Always Tried and Proven (6 page)

        "If I didn't know Sam better, I'd think he was on the prowl."  Sadie grumbled.

        Callie looked at her innocently.  "What did you say?"

        Sadie shook her head.  "Nothing.  It doesn't matter."

        Callie smiled and tried to look oblivious as they went into the tent.

       Jeremy was a handsome, dark-haired man with a mustache.  He held out a friendly hand to her, and grinned.  "I hear you're quite a siren.  Liven this place a bit, shall we?" he suggested hopefully.

       "Yeah, could happen."  Callie chuckled.  "But I thought tonight, I'd best take it easy.  You know, opening night, and nobody knows me.  I think 'How Great Thou Art' is a good idea."

         "What key?" Jeremy asked without blinking.

         Callie was delighted as they went quietly through the arrangement. 

       Jeremy was very professional, and as Sadie had promised, awfully gifted.  Callie did a sound test, and then she was free to hang loose until the service started.

      The tent was fascinating.  Though only half full when she'd arrived, it was soon bursting at the seams.  The night was warm, so the team rolled up the walls of the tent to let the fresh air course through, and to allow people to gather all around the perimeter.  By the time the service began, there were blankets dotting the entire meadow, and the ground was increasingly covered with people sitting wherever they could find a space.  Callie was dumbfounded by the sheer numbers of people.

      The tent staff brought out rope barriers and marked off clearings for routes of travel and a big fire lane from the tent to the parking areas.  Then, they began urging the people seated in the bleachers to move toward the centers, so that they could identify empty seats. 

      "I think there are more people outside the tent than there are inside."  Sadie guessed.

    “There are at the very least double the number outside than in."  Callie snorted.  "Sadie, you've got at least six thousand people up here."

       “My heavens. I'm not sure I've ever seen this many before."  Sadie admitted.

    "Ladies and gentlemen!  Welcome to Tuesday night revival.”  A deep, masculine voice boomed over the PA system, and echoed back off the hills. “My name is Clyde Lawson, and I am your tent master.  We've got a whole lot of people here tonight, so I'll ask you to please be as quiet and still as you can be while we share some very important announcements with you.  We want everyone to be able to hear.  Please take a seat, and settle in for a wonderful evening.” 

      “First, let me assure everyone that we will minister to each and every person tonight who wants ministry.  Please just be patient with us; we will get to you, as soon as we possibly can.   God has something for you, so don‘t leave here without getting it.  We don’t want anyone to go away disappointed.  We have a very large, well equipped staff to help us out tonight.  Don’t go away without having your needs met.  Please, come now and open your hearts.  We are ready to get started.”

      Callie was impressed.  This crew was professional, and alert.  They were having no problem managing their crowd.  After Clyde had finished introducing the sponsoring pastors and all of the tent staff, a hush seemed to fall over the tent.  Clyde gave the microphone to Sadie.

     "Hello, everybody, I’m Sadie Hamilton.  It is an honor and a pleasure to be here tonight.  We've been so excited to bring the tent to New York!.  We are blessed and overwhelmed by your support.  And, I am just about beside myself with all that we have in store tonight!  I'm delighted to announce that our tent pastor, Samuel Stringer flew in from Hong Kong yesterday, and he will be with us tonight."

     A deafening roar of applause and shouting met her statement.  Callie's eyebrows went up and her heart turned over.  Were all these people that excited about Sam's presence?  Was he so famous?  It was a bit of a perplexing thing.

      "And, we have a lovely, very talented young lady here to start things off for us tonight with some music.  Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to New York City's own Miss Callie Wilson!"

     The applause was polite, but uninspired.   Callie wasn't worried.  She knew they'd feel differently when she was done.  It wasn't pride, it's just that she knew she was skilled and she intended to give it her all.

      Still, when the piano intro filled the stage monitors, Callie for some reason felt a tremor of trepidation run through her body.  She laughed lightly and closed her eyes for a moment.  She hadn't been nervous in years ... but this was a little different than anything she'd ever done before. 

       As Jeremy's light riffs faded away, a hush fell, and Callie smiled.  Though her heart was thumping, she opened her eyes and lifted them up, keeping the smile on her face.  The words came out sounding hushed and tender, and incredibly sweet.  Still, they filled the tent in a way that was incomparable, and moving.

      "Oh Lord, my God.  When I in awesome wonder … consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.   I see the sun, I hear the rolling thunder ..."   Callie painted an expressive picture with the words and music that she sang that night, of the Creator and Father's omnipotent power; the sacrifice of His only son; and the final glory of His triumph. 
             

      Once she'd begun, Callie knew that she had never delivered a song with such power; such feeling, or conviction.  She delivered the final words powerfully, ending on a high, clear note with just enough vibrato to create a beautiful tone.  When the last echo finally died away, she closed her eyes and let the silence crown her work.

     And the silence was complete.  Then, a rippling roar arose and traveled around her.  It increased until it grew into a thunder of shouts and applause.  Callie bowed low, blinking surprised tears from her eyes.  Then she smiled brightly, raised her arm over her head with her palm lifted toward heaven, and raised her eyes to the ceiling.  The roar became deafening.  Cameras flashed.  She bowed again, and then  retreated to the small booth at the rear of the stage.

      Arms flung themselves wildly around her and wet cheeks pressed against her face.  "Callie, Callie!"  Sadie cried.  "Look at what's happened!  There are tears flowing everywhere.  We're going to have a river here!" 

       Callie turned to look at the house, and saw that it was so.  There didn't seem to be a dry eye in the place.  Sam squeezed her arm and kissed her cheek on his way by, and immediately went onto the stage to pick up the ball.  There was an evangelistic and revival harvest waiting to fall into his lap.               

     The people went wild when he appeared, and he seemed to take it all in stride.  He began calling out, pacing the stage, and waving his arms to pull the people out of their seats.  He urged everyone whose heart had been touched by the music, not to wait -- but to come running, to fan revival fire into bursting flame, to make or renew a strong commitment to the Lord! 

     The bleachers emptied like a mighty river, to pool on the floor of the tent.   Callie watched the team begin to minister to the people, her eyes wide; and then she turned on her heel, and fled.                                         
       Callie did not and would not fit into the world of the tent!  She was a Country singer, and she had absolutely no desire to do anything else!  She never expected to become famous, but she knew she was good.  She was in constant demand in eastern New York State, and she made pretty good money.

     Still, she had
never
had a moment like she'd experienced at the tent.  It perplexed her.  Why had this happened?  How had it happened?  How could she make it happen again?  How could she make it happen in her professional life, in Country music?

      She parked behind the club, sighed heavily and turned her engine off. She let her head fall against the steering wheel and pondered her dilemma.  She already regretted having promised to go again tomorrow night.  What good could come of it?  As she had no intention of ever singing Christian music professionally, she had no business singing it in the tent.  It didn't matter whether she was appreciated or not, it was wrong to pretend that she was something she wasn't! 

       She resolved to tell Sadie first thing in the morning that it really would be best if she didn't sing again.  Surely, Sadie would be able to understand her feelings.  She smiled as she considered that it would be a real test of Sam's words:  was he really interested in her, or was he just flattering the local talent he needed for the tent?  She made a face.  She didn't really even want to consider the question. 

      Suddenly, she burst into tears and wept deeply, for some minutes.  She had no idea what was wrong;  she just had to let out the deep, disturbing emotions that she’d been bottling up inside her.  It had been wonderful, singing in the tent.  More wonderful than she’d ever imagined.  And she didn’t want it to be!  Still, the glow and the feelings didn’t fade.  Something had pierced her soul, and let out the pain she’d been holding inside.  Something had come, and changed her.

     She grabbed her clothing bags, and swung through the back door of the lounge.  She felt better being here, where she was in her own element.  She hummed as she brushed out her long, silky hair and intensified her makeup to prepare for the bright stage lighting.

     For her first set, she chose a satin dress that clung to her curves and was incredibly sexy.  It was sleeveless, with a deep vee neck that showed a generous but not indecent amount of cleavage.  It was royal blue, and came to her knees.  She had some stunning heels that made the outfit perfection.  It was one of her favorites.

      When she went out to the bandstand, she drew several whistles.  She smiled and kept walking.

      "Hey, Jimmie, Sean, Dalton.  How are you tonight?"

     "Okay, sweetheart.  How was your day?"  Jimmie asked, dropping a heavy arm over her shoulders.

       "Very interesting," she answered ominously.  "Very interesting, indeed."

       "How so?"  Jimmie asked curiously.

      "Oh, just unusual things happening."  She explained lightly.  "Nothing to write home about.  By the way, I have several songs I really want to do tonight."

      Callie was grateful that the evening quickly went into full swing, and she had no further opportunity to think much about what had happened at the tent.  She sang her heart out, and had a wonderful time.

       She had a very responsive crowd that night.  She was so grateful; it made the experience in the tent seem to dim in importance. 
This
is where she belonged, on the stage in a country bar.

      She changed clothes again for her second and third sets.  The night was going very well, as usual, and she was completely at ease.  For her fourth and last set, she put on an above the knee, strapless, sequined white dress with a fantastic flared hem, and a froth of lace and net underneath.  She re-did her hair to be very fluffed and modern over her forehead, and clipped it away from her face.  But it still hung down her back.  She added on sequined earrings and sequined high heels to match.  She had a very 1940's look in this outfit.  She felt very sexy and she knew she looked good.  She freshened her dark berry lipstick and went back to the stage.

      She started her set with a driving ten step, and gave it all she had.  Between her performance and Dalton's fiddle work, the crowd really began to shout and clap.  During the instrumental, Dalton went down the steps on the side of the stage and out to the center front of the dance floor.  Callie came off the other side of the stage and met him out front.  She did a little bit of yodeling with it, and the crowd literally went wild.

      They stayed out front until the end of the song, and as the crowd applauded, Callie put an arm around Dalton and laughed into her headset microphone.  "Isn't he wonderful?"  She asked the audience.

       As she smiled, her eyes settled on the figure of a big, broad-shouldered man in a dim corner of the room.  She squinted and tipped her head to take a better look.  Though she'd only met him today, she was almost certain that it was Sam sitting there.  As the lights glimmered, revealing gold and red highlights on his shining head of hair, she felt her chest tighten.  It had to be him.

      She turned on her heel and got back onto the stage.  She turned to Jimmie with a strained expression.  "Do one, Jimmie."  She suggested briskly.  "I need a quick minute out."

       "Okay," Jimmie agreed worriedly.

       Without thinking about how it might look, she jetted off the stage and into the restroom.  She locked herself in a stall and put her head against the cool metal door.  She found that her hands were trembling and dripping nervous sweat.  "What in the world is the matter with me?"  She snapped.  "And what in the world is he doing here?"

      Nobody answered either question, and Callie sighed.  A bad word slipped out.  A thought began to form in her mind, and Callie bit back a smile.  There was one sure way to scare Samuel away.  This was not going to be any problem.  Not only could she rid herself of Sam, she could easily ensure that she would never have to sing in his tent again!

      She sauntered back onto stage, a sultry smile on her lips.  The boys were just finishing Jimmie's song.  She stepped into the lights and tipped back her head, so that the light clearly fell onto her high cheekbones and her taunting smile.  "And now," she said in a low, sexy voice, "I’ve got a love song to sing, and tonight I am a woman who means business."