The Righteous (24 page)

“But Jacob,” she said. “Jacob, you promised.”

He turned away, stricken. She picked up her dress and ran. Fernie and Jessie Lynn called to her as she passed, but she ignored them, as she ignored the stares from others. She ran down the street with only one thought on her mind.

Run.

#

Jacob watched his sister running. Betrayed, heart broken. Terrified
. Oh, God. Why? Why?
It was half prayer, half fist-shaking curse.

Fernie and Jessie Lynn came to his side. Fernie had her baby on her hip, and Jessie Lynn held the hand of her half-sister, Sophie Marie, now motherless. The girl didn’t play with all of the children running around, screaming and laughing, but watched intently, with a look both curious and cautious.

“What’s the matter with Eliza?” Fernie asked. Their sister was halfway down the street now, still running with her skirts gathered.

“Eliza just learned the identity of her husband-to-be. As you can see, she was quite pleased with the news.” Jacob looked at Fernie with a bitter, ironic smile. “Wonder what kind of a husband Taylor Junior will make.”

Fernie put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Jacob. And you? You agreed to this?”

“They didn’t give me much of a choice. But yes, coward that I am. Fool that I am. I agreed.” He let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, and I get rewarded for my efforts. I can choose one of your husband’s daughters.”

Jessie Lynn’s eyes widened slightly. Jacob looked at her closely for the first time. She had round cheeks and slightly crooked teeth and was certainly not pretty in the traditional sense. But she had lively, dark eyes and a pleasant mouth that would look more so if she were smiling, which she was not at the moment. Cute, at least.

He cleared his throat as he appraised her. “And this is the point, I suppose, where I should ask you to marry me.”

Jessie Lynn, to her credit, did not look overjoyed, nor disgusted, nor any of a dozen easy emotions. She said, “Better here than in Eliza’s shoes. And I’d heard rumors, so it’s not a complete surprise. Can you tell me why you chose me instead of one of my sisters?”

He grimaced. “Honestly? Girls should wait until they’re eighteen before marrying. Let them choose as adults. You’re not eighteen, but you’re the closest of the three.”

Jacob glanced at Fernie. She watched, her face unreadable. Would she be upset to have him so close now, a relative by marriage for the second time? Indifferent? Jealous, somewhere in her heart, even though she’d been married for many years now and belonged to another man?

And then he remembered Eliza and his thoughts turned elsewhere. “Fernie, can you help me find Eliza?”

“And what should we do when we find her?” Fernie asked. “Tie her down?”

Jacob massaged his temples. “I don’t know, Fernie. I don’t know.”

He glanced at his watch. An hour before they were supposed to be at the temple for the endowment. Stephen Paul Young would already be there. His uncle was the temple president and had opened the building for them and raised the veil for the endowment.

“What about the endowment?” Jacob asked.

Fernie nodded. “Yes.”

That’s how they would get Eliza back. Bring her to the endowment, as planned. Meet Enoch in the Celestial Room at the end. And yes, he thought, grasping for hope, if they could implicate Taylor Junior in Amanda’s murder, they might slip from the trap springing around them.

Fernie handed Jessie Lynn her baby. “Can you watch Oscar?” The girl now had a baby at her hip and Sophie Marie holding her hand. Jacob saw her as she would be a few years down the road; perhaps even pregnant with a third.

He should say something to her. The girl would be awash with emotions. He didn’t want her to spend the rest of her life thinking that Jacob had never wanted her in the first place.

Jacob put a hand on her wrist. “We never know what life will bring. Sometimes, the Lord knows best what we need.” He hesitated, not liking how that had come out. A trial. That’s what he’d just told her their marriage would be. Something to be endured. He tried again. “I’m not perfect, but I’ll do my best to be a decent husband.”

“What he means to say,” Fernie said, “is that he’s better than your brother, at least.”

“I’ll have to remember that for when they ask,” Jessie Lynn said. “My husband? He’s not the worst man in the church.”

“You shouldn’t marry her,” Fernie said as she and Jacob went after Eliza. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Jessie Lynn. You’d like her, I think. But you can’t let Eliza go through with this. She’s my sister too, you know. What about Stephen Paul? Wasn’t he interested? Can’t you talk to him again?”

They had drawn away from the crowd at the church and walked down the street in the direction Eliza had run. She couldn’t have gone far. “There are no other choices, Fernie.”

“There has to be something.”
“The only hope is to pin Amanda’s murder on Taylor Junior. That’s it.”

Fernie put a hand on his wrist and pulled him around. When she spoke, her voice was fierce and there was fire in her eyes. “Then you be damn sure to implicate him, do you hear me? I don’t care who else was involved, it had better implicate Taylor Junior.”

“You don’t know how badly I’d like to do that,” Jacob said. “But I can only implicate him if he’s guilty. Anything else would be wrong.”

“And selling out your sister? That’s okay, is it?” She turned away. “No, I didn’t think so.”

Neither Eduardo nor Manuel were at their trailer. Eliza found the FBI agents on the Jameson Young compound, where they shoveled wet cement into the framing for a new concrete patio to replace the one destroyed by the flood. The cement had a reddish tint, like the sand from the desert, and they’d stamped the earlier part with a pattern to make it look like cut stone.

Sweat streaked down bodies and straining muscles. Eduardo worked with a bandana around his forehead and his chest bare and bronzed. In spite of everything, in spite of the forced marriage from which she fled and the heartbreak she felt over Jacob’s betrayal, she could not look at Eduardo without a stirring. She imagined him in the shower at the end of a long day, dirty hands and sweat-streaked, and the soapy water as it ran down his body.

And it reminded her.

I have options.

She was a girl with little knowledge of the outside world. But she knew how to work. She wasn’t just smart; she had common sense. And if the time came to find someone, it wouldn’t have to be a polygamist.

Eduardo saw her and put down his shovel. He picked up his tank top where it lay over the handle of a wheelbarrow and used it to wipe the sweat from his face.

“You shouldn’t come here like this,” he said. “Someone will see you and start to ask questions. It could compromise the investigation.”

Ah, yes. The investigation. She had forgotten about that. Today was the day they were supposed to bug Elder Kimball’s house.

“Did you get everything in place?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, not yet. I’ve got bigger worries, Eduardo. I need your help.”

He frowned. Manuel looked up as if to come over, but Eduardo shook his head and the older man returned to work. “What kind of help?”

“They’re forcing me to marry against my will.”

“What do you mean, against your will?”

“Surely you don’t think women choose their own husbands around here.”

“No, I didn’t think that. But if you’re dead set against it, why not put your foot down? Nobody can force you. You’re eighteen, you’re an adult.”

Well no, she wasn’t. She was seventeen, but she remembered now that she had lied to Eduardo that night after the flood.

“Doesn’t matter. They’re making me do it. But I can’t marry him. I really can’t.”

“Is he your uncle or something?”

Eliza gave a disgusted shake of the head. “We don’t do that sort of thing. You’re thinking of the Kingston Clan.”

“But he’s married already, is that it?”

Eliza gave an irritated sigh. “No, he’s not. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything. I’m looking for illegal behavior. How am I supposed to help you if there’s nothing illegal going on?”

“They’re forcing me to marry against my will. How is that not illegal?”

“It
will
be illegal, once they’ve actually done it. But for now…well, what do you want me to do? Put you in protective custody?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do.” She clenched her teeth, growing angrier. Though why she should hold Eduardo to a higher standard than her own brother, she couldn’t say. “Barring that, how about just give me a ride to St. George?”

Eduardo breathed out. He glanced over her shoulder, then back at Manuel, who still watched with a quizzical expression. “Eliza, I can’t do that,” he said at last. “Not yet. Maybe in a few days, if everything goes well with the investigation. But for now, I can’t get involved. It’ll blow our cover.”

“I don’t have a few days. I’m going to the temple this afternoon for my endowment. They’ll probably marry me off tomorrow. Maybe tonight. I don’t know.” She put a hand on his arm, but he flinched away. “Please, for the love of God, help me. This man, he tried to rape me. And now he’s going to be my husband.”

He just looked at her and she could tell that he didn’t believe the attempted rape bit. It was something that she had added for his benefit, he was thinking. Finally, though, he said, “I’ll talk to Manuel. There might be something.”

He went back to the other men and pulled Manuel aside. They spoke in low voices, then the two men returned together.

Manuel said, “Eduardo told me what’s going on. Okay, we can’t get directly involved. But there might be something we can do.”

Eliza was desperate. “Please, tell me more.”

#

Jacob and Fernie found Eliza walking slowly toward the Kimball house with her head down. Jacob hung back while Fernie came and took her arm. The girl did not pull away. He took a deep breath and approached. She glanced up, briefly. Reproach in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Liz,” he said. “I never thought it would turn out like this.”

“But it did. You promised and it happened anyway.”

They walked down the street, Fernie on one side and Jacob on the other, holding Eliza’s arms. Were they comforting her or restraining her?

“It hasn’t happened yet,” Jacob said. “And I’ve got a couple of ideas.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, I’m almost certain that Taylor Junior is involved in Amanda’s murder. The prophet will never allow a murderer to take a wife.”

“That’s what you said about would-be rapists.”

“Fine. But this is different. Our first step is to keep our appointment with Enoch. It’s almost time for your washings and anointings.”

“Jacob, Enoch could tell us everything he knows and it might not resolve the situation in time. So what, you’ll see me married while you wrap up the loose ends? I’d rather die than spend five minutes married to that man.”

“I have an answer for that.” He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. He took out all the cash he had, plus his ATM card. “Three hundred and sixty dollars. The PIN to the card is 0107. My mnemonic is Proverbs 1:7.”

Eliza repeated the verse. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

“Yes, exactly. There’s more than five grand in that account. It’s Father’s card, so be careful. Soon as you use it, he’ll figure out where you are.”

“So I’ll run?”

“Isn’t that what you were thinking anyway?” he asked.

She chewed on her lip, but said nothing.

“If you have to leave Blister Creek,” Fernie said, “go somewhere, stay quiet until things blow over. Then give me a call. I won’t tell them where you are.”

“But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Jacob said. “Come on, it’s time to go to the temple.”

#

It was the first time Eliza had set foot in the temple. From the outside, it was half cathedral, half fortress. Inside, she had the odd impression of standing in the lobby of a posh hotel. The temple boasted carved wooden railings, marble floors with thick, hand-woven rugs, elegant fixtures, and stained glass windows. There was an entrance which wrapped around an atrium, and then rooms and hallways beyond.

Jacob disappeared and Fernie led her to the women’s changing room. She handed Eliza what amounted to a sheet with a hole in it. “Leave your clothing inside. Put on this sheet. You will see a door to your left. Go through that door and walk down the hallway until you come to the end.”

She eyed the sheet dubiously. “This is all I’ll be wearing?”

“Don’t worry. You won’t see anyone but Charity and me.”

Eliza had a moment of doubt when Fernie left her alone. She didn’t want to take off her clothes and put on the sheet. She had no idea what to expect. Would she eventually come back here, or find herself in some room, nearly naked, to discover Taylor Junior waiting for her? No, that was paranoia.

Reluctantly, she stripped. She emerged wearing nothing but the sheet. Fernie waited on the far side of the hallway. The two women stood in front of a screened paper wall, like in a traditional Japanese house.

Fernie slid aside the wall and gestured for her to enter. “Are you ready?”

Naked, vulnerable, and confused, she shook her head. “Are you kidding?”

Fernie smiled. “This is the easy part. Only women help other women with the initiatory.”

That was somewhat reassuring. She stepped inside and found herself in a small room—no bigger than an oversized closet, really—with a chair, a washbasin and a shelf holding a bottle of consecrated oil. Fernie indicated that Eliza take her seat in the chair.

Fernie dipped her finger in the basin of water and touched it to Eliza’s forehead. “Sister Eliza, having authority, I wash you preparatory to you receiving your anointings, that you may become clean from the blood and sins of this generation. I wash your head, that your brain and your intellect may be clear and active; your ears, that you may hear the word of the Lord.”

Fernie returned her finger to the water and then to Eliza’s face. “Your eyes, that you may see clearly and discern between truth and error; your nose, that you may smell; your lips, that you may never speak guile; your neck, that it may bear up your head properly; your shoulders, that they may bear the burdens that shall be placed thereon.”