutinized his story as he talked. Serious concern wrinkled his brow. He lowered himself to the bed and pulled ARJ onto his lap. ARJ opened his fist to show him the tiny spider drawing still in his palm. 

"What if I did hurt the spiders?" He worried.

Dad gently shook his head and pulled ARJ closer. "Those are just stories. Just things people invent when they're afraid…, but our trust remains in God. We must go through this day; like it or not, Son. God takes care of the spiders, the hares, and the flowers. He will also take care of us."