The Believer (The Shakers 2)

by Ann H. Gabhart

  "We can hope," Elizabeth said, then realized she didn't hope that at all. She didn't want Hannah's spirit to be broken. She didn't want her own spirit to be broken. "I've promised her we will leave in the spring if she continues to be unhappy."

  "Then we would be winter Shakers." Payton sounded truly distressed by the thought. "Brother Micah speaks poorly of them:"

  "If we leave, you would go with us, wouldn't you?"

  He hesitated before he answered. "You said yourself we have nowhere to go. Nowhere but Colton Linley."

  "He was here. He saw Aristotle with the man in the town and that's how he knew we were with the Shakers:"

  "So I heard:" Payton stared down at the ground a moment before he looked back at Elizabeth. "Brother Micah says he spoke of our cabin burning."

  "He did. What else did your Brother Micah tell you?"

  "Nothing. Except that Colton brought some rough characters with him who threatened the sisters and that later the sheriff came to check into the accusations of sisters being held against their will. Brother Micah said that was ridiculous nonsense:"

  "Yes;' Elizabeth said.

  Payton let silence fall between them for a moment before he asked, "Did you have to talk to the sheriff?"

  "I did'

  "Did he speak of the fire with you?" There was the hint of a tremble in his voice.

  "He did. I said I knew not how it started" Elizabeth stared at Payton in the near darkness. "And I do not:"

  "Nay, you do not:"

  Elizabeth couldn't see in the shadows, but she knew Payton's face would be burning hot with guilt. "It would be best if you say the same if you are asked of it"

  "But Brother Micah says I must confess all my sins before I can find salvation:"

  "That one can wait at least until spring and perhaps forever. That one and this-our talking to each other-they would also call sin, but it's not. You are my brother. It's not wrong for me to speak to you:"

  "But Brother Micah says-"

  Elizabeth interrupted him. "I don't care what Brother Micah says:' She stopped at the shrill sound of her voice and took a deep breath before she went on in a quieter tone. `About this you must listen to me and promise. You could go to jail and Brother Micah could do nothing about that:'

  "Perhaps I should go to jail. I did wrong"

  "You didn't think it so wrong at the time"

  "That didn't make it not wrong. I let my grief for our father overpower my good sense:"

  "So you did;' Elizabeth agreed. "But perhaps it was no more than Colton deserved after the way he acted. Remember you said so at the time:"

  'And you said not' He stood up straight and stared down at her. He looked to have grown even taller in the time they'd been with the Shakers. After a moment he sighed a little as he said, "But all right, Elizabeth. If you want me to promise, I will"

  "Good:" Elizabeth pulled him close in a quick hug that he allowed but didn't return before she turned him loose. He peeked around the edge of the building to be sure no one was in sight before he stepped back up on the path and hurried toward the West Family house. The Shakers had moved him there to separate him from easy contact with Elizabeth or Hannah. Elizabeth watched him from the shadows until she could no longer see his shape in the moonlight. She whispered, "Oh my brother, I do miss you"

  The next night during their time of rest after supper before they gathered with their families to practice the dance steps, the bell began tolling. Sister Melva jumped to her feet.

  "It must be a fire;" she said. "Hurry, we must give aid if we can.

  They joined a stream of sisters and brothers rushing out of the house. No flames could be seen, although there was the smell of smoke in the air, but that could have been drifting down from the chimneys.

  Word soon flew through the number that the fire was in the Carpenters' Shop. Sister Ruth, who was hurrying along with Elizabeth and Sister Melva, peered over at Elizabeth and said, "Our new Brother Payton is working there now, is he not?"

  When Elizabeth made no answer, Sister Ruth went on. "Perhaps he was careless with a lamp. Isn't that what you told the sheriff may have happened at the cabin you left? The one that horrible man of the world said burned:"

  I know not how the cabin burned," Elizabeth said quietly. "But we were always careful with our lamps and candles" She spoke the words without letting the worry inside her show. Surely Payton had nothing to do with this. He'd been excited about the chance to work with wood.

  Payton was in the center of the men in front of the building when they got there. The smell of smoke was strong now. Different from what would drift down from the chimneys, but the outer building looked undamaged. In the lantern light, Payton's soot-smudged face looked too pale, and his eyes were stretched wide with excitement or maybe fright. Elizabeth breathed easier when she saw the brethren who surrounded him only looked concerned, not angry.

  Brother Joseph raised his voice to address those gathering around them. "There is no cause for alarm, my sisters and brethren. There was a fire, but Brother Payton discovered it and put it out before it could burn anything but the floor and one of the tables. Please return to your houses and give thanks in your prayers that we were spared an unfortunate disaster. Surely Mother Ann is watching over us. At our next meeting we will labor a song of thanksgiving"

  "But how did the fire start?" one of the brethren asked.

  "We'll have to investigate to see if it was due to carelessness on the part of some of our workers or if it was due to those of the world intending to cause us trouble. Now go back to your houses"

  Elizabeth tried to catch Payton's eye, but he kept his head down as Brother Micah took hold of his arm to lead him away. The rest of the brothers and sisters began turning away to go back to their houses.

  Sister Ruth stayed close by Elizabeth's side. "I see not how one of the world could get into the middle of our village and start a fire without anyone noticing him. A barn on the outer edges perhaps. But not the Carpenters' Shop. I really cannot fathom how that could happen:'

  "Perhaps it was an accident," Elizabeth said.

  "Yea, accidents do happen. Especially when one is careless" Sister Ruth peered over at Elizabeth. "As you said, your cabin may have burned for the same cause. If not with a lamp, some other lapse of caution with fire:"

  "Nay, that was not what I said. I said I didn't know how the fire in my old cabin started. Any more than I know how this fire started. I see not the connection between the two" Elizabeth met the woman's eyes in the near darkness.

  "Nay, no connection:" Sister Ruth pulled her cloak closer around her against the chill of the evening. "Nay, none but your brother of the world:"

  The New Orleans dock was such a bustle of activity as Ethan walked down the gangplank, he hardly knew which way to look first. To his right, a bare-chested brown man in pants held up by suspenders strummed a banjo. A passerby pitched a coin at his feet. Another man snaked through the crowd after a rooster that kept one flap of its wings ahead. Laughter followed the man, but nobody made a move to help him capture the bird. A woman with her head uncovered and paint on her face clung to her male companion's arm as if fearing she might fall off the dock.

  When a rhythmic beating noise came to his ears, he asked Brother Issachar, "Is that a drum?" While the Shakers often made drumming sounds with their feet to accompany their songs, Ethan had never seen an actual drum.

  "Yea, it sounds it. There's always revelry going on in New Orleans. Pay it no mind" Brother Issachar looked over at him and laughed out loud. "Brother Ethan, I fear your eyes may pop clear out of your head:"

  "Yea" Ethan didn't try to deny his wonder. "I have never seen such'

  "It is strange;" Brother Issachar said. `And worldly. It has nothing to do with us. We are simply passing through it' He led the way out onto the dock.

  Men and women pushed past them to get somewhere urgent or so it seemed by their hurry. They wore every manner of dress, and some looked as strangely out of place as surely he and
Brother Issachar did. Ethan peeked over at Brother Issachar, who paid no notice to the crowd teeming around them like ants spilling out of a disturbed anthill as he calmly counted the crates of their products to be sure they had it all.

  "Is it always like this?" Ethan asked when Brother Issachar paused in his counting to pull out his recording book to write down the numbers. Even the weather seemed totally wrong for December. It was warm, not at all like it would be back at Harmony Hill where snow would likely be on the ground.

  "What?" Brother Issachar looked up from the book. "Oh, you mean the crowd. No, sometimes it's worse:" He smiled and looked back at the figures he was writing down. Without looking up again he added, "Have you been listening?"

  "Listening?" Ethan was confused by the question.

  "Yea, you can't deny there is much to hear." Brother Issachar glanced up at Ethan with raised eyebrows. "Remember how you learned to listen so that you would know the sounds of the woods? You can do the same here, although the songs of man might not put the same peace in your heart as a birdsong can:" He laughed as he turned back to his figures. "Now leave me be so I won't lose count again. If I have to keep starting over, we'll be here on the dock all night"

  "Sorry," Ethan mumbled as he stepped away to listen as Brother Issachar had taught him to do long ago when each new noise in the woods had made him jump for fear of meeting up with a bear or perhaps his father of the world coming back for him. To hear it all and then slowly pick out the individual sounds.

  Among the trees, Ethan could identify most everything he heard. Here the cacophony made him wonder if he should clap his hands over his ears to keep out the noises of the world. He could imagine Brother Martin doing so, but Ethan did not turn from the sounds. He was too amazed by them all, from the blasting of the steamboats' horns to a young boy's shouts as he tried to hawk newspapers. Horses whinnied as they clomped past, pulling wagons with wheels that needed axle grease. The workers on the dock kept up a steady refrain as they hauled crates off the boats. Two hatless men with dark hair and skin browned almost to leather by the sun passed close in animated conversation, not one word of which Ethan could understand.

  Ethan looked at Brother Issachar who had finished his counting and was watching Ethan with his mouth twisted to the side as if to keep from laughing.

  "We are no longer in Harmony Hill, my brother," Brother Issachar said.

  "Don't they speak English here?" Ethan looked after the men who had just passed him.

  "Yea, their peculiar brand of English with a smattering of French and Spanish and who knows what else mixed in. In New Orleans you'll find it all:" Brother Issachar looked around. "Be thankful it's winter and not just because of the heat that can melt a man. The mosquitoes are big as birds here in the summertime, but in the winter they shrink to more normal size'

  "Big as birds?" Brother Issachar must be exaggerating to see just how much Ethan would believe.

  "Perhaps not that big, but no matter their size, they are always hungry for a taste of your blood any time of the year. So be wise and rub on the ointment Sister Lettie fixed up for us to keep them away. Best watch for snakes too"

  Ethan looked down as if expecting to see snakes at his feet. When Brother Issachar chuckled, Ethan said, "I'm not afraid of snakes." But then he laughed at himself as he added, `Alligators maybe:'

  "Let your mind rest easy about them. We won't be going out in the bayous. Our customers come to us. Praises be. I'm way too old for alligator wrestling" He looked past Ethan and out at the people. "We'll have need of a wagon:'

  "Yea, but how do we find one?" There were other men in wagons loading up crates and barrels, but they all seemed occupied with their own business.

  "Have no worry, Brother Ethan. I have been to New Orleans many times since we started trading here. I know my way around now, but you can believe I was just as perplexed as you on my first trip. There were times I thought an alligator and a few snakes might be preferable company over some of the people I met here. So remember to mind your own business and step carefully. The two-legged snakes are the most dangerous kind"

  As if to confirm his words, a line of five black men and two women came off the gangplank of one of the boats in the harbor. The chains binding them together at the ankle and wrist clattered and dragged on the wooden platform. The Negroes kept their eyes downcast, but their misery was easy to see in the droop of their shoulders and the shuffle of their bare feet. The woman at the end of the line looked aged, and she stumbled and fell to her knees. The white man behind her lifted the whip he carried, but before he could uncoil it, the man chained in front of the woman gently pulled her to her feet and kept his arm around her as they moved on without making a sound.

  "Slave traders" Brother Issachar spat out the words.

  Ethan knew of the slavery trade. It was spoken of in meetings, and a few of their brothers and sisters back at Harmony Hill were former slaves. Most had been the property of those seeking to become part of the Believers at Harmony Hill. In order to join with the Shakers, the owners had to free their slaves who could then go and do as they wished. Some decided to join with the Shakers where they were given full fellowship among the Believers. Mother Ann's tenets were clear on that. Man or woman, black or white, all were valued and considered equal.

  So although Ethan knew of slavery and had seen men riding through their village searching for runaways, he'd never seen men and women in chains. Ethan's hands clenched into fists and the muscles in his legs tightened.

  Brother Issachar put his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Easy, brother. There are many things in the world that we cannot change:"

  "But it's wrong"

  "Yea, that it is, but we are peaceable men. And even if we were not, there'd be little we could do to help those unfortunate souls" Brother Issachar looked sorrowful as he stared straight into Ethan's face. "We're only two. We must leave the righting of many such wrongs to our Eternal Father."

  Ethan looked back toward where the crowd had closed in behind the black men and women, blocking them from his sight. "It's different seeing such things with my own eyes than hearing it spoken of."

  "Yea, that is so"

  "The others, all these of the world, don't seem bothered by it"

  "They're more used to the sight. They think it natural:"

  "Surely they do not" Ethan couldn't believe that seeing men and women in chains could ever be a natural sight. When Brother Issachar only looked at him without answering, he went on. "I don't think I like these people of the world"

  "The world's people aren't all slave traders or immune to the cruelty. Many here are much the same as our brethren and sisters back at Harmony Hill. Their outer garments will look different and they'll be of the world, but their hearts will be kind"

  The boardinghouse room was small, with dust in the corners and a garish purple and red cover on the bed. The curtains on the small window might have once been white, but it was hard to tell now. Ethan rubbed clean a small circle on one of the windowpanes to look out at the wall of another building so close he could have opened the window and reached out to touch it.

  "Mother Ann would tell us no good spirits could live here with all this dirt;' he said as he turned back to help Brother Issachar stack their boxes inside the door. There was barely room left to inch between the boxes and the bed.

  "Yea, that she would:" Brother Issachar pulled one of their brooms out of a bundle and handed it to Ethan. "We can get rid of some of the dirt. And as soon as we sell our goods, we can head home:"

  "Will it take long?" Ethan looked at the stack of boxes.

  "Not so long. Are you homesick already?" Brother Issachar took off his hat and laid it on the boxes.

  "Nay, not homesick exactly." It was hard for Ethan to explain as he began sweeping the dust out of the corners. He felt excited and scared and curious all at the same time, and he kept seeing Brother Martin frowning and shaking his head as if Ethan was falling into a pit of sin. "Just sort of out of my skin. I remember li
ttle of the world before I came to the Shakers"

  "You would have known nothing of this world at any rate:" Brother Issachar sat down on the bed. Something neither of them would have ever done at Harmony Hill, but here there were no chairs on the floor or hanging on pegs along the wall waiting to be used as there would have been at the family houses.

  "Except the man who claimed to be my father," Ethan said as he bent down to sweep under the bed. The thought that he might run across the man the others at the river had called Hawk was like a splinter of worry embedded deep in his mind that he couldn't seem to pluck out. Worry that was again mixed with something else. Curiosity. The kind of curiosity that could do naught but lead a man astray and bring him trouble.

  "Worry not of him," Brother Issachar said. "Even if he still lives, he's not likely to be in the market for a broom or a bottle of our tonics:"

  The days passed. They kept the dirt swept from their room and folded the garish bed covering and put it out of sight under the bed. Ethan managed to Shaker his plate and eat all he was given at the boardinghouse meals even though the spices in the food sometimes burned his tongue, for he'd been taught not to waste food. He and Brother Issachar were islands of quietude at the table, as the others there hardly stopped their talking long enough to chew.

  There was a schoolteacher and a ship's captain-not a steamboat captain, but the captain of a ship that sailed on the seas. A newlywed couple was the object of much bawdy talk until the boardinghouse owner, a large woman with arms as big as the Shaker double rolling pins, put a stop to it by threatening to take away the plates of any who didn't abide by her stated rules of behavior. No guns or hunting knives at the dining table. Eat what she sat on the table without complaint and refrain from saying aught to spoil another boarder's appetite.

  Mrs. Davey took a shine to Ethan. Any time he got close to her, she was wont to grab him and enfold him in her beefy arms even after Brother Issachar asked her to refrain from doing so.