Prairie Storm (29 page)

“There's nothing wrong with your daughter's mind,” Elijah said.

“But I've been given to understand from Mrs. Waldowski that our Lily has been living with a traveling show, roaming about aimlessly, surviving in the direst of circumstances. I want you to know, this young lady received the finest education money can buy! She is trained in the fine arts of womanly decorum. She has been prepared for a life in the highest echelon of society. And you tell me she chooses to live in abject poverty? Of course she's gone mad!”

Elijah felt like his drawers were crawling right up his back. Lily Nolan wasn't crazy. She'd chosen to run from this very man who claimed to have given her a happy life but in reality had tormented her with his abuses. Everything in Elijah told him to spill the beans on the pompous Dr. Richardson. But why would the deputy trust the word of a down-home preacher with a foundling baby over that of the conductor of the Greater New England Symphony Orchestra—a man with a diamond stuck through his tie?

“Your daughter, sir,” Elijah addressed Richardson, “is not only sound of mind, but she's shown herself to be a respectable citizen of Hope. Any number of folks will tell you how she's helped out the Hanks family, taken good care of my son, and even pitched in to rebuild the town after a cyclone hit us. But you ought to let Lily speak for herself. She can tell you what she wants to do with her life.”

“My dear man,” Richardson said, his mouth pulling into an expression of disbelief, “you of all people should understand a woman's place of submission in Christian society. Surely you've read the scriptural admonition that woman may not be allowed to ‘usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.' I trust you've been trained in a detailed explication of the Bible, and you are aware that the apostle Paul taught the Corinthian church that ‘the head of the woman is the man' and that ‘it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.'”

Elijah twiddled his thumbs. Well, he'd read the Bible through a few times, but he didn't exactly recall those particular verses. Truth to tell, he'd gotten the impression that Christ loved women as much as men, and that a godly woman could fulfill an important role in the church. Wasn't there somebody named Priscilla who helped her husband hold worship services in their home? And then there was a lady named Lydia—

“You
have
studied at a seminary, have you not?” Richardson asked.

The preacher shifted uncomfortably. “No, sir.”

“Then what makes you think you're qualified to preach the gospel?”

“I heard the voice of the Lord calling me to tell other folks about him, so I got on my horse, and I went out and did it.”

A triumphant look crossed the conductor's face. “Upon my word, young man, you are completely ignorant! You have no formal training, no religious education, and no experience in matters of family instruction or spiritual guidance—and yet you proclaim yourself a minister of God's Holy Word! You have had the effrontery to place yourself in a position of leadership over the church of Jesus Christ in Hope, Kansas! I am astonished.”

Elijah felt about as low as a snake and twice as dumb. The man was right, of course. Elijah had no business pastoring a church or giving anybody advice.

“Young man, you must get yourself to a seminary before the week is out.” Richardson adjusted his diamond tie tack. “I cannot, in good conscience, endorse your presence among the people of this warm and earnest little town. Do you not recall the words of St. Paul to young Timothy? ‘Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.… Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.'”

“I have been reading the Bible, sir, every day. And I'm studying it as well as I can.”

“Your sincerity impresses me. In fact, I am quite willing to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf to the dean of the institution of higher learning to which you aspire. I shall personally address myself to this matter in order that your future education is assured. I am well acquainted with the presidents of various venues of religious instruction, and I shall provide you with a list of recommended schools. You strike me as a man of untrained but sincere caliber. An education will transform you into the model of a minister.”

With a nod, he indicated that the subject was closed. Feeling about like he had the night the twister hit Hope, Elijah studied a pair of sparrows building a nest under an eave of the new opera house. Dr. Richardson was right that he didn't know much about pastoring. He was uneducated, too. But he wasn't ignorant. Elijah knew his Savior. And he knew that God had promised to keep his eye on Lily and Sam—just like he was keeping watch over those sparrows.

“As for the foundling child,” Richardson went on, “it is abundantly clear that his future lies in the competent hands of the state of Kansas. Do you not recall the admonition of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet? ‘Leave thy fatherless children,' he warns, ‘I will preserve them alive.' It is God's work—not yours, Reverend Book—to provide for the orphan. An unmarried, uneducated man in need of schooling cannot hope to rear a helpless baby. The child must be placed in the good hands of the orphanage.”

“I reckon you're right,” the deputy chimed in. “Although I've got to tell you—”

“My daughter, of course, will return to Philadelphia with me on the next train from Topeka.” Dr. Richardson rose and straightened the tails of his coat. “Obviously her mother and I must attend to the immediate repair of her mental condition and the reconstruction of her reputation. Following that, we shall see that Lily is secured in the good marriage and societal position for which we prepared her.”

Elijah stood. Though he knew his boots were on solid ground, he felt a little off-kilter. Richardson was obviously a man who knew God, knew the Bible, and knew the right way of doing things. Educated and wealthy, he cited Scripture as though there could be no arguing. And why would Elijah argue with the Word of the Lord, anyway? But for some reason, the whole thing didn't sit straight.

Could a man like Richardson possibly be wrong in what he said? Even lying? Could someone in a position of leadership in a church and in a city really be speaking in error—especially when he backed up everything he said with verses from the Bible?

As the esteemed gentleman made casual conversation with Beatrice Waldowski, George Gibbons, and the deputy, Elijah thought about Lily. Maybe the woman had deceived him about her father. Maybe Dr. Richardson hadn't hurt her at all, but instead she had chosen a willful and rebellious path away from family and Christ. Maybe Elijah didn't have any business pastoring the Hope church. And maybe Samuel would be better off in an orphanage in Topeka.

“I'm assuming you know the place to which my daughter has taken the child,” Richardson said as he walked to the parlor door. “Perhaps you would be so good as to lead us there, Mister Book.”

Elijah pictured Lily sitting under the big cottonwood tree beside Bluestem Creek. She would be holding Samuel, singing some little lullaby the way she always did, and stroking his soft dark curls. It was under the cottonwood that Lily claimed to have opened her heart to Christ. Elijah had to believe that much was true. With his own two eyes, he had seen the changes in her.

And he knew a few other facts, too. Lily and Samuel belonged together. Lily and Elijah belonged together. Sam was Eli's son. And Christ had joined the three of them. This image in Elijah's mind of the group of people united for a higher purpose seemed true and quite real. Yet Dr. Richardson's words rang powerfully to dismiss it. Elijah must go to a seminary, the baby to an orphanage, Lily to Philadelphia. God had ordained their futures.

Unable to see clearly, unable to sort through the whirlwind in his mind, Elijah headed into the foyer of the opera house. “I'll fetch your daughter, Dr. Richardson,” he said.

“I don't think it would be wise for you to go alone. ‘Be sober, be vigilant,' young man, ‘because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.'”

Eli stopped, frustration rising to the point of anger inside him. “Now what's that supposed to mean?”

“Ah, ignorance! Ah, bliss!” The conductor clapped him on the back. “How easily you fall prey to the limitations of your own fallible mind. I am telling you that you must stay away from my daughter at this vulnerable time in your life. The powers of the seductress are great, and you—like most men—are hard-pressed to resist them. Come, we'll all seek out my Lily as one party. Deputy, will you join us?”

The lawman was chewing on a wad of tobacco as he studied the inside of the opera house. When Richardson addressed him, he focused again on the matter at hand and nodded his acquiescence. The three men stepped outside, followed by Beatrice and her cohorts, and they all set out for the grove.

With every step Elijah took down the road toward the cottonwood tree, the noose tightened around his neck. If he let Lily go with Dr. Richardson, would she find the happiness God had planned for her, as her father insisted? Or would she fall victim to a man who had no control over himself? At this moment, Dr. Richardson was in control not only of himself but of the whole situation.

And what if Elijah let the deputy take Samuel away? Would the baby really live a better life in an orphanage than in the home of a man who loved him as a son? Of course, love didn't make up for ignorance and inexperience. Eli knew he possessed both of those in abundance.

And what if Eli left the town of Hope and headed east to get himself an education? Would he be turning his back on the call to shepherd that little flock? Or would he be freeing the people of Hope to find themselves a minister who really could meet all their needs?

“There she is,” Beatrice Waldowski said. “There's Lil, hiding behind that old tree.”

Her voice jerked Eli right out of the cyclone and set him on his feet. The noose around his neck loosened. A peace that passed all understanding filled his heart.

“I'll talk to Lily,” he said.

“
I'll
fetch her,” Bea insisted.

Eli grabbed the woman's arm. “She left you, Madame Zahara. She chose a new life.”

“I suppose you think that means she chose
you
.”

“She chose Jesus Christ.”

“Oh, please. Lily's as naive and stupid as that baby she's so attached to. She couldn't make a decision on her own if her life depended on it. You tricked her into leaving me. You seduced her away from a good future—”

“In your brothel? I don't think so, Beatrice. Lily doesn't need you, me, or her father. Truth be told, she's given her future to someone she can really count on.”

“What's this about a brothel?” the deputy asked.

“Lily!” Beatrice called. “You can come out of hiding now, little girl. Daddy's come for you.”

Before anyone else could move, Eli took off through the grove of trees to the place where Lily sat nursing Samuel. As he approached, she tugged her white shawl over the baby's head and looked up at the man, her blue eyes clouded with uncertainty.

Eli hunkered down beside the two of them and let out a breath. This was where he belonged. Right here with Lily and Sam.

“How's my little Nubbin?” he asked, touching one of the baby's bare pink toes.

Lily managed a smile. “He's asleep.”

“And how's my Lily?”

“Oh, Elijah!” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he drew her into his embrace. “I can't believe my father came all this way.”

“I can. He's determined.”

“Determined to take me back to Philadelphia.” She shook her head. “There was a time when I believed I should go home. I knew my life with the traveling show was taking me nowhere. At least in Philadelphia I would have food to eat and a roof over my head. I'd lived so many years under my father's thumb, and I figured I could do it again.”

“He wants to take you back today.”

“I know.”

“He's going to recommend me to a seminary so I can learn how to be a pastor.”

“I see.”

“He says Sam would be better off in an orphanage.”

“Since you'll be in school, and I'll be in Philadelphia.”

“That's right.” Eli cupped the baby's tiny foot in his palm and stroked his thumb across the puff of soft skin. “He says it's all God's will.”

“I'm sure he backed up his position with Scripture.”

“Yep.” He met Lily's blue eyes. “Your father sure does know the Bible.”

“So did I,” she said. “Before.”

“I remember.”

“But I didn't know
him
. I didn't know Christ.”

Eli thought for a moment. “You reckon somebody could twist Scripture around? I mean, could a man take verses right out of the Bible and use God's Holy Word for wrong reasons?”

“I was very good at it.”

“But a fellow who claims to be a Christian … claims to believe in Jesus … claims to serve him. Could he be lying?”

Lily lifted the baby away and tucked the shawl around him like a blanket. Elijah leaned over her and kissed Sam's pink cheek. Without speaking, Lily laid the baby in his arms. As Eli gazed down at the pair of long-lashed eyelids, the soft nub of a nose, the tiny rosebud lips, a certainty filled his soul.

“‘Ye shall know them by their fruits,'” he said in a low voice. He had read the verses that morning, and he'd been working all day to memorize them. “‘Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.' Evil fruit. A corrupt tree. ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.'”

The verses had slipped unbidden into his mind, but Eli knew who had put them there. Though the Pharisees had appeared holy, Jesus had called them serpents, a generation of vipers.