Dance with the Deacon

I sat on the bench under the shade of the porch while I await the arrival of both the Wilson women's husband. "Tell me Edith, why are you and your sister so short with each other?"

"Sorry Deacon, I only confess to my husband and my father. You sir are not someone with whom I care to share secrets."

"Sorry, I was trying to make conversation." She seemed to accept the statement even though we both knew it was not the truth.

After several more minutes of uncomfortable silence two men rode into the yard. Both of them rode large well conformed horses. The horses were superb even to my untrained eye. The older of the two men appeared to be in his forties at least. He looked on the verge of being old. The younger man was a copy of him. The difference being the amount of ware on his body. My guess at the time later proved to be accurate.

The older man stepped down from the magnificent looking horse. He did not embrace Edith . He did however go to stand in front of her. "It is good to see you home Edith. Why did you feel it necessary to call us in from our work?"

"John, I want you to meet Deacon Burke. He brought me from the rail head. I thought you should welcome him, so that he would not feel uncomfortable here with Margaret and me. She has already questioned him even though he is a man of the cloth."

"Deacon," he said it turning to me. "You are welcome in my home. I also would like to thank you for bringing Edith safely to me." His words were not especially warm nor was his handshake. He turned to Edith. "Deacon Burke, could have brought a message you know. I would have sent Jerome to fetch you." It seemed to be something of a rebuke.

I would have defended Edith. If there had been anything I could have said to make a difference. Even the smallest most innocent statement would have been suspect. So I did the next best thing. I confronted John Wilson. "Well you two seem to have plenty to talk about. I think I should just be moving on. Mr. Wilson it was nice to have met you." I pointedly did not extend my hand to him.

"Just one minute Deacon. I asked the Deacon to bring me here on his way to Sadie's Gulch. You may or may not approve. Nonetheless Deacon Burke did me a great service. He transported and protected me. I owe it to him to keep my word."

"And what promises did you make him?" John was fighting back the anger.

"Deacon bought a horse and wagon to transport me because you had left me penniless. I promised him that you would reimburse him for those items."

"If you will come into the house Mr. Burke I will get your money. That is assuming you have a bill of sale for the horse and wagon. I will do it even though I have no need for either."

"If that is the case, keep your money. I'll just be leaving now." I said that as I went to the wagon. I was glad I hadn't bother to unhitch the horse. You can't make a grand exit statement then take the time to re hitched the horse. It takes something away from it.

"Deacon stop right there. Husband come with me." Edith turned to the smaller house so quickly that her back was already to me when I looked toward her. She rightly assumed her husband would follow. There was a defiant appearance to her walk. I smiled as I waited. I had a pretty good idea what was going on in the house. I had a feeling that Edith had wanted the wagon for her horse doctoring. I also had a feeling she had rescued the old gray and intended to keep her. Finally I had a feeling that neither John Wilson nor any other man could stand up to her when she had her mind set.

Margaret had witnessed the whole thing from her porch. I could not tell her reaction as she went into the house. She was the first to return. She walked from the porch with a plate of cookies and a glass of lemonade. I didn't expect her to speak but she did.

"Deacon, I know our ways must seem strange to you. Don't judge us too harshly please. We are trying to find our way in the world."

"Margaret, I judge no man or woman. I am a Deacon not a parson. I have my own faults. There is even a pastor in Saint Louis who's only job is to pray for me." The remark made her smile as I was sure it would. I had thought the remark out for Edith but had never gotten the chance to use it.

"Deacon what exactly do you do for the church?" She was interested it seemed. Or she was trying to divert my attention from the moments events.

"Well Margaret, the Baptist sect believes in turning the other cheek, but only once. I am the response to the third slap."

"My god you don't mean your church hires killers?" She asked it but it was not in horror I noted.

"Margaret, there have always been secular deacons who defend the faith. These days the faith just needs a more active defense." I knew it was a lie. I hoped god would forgive me for it. Since he and I hadn't been speaking much since the first battle I fought I didn't expect he would.

"You know there are men in Sadie's Gulch who will try to prevent you from opening a church." She said it helpfully.

"I have heard that. Why that is I do not understand, but I will open a church in Sadie's Gulch. It will be open on the first Sunday after I arrive. Bring your family to church Margaret. Even a Baptist Church is better than no church." I didn't understand why getting that church open was so important to me. It had become a vital part of my thinking. The money of course occupied a slightly larger place in my mind.

Margaret and I had fallen into a not so peaceful silence. She seemed uncomfortable with the invitation. I was uncomfortable thinking about the conversation going on inside the house. For the first time I noticed the younger man still sitting on his horse. He was no doubt the son of the first wife. It was hard for me to keep all the wives and children straight, but I felt I had a pretty good handle on it. I realized that Margaret had not offered the boy anything at all. I took the plate of cookies to his horse. I noticed he seemed nervous.

"Have a cookie young man. I haven't tried them yet but I am sure they are fine." I turned my attention to Margaret. Could you get us another glass of lemonade?" I am sure I lost any goodwill I had managed to garner. I frankly didn't care at that moment.

The boy took a cookie with a conspirators smile. I smiled back. John Wilson left the small house where Edith had taken him. Jess again clung to my leg as I watch Wilson walk angrily into Margaret's larger house. Not only were the wives confusing so was the compound they all called home. Aside from the barn there was a third building.

"What's your name son?" I asked it of the young man on the horse.

"Abraham," the young man answered.

"Do they call you Abe?" I asked trying to appear friendly. He nodded. "So Abe, what is that building over there?"

"That is where my brothers and I sleep. There are also bunks for the extra men we hire in the spring."

"I see and do you take your meals with one of the families?" I knew when I said it that it sounded wrong."

"We are all one family Mr. Burke. We ate with Edith before she went East. I hope we are allowed to eat with her again."

"Is she a good cook?" I asked it smiling light heartedly.

"Not really, but she is or was much more fun to be around." I noticed that he did not leer. I had to assume it was a harmless fun of which he spoke.

When Wilson came from Margaret's house, as I had begun to think of it, he carried a small leather pouch. I imagine the pouch to be horse hide since there would be plenty of it around.

He handed the pouch to me. "It is all there Deacon. I am sorry about the misunderstanding. It seems I owe you my thanks. I had no idea you had saved Edith's life on the train. Word of the robbery has not reached us of course."

"Did Edith tell you she saved the life of another passenger?" Wilson shook his head. "I didn't think so. Well your wife is quite skilled and does not shake easily. If there are heroics I think she is in line for a share."

"Deacon, we would be pleased if you would stay for supper. Abraham can drive you into town in the morning. You will be there by noon."

"All I have eaten for days is traveling food. I would be grateful for a home cooked meal."

"It is settled then. You can spread your blankets in the bunk house. Margaret will ring the bell for supper." He turned his attention to the boy. "Abe we still have an hour. Let's try to find those strays." With that he swung back into the saddle.

Edith waited until he had gone before she came to claim Jess. I forced her to speak first. "Deacon, I do apologize for John. I have no idea why he reacted like that."

"Let me see. You are his wife. You have been on the trail three days with another man. I think I have a pretty good idea."

"I know, but why he would be jealous I have no idea. We haven't made love in over two years."

"Edith, I do not need to know all this." I said it as I turned to the bunk house.

"Why not? You are my friend." I assumed then that she did not see me as a man. To her I might be simply a man of the cloth. I was about to disappear into the bunk house when I turned back. I found Edith smiling at me. That smile left me totally confused. It was not the smile a woman gives to her preacher.

"Will I see you at supper?" I asked it as an after thought.

"No, Margaret and I do not share a table these days." She looked sad suddenly.

"I am sorry. Sisters should be close. After all you are family." I left her standing there as I went into the bunk house.

Like all bunk houses it smelled of stale sweat. I immediately opened all the windows. I doubted the smell would go away in such a short time but it couldn't hurt. I found a horse hair mattress on one of the unused bunks. I pulled it off, then I carried it onto the porch. I laid it out in the late afternoon sun to air out. Just like the room itself it wouldn't help much but then again it couldn't hurt. With all that done I moved to the wagon where I removed the blankets. The smell of Edith's soap and perfume made quite a contrast to the smell of sweaty men.

With all the preparations that I intended to do done, I sat on a rickety chair to have a smoke. As usual the cigarette was so misformed that I got only a couple of puffs from it before it fell apart. I continued to sit under the porch cover watching the early afternoon sun. As the sun moved toward the horizon the temperature began to drop. It reminded me that winter was on the way.

I figured I needed to stay in Sadie's Gulch till the spring. If I stayed that long the law dogs would have shifted their attention to other things. Four months without a break in a bank robbery tended to put it on the back burner. Usually they got solved only when the robber got caught for a new robbery. I didn't plan to ever do it again. All I had to do was to stay lost until they forgot about that robbery.

I drifted off to sleep sitting in the sun. I was warm, comfortable and dreaming about Edith of all things when the dinner bell rang. It startled me. I looked at the sun and guessed I had been asleep three hours. The sun was close to being over the horizon. By the time the workers made it home it was twilight again.

We ate by lamplight. It seemed that everyone but Edith and Jess would be eating at the larger house. The four boys were seated at the kitchen table. I took a closer look and realized they were hardly boys. They appeared to be near twenty or a little past it in some cases. All looked remarkably like their father.

I carefully followed their lead at dinner. I stood until John seated himself. He asked me to say grace but I declined.

"It is your home John and your food. I would prefer you say grace." He didn't bat an eye when he offered a prayer.

Dinner was good and filling. It seemed as though Margaret had fried enough chicken for half a dozen more people. I could understand why. Cold fried chicken was a favorite of mine.

"If you cook like this often Margaret, I can see why Mr. Wilson is so contented looking." I smiled to show that I meant no offense.

"If you mean my extra weight Deacon I assure you it will be gone in the winter. We eat well here when the food is available and sparcely when it is not." He didn't seem to be offended just explaining his slightly portly condition.

"It is the same with me. I am afraid the seasons have less to do with it than my living conditions at any given moment."

"Do you spend a great deal of time on the trail Deacon?" It was Margaret who asked.

I gave it some quick thought before I answered. "Yes Margaret, I travel far too much for my own good I fear."

"Surely the Baptists could find someone else to open it's new churches." John added that.

"Not too many men who possess my particular skills serve the church John. I am sure you can understand that."

"Deacon, I am not sure I understand exactly what your skill is." John seemed less curious than a man in need of getting a hidden thing into the open.

"I thought it was clear John. My position in the church is to defend the faith from those who would persecute Christians. It was decided years ago that no more Christians would be forced to walk into the lions den." Hell it sounded good to me. Just the kind of thing a true believer would say. At least I thought so at the time.

"It sounds very noble Deacon, but I fear it really means you are a killer." John had suddenly slipped back into the attitude he first took with me.

"No more than a sheriff is a killer John." I felt my youthful education was more than enough to keep me in the discussion. It should have been evident to him by that time that I had been the recipient of a decent education.

"Then you enforce gods laws?" He asked it knowing I did not. The statement had been made to continue the argument which was still light hearted enough that I did not fear where it might lead.

"I enforce no laws John. I merely make sure the work of my church gets done."

"And if the work of your church is counter to the laws of the land?" He obviously had a reason to ask. I expected it was his way of explaining the multiple wives.

"As much as possible I render unto Ceaser. If Ceaser forces me to choose between his law and my God, then of course Ceaser is going to lose." I looked at John to see if I had passed his inspection.

"But what if I see Gods law different that you?" He had finally gotten around to asking me how I felt about his lifestyle.

"John, I have been speaking for myself. What you see as your duty is between you and God. I do not have to answer for it. There is no reason for us to be at odds because it does not concern me. However if you chose to persecute others because they do not believe as you do, then it becomes my business." I gave him a very hard look. "You are not in the religious persecution business are you John?"

He took a moment to reply, "Of course not Deacon."

"Then all this is simply intellectual conversation. Which makes it pretty much a waste of time to pursue further." I continued to watch him carefully. I did not expect a threat from him. I did it just to be very careful.

"I agree. So how did you find the trip from town?" John asked it simply.

"Interesting, but do you really call that a town?"

"Sadie's Gulch is a bit larger but not much. Mostly it is because they mine at the Gulch."

"I keep hearing about the mining. Who is the owner of the mine?" I asked it suddenly interested in mining his brain.

"There are several small mines and lots of prospectors but the dominate mine is owned by a man named Samuel Deville. Deville is a Frenchie who came here years ago."

"So he found himself a mine?" I asked.

"Hardly, he stole himself a mine. He was a bartender at the Saloon when the strike was made. Sadie owned the saloon. Deville was a fancy man if you know what I mean?"

"I do," I replied shortly to keep him talking.

"Well he got the prospector drunk and bought the mine for a hundred dollars. I give him this he didn't know a the time just how much silver there was in that hole in the ground. He let the other men dig it out on shares at first. When he had enough money he began to push them out and hire men to work. He pays them good I have to admit. Pretty soon he had a town full of men. When the second load was found he couldn't get enough miners so he made a deal with the Warden of the territorial prison. He began to mine with slave labor. Deacon, Deville has become a very hard man."

"John, I shouldn't have any dealing with him that would put us in adversarial roles." I hoped it was true but his look told me it wasn't.

"Deacon, surely Edith told you about the church there."

"Sir, Deville might own the church building, but he does not own the church." I had liked the phrase before and I still did.

"Well did Edith tell you that when the last preacher left town he took Deville's wife with him." John looked almost pleased to tell me that.

"Yes, but John that seems to have been a while back."

"Deacon it don't matter how long ago it was. Deville wasn't through with her. He is not going to take kindly to your starting a new church. He has run off several preachers."

"That may explain why I was sent. No matter, I am going to prove a bit more difficult to run off."

John smiled at me. "For the first time since I came here I wish I lived in town. It may well prove to be a show worth seeing."

"Probably not, I believe men see logic when God talks to them." I tried to sound pious.

"Yes that is especially true when God's messenger is carrying a .44."

"I hope it won't come to that." It was truly my hope. If it came to a real gunfight, it would probably bring in the wrong kind of people. The law dogs might well come to investigate the death of a prominent citizen. I figured if I couldn't talk sense to him, I would simply disappear.

We left the table to step onto the porch. I rolled a cigarette that looked pretty awful. I lit it before John spoke.

"Deacon why would you not say grace?" I was being tested.

"John, if you came to my house and were not of my faith, I would say grace. I could not expect you to know our customs, nor would I think you wished to accidentally offend me."

"I see. You were afraid you might offend me?" He seemed to be challenging me again.

"John, tell me what it is that I have done to set your teeth on edge." I wanted to get it out in the open and done with.

"Deacon, I am sure you meant no harm but traveling with my wife looks." He paused a moment while he searched for the right word. "Well it looks unseemly."

"John, your wife was left with no money. You did not meet her train. She had been through an ordeal on the trip. What would you have had me do?"

"I know Deacon. My wife explained it all." He made sure I got the wife part. I wondered if he were expecting some kind of comment from me.

"But you were not satisfied?" I asked it simply.

"Frankly Deacon, I am sure that nothing happened between you two. I have a feeling both you and Edith share something since the incident on the train and the trip. Frankly I will feel much better when you are gone."

"Then I will leave right this moment. Have someone bring me the Gray and I will hitch her up and be gone. Or if you prefer loan me a horse and saddle. One of your boys can pick it up in the morning."

"It would be for the best." John did not seem to be at all embarrassed by my sudden anger.

"John, I will get my things together then say goodbye to Edith while you have a horse saddled for me."

"I would prefer that you did not say goodbye to my wife." He looked cold as he spoke.

"I will say goodbye on the porch of her house. John make no mistake, I intend to speak with her." I went into the bunk house to retrieve my bag. I looked quickly inside just to make sure the money was still inside. Since it was I stepped into the yard. John was still standing under the porch cover to the main house.