Prairie Storm (16 page)

Elijah was getting so good at tracking folks that he thought he might ought to hire on with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. That wouldn't leave much time for preaching, though, and it had been all he could do to keep his mouth shut during the past two days at the boardinghouse. Now, pulling up to a wood-frame shanty on the outskirts of town, Eli reflected on the men he'd come to know in Topeka. Not a single one of them knew the Lord—not as a friend and Savior, anyhow. That burdened him.

“What if Mother Margaret's son doesn't live here?” Lily whispered as the wagon rolled to a stop beside the yard of the little house. “She's going to be so disappointed.”

“We'll just keep looking for the man,” Eli said. As Samuel had grown steadily better, Elijah and Lily had joined the old woman in her search for her long-lost son. Not many hours before they were to return to Dr. Schlissel's office, a tenant at the boardinghouse had told them of a Moses Hanks who lived on the south side of town. Mother Margaret's face spoke of her anxiety and hope.

“I'm afraid he won't remember me,” she said, leaning forward on the wagon bench between Eli and Lily. “He was only ten years old when they sold him off. Did I tell you that?”

“Yes, Mother Margaret,” Lily said. “You told us.”

“He was such a little boy. So skinny and scared. It like to broke my heart.”

“I'm sure it did.”

“Jack Cornwall's father done it. He was a good master most of the time, but he didn't understand how it felt for a mother to lose her children one by one. Oh, look at that little boy peerin' through the window. You don't suppose that's Moses, do you?”

“Moses will be a grown man, now, Mother Margaret. He's older than Ben, remember?”

“How come I keep forgettin' that? Mercy, somebody's comin' out of the house.” She took Lily's hand. “Miz Lily, I'm plumb addled over this. Do I look all right? Is my bonnet tied on straight?”

Lily arranged Mother Margaret's bonnet bow while Elijah jumped down from the wagon and walked toward the approaching man. He was a big fellow, ebony skinned, broad-shouldered, and rawboned. He cradled a rifle under one arm.

“Afternoon, sir,” Eli said, taking off his hat. “We're looking for a man by the name of Moses Hanks.”

“What for?”

“We'd like to talk with him.”

“I'm Mo Hanks. Speak your piece.”

“Moses?” Mother Margaret stood up on the wagon. “Moses, child, is that you?”

The big man turned and spotted the little woman. Instantly the hard lines left his face. His caramel eyes lit up with joy. “Mama? Mama, you found me!”

Suddenly a ten-year-old boy again, he dropped his rifle to the ground and sprinted toward the wagon. In one scoop, he lifted the little woman into his arms and engulfed her. Swinging her out of the wagon, he turned her around and around until they were both laughing and crying at the same time.

“Moses, Moses, honey, you're liable to squeeze the stuffin' right outta me!” Mother Margaret squealed.

“I can't believe it's you, Mama. You came for me!”

As he lowered her to the ground, she pressed her face against his chest. “Oh, my precious baby. My sweet child. My darlin' boy. Let Mama hold you now.”

“Mama, you found me. You found me.”

“I'm here now, baby. I got you.”

Elijah stepped back as others began to trickle out of the house. He glanced at the wagon to find Lily dabbing her cheeks. With Samuel propped on her shoulder, she was rocking back and forth and patting the baby's back. His tiny pink fingers curled into her golden hair as she nestled her nose against his neck.

Father
, Eli began, and then he didn't know what to say next. At the sight of Lily and Samuel, something welled up like a fountain inside him. He couldn't identify it. Couldn't control it.

Father, I
… Lily's hand tucked the thin cotton blanket around the baby's legs. Eli swallowed hard.

Father, I care … I need … I think I love Lily. I love something about her. Help me, Lord. Show me what to do
.

“Brother Elijah, this is my son!” Mother Margaret cried, taking the preacher's arm and pulling him close. “This is my sweet Moses. I found my baby!”

The big man pumped Eli's hand. “Thank you for bringin' my mama to me, sir.”

“Glad to do it.”

“You precious man!” The old woman threw her arms around Eli. “Moses, I want you to know Brother Elijah. He's my preacher from back home. Mercy, can he give a sermon! And that's his little baby over there in the wagon. That's Samuel. There's Miz Lily a-holdin' him, and I do declare, this must be the happiest day of my life. Thank you, Lord! Amen and hallelujah!”

“You haven't changed a bit, Mama,” Moses said with a laugh. “Come over here now and meet my wife and all your gran'kids.”

“Gran'kids!” Mother Margaret threw up her hands. “Wait till Ben and Eva hear about this! Mercy, I think I'm about to faint.”

Grinning, Eli watched the happy pair hurry across the yard to introduce Moses' family to their long-lost matriarch. The preacher strolled back to the wagon and climbed up beside Lily and the baby.

“I think that's the first thing I ever got all the way right in my life,” he said. “Have you ever seen so much laughing and crying all at one time?”

Lily blotted her handkerchief across her cheek. “It's wonderful.” “You look about as happy as a tick-fevered calf.”

At that, she actually chuckled. “Now you've got
me
laughing and crying at the same time.”

Aching to take her in his arms, Eli did the next best thing. He leaned toward Lily and gave Samuel's soft head a light kiss. “What are you sad about?”

“I was thinking of all the other children Mother Margaret lost,” she said softly. “She once told me she'd given birth to fourteen. Three of them died, and all but Ben were sold. Now we've found Moses, but nine are still missing.”

“You think Mother Margaret's worrying about the nine she's missing—or rejoicing over the one she found?”

He studied the chaotic scene on the front porch of the little frame house. Never in all his days had he heard so much carrying-on. Little children jumped up and down. Dogs barked. Somebody began to sing. A couple of folks were even dancing.

“I think,” Lily said, “that she's mourning the nine, even though she's rejoicing over the one.”

“You're missing Abigail, aren't you?” Unable to stop himself, he slipped his arm around her. “I guess you can't ever replace someone you've lost. No matter how hard you try.”

Lily leaned against his shoulder, the drowsy baby nestled between them. “No one can take Abby's place.”

Eli observed the joyous family on the porch, and his own imminent loss grew sharper. “Nobody can take
your
place, Lily,” he said finally, voicing the fear that had troubled him for days. “Am I going to lose you?”

She looked up. “You can't lose something you don't have. Do you have me, Elijah?”

“A little bit, I hope.” He tightened his arm around her. “At least you choose to keep feeding my son. You talk to me without shouting. You don't pull away when I touch you.”

She shivered. “Elijah, I …”

“What is it, Lily?”

“I need to talk to you about something.” She drew in a deep breath and began. “Beatrice told me she has the money to build an opera house. Those two men who ran us out of the Crescent Moon Hotel are the ones she had met the last time we were in Topeka. She asked them if they'd finance a new show house, and they agreed to put up the cash. She's already paid for a shipment of liquor and lined up a bartender. She's planning to hire a cook, a juggler, a magician, and a ventriloquist.”

“How about a singer?”

“She wants me to sing,” Lily said. “She's offered me good wages.”

“Better than I can pay?”

“Yes,” she said in a hushed voice. “Much better.”

Elijah was pretty sure his heart had sunk to the bottom of his stomach, but he knew he had to keep talking. If Lily got wind of how much he cared about her, she'd hightail it right off.

“Where's Beatrice going to put up her opera house?” he asked.

“Lawrence. A lot of the town was burned during the war, you know. They're eager for people to move in and build.”

“Lawrence, Kansas.”

He repeated the name, even though he already knew where the city was located.
Oh, Lord, help me. I can't figure out what to say to Lily. I know I'm not supposed to think this way about her. She's not a believer. You don't want the two of us to feel tenderness for each other. But, Father, she's special to me. It's more than the baby, Lord. There's something about Lily
.

“Beatrice took my melodeon with her when she left Hope,” she was saying. “It's stored in the show wagon.”

“Melodeon?” Eli tried to make sense of her words. “Is that something like an organ?”

Lily nodded. “It's mine. Will you help me get it?”

“Get the melodeon?”

“That's what I said. Are you listening to me?”

“Sure, I'm listening. You said Beatrice is building an opera house in Lawrence, Kansas. She wants you to sing, and you need me to take your melodeon out of the show wagon.”

Lily drew back from him and looked into his eyes. “I'm not going with her.”

Elijah stiffened up like he'd been shot. “You're not going to Lawrence? You're not going to sing?”

“No.” She shifted Samuel to her other shoulder. “I'm going to Philadelphia.”

“Philadelphia!” He was sure he'd been shot a second time. “That's in Pennsylvania.”

A smile crossed her lips. “You know your states very well.”

“I borrowed an atlas one time when my pa and I were living near Albuquerque.”

“I see.” She squared her shoulders. “Well, when I sell my melodeon, I'll have some money for my train ticket. So, I'll be going back to my father's house in Philadelphia … after I've spent another month or two in Hope.”

Hope!
Eli didn't need an atlas to know where that was. He felt so light he could have soared right over the wagon. But surely he'd heard her wrong. If Lily had the money for a train ticket to Philadelphia, she wouldn't go back to the prairie. Would she?

“You're going to Hope again?” he asked. “With me and Sam?”

She gave a little laugh. “Are you losing your hearing, Preacher-man? I'll need to earn the rest of the money for my ticket, and I want to make sure this baby is strong and healthy.”

“But what about your singing? What about Beatrice?”

Lily lowered her head. “Bea has a good future ahead of her. With an opera house to run, she'll stay busy and make good money. She can find another singer.”

“Hallelujah!” Elijah said. “Praise the Lord. Amen and amen.” Lily laughed. “You've been listening to Mother Margaret too long. Oh, Elijah, I need a fresh start. I tried once when I ran away from Philadelphia. I thought I'd found the answers I was looking for. But even before Abigail died, my life became so … so …”

“Mercy, you two, listen to this!” Mother Margaret called as she fairly flew across the yard. “I got me six gran'kids and three great-gran'babies! Three—can you beat that? Brother Elijah, you and Miz Lily better come meet all these folk. There's more kin here than I can shake a stick at. Miz Lily, I want you to know God done blessed me with good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and runnin' over! The Lord is wonderful; praise his holy name!”

“Amen!” Eli said.

“Hallelujah!” Lily added. “Amen and amen.”

“This is the fighting-est baby I ever saw,” Dr. Schlissel said. “I suspect it's going to take more than a spider and his careless parents to do him in.”

The doctor lifted Samuel and turned the baby around in his big hands. Lily had been pleased to discover that during regular office hours, Dr. Schlissel's dinner and smoldering cigar were not in evidence on the long table. Although the physician seemed determined to chide her and Elijah for failing to notice the spider bite, Lily took a measure of pride in the baby's present state of health. After all, she had nursed him faithfully night and day, and his scrawny frame was starting to fill out.