The Curse of Crow Hollow (27 page)

He spoke: “I feel the power of the Lord in this place tonight.”

And all his flock said, “Amen.”

“I will say I have not felt power these past days. I have searched for the Lord, friends. I have panted for Him as a deer pants for water. I have gone to Him as a broken man for the healing of my daughter, just as you have gone to Him for yours.”

“Amen.”

“And I know you've done so because we are a God-fearing
people. We are a community of the righteous. The chosen few who carry the banner of heaven into a dark and desolate place.”

“Amen.”

“We war against the powers and principalities, legions of doom and destruction, the dominion of eternal night, and we are seen. Never let it be forgotten, good people. We are seen. By heaven, oh yes, and upon us the angels gaze and rejoice, for we are the light of the world. And yet every man and woman of God who dares speak His truth to an unbelieving generation will catch the devil's eye as well. The Prince of Darkness will curse our light, for it reminds him of the beauty and truth he once possessed, and he will seek to snuff us out.”

Softer: “Amen.”

“And what is next when the devil finds us? Brothers and sisters, what shall we do? For a pale horse has come to Crow Holler, and its rider is death, and her name is the witch.”

David looked to the mayor as he said this. His hands flexed open and closed as he paced the floor, like thunderbolts danced between his fingers.

“Long have we known she lurks, hiding in the bowels of the mountain as she consorts with the powers of darkness and mocks our way of life. We let Alvaretta be. We believed the truce between us and thought that the Christian way. Well, I ask you tonight, good people—is there truly peace where darkness can dwell? Can we say there is light when evil is allowed to gather and grow?”

Louder: “Amen.”

“I say no. And I say I stand before you tonight as one accused no less than any of you. I know of Alvaretta Graves. I've seen her power. I know what she seeks. And I know I am not the only one.”

Wilson's eyes narrowed.

“I stood idle even as the Lord charged me with protecting
Crow Holler. I did not seek out Alvaretta Graves and demand she turn from her wickedness or flee our town. And for that, I have failed you all.”

There came no amen at that, friend, just the silence of a people shocked and stricken. And it was right about then pretty much everybody inside the Holy Fire started realizing this weren't like any revival they'd ever been to.

“Yes,” David said, “I have failed you. I have not been a good pastor. At times, I have not been a good husband. And I'm sure you all know enough of my family to agree when I say I have not fulfilled my duties as a father. Only a few days ago, my Naomi went to a party with some of her friends. I won't name them; you know who they are. I'm sure you've all heard stories of what happened after. Most of them will be wrong. Where we can all agree is those children run across the witch—led there by . . .” He paused. “Something. Devil or demon, call it what you will. But I know my daughter, and I know she speaks the truth. They were cursed. Now that curse is ours. All of ours.”

The Reverend stopped his laps back and forth on the raised stage. He looked out over all those faces staring back in nods and tears and want, and I think he realized what his flock needed wasn't the holy sword of God's Word or the threat of damnation, but the truth. Only that. He laid his Bible down and stepped forward to the small ledge in front of the pulpit, where he sat. And when David spoke next, it was no longer as one of authority. It was as one of them.

“What are we doing, good people? The witch comes for our children, and so we come at each other? We lay the burden of what has happened on the victims, but not ourselves? We destroy the property of those we love, people who share this same building with us every Sunday and pray and worship and give of their labor so that our lives may be sustained. Can we call such a thing of God?

“Brothers and sisters, I will tell you with joy that according to Maris Sullivan, there were no new instances of the curse brought into the clinic today. Praise the Lord for that.”

“Praise Him,” came the reply.

“But I tell you with a heavy heart that those who suffer from it suffer still. I have spoken with many of you these last days. I have prayed over your stricken children, and I will be the first to say it has had no good effect. They are still sick. They are still hurting.

“Look at our children back there,” he said, pointing, “and tell me who it was did this. Was it anyone other than Alvaretta Graves? Should that not be where our rage is focused?”

Someone tried, “Amen,” but David was already shaking his head.

“Should it be the creature Alvaretta summoned to draw our children her way?” he asked, and this time no one said a word. “No. If we want to know where to lay blame, let us look not to the witch or the darkness in which she dwells. Let us look to ourselves.”

And now silence. One so deep and penetrating that it seemed a spirit in itself.

“Can we call Crow Holler a place of grace when we give safe harbor to one who has killed a man named Wally Cork and has ruined both crops and lives with her incantations?”

The Reverend now looked at Chessie and said, “No more than we can call ourselves children of the living God if our right hands dip into the poisons of this world even as our left hands reach heavenward in praise.”

To Landis and Kayann: “Or seek the fruits of the earth rather than those of the Spirit.”

To Angela: “Or seek the Lord's blessings while refusing to see how He's blessed us already.”

And, finally, to Wilson: “Good people, can we ever hope to
overcome the poison of the witch's deeds if we do not confess the poison in our own? And I mean to confess, brothers and sisters. What has befallen us is what we deserve.”

“That's enough,” Wilson said.

Chessie and the Fosters seemed to agree. Angela, too, though she was so embarrassed by then she couldn't say it right out.

“You turn all that's happened around to
us
, Preacher?” Wilson said.
“
That ain't right, David.”

“Isn't it?” The Reverend stood and lifted his voice to all. “What say you, people of Crow Holler? Could Alvaretta Graves gain power over us if we truly stood under the Lord's protection?”

Murmurs was all David got.

“And so who has failed us? That is the question we should seek, brothers and sisters, because that is the answer that will save us all.”

The voices inside the church grew then, from murmurs to talk. A loud amen from the back, followed by another and another still. David Ramsay walked back behind his pulpit. He lifted his worn Bible high into the air, letting it catch a shaft of light from the ceiling.

“‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and”—shouting it now—“turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.'”

And then a great wave of applause and amens, so many as to not be counted, rising up from the back and the front and the sides, David saying, “So sayeth the Lord,” nodding, praising God, Belle standing to clap with tears falling from her eyes, girls caught in tremors and stutters and those whose tongues had been stolen crying out for their Savior, everyone shouting hallelujah except for those few in the front row—the mayor and
the Fosters, the Hodges, and even Bucky himself—who'd come to church that night looking for hope but would leave knowing their pastor had damned them. And friend, Mayor Wilson Bickford wasn't about to let that happen.

-6-

“Doublespeak!” Wilson shouted from his pew, and then he stood and turned to all gathered behind him. All that clapping stopped then and stopped quick. “How's it a man of God can stand up here and speak out both sides of his mouth?”

The Reverend said, “I don't know what you mean, Wilson.”

“Well then, that makes two of us, because I don't know what you mean either, Preacher. I hear Alvaretta's to blame, then I hear we're to blame. I hear we're battling the witch, I hear we're battling ourselves. It's the curse that's struck our girls, it's our sin. Well, you want to know what I think, David? I don't think you know at all what's going on.”

“I know exactly what's going on,” the Reverend said, “and you know I do. You of all people know, Wilson. Alvaretta has cursed us, but that curse was born in her hurt and her pain.”

“It was born in the evil she embraced,” Wilson shouted, and now that sanctuary went all but silent. “Nothing more. You say it was her
pain
? We
all
know pain.
Living
is pain, Reverend, and the bad of the world visits us all the same. Was the witch's choice to stay closed up on the mountain. Her choice to give in to hate. Not ours.”

David said, “Mayor, this is my place to speak.”

“You spoke enough. All you done here is stoke fires that were already fanning and flaming. I'm calling a meeting of the town.”

“This is a church, Mayor. There's no place here for town business.”

“You ain't ever said a word against mixing God and government before,” Wilson said. “Why you starting now?”

The mayor stepped forward, right up onto the stage beside the preacher. He whispered, “You will burn us both with this nonsense, David,” then eased the Reverend aside.

Sure weren't many people in the church right then who had a good understanding of what was going on. First had come a revival that hadn't really been a revival at all, now come a town meeting with what might end up being a fistfight between the preacher and the mayor. Say what you want about those few days back then, but they was exciting.

Wilson faced the crowd. “I've no silver tongue like David here, but I can speak plain truth. Heard a lot of people give a lot of opinions on what's happened these last days, and I'm here to say ain't a one of them right. Now I got respect for David Ramsay. We come up together. Played ball together. I call him a friend, but that don't mean I have to sit here silent as he bends circumstances to his own desires and calls it the will of the Lord.

“Is it the will of the Lord my own daughter's laid up at home because she's too scared to go out in public? That we go about at each other's throats casting blame? I ain't no preacher, but I don't think it is. David says look at all them poor girls back there. Well, I tell you the same. Go on, look at 'em. Now you all tell me what happened to any a them is your own fault. Any you poor children out there think you deserved to be struck down mute or no longer be the master of your own body?” He nodded. “I thought so. Yes, good people, I
knew
so. David Ramsay can blame us, but I say we're the victims here. And I say the only guilty one's named Alvaretta Graves.”

Shouts now—
Yes
and
Amen
and
I'm with you, Mayor
. Wilson cocked his head toward David and winked, nearly sending the Reverend into a rage.

Raleigh Jennings stood then, hand raised. He said, “That's all well and good, Mayor, but I speak for most here when I say I want to know what it is you plan on doing about it.”

Amens again. Lord a mercy, friend, you ain't never heard so many amens as was uttered in the Holy Fire that night.

“Reverend least has the beginnings of a plan. We ain't heard nothing from you.”

“You ain't heard nothing from me because I been busy keeping this town together, Raleigh Jennings. But I'm glad you asked that question. It's a good one, and I got an answer. Come on up here, Buck.”

Bucky flinched at the sound of his name. He looked down the pew, past the Fosters and the Hodges. He looked at Angela.

“Come on, Buck,” Wilson said.

Bucky stood. When he took to the stage, he whispered, “Excuse me,” to David and walked straight into Wilson's outstretched hand, feeling it grip his shoulder tight.

“I'm sure most of you all know by now,” Wilson said, “but in case you don't, last night the council voted to elect a sheriff. This was not an easy decision on any of our parts. I know as well as anyone the pride every citizen of Crow Holler takes in tending to its own troubles and responsibilities. But these are dark times. Pastor Ramsay might've been wrong on some things, but he was right on that, and in dark times we need good men to stand up for service. Bucky Vest has always been such a man.”

Angela clapped twice and hard, sitting up tall in her pew. She looked at Chessie on one side of her and Landis on the other, coaxing them to join. Neither did. Wilson nudged Bucky with his shoulder, prodding him to the pulpit. Bucky wouldn't dare—the mayor could stand there and talk all he wanted, but to Bucky Vest, that spot was for a preacher and nobody else—but he did find courage enough to speak.

“All y'all know me,” he said. “You know my heart. I love this town and always will. It's home to me just as it is to you, and that's why I give my word right here in front of Jesus and everybody: I'll work hard to keep y'all safe.”

Angela had her hands clasped in her lap. Her chest heaved in and out in big breaths. Her eyes had turned to wide moons. A hand went up in back, easy to see because it was wrapped in white tape and gauze. Wilson nodded to the man raising it.

Tully Wiseman stood and asked, “What you gonna do, Buck? You say you're gonna keep us safe, that's fine. Preacher says he's gonna keep us safe, mayor says he'll do the same, but I don't believe none of it. We're up agin more than we can bear here. Ain't just the witch we battle, it's others too. Some in this town are up to no good, and you know it.”

Chessie leaned over and whispered into Briar's ear. I've no idea what she said, friend, but I can near guarantee that woman mentioned Tully himself was chief among the no-gooders.