by Jan Karon
“Barnabas!” he said, taking down the red leash. “How about a walk in the woods?”
As they neared the house, Barnabas growled.
Probably, he thought, because something was hanging from the light fixture on the porch.
He approached cautiously and saw that a couple of wire hangers contained a pair of beat-up khakis, stained briefs that washing hadn’t improved, a pair of white socks, and a shirt.
A blue and white checked shirt.
He walked onto the porch and examined the sleeves. Someone had tried to close the gap in the left sleeve with an awkward go at stitchery. The clothes were still damp to the touch. Wash day at the house in the woods; the thought made his hair stand on end.
He would leave as quietly as he’d come, and return to the farmhouse at a clip; the phone number of the county police was on a notepad hard by the phone.
Suddenly, Barnabas dove off the porch, barking wildly, and raced around the side of the house. Father Tim ran after him.
A naked man cowered beside the woodshed as Barnabas stood a couple of yards away, barking in a booming baritone that echoed from the surrounding woods.
“Git this dog offa me!”
“You’re on our property illegally, my dogʼs just doing his job.” His heart was thundering. He knew this face well, though he’d seen it only once. “And—heʼs got all day to do it.”
Barnabas’s incessant barking was punctuated by his low growl, not a pretty sound.
“I ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong, I’m jis’ passin’ through f’r a little warsh-up in y’r creek.” The man hunkered over, trying to cover himself. “You cain’t blame a God-fearin’ man f‘r usin’ yʼr creek.”
“I could blame him for using my chickens.”
“What chickens?”
“The ones you stole from our henhouse and cooked in your fire pit over there. Those chickens.”
Barnabas stopped barking and settled into a low growl. The growl, thought the vicar, was even more alarming than the bark.
“I ain’t stole no chickens ...”
“Letʼs don’t pretend. I know who you are; you know who I am, and I believe I know why you’re here. Let’s get down to it, or I’ll let my dog run you out to the state road and all the way to Kirby’s Store. After that, you’re on your own.
“I been dog bit a time or two; I ain’t skeered.”
“Yes, but you ain’t been bit by this dog.”
“Let me git m’ clothes on; I’ll go away from here.You’ll not see me ag’in.” He held up both hands. Father Tim noticed that his hands were trembling.
“Stick around awhile; we’ve got a lot to say to each other.”
“I’m naked as a jaybird, f’r God’s sake ...”
“Living up to your name, then. I’m told you’re known to the federal government as Jaybird Johnson, a name you stole from a man who died on one of your job sites.”
“I don’t know what y’r talkin’ about.” The one-eyed Clyde Barlowe, alias Jaybird Johnson, moved suddenly toward the rear of the woodshed. Barnabas launched himself in that direction and nailed Clyde at the corner of the building. Standing only inches away, Barnabas snarled at their prey so fiercely that even the hair on Father Tim’s neck stood up.
“Lord God have mercy!” shouted Clyde.
“Tell me about the mercy you showed your son, Sammy, when you held him at gunpoint.”
“I donʼ know what y’r talkin’ about.”
“I see you call on God.”
Clyde spit vehemently. “That’s a manner of speakin’, they ain’t no such of a thing as God.”
“Why don’t I leave my dog with you while I go make a phone call to the county police? It takes roughly eight minutes to walk to the house, and ten or fifteen for the police to arrive. That would give you plenty of time to get better acquainted with my friend here. Let me formally introduce you—his name is Barnabas. Barnabas, this is Clyde Barlowe, the father of Dooley and Sammy, who never gave any of his children a moment’s love or protection.”
Clyde uttered an oath, and dropped to his haunches, his back to the woodshed. “I’ll git y’ f’r this, I’ll git y’ f’r stealin’ m’ boys. I never signed nothin’ sayin’ you could take m’ boys.”
Father Tim sat on a stump. Barnabas hadn’t once taken his eyes off the target. “Good fellow, Barnabas, keep doing what you’re doing. So, Clyde, tell me why you’re here. And please—donʼt waste my time or yours, or I’ll have to ask Barnabas to get to the heart of the matter.”
“When Sammy run out on me, I knowed where he’d go, he’d go to them as stole m’ other boy from me. So I hitched up tʼ Mitford an’ they tol’ me where you was at. I come on thʼ place off of thʼ state road anʼ seen this house. I was goin’ t’ git Sammy t’ come back to ’is rightful home.”
“Looks like you weren’t in any hurry to contact Sammy.”
“When I seen y’r henhouse, I figured they wonʼt no use t’ let a pen of chickens go t’ waste.”
“So you planned to eat up the chickens and then come and get Sammy.”
“Looked like a good plan tʼ me.”
“Clyde, you need somebody to help you think things through.”
“I know how t’ take a hen off thʼ roost slick as grease. I can git by dogs, by donkeys, you name it.”
Father Tim didn’t know how he got by the guineas, but that was a story for another day.
“You’ve got a lot of offenses going here, including larceny. A judge could throw the book at you—something like two hundred and forty days.”
Father Tim knew the anguish both boys had suffered over their father. If he called in the police, Timothy Kavanagh would have to testify in court; the court date could drag on; and Dooley and Sammy would be seriously affected, to say the least. Bottom line, the summer they’d all looked forward to would be ruined.
“Let a man git ‘is britches on, f’r God’s sake. That’d be th’ Christian thing to do.”
“Look at it this way, Clyde:
“I know where your trailer is.
“I know something you don’t want the government to know.
“I have a patch of your shirt that I will use as evidence.
“My witness can easily get you two hundred and forty days behind bars.
“And—if push ever comes to shove—I will take the stand against you on Sammy’s behalf. You don’t have a chance.”
The sun had moved from behind the oak tree. Clyde shaded his eyes with his hands.
“Here’s what I’m telling you:You don’t ever want to come back here.”
Barnabas sat down, still eyeing Clyde.
“In case a judge ever needs to see it, I’m keeping the shirt. Get your britches on, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
After escorting Clyde Barlowe to the state road, he walked back to the farmhouse, now trembling, himself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Wisely Measures
He told her everything.
Should he also tell the boys? She didn’t think so. Any discussion of his father always upset Dooley, just as it did Sammy.
Clyde Barlowe had come and Clyde Barlowe had gone. They decided to leave it at that.
At breakfast on Wednesday, his wife looked like the wreck of the Hesperus.
“I’ll take over tomorrow,” he promised, “if you can handle Sissie one more day.”
“But only one,” she said. “Then I’ll take her again on Friday. Howʼs that?”
He’d long considered division of labor a highlight of the marital state.
“Lily! Is that you?”
“Already got mʼ apron on, anʼ ready tʼ roll.”
“We have a couple of new faces since you were here. Sissie Gleason and our son, Dooley Kavanagh.”
She thumped her jar of sweet tea on the table. “Didn’t know you had kids.”
“Just one. Got him last week.”
“How old is ʼe?” She pulled on her plastic mask.
“Twenty-one.”
“That’s th’ way t’ git ʼ em, all right. Fully growed.”
“You don’t have to wear the mask; Violetʼs in the attic these days, working with her mistress.”
“Y’ never know what a cat’ll do; if she gits out of th’ attic, she’ll head straight f‘r me, sure as you’re born. Whatʼs on thʼ menu f’r t’day?”
“Lasagna. Mac and cheese. Lamb stew ...”
“Lamb stew? Yʼall ain’t eatin’ them innocent little things I seen in th’ pasture?”
“Heavens, no.” The very thought gave him a turn. “This is, umm, store-bought.”
“Good! What else?”
“Raisin-oatmeal cookies. And two chocolate pies, one for the freezer. If that’s not too much to ask.”
“Lord help! I hope you don’t have y’r cholesterol checked anytime soon.”
“That menu’s mostly for the young people. The old people of the house will have fruit salad and cottage cheese.”
“You want me tʼ cut up th’ fruit?”
“I’d be much obliged,” he said.
“By th’ way, I don’t have a soul to send t’morrow; you’ll have tʼ put up with me ag’in.”
“Great!” He liked having a plan; he’d never been much on surprises. “And Lily ...”
“Yes, sir?” Yes, sir?
“Thank you for coming whenever you can, and for sending your charming sisters when you canʼt.”
“You’re welcome. Arbutus says she’s ready to go back to work, so you might git her once in a while.”
“Arbutus! Lives in a brick house with two screen porches?”
“An’ married t’ Junior Bentley,” she said proudly.
He would fly up to Wilsonʼs Ridge where, he’d just learned, not a Wilson remained. Then he’d trot to the hospital and see Dovey, run by to visit Puny, and dash home to help with Sissie.
At Hankʼs store, he bought two cantaloupes for Agnes and Clarence.
“They’re from Georgia,” said Hank. “Sweet as sugar. By thʼ way, Morris Millwright come in yesterday, tol’ me they won’t be back to church.”
His heart sank. “I’m sorry to hear it. Why?”
“He heard a couple of people who go to church there killed somebody. Didn’t think ’is kids should be around that kind of thing.”
“I’ll talk with Morris.”
“I told him they wadn’t but one of thʼ congregation who’d killed somebody, an’ he’d served ’is time.”
“Robert did serve time, but we may not know the whole truth. Youʼre a good fellow, Hank. Thanks.”
What to do, Lord? Robert Prichard would be dogged by this for the rest of his life, and now Holy Trinity had taken a blow for it, as well.
To get to Holy Trinity and the Mertons required a left turn out of the parking lot.
He prayed briefly, checked his watch—ten after nine—and turned right.
Someone had said that the school bus was situated at the foot of an embankment, beyond an outcrop of rock. Roughly two miles from Hankʼs store, he saw the sign—FOGGY MOUN- TAIN ROAD—and turned onto a narrow gravel track overtaken by weeds. He drove until he spied the faded orange roof of the bus, then parked and looked for a way down the bank.
The narrow footpath was well concealed, and worn circuitously along the steep decline to the bus.
Truth be told, he wouldn’t have minded having Barnabas along on this deal.
“By y’r looks, I reckon y’re a preacher.”
“Father Kavanagh,” he said, extending his hand.
His hand was ignored.
“Yʼ donʼ want t’come in; I done cooked collards. They stink s’ bad I’ll have t’ burn th’ place down. Let’s set on m’ deck; I poured that little cement slab m’self.
“Ain’t it a nice e‘enin’? Look at th’ hawks a-wheelin’ up yonder; I could watch hawks a-wheelin’ all day if I didn’ have a job of work t’ do at th’ cannin’ fact’ry”
Fred slapped his right leg three times and hopped twice.
“Set down right here, I don’t need no chair, I’ll set on m’ fist an’ lean back on m’ thumb.”
Father Tim declined the offer.
“Git on away, Virgil, I ain’t got time t’ mess with dope heads, I got m’ mama in’ th’ house, us young ’uns cain’t fool with nobody as does dope.
“I mought as well tell y’, Preacher, Fred Lynch never kilt Cleve Prichard; hit was ’is granboy that done it.” Fred made a slashing ges- ture across his throat, and glared at his visitor.
“I never kilt nothin’ more’n a ‘coon, an’ one time a serpent, but a man’s got a right t’ kill a serpent, like it says in th’ Bible. When I was Holiness, I was bit handlin’ a serpent, see that arm, th’ whole thing turned black as tar an’ th’ swell never left it. I’ve charged cash money f’r people t’ look on it; hit’s good luck t’ look on it ...”
His host spun around three times, spit twice on the ground, and performed an odd jig.
“Onesall, twosall
Ziggesall zan
Bob tail winnepeg
Tinklum tan
Harum Scrum
Virgin Mary
Cinklum Sanklum
Wash an’ a buck!”
“Speakin’ of rabbits, see that’n settin’ in th’ weeds yonder? Hush up! Don’t say nothin’! We don’ want t’ scare ’im off. Hold it right there; don’ move ...”
Fred sidled to the open door of the bus and reached in.
“Hush up talkin’, now, I cain’t half think if people runs their mouth when I’m tryin’ t’ kill somethin’ ...”
The visit to the school bus sat on his stomach like bile.
He parked behind Holy Trinity, and made his way along the path to the schoolhouse. Beneath an overcast sky, the blue mountains had turned purple.
“Cantaloupes!” said Agnes. “We can’t grow them in our rich soil. What a fine treat.”
“From Georgia. I let Hank pick them out. And I brought the new knob and escutcheon for the sacristy door. Clarence said he’d install it for us.”
She peered at him, concerned. “You seem ill.”
“I’m all right.” Those few minutes on the broken cement had left him enfeebled, somehow. “How’s Clarence coming with his big order?”
“Very well. I do wish he had help, but of course, no one can carve for him; it would be like forging a signature.”
“Would it be all right if I stopped in for a moment?”
“He’d like that. He’s carving a family of black bear just now; it’s his first bear family.” Agnes poured boiling water from the kettle into the teapot. “I’m glad you made it ahead of the rain.”
“Yes, and I’ll be glad to see it. Sammy’s certainly looking for it.”
“We all are, but it will do my spinach no good; the rabbits have eaten every leaf.”
There had been no rabbit at the school bus. In his rifle scope, Fred Lynch had sighted a patch of shriveled weeds, and blasted it to kingdom come. He’d then done a frantic, arm-waving, hollering dance that sent his caller beating a retreat up the bank.
He walked to one of the many bookcases in the large, paneled room with its enormous stone fireplace, and browsed her shelves. He felt the peace of this home flow into him.
“Come,” she said, “let’s sit on the porch.”
As the rainstorm rolled east over the gorge, he drank his tea and they talked about where he’d been and what he’d seen. His visit to the school bus seemed to affect even Agnes. She sat still and pale in the porch chair, her puzzle close by on a small table.
“Enough of that!” he said, at last. The sas- safras was having its way with him; he felt stronger as he trekked to the kitchen and grabbed a towel from the drawer and toted the stool to the porch.
“The same as last time?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, and I appreciate it.”
“You know I don’t feel equipped, Father, as I said before.”
“Indeed, you are equipped! My wife thinks very highly of yo
ur work.”
“Well, then!” she said.
Beyond the screened porch, every vernal leaf dripped with rain from the short, sudden cloudburst.
“Look!” He pointed with eagerness to the rainbow arching over the mountains. “That’s what I want for our entire flock at HolyTrinity”
“May He fulfill that desire, Father.”
“You know I feel guilty that I have but a year in this parish. Trekking off to Ireland seems selfish, if not entirely vainglorious.”
“None of that, now. It’s something you’ve promised yourself and Cynthia for a long time, and a promise is a promise. Think how often promises are made and never kept! Besides, I have a feeling you need the trip.”
She snipped the hair overgrowing his collar, her hands steady.
“I do. But you know what they’ll send you.”
“What, for goodness’ sake?”
“A callow youth, still wet behind the ears.”
She laughed. “You can’t scare me, Father.”
“When will you tell the rest of your story?”
The snipping stopped for a moment. “Next time,” she said. “Next time.”
He looked down to the porch floor. A veri- table bale of the stuff had been removed.
He found Dovey sleeping, and left a vase of three pink roses that he had picked up at Mitford Blossoms. He hurried on to The Local where he collected Cynthia’s phone order, then zoomed by Lew’s for a fill-up.
“You hear th’ one about th’ police pullin’ th’ woman f’r speedin’?” asked Lew.
“Haven’t heard it.” It was an epidemic!
“She come flyin’ by ‘im with ’er husband in th’ car, police caught up to ’er, said, ‘I’m writin’ you a ticket, did you know you’re doin’ ninety- two?’ She said, ‘Sure I know it, it says so on that sign yonder.’
“He says, ‘That’s a highway sign, for gosh sake.’ Husband’s settin’ there white as a sheet; police says, ‘What’s th’ matter with him?’
“She says, ‘We just come off of highway one-sixteen. ’”
“Pretty funny.”
“You ain’t exactly bustin’ a gut laughin’. I guess you heard about Miss Pattie ...”
