by Mark Tilbury
Shit, shit, shit, Ben’s mind chanted, like a mantra.
With everyone settled, Ebb stood up at the head of the table and clasped his hands in front of him. ‘Thank you, one and all, for coming. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Benjamin and Madeline. They will be joining us for the journey.’
There was a smattering of greetings and polite smiles.
Ebb addressed Ben and Maddie. ‘You’ve already met Brother Marcus. Brother Tweezer will join us as soon as he’s freshened up.’ He then gestured towards the tall guy who’d been working in the barn. ‘This is Bubba.’
Ben wondered why on earth the man was called “Bubba”. There was a sadness in his pale blue eyes. His thinning grey hair was combed back and his face looked like tanned leather. He reminded Ben of a loyal dog who’d been on the receiving end of a boot too many times.
Ebb made the sign of the cross. ‘Bubba doesn’t speak. But he’s a good and loyal servant of The Sons and Daughters of Salvation.’
Bubba bowed his head and looked at the table.
Why doesn’t he speak? Ben wondered.
Ebb smiled at Ben. ‘The girls will introduce themselves to you in due course once Brother Tweezer arrives. Please stand up and tell the group a bit about yourself.’
Ben stood up and held onto the table for support. Every muscle in his body ached. He looked at the two women sitting either side of Alice. ‘I’m Ben,’ he managed, as all cohesive thought abandoned his head. What was he supposed to say? I’m here to rescue my father if you haven’t killed him already?
An uneasy silence fell across the room, broken by the ticking of a china clock on the wall above the sink.
Ebb formed a steeple with his fingers and cocked his head to one side. ‘Tell the group why you’re here, Benjamin.’
Ben saw that shadow lurking in Ebb’s eyes again. And then it was gone. ‘I want to do something positive. I don’t like what the world has become.’
Ebb clapped his hands together. ‘Amen to that.’
‘Amen,’ the group agreed.
Encouraged, Ben added that he wanted to lead a positive life and make a real difference to the world.
‘How do you propose to make a difference?’ Ebb asked.
‘By doing the right thing, Father.’
‘You can only do the right thing by opening your heart to Jesus, Benjamin. Are you willing to open your heart to Jesus?’
‘Yes, Father,’ Ben lied.
Ebb nodded, like a triumphant gladiator acknowledging the roar of the crowd. ‘Sit down, Benjamin. It’s clear that your intentions are good. We shall see later whether or not they are genuine.’
A chill passed through Ben’s stomach.
Ebb turned to Maddie. ‘Please introduce yourself to the group.’
Maddie stood up and treated everyone to a smile that never failed to make Ben’s heart perform cartwheels. ‘My name is Maddie – Madeline – and I’m twenty years old. I just want to be given an opportunity. A chance to do something good. A chance to belong to something that actually means more than just following the latest trends. I want to be with people who can see further than the end of their iPhone. I want to live in a world that cares. Cares about poverty. Cares about making a real difference to real people’s lives. I’m sick of listening to politicians ranting on about saving the planet and then dropping bombs on it. I want to be with people who care about the same things as me. I want to be with people who believe in the power of love instead of the power of the bullet….’
Ben gawked at Maddie as she trailed off.
Ebb applauded. ‘Amen, Madeline. Amen.’
The rest of the group obliged Maddie with a smattering of applause.
Maddie looked around the table. ‘Thank you. I just want to make a difference.’
Ebb grinned, revealing a row of small, even teeth. ‘Thank you, Madeline. That was a wonderful introductory speech. Please be seated.’
As Maddie sat down, a stocky guy dressed in the obligatory yellow overalls entered the kitchen. He had shoulder length brown hair and a goatee beard. He sat down next to Ebb.
Ebb clasped his hands together. ‘Ah, Brother Tweezer. Thank you for joining us.’
Tweezer inclined his head. ‘Glad to be here, Father.’
Ben couldn’t see one flicker of emotion in Tweezer’s dark eyes.
Ebb addressed Ben and Maddie: ‘I’d like you to meet Brother Tweezer. My right-hand man.’
A shiver rolled up Ben’s spine.
‘Brother Tweezer, if you’d be so good as to tell our guests about yourself.’
Tweezer stood up. ‘Pleased to meet you both. My name’s Brother Tweezer. I’m forty years old. And before you say it, I know I only look half that age.’
Polite laughter. Ben wondered if someone was standing just out of view with a cue-card.
Tweezer held his hands out, palms up. ‘Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, the Father saved me. I was a sinner, folks. A sinner of the worst kind. For I killed a man.’
As if on cue, the group mumbled thanks to the Lord for saving a mortal sinner like Brother Tweezer. Bubba studied the table as if it was about to reveal the meaning of life to him.
Tweezer looked up at the ceiling. ‘I’m not proud of what I did. Far from it. I’m ashamed.’
Ebb nodded. ‘We feel your shame, Brother Tweezer. We share your shame.’
Tweezer rattled on. ‘The motorcycle gang I belonged to give me a false identity and made me worship a false god.’
Ebb pumped a fist in the air. ‘We condemn all false gods to the pits of Hell.’
‘After I killed him, I stood over that poor dead soul and wept like a child. Wept at the senselessness of it all. Feud after feud. The hatred. The disregard for life. Have you ever hated someone?’ Tweezer asked Ben.
Ben remembered the other kids at school. ‘Maybe.’
Tweezer looked at Maddie.
‘No.’
‘Then you are lucky. I was cursed by a cruel and vindictive mind. My ego was like a raging bull.’
‘Hatred is a sin,’ Ebb cried.
‘Hatred is a sin,’ the group chanted.
Tweezer looked at Ben. ‘Did that man deserve to die?’
Ben’s stomach tightened. ‘No.’
Tweezer held his hands out in front of him. ‘Of course he didn’t. But at the time, my mind was so distorted with hatred, I truly believed my actions were justified. He took my woman and had his sordid way with her. He deserved to be skinned alive. Beating him to death with a hammer was too good for that low-down dog. But after my anger was spent, my heart filled up with such remorse that I fell to my knees and wept tears upon his dead body.’
‘The sin of vengeance,’ Ebb shouted.
Tweezer agreed. Bubbles of spit formed at the corners of his mouth. He looked off into the distance. ‘Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.’
Ebb closed his eyes. ‘The Lord has forgiven you, Brother Tweezer.’
‘Thank you, Father. I am humbled by the Lord’s love.’
Ebb raised a hand. ‘Praise be.’
‘If I could go back right now and tell that reckless angry fool to put down his hammer and walk away from violence, then I would. As God is my judge, I would.’
Ebb reached out and touched Tweezer’s arm. ‘The Lord knows you would, Brother. The Lord hears you.’
Tweezer took a deep breath and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘Sometimes we have to go to the lowest place, folks. Right to the bottom of the pit. We need to feel the flames of Hell burning our backsides before we actually wake up and reach out to Jesus.’
‘Satan is the salesman of the broken dream, Pixie-pea,’ Ebb babbled.
Tweezer nodded. ‘I sold my soul, Father. I made that man strip naked. And then I beat him to death.’
Ebb made the sign of the cross. ‘The Devil’s dialogue coerced you, Brother.’
‘But Jesus saved me. Jesus told me to walk away and reject the ways of Satan.’
‘Jesus loves you,’ Ebb shouted.
Tweezer agreed. ‘No more gangs. No more violence. No more retribution. I walked away from a life of sex, drugs and violence. One step at a time, I learned to walk again. I slept beneath the stars, knowing that Jesus was watching over me and guiding me towards my destiny.’
Ebb raised his hands up. ‘Praise Jesus.’
‘And that journey ended right here at Penghilly’s Farm. I must have walked a thousand miles.’
Ebb nodded. ‘The Lord mapped your path, Brother Tweezer.’
‘A beautiful journey,’ Tweezer concluded.
Ebb smiled. ‘The Lord showed mercy to a wretched soul like you, Brother. He does not refuse those who seek to change. Those who seek to obey His ways.’
Tweezer bowed his head. ‘I am blessed, Father. Truly blessed. I thank Jesus for bringing me here. For giving me the chance to serve the Lord and lead a valid and worthwhile life.’
Ebb inclined his head towards Tweezer. ‘Thank you, Brother Tweezer. Thank you. You may be seated.’
The group applauded as Tweezer sat down. Tweezer held his hands up in a gee-shucks-it-was-nothing gesture.
As the applause died away, Ebb turned to the middle-aged woman with the short, spiky grey hair and half-rimmed glasses. ‘If you’d be kind enough to introduce yourself, Sister Alice.’
Alice stood up. ‘I’m Sister Alice and I’m fifty-nine years old. My journey started soon after I lost my husband seven years ago. Roger was my life. My rock. My anchor. My heart felt as if it had been ripped out when he died.’
Ebb bowed his head. ‘We share your loss, Sister Alice.’
‘Thank you, Father. Before poor Roger drowned in a boating accident, I had the best of everything. Clothes. Shoes. Finest food. Opera. Theatre.’
‘The sin of opulence.’
Alice agreed. ‘Yes, Father. The sin of opulence of which I am ashamed. My life was just a bunch of meaningless baubles hanging on a meaningless Christmas tree.’
Ebb raised a pudgy hand. ‘The decorations of deceit.’
Alice continued. ‘After Roger’s death, I drank heavily. Gin. Wine. Vodka. Anything that would help. Antidepressants. Painkillers. Within a couple of years, I was a wreck. Most mornings I couldn’t even be bothered to get out of bed. My head felt like a swamp. My body was bloated. My eyes were puffy with black circles beneath them. I let my hair go. I looked how I felt and felt how I looked. But in some strange way, there was a comfort in my misery.’
‘It takes courage to live with loss,’ Ebb said.
Alice looked at Ebb. ‘But everything changed the day Father Edward came to my door spreading the word of Jesus.’
Ebb gave a small smile. ‘Jesus showed me the way to your door, Sister Alice.’
Tears shimmered in Alice’s eyes. ‘You saved me, Father.’
‘I was a mere conduit, sister. It was Jesus Christ Himself who came unto me and told me of your need.’
‘I owe my life to you, Father. You and Jesus.’
‘Jesus does not turn a blind eye to those who have lost their way. He is the light. He is the resurrection.’
‘Praise Jesus,’ Alice shouted.
Ebb stood up and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths and raised his hands above him. ‘Jesus is among us now.’
A communal gasp rippled through the kitchen.
Ebb swayed from side to side. ‘Jesus is proud of you, Sister Alice. He tells me you have surpassed all expectations.’
Sister Alice’s bottom lip trembled. Tears spilled from the parapets of her eyes. She clutched her hands to her chest. ‘Thank you, Lord.’
‘But there is much work to be done. Jesus wants every single one of us ready for an arduous journey. We must not fear the path we tread. We must stand up to Satan and defeat him at every turn.’
‘Praise Jesus,’ the group chanted.
Ebb pursed his lips. ‘Jesus tells me that Satan will come to us in many forms. He will hide among us and seek to destroy us. We must repel him. We must be resolute. We must be ready to act against him at all times. We must beware the Infiltrator.’
‘Beware the Infiltrator,’ Sister Alice echoed.
Ebb strutted up and down the kitchen, his head cocked to one side, as though deep in conversation. He stopped at the head of the table and rested his hands on the edge. He looked around the table at each member in turn. ‘Jesus trusts us. Jesus loves us. Jesus is in our hearts. Praise Jesus.’
‘Praise Jesus,’ the group chanted.
‘Jesus must leave us now, but He wants you all to be assured that you are blessed with His everlasting love. Praise Jesus.’
‘Praise Jesus,’ the group agreed.
Ebb told Sister Alice to sit down. He then turned to a thin woman with long dark hair and pale blue eyes. ‘Sister Dixie?’
‘Yes, Father?’
‘If you’d be so kind.’
The woman stood up and smiled. ‘My name is Dixie. I’m twenty-six years old. Jesus saved me from a life of debauchery and abuse.’
Ebb sat back down. ‘Jesus feels your pain, Sister Dixie.’
Dixie looked around the table. ‘From the age of ten, my stepfather abused me. Mentally and physically. By the time I was thirteen, that excuse for a man had taken my virginity. I hated him with all my heart. He raped my soul.’
Ebb shook his head. ‘Suffer the little children.’
Ben didn’t think the phrase meant what Ebb intended, but he was in no mood to correct the maniac.
Dixie took a deep breath. ‘I hung about with older kids. Smoking weed, nicking stuff, bunking school. Nothing too heavy. Just rebelling. Then I met Jazz. He treated me good. At first.’
Ebb sneered. ‘The seeds of seduction.’
Dixie looked out of the kitchen window as if her terrible childhood was playing out among the weeds and the brambles. ‘He bought me things. Nice things. Shoes. Coats. Skirts. Handbags. He called me his princess. He even bought me a ring and told me we would get married one day. We would live in a big house with a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.’
Ebb made the sign of the cross. ‘Lead us not into temptation.’
‘Jazz had a flat. He asked me to move in when I was just past my fifteenth birthday. I didn’t need any convincing. I’d have walked over hot coals to get away from home. I packed a few things in a bag, and that was that. I never went back home again. Ever. But the good times didn’t last long. Within a few weeks, Jazz was knocking me about. A slap here and a slap there. I used to think I was doing something wrong. You know, like I hadn’t tried hard enough. But then it escalated. And then he started bringing men back to the flat. He made me have sex with them.’
‘The Devil’s disciples,’ Ebb said.
Dixie took a deep breath. ‘He used to tell me I was useless. Useless in bed. Useless at giving his so-called friends a good time. I know now they weren’t his friends. They were punters. I’d become a whore without even realising it. I don’t even remember turning sixteen. By the time I reached seventeen, my life was a conveyor belt of sex, drugs, beatings, more sex, more beatings, more drugs.’
‘Jesus feels your pain, Sister Dixie.’
Dixie looked at Ebb. ‘You saved me, Father. You rescued me from the clutches of evil. I owe my life to you.’
Ebb smiled. ‘The Lord brought me to your door, Sister. The Lord is your salvation. Thank you for sharing, Sister Dixie. You may be seated.’
Dixie smiled. A weak worn-out smile that kept its distance from her eyes. She sat down. ‘Thank you, Father.’
Ebb stretched himself up to his full height. ‘You see the evil we are up against? Satan is a slippery customer. We must not let our guard down for one second. He is as elusive as the wind. As dangerous as the turning tide. One wrong move, and, BAM!’ Ebb thumped the table. ‘He’ll be upon you like a hog in heat.’
Tweezer held his hands up. ‘Lord, we ask that you protect us from evil.’
‘Amen,’ the group mumbled.
Ebb gestured towards a young girl
with a sandy-brown crewcut. ‘Sister Emily. Please introduce yourself.’
Ben’s heart thumped in his chest. Even though she looked nothing like the girl in the photograph Annabelle Hunt’s mother had given him, having the same name was just too much of a coincidence.
Emily stood up and looked at Ebb. Her eyes looked red, as if she’d been crying. ‘My name’s Emily. I’m nineteen years old. And I owe my life to The Sons and Daughters of Salvation. Before I found Jesus, I was a lost soul.’
‘Praise Jesus,’ Ebb chirped.
‘I was a wretched soul, lurching through life with no purpose. I hated my life. My father was a bully. He thought everything could be solved by barking out orders. He was an officer in the army.’
The coincidences piled up in Ben’s head.
‘I never saw much of him when I was growing up. He was always away working. Or fighting. Which I suppose was one and the same thing with him. I didn’t like school. I didn’t have any proper friends. Girls were too bitchy to bother with. As for boys, they were all immature.’
‘You are a paragon of virtue, Sister Emily.’
‘Thank you, Father.’
‘Please continue.’
‘But when I found Jesus, my life had meaning. A purpose. The capitalist world has always disgusted me. The hypocrisy of a society built on greed and selfishness. Everyone treading on top of one another with no consideration for anyone else.’
‘The Lord watches. The Lord sees. The Lord knows the truth,’ Ebb babbled.
Emily nodded. ‘I thank the Lord Jesus Christ and The Sons and Daughters of Salvation for rescuing me from a meaningless life and filling up my heart with joy and purpose.’
Ebb raised a hand. ‘Thank you, Sister Emily. You may be seated.’
Ben watched Emily sit down. She didn’t look like someone whose heart was full of joy and purpose.
Ebb instructed Bubba to stand. The guy was six feet six in his bare feet. He studied the table as if his life was mapped out in the knots and scratches.
Ebb introduced him. ‘This is Bubba. Because he doesn’t speak, I’ll say a few words on his behalf. First things first; I think it’s fair to say that Bubba was built with the farm….’
