The One Who Waits for Me (32 page)

“I'm not sure. I fear she's fallen in love with him.”

Beth met her sister's eyes. “And you have fallen in love with Gray Eagle.”

“Yes. Very much so.” She flashed a sudden grin. “And you, dear sister, have decided that not
all
men are evil.”

“Guilty,” Beth confessed. How easily she had made the leap.

“Are you in love with Pierce?”

“I…yes, I suppose I am, but he's never to know. Nothing can ever come of this madness.”

“You two haven't discussed your feelings?”

“I haven't acknowledged mine, and I haven't the slightest idea how he feels about me. Honestly, I don't know how he could even like me. I've given him nothing but trouble since the moment we met.”

Joanie's expression turned pensive. “By fleeing Uncle Walt and Bear, I fear we've landed ourselves into a deep marsh.”

Beth reached for her sister's hand. “It isn't a marsh that traps us, but rather quicksand.”

Nodding, Joanie said, “We both need God's guidance this morning.” She reached for her Bible and opened it to the book of John, her favorite gospel. A note fluttered to the ground. Retrieving the paper, she skimmed it and then looked up. “It's from Ma.”

“Ma? Why would she leave us a message?”

Joanie looked down at the note in her hand again and read the words aloud.

My dear girls
,

I have done little in your lives to protect you from Walt. I beg that you will forgive me. Your pa loves you deeply, but he refuses to relinquish the deed to his brother. I fear that both Walt and Emmett have lost their way in this senseless dispute. Perhaps you will see the hour that it ends on a satisfactory note. This is my prayer. My hands are tied. I love your pa and I trust in his wisdom
.

I will love you forever
.

Ma

“The noted was dated the night before she died,” Joanie whispered.

Lifting tear-filled eyes, Beth sighed. “Oh, Ma.”

T
hat evening Pierce stood in the abbey's kitchen doorway and watched the sun sink in the west. The invitation for Preach, Gray Eagle, and Pierce to have supper with the order took him by surprise. Except for their inclusion of the Jornigan sisters, the nuns usually kept to themselves.

The order had taken to Beth and Joanie like hummingbirds to sweet jasmine.

So have you
, a voice in his head reminded him.

Reverend Mother arrived, looking worn. The men removed their hats and waited as Sister Mary Margaret helped the matriarch to her seat.

Dinner consisted of new potatoes, carrots, corn on the cob, roast beef, and blackberry cobbler swimming in heavy cream. Pierce feared he'd made of pig of himself until he saw the food Preach and Gray Eagle put away.

Over coffee, Reverend Mother got down to the purpose of her summons. “Gentleman, I imagine you found my invitation rather puzzling.”

“Ma'am…I mean, Sister,” Pierce said, “we're much obliged for a fine meal and well aware of your kindness and generosity. No explanation is needed.”

Smiling, the sister nodded. Pierce noticed the tired lines around her eyes. How old was she? He thought most likely her late eighties.

“I'm ninety-one,” she answered his silent curiosity. “Longevity runs in my family.” She paused, thoughtful. “My mother lived to be one-hundred-and-seven.”

Gray Eagle and Preach made sounds of amazement.

“I fear I might exceed her.” She laughed at the men. “It's not that I don't have a keen appreciation for life, gentlemen. I merely long for my eternal home.” Sighing, she lifted her coffee cup. “Some days more than others.”

Sister Mary Margaret giggled. “Me too, Reverend Mother.”

“Now, then.” The nun set the cup back on its saucer. “My reason for summoning you here. I gather that you will be leaving soon?”

Pierce briefly looked at the others and then assumed the spokesman role. “Yes, ma'am. Tomorrow morning.”

“Ah. I'm sure you are anxious to see your families.”

Nodding, the men's eyes focused on the nun.

“Would you stay if—as they say—the price was right?”

Pierce's brow lifted. “Ma'am?”

Settling back in her chair, the sister waved away Sister Prue's efforts to drape a light wrap around her frail shoulders. “We have so much land here. I've lost count of the acreage. My memory isn't what it used to be, but we have vast amounts. It was donated to the order by a benefactor in the late seventeen hundreds. We promised—or the sisters before us promised—to faithfully use the land for God's purpose.”

“I'm sure you've kept that vow.”

“We have, sir.” She focused on Sister Mary Margaret. “Now, I intend to ask a favor of you that all of us—” her blue-veined hand swept the seated sisters—“have diligently prayed about for some days now. The request will seem outlandish, but I believe it is the Lord's hand—and His only—in what I'm about to request.”

Pierce smiled. “And that would be?”

She focused on the three soldiers. “The order would like to give you twenty-five acres, providing you will live here and organize a small community.”

Pierce's jaw dropped.

“By you, I mean all three of you men, and naturally the women you will eventually marry.” Her brow lifted. “I assume you boys do plan to settle down and raise families?”

The men, for once, were speechless.

“Ma'am?” Pierce said a few moments later.

“I am offering the three of you twenty-five prime, North Carolina acres if you will remain here and shepherd a small community.”

Swallowing, Pierce asked, “What community?”

“The one that's about to be formed.”

“Why would we do that?”

“Gentleman, I have watched you. You have good hearts. Hearts God can use to further His kingdom. You are exactly the kind of men we've been asking God to send over the years. You are godly people, much like Christ's twelve disciples, filled with respect and compassion. You're persuasive, good with the Indians…” She paused as her eyes took on a glint. “God often singles out the unsuspecting to do His work.”

“Ma'am,” Preach said. “I'm not like one of the disciples. Peter, Matthew, John…those men were saints.”

“Those men were simple fishermen, sir. The thing that made the twelve worthy was their willingness to follow.”

Shaking his head, Preach said, “I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm on my way home to take over my father's flock.”

“Hmm…yes, but I would suppose that perhaps Peter and John set out one day merely to catch fish when Jesus called them to follow Him.”

“Sister,” Gray Eagle ventured, “I, too, have family responsibilities. I must see about my brother and his wife. I don't know if they have survived the war.”

Pierce glanced at him. “You have a brother?”

Gray Eagle said, “Two sisters, one brother.”

“I'm not asking you to stay right now,” the elderly nun said. “Of course you should do your duty, sir, but then return to us.” She turned to also give Preach a reassuring but tired smile.

“Now, wait a minute,” Pierce objected. “I haven't felt this calling. Surely God can talk to me directly. And I am anything but a disciple like the twelve.”

Granted, he tried to live by the Good Book, but he wasn't worthy of being singled out for something like this. Yet even as he spoke the words of his objection, the truth of her words struck a chord. He felt ties to this peaceful haven, ties he'd never felt anywhere else. But there was still the matter of his land, the site of his own home, where he planned to sip sweet tea and live in harmony. “What would we do for a living in this new community? I don't know how to do anything but grow cotton.”

“In the last week and a half, I have seen you do many other things, Captain. You are a gifted leader. As for your future, you'll do what God asks. He'll amply provide.”

Pierce shook his head. “Maybe I was shot and killed on the battlefield.” He glanced up. “That's it. I didn't make it to heaven, so I'm here instead.” His eyes scanned the other men. “You didn't make it either.”

“Gentleman.” Reverend Mother chuckled as her eyes searched each man's features. “I know what I ask is overwhelming and, of course, ultimately the choice is yours. God will lead you where He wants you to go, and if that place is here, in Sanctuary, then you will have nowhere to run, for when He calls a man He won't let up until His purpose is served.” Even though a nun, her smile was a bit impish. “But then you know that, don't you?”

Pierce knew that only too well. When he'd been called to fight for the North, against everything his family held dear, the decision had eaten him alive but he'd gone.

He sighed and said, “Sanctuary?”

“The town will be a haven for the brokenhearted and downtrodden.”

“Why would God want us to start such a community?” Preach asked. “And how will people know where to come if they're hurting and broken?”

Reverend Mother pinned him with a stern look. “He knew where to find you, didn't He?”

“Yes, ma'am, but—”

“No buts. He will send whom He pleases. You need only fill the position He's offering.” Her eyes shifted from one thoughtful face to the next. “Gentlemen, the Lord knows your credentials far better than I do. Pray about this, and do so with an open heart.”

“I have to see to my land, Sister,” Pierce insisted.

“Exactly where is this land you speak about?”

Pierce reached in his pocket and took out the documents he carried with him. Pushing back cups and saucers, he spread the plat map on the table. Chairs scraped the wood floor when the sisters rose to peer over his shoulder. “It's…here.” He pinpointed the spot.

“Hmm.” Reverend Mother studied the piece of paper. “You're certain?”

“Yes, ma'am. I purchased it from a Savannah newspaper advertisement.”

“Oh, dear.” Reverend Mother focused on a much younger nun. “Mary Margaret.”

The nun backed away from the table. “I can explain, Reverend Mother. We…we needed money to buy seed. It seemed a logical solution. This is a tiny speck of land compared to what we own. I thought…selling a small piece of property…why, we'd never miss it. And we still grow a garden there.”

“You
sold
the land? But—”

Color crept up Mary Margaret's face. “I know, Reverend Mother. I've had many a restless night thinking about it.” She swallowed. “Actually, I believe I…I may have sold it twice. I've never had a good head for business.”

Gasps broke out. Pierce overheard a hushed whisper. “This will put the Reverend Mother in bed for a month,” Sister Prue predicted.

“Sister Mary Margaret.” Reverend Mother drew a deep breath. “You cannot sell land that does not belong to you, however worthy you deem the cause.”

“Wait a minute.” Pierce pushed away from the table and stood up. “Are you saying I don't own this land after all?”

“I'm afraid not.” Reverend Mother smiled ruefully, and then her expression softened. “I am deeply sorry, Captain, but you and some other unsuspecting soul have been sold our bean and turnip patch, which, of course, cannot be purchased.” Her eyes turned to Sister Margaret. “The order will reimburse any monies owed to you and the other buyer, and I can only repeat how sorry we are for this most unfortunate incident.”

Pushing away from the table, she stifled a weary yawn. “Still, I can't help thinking that it looks as though God has already been at work in all this.” Her smile was back again, kind and compassionate. “Pray about the situation gentleman. Heed what the good Lord says to you.”

A bright moon rose higher as the group rode back to camp. Gray Eagle broke the strained silence halfway there. “It's a crazy idea.”