The Pilgrim Song (31 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Revival in the Barn

Dolly Cannon, at the age of eighty-one, had more energy than most young women a quarter of her age. She had heard Hannah mention how high the price of store-bought soap was, and on one Thursday morning in September she stopped by early and announced that this was soap-making day.

Hannah was delighted to see the elderly woman, for she had come to love the Cannons a great deal. The Winslows had rarely encountered such kind people. Jesse and Dolly had helped the Winslow family many a time when they were in need. As she and Hannah set up their soap-making equipment in the backyard, Dolly kept up a running commentary. “Y’all will have to make your own lye next year, but I brought plenty with me today. There ain’t nothin’ to it really. All you do is save your ashes from the fireplace in a barrel and let the rainwater drip down through it. Make a spigot at the bottom to let the lye drain out and collect it. I got plenty to do this batch of soap with today.”

Hannah listened to Dolly explain as they poured the ingredients into a large black pot.

“We always burn hickory,” Dolly went on. “It makes the best ashes.”

After Hannah had been stirring for a while, following Dolly’s instructions, the older woman said firmly, “The lye’s all dissolved now, so we can add the grease. I always use breakfast bacon grease, but you can use most anything. Why, the other
day a man offered me some mutton tallow, but I ain’t never used nothin’ but bacon grease myself.”

Hannah leaned over the pot, fascinated. “It looks like chicken gravy, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I never thought of it, but I reckon as how it do.”

“Can you wash your clothes with this soap when it’s done?”

“Oh yes, honey, shore you can! But you gotta keep it stirred up good. It gets thick like jelly.”

Hannah stirred until her arm grew tired and she had to rest a moment. Meanwhile, Dolly disappeared inside the house, then came back out with a box in her hand. “I got some rose water to put in there. One of my grandchillens gave it to me as a gift, but I don’t use no perfume. It’ll go mighty good in this soap.”

The two women talked and laughed, and Hannah thought that she’d never had such fun before.

When the mixture turned to a jellylike consistency, they spooned it out into flat pans. “Now we’ll just leave this set until later this afternoon. When it’s good and firm you can cut it into small squares and wrap it in this brown paper I brought.” Dolly took a whiff of the soap. “My, oh my, but this is gonna be good soap,” she said. “Your family’ll love it.”

Missouri Ann stopped by the house just as they were finishing. The three women enjoyed a pot of coffee together before Dolly left to go home. When they were alone, Missouri turned to Hannah and asked, “Why is it you ain’t never been married, Hannah, a pretty woman like you?”

Surprised by the question, Hannah could not think of an answer. “I don’t really know,” she offered lamely.

“Well, I hate to see a good woman wasted.”

Hannah blushed at her comment, and then Missouri grew very still and closed her eyes. “Is something wrong, Missouri?”

“The Lord’s a-talkin’ to me, honey. Be still.”

Hannah blinked with surprise. Missouri walked closer to God than anybody she had ever known, and Hannah believed
her claim that she heard directly from God. Finally Missouri’s eyes opened, and she put them directly on Hannah.

“I’m gonna pray for you,” she announced as she tucked her left hand behind Hannah’s head and put her right hand on her forehead in a strong grasp. Whispered words started to spew out of the woman’s mouth in a rapidfire stream that Hannah couldn’t understand. And then in a loud voice, Missouri called out, “Oh, Lord, this woman is in bondage, and I’m gonna ask you to free her from every chain that binds her. Lord, take away those fears that have had her bound up for so many years. . . .”

Hannah had no choice but to listen, but she was shocked that Missouri would pray about the fears she had been entertaining for a long time. She rarely admitted this to herself, let alone anyone else. As the woman prayed over her, she realized that God was in that place. She began to tremble, and finally, when the prayer was over, Missouri looked deep into her eyes with a wisdom that Hannah instinctively recognized. For a moment the two remained silent, and then Missouri smiled and said gently, “Ain’t no use for you to be afraid of men, honey. Men was made for women—and women was made for them. It’s not good for you to be alone.”

Hannah blinked in shock. How could this strange woman have seen so deep into her heart and known the secrets that she had let no one else discover? Wrenching herself away, she fled outside but knew that no matter how far she ran, she would not escape the secret that Missouri Ann had uncovered.

****

Lewis tested his weight on his injured leg and found that the discomfort was now bearable. He had been relieved when Missouri had taken the splints off, and now he gave a sigh of relief. “Maybe I can get out of this house a bit now,” he muttered. He started toward the door, but at that moment Missouri Ann came in smiling with a bulging flour sack in her hand. “Looky what I got here, Lewis.”

“What is it?”

“Fresh homemade bread,” she announced as she pulled a loaf from the sack. “Don’t that smell like a piece of heaven?”

“It certainly does.”

“And I brought the fixin’s for a whole meal to go with it.” She pulled over a chair and said, “Now, you sit down there and let me see about that leg of yours.”

“It’s all right.”

Missouri Ann, however, simply put her hands on Lewis’s shoulders so that he was forced to move backward. Lewis was five-ten and trimly built, and Missouri was one inch taller and solid. Lewis had never seen such strength in a woman before, and he resented it as she pushed him down into the chair as if he were a child. She knelt before him, pulled his pants leg up, and studied his calf. She kneaded the flesh so hard that he winced, and she looked up at him and laughed. “You’re worse than a baby,” she said, “but that leg’s doin’ fine.” She stood up, and Lewis pulled his pants leg down and got to his feet.

At that moment Hannah came in, her expression troubled. Lewis started to ask what was wrong, but something prevented him. He did not understand this daughter of his and had spent considerable energy worrying about her life. He had been distressed at her hermitlike habits back in New York, and now that they had been thrown upon their own resources, he was amazed at how she’d emerged from the shell she had once built around herself. Now, however, he noticed that she avoided looking at Missouri, going straight to the kitchen to begin supper preparations.

Missouri said, “Hannah, I brought the fixin’s for supper tonight. You just let me handle this kitchen.”

“All right, Missouri.”

Lewis said, “I’m going outside.”

“You be keerful with that leg, Lewis. It won’t be strong for a while yet.”

“I’m not a child!” Lewis snapped and left the room.

Missouri went over to the kitchen and began pulling out the rest of the items from her flour sack. She spoke cheerfully of Lewis’s recovery but soon noticed that Hannah was strangely quiet.

Turning to her, Missouri Ann said, “I hope it don’t put you out none to have me for a ma, Hannah.”

Hannah whirled about and stared at Missouri. “That hasn’t happened yet.”

“Oh, but it will. It’s all writ down. God’s got His plans for every one of us, daughter, and it’s going to happen just like He says.” She unwrapped some meat, dumped it into a pot, and went on, her voice completely confident. “Your daddy may squirm for a mite, but in the end God will run him to the ground.” She reached out and touched Hannah’s hair. “You’ve got such pretty hair. All of you are pretty young’uns. It’d be good to have children like you and Kat and Jenny, and I believe even Josh will come around. And then,” she added, “I’ll be havin’ Lewis’s babies after we get hitched.”

Despite herself, Hannah found Missouri’s confidence in this matter intriguing. “Don’t you ever doubt God, Missouri?”

Missouri Ann Ramey turned and faced Hannah. “Doubt God? I reckon not! Ain’t no profit in doubtin’ the good Lord!”

****

When suppertime arrived, the whole family gathered in the dining room. Josh, who had grown harder and harder for any of them to reach, was amused by Missouri’s insistence that she was eventually going to marry Lewis. A devilish light gleamed in his eyes as he said, “Well, Ma, what have you got for supper tonight?”

Missouri turned and saw him grinning at her. She patted his cheek as she said, “Don’t you be askin’ questions, son. You just sit down and eat hearty.”

Josh had meant for his comment to torment her, but she had obviously taken it as a compliment. He shook his head and took his seat.

Missouri had cooked the entire meal herself, and now she set the hot dishes out, including the fresh-baked bread.

“This looks delicious, Missouri,” Jenny said. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise. We’ll have the blessing first, Lewis, and then we can lay our ears back and fly right at it.”

Lewis could not help grinning at Missouri’s expression. If it were not for her insistence that he was destined by heaven to be her husband, he would have found her very good company indeed. Even though she was not educated, she had a quick mind and a witty streak in her. He had the feeling also that if she were properly dressed, she would be an attractive woman, but it was hard to tell since she usually clomped around in men’s brogans and a pair of overalls. He bowed his head and asked the blessing, and as soon as he was finished, Missouri picked up the largest plate and took the dishcloth off of it. He looked down at the contents and said, “What is it?”

“Just eat up. You’ll like it.”

Everyone watched as Lewis spooned a very small portion of the main dish out and passed it on. When it got to Hannah, she took her share and stared at it, not sure what to make of it. Everyone else took a small portion, and Missouri insisted that once they’d tasted it, they’d be begging for more, but she wouldn’t tell them what it was. Then they all loaded up their plates with what Missouri called “way out there grits.” She would not explain why she called it that, but with butter and a little pepper it was delicious.

After eating the mystery dish, Lewis said grudgingly, “Well, that was good, Missouri. What was it?”

“Why, that was my specialty. Pig-tail casserole.”

Lewis gulped and glanced around the table. “That was pig tails?”

“Oh yeah,” Missouri said with a satisfied look on her face. “Nothin’ better than pig tails if they’re cooked right.”

Josh burst out laughing. “Those were the best pig tails I ever ate in my life, Ma. How do you cook ’em?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, son. Now,
let’s get on with it. I fixed some fried chicken with cream gravy too.”

This dish proved to be more to everyone’s liking, and after the main meal was consumed, Missouri brought a cake to the table. “I hope everybody likes this. It’s my dessert specialty.”

“What do you call it?”

“Pleasing Pappy Cake.”

Kat had never heard of such a funny name for a cake. “Why do you call it that?”

“Because it’s so good it pleases Pappy. Here, Lewis, you get the first slice.”

Lewis took a piece of the cake, which was, indeed, light and fluffy and had a delicious icing. “Why, this is very good, Missouri! Maybe the best I’ve ever eaten. What’s in the icing?”

“Oh, just some powdered sugar, butter, and a little dab of vanilla and a few glugs of milk.”

“I love the way you give the exact measurements.” Lewis grinned and winked across the table at Hannah, taking another large bite of cake and sipping his coffee.

“Somebody coming,” Kat said, getting up and running to the door. “It’s the preacher.”

“Brother Crutchfield?” Lewis got up and joined her at the door, greeting the minister as he approached. “Just a bit late for supper, Brother Crutchfield, but there’s plenty left. Come in.”

Crutchfield stepped in, taking off his hat. He usually wore a pleased expression, but all of them could see clearly that tonight something was wrong.

The minister looked about and said, “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Miss Jenny, could I see you privately a moment?”

Jenny rose at once from the table. “Why, certainly. We can just step outside.”

“That would be fine. Pardon me, folks. We won’t be long.”

Puzzled, Jenny stepped outside and the two moved away from the house. She could not imagine what had happened. “Are the children all right?”

“Oh yes, they’re fine. I left them with Mrs. Simmons.”

“I thought they might be ill.”

“No, nothing like that.”

Jenny studied the man’s face and saw that he was having difficulty speaking. “What is it, Devoe?” she asked, unconsciously using his first name. She often thought of him like that, but in public she always referred to him as Brother Crutchfield.

“I’ve got some bad news. There was a meeting of the church, and they’ve terminated me.”

“Terminated you! What does that mean?”

Devoe shrugged his shoulders and a wry expression turned his mouth. “It means they fired me.”

Instantly Jenny felt anger stirring within her. “Because of me?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way. They’re just some pretty narrow-minded people.”

“Don’t go,” Jenny said. “You must stay.”

“You don’t understand how Baptist churches work, Jenny. Everything is decided by a vote, and the youngest member, even Kat, would have the same vote as the chairman of the board of deacons.”

“When did this meeting take place?”

“It was a specially called meeting last night.”

“Well, we’re members of the church, and I didn’t get a vote.”

“I guess . . . there wasn’t time to get to everybody.”

Jenny’s temper flared. “Why, it’s terrible! Don’t you see what’s happened? Those deacons got everybody together who they knew would vote against you and didn’t tell anyone else. It’s like a crooked political thing.”

“Don’t say that, Jenny.” Devoe put his hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “They’re good people, most of them, but—”