Weathering Storms

by Taborri Walker

  Kneeling where she had been before, Sesha laid her head on the bed, her arm below as she tapped on the computer pad then set it back to the look she used here. “This is good.” Her whisper was so soft only Beulah heard her. “It covers our talking, Shni says he’s going to wake up Grace in a few minutes… she’ll be, um… soon.”

  “Dying. Don’t be afraid to say it, child.” Beulah had to fight back tears.

  Sesha pressed the gem of her bracelet under Grace’s neck against the spine and stayed cuddled by the woman as the rest of her female friends bent and kissed her, murmuring goodbyes and blessings. There were a lot of tears; Grace was one of the oldest and well-liked women in the camp. Except for Allway’s clique, even the men liked and respected her. Most of the women had to leave to join the meeting outside, leaving Beulah, Florence and Sesha alone with the dying woman.

  A few seconds later she sighed, then her eyes fluttered.

  “Beulah,” her voice was soft, weak and her friend bent in close.

  “I’m here, my wonderful best friend.” Beulah stroked Grace’s cheek.

  “You and Florence… must get out,” her breathing was labored. “Was going to tell you… while picking… Peter… speeding things up.”

  Sesha met Beulah’s and Florence’s eyes, alarmed.

  “Most… ready… hate Peter, Monitors,” she paused for several gasping breaths, then turned her face to Sesha. “Get them out,” she hissed.

  “I will… I will make my move soon and rescue all I can. I’m so sorry you can’t… that I can’t get you to my ship! They could fix you so easily,” she started crying again, at that moment truly a lost child.

  With effort, Grace raised her hand to Sesha’s cheek. “Sh,” it was a breath too. “T’was my destiny to die now… no will of any god or such; just the length of my days. Would have been nice…”

  “I can have Shni show you more until you, um,” Sesha still couldn’t say it. “He’ll show you so many wonderful things,” tears started to roll faster.

  Nodding, Grace looked at Florence and Beulah. “May thy lives be prosperous from this moment on,” she blessed her best friend. “Take care of sweet Sesha and let her do all she may for thee. Beulah, I will always be with you,” And again she looked at Sesha.

  “If,” her voice was weakening, “I see Beulah on the other side, I will haunt you, no matter where you be, I will haunt you… I love you,” and she went quiet, still conscious, trying to just breathe.

  Outside Allway’s voice rose in loud volume, preaching of his brand of salvation. The women knew it was geared for the dying Grace; all ignored it.

  Press me to the veins on Grace’s neck as they will carry my impulses more strongly.

  Silent, tears flowing harder than ever before in her existence, Sesha did. Beulah held Grace’s hand with one of hers, Sesha’s cheek with her other while Florence stroked Grace’s forehead. While the three couldn’t see what was being shown to Grace, they felt her relax, saw her lips curve up slightly.

  Allways’s booming voice seemed to dull; a sensation of peace settled over the three and five minutes later Shni spoke to them.

  Now.

  Florence’s hand went to Grace’s cheek; Beulah’s to her other and Sesha squirmed her arm out of the sling and laid her hand on the woman’s forehead while her medical program worked to give Grace a last few moments. Sesha ignored her pain to focus on Grace.

  “I love you, my wonderful Sister. Forever you will be in my heart.” Beulah’s voice was steady, full of love.

  “Ever a wonderful friend and help to me,” Florence was weeping too. “Despite it all we had wonderful times together. I love you.”

  “And I love you, Grace. Thank you for saving me,” Sesha managed just a whisper.

  For a moment Grace’s eyes opened, focused on the three hovering over her, then her chest fell and rose no more, eyes drifting peacefully shut. Beulah leaned in and kissed her lips, as Florence rose and opened the window.

  “Sister Grace hath met with Lethe.”

  “Oh death, where is thy sting?” Allway intoned, “oh grave, where is thy victory?”

  The funeral was quite an affair.

  Sesha warned Florence and Beulah in advance that she was going to be at her best performance, be ready for anything. Needless to say, despite the warning they weren’t ready for what happened.

  Dressing Grace’s body was all right, except Sesha, when she was helping, insisted on first rubbing the body all over with salt after the women finished bathing her.

  “Tre’t’ral,” she tried to explain. “Um, k’een… wash, wash mo-ruh,” while her English was ‘improving,’ she hadn’t taken to the Biblical King James/Shakespearean style of speaking most often used and was forcing the entire camp to speak in the more common style they had left behind when coming to establish their New City. “K’een, k’een, k’een,”

  “I think you mean purified, or your spirit is clean too?” Sarah asked carefully. “More clean than just a bath can make you?”

  Sesha nodded, so they brought the salt, hot water and let her pick out herbs by their smell. The mix was thick and wonderful-scented, but Sesha only rubbed some on her hand.

  “Yuh – oo,” she pulled Beulah over, put some in her hand and laid it over Grace’s heart. Understanding, she rubbed it in, and then every woman took turns until Grace’s body was rubbed everywhere. Sesha only stopped them from rubbing her genitalia and face. “’Er man,” she explained, so Sarah fetched Nicodemus again.

  For a long minute he leaned against Beulah and wept unashamedly. As soon as he had spoken his goodbyes to the woman he loved, Allway had assigned him, one other and a Monitor to go dig her hole in the graveyard and they had to sing praises to God, recite verses and shout Amen’s to the mini-sermon the Monitor preached as they dug. Now the man could have his real emotions, and he did, short though it had to be.

  “I give thee thanks, Righteous Lady,” so caught up in the litany, he couldn’t revert fast enough. Then Sesha came to him and held him for a moment, and taking his hand, put an amount of the rub in it.

  “Yo-o-u,” she spoke very slowly, trying to get the words right, “ruh-b it on Gwace face an’, um, where yo - ou…” she pinched her lips, trying to say it just right. “Yo-o-u luh-vuh ‘er. Gwace, Nik, um,” holding up her hands, she gestured, one towards Grace, one at Nicodemus. Bringing the slender, soft-looking extremities together, they were clasped.

  “I understand, Miss Sesha.” His wife’s body was covered with a sheet, and as he approached, Sesha started turning women around and putting them shoulder to shoulder.

  “As I,” Beulah picked it up instantly. “Ladies, make a shield that Nick may have a moment of privacy,” and the line formed fast. They stood there, silent, giving the man his time with Grace.

  And… the Most Holy Lord Reverend appeared, again.

  “What be occurring? The congregation stands ready to commit the body to the grave and --”

  “Sh!” Sesha was sharp, imperious. “Neek qwĩp-iu wi’ Gw-rr-ace. Is shhh time, is… nia’holă for them.”

  “Ah,” Allway looked at Beulah.

  “From what we can figure, my Lord, it is something her culture does in preparing the body.”

  “The ladies of God shoulds’t be praying over the form of Sister Grace,” he reproved.

  “No!” Sesha barked. “Is ‘shhhh’ time!” she stamped the tiny slippered foot, then grimaced and grabbed her back with her unbound arm.

  “What --” Allway was alarmed.

  Sarah spoke up, a bit boldly. “Thou saw that when Monitor Hosea attempted to restrain Sesha, how harsh t’was, thou dids’t reprimand him thyself. Leech Florence did put her shoulder back in place but the other; Hosea injured her back grievously enough to cause bleeding and pain.”

  Florence picked up from there, also angry. “Sesha refuses to let us touch it until we are done with Grace. Now Reverend Allway, we must dress her…” for Nicodemus had risen, his face calmer, his emotions under proper cont
rol. “We shall request the Bearers in a few minutes, if it be your Will,” all the women bowed their heads in submission, except Sesha, who turned and sat on the bed beside Grace’s body and Florence, who adjusted the sheet neatly again.

  “Continue then, in prayer for our lady’s soul,” he commanded loftily, took the husband by the elbow and moved away; letting one of the young women shut the door behind him.

  Beulah sighed heavily, fingers rubbing her eyes. “Esther, Hannah, run to Grace’s house and fetch her best gown… no, wait, the best ones are hanging in the church,” she searched her mind. “Get the green gown. She wore it most often. Also bring her black slippers and the white bonnet. And hurry please, but remember to keep out-look as buxom women should.” Beulah’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Oh, and Esther, I did see Peter’s lists a few days ago; your name is on as being saucy, with oeilliads at the young men, so for your safety, you must at least pretend to be prudent, lest he and the Monitors decide on a punishment .” Beulah saw the girl’s eyes widen and the frightened nod of her head told her the message had gotten through. The teens hurried out and Sesha saw as they scuttled hurriedly, their heads were down.

  “Why,” still speaking carefully, Sesha decided to plant another rebellious thought, “Gr-race nice gown inna chuch?” The fifteen female faces still crammed in the Infirmary turned towards her. “An see… sun one, grass one, sky one, waa-ter one, um,” she raised her bracelet and touched the silvery metal, “one araina-bow,” no matter how they’d tried, ‘rainbow’ remained a tough word, “one,”

  “Yes, child, we know…” Beulah sat beside Sesha and tried to start unbuttoning her dress – a real one this time – but she pulled away, shaking her head, face distressed. “All our best dresses were taken to make curtains for the Church. We were told to give up all our most precious items to decorate the Church building so God would have the best.”

  “Bu,” she wrinkled her brows, “Gu-ohd no wear dress? Not not wear?” Sesha often substituted other words for ‘why’ which kept them focused on answering the question, not her intent causing the query. “He wear? No one see? Dir-dy, need wash?”

  Sarah sighed. Despite the death, they knew the business of the New City would go on as if nothing has happened as soon as the dirt covered their wonderful friend, and perhaps it was this way with Miss Sesha too. Certainly the child was upset… but her mind kept running to other tracks, it seemed. Perchance later she would speak with Beulah in private later, it might be something the Righteous Lady hadn’t noticed.

  “Child, the Reverend teaches,” Sesha was relieved to hear her put it that way. It meant the belief was not theirs, “that we are to give up everything and follow the Bible. Our husbands had us pack all the goods we had to the tiniest jot when we left the Eastern cities and when we arrived, we gave the best of everything, as instructed. So what we have is not the best, as God has it. Do you understand?” They’d been talking fairly normally to the ‘foreigner’ for a while now, not realizing, of course, how much she was soaking in. But many of her statements had been incisive, which was encouraging.

  “God,” she managed the word right, “greed – dy. ‘im wan’ all nice, not share.” She frowned. “Not like ‘im.” She looked up, aggrieved. “Yuh –oo no like Guh-od?” now she drug the name out with a sneer.

  And the women exchanged glances, all of silent agreement.

  The dressing went well and while the other women were finishing her up, Beulah took Sesha under her arm, literally.

  “You appear to be in pain, dear.” Her whisper was extremely soft.

  “I am,” it was hard to resettle her face. “He really hurt me.”

  Florence bent over too. “The dress is bloody; you’ll need a different dress for the burial time. I’ll get one from the other room.”

  “At least let me put some ointment on to just alleviate the pain?” Beulah really wanted to help Sesha; the day was a little over half over and she could see the pain and exhaustion on the girl’s face.

  With a ‘sigh,’ Sesha wilted against her trusted friend. Beulah boosted her up, said “ladies, I will return. Sarah, stay, the rest go out and wait. Tell Allway we must change Sweet Sesha’s dress, then will be ready.”

  Sarah caught a glimpse as she crossed to tell the waiting men the message; the lower half of the dress was bloody. Her wounds were worse, and Beulah’s worried eyes told her depth of emotion.

  In the other room Florence just scissored the dress off as the blood had been drying. Sesha leaned against Beulah, holding her securely while they hastily washed her back. The cries of pain were muffled as both Beulah and Florence rubbed the ointment on and got her into a black dress with high neck and long sleeves. Beulah wiped Sesha’s wet face and kissed her.

  “It will be over soon; then after the last meal we’ll put you to bed with cold packs, all right?”

  “Beulah,” Sesha managed to catch her breath, “being over depends on what I do out there. Just stay close, please?” the emotion was real. The two women tucked her close and they walked to the room the body lay in. “Now, Sarah.”

  With great solemnity the Reverend and four men entered; the rest crowded the door and windows watching and listening.

  A verse was said over the body first, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” was intoned by all. Then Nicodemus lifted Grace’s body from the bed and laid her on the funeral litter. It was made out of wood, no comfort needed for it only carried dead bodies. The four men, two Monitors and two Tower Guards, lifted it and carried it out the door.

  As they passed through, Beulah held Sesha, for she was ‘weeping’ again. In truth it was easy to do, for Sesha cared deeply for Grace. She’d seen the bond between the two women from the first day in their care. Her grief was as much for Beulah’s loss as her own.

  Rising, the Reverend’s wife helped Sesha out and they fell behind Nicodemus, the rest of the camp, guards from the front towers included, falling in behind them. As they walked, voices rose in a hymn.

  Away with our sorrow and fear!

  We soon shall recover our home,

  From earth we shall quickly remove,

  And mount to our native abode,

  The house of our Father above,

  The palace of angels and God.

  By then they’d reached the grave and all gathered around. Allway raised his voice to the sky and intoned “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses. Why our sister has gone before our Lord’s indicated time we know not; we do know the Word sayeth ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die. Grace shall, as our Lord over Death says, ‘Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. So now we give the flesh of our departed sister to the earth,” as he said that, the Monitors on the far side of the grave simply heaved up and her body slid off, into the hole – flipping over and landing face down.

  Sesha! Even in primitive societies, face down is considered damning!

  “For in death there is no remembrance of thee,” Allway signaled Nicodemus who thrust his spade into the loose dirt, “therefore the work of the city shall continue,”

  This is going to hurt, Shni!

  The scream that interrupted Allway’s final words was almost as horrible as when Hosea had restrained her, and Sesha tore herself out of Beulah’s arms. Before anyone could stop her, she flung herself into the hole, scrambling down the dirt walls even as the first shovelful of dirt arched over the edge. Sesha snatched the body up and did everything she could to turn it over in her arms there in the tight hole.

  The commotion was bad enough that when Sesha got lifted out, they hauled the body up too. There a wailing, babbling Sesha clung to Grace, ensuring her dead face was up to the sky.

  “Wife, get the child to tell thee what be wrong,” Allway bellowed at Beulah while trying to keep control here and it wasn’t working well. Monito
rs were circling the group, most lashing out with some kind of whip, particularly at women and children. The two youngest were attempting to keep people back from Beulah and Sesha.

  “If all people woulds’t please to hush,” Beulah spoke loudly enough that those who heard did quiet, and got the rest to. “Thanks to all,” she bent her face trying to squelch the pleasure of knowing everyone did as she asked when the roaring of her husband and the Monitors had done no good.

  “Sesha dear,” gently her fingers tilted Sesha’s chin up, forcing her streaming eyes to focus on her, “tell me what be wrong.”

  “Um,” she scrubbed her face with the sore arm having come undone for changing, the other still under Grace’s neck, her body on Sesha’s thighs, “put down, on,” she laid her palm over her face, “no, no! Bah-d, bah-d! No, not let, um,” clenching her fist, Sesha smote her breast in the way she’d seen the ‘sinners’ do when reading Allway’s selected verses for punishment, “go.” It was a definite sentence ending, for she stopped speaking and just held Grace.

  “But sweet Sesha,” Allway crouched near, not allowing himself to touch the defiled corpse, “this be how we inter our dead, in the ground.”

  “No!” her shriek was terrible, full of anger. “No down eyes, no… grr-ow-d!” Snatching the weeds around her, she built a pile and made the motions of lighting a fire. “Buh-urn! Up, up,” she patted Grace’s face. “She go… is fah-ree! Down,” she frowned, crossing her free wrist over Beulah’s, “no fah-ree, no go!”

  Now the crowd looked at each other, disturbed. Females were always just dropped in, usually landing face down or on sides. Males were settled with reverence and care, arranged just right. And here Miss Sesha believed that if a body were face down, the spirit was trapped? Could that be just as true as what the Most Holy Lord Reverend said?

  Allway glanced at his Monitors who all stood quiet. No one gave any ideas… he wanted this woman for wife, let him deal with her until she was fully integrated, and then… then there would be more than had been up to now. Allway had his plans; he did not truly realize his most-trusted Monitors had theirs, too.