The White Knight (23 page)

“You didn't get good news at the bank, did you?” he asked as he came up beside her.

“How did you know that?”

“You're not very hard to read. Your feelings are right there on your face most of the time.”

“I'd make a sorry card player, wouldn't I?”

“You've been running on nerves, Joelle. You can do that for a while, but sooner or later it catches up with you. Most of the time, if you stretch your nerves too far, they snap.” He looked up at the sky and murmured, “I know something about that.”

She shook her head slowly back and forth and wandered over to a nearby bench. “I can't understand it at all, Luke.”

“Understand what?”

“Why I failed.”

“You haven't failed. You've done a great job with these girls.”

But Joelle continued to shake her head. Luke had never seen her so discouraged. “I've tried to do what I thought God told me to do, but it's not working.”

“Yes it is. It
is
working.”

“What about Phyllis?” She turned on the bench and faced him, her eyes full of pain. The moon was bright and its silver light washed over her face. “I did my best, but she's lost.”

“You can't know that.”

“She ran away with a carnival, of all things. You know what that means.”

“But while she was here with you she saw a lot of truth. She heard some good things, and she saw some good people. Mostly you. It soaked in, Joelle. She won't be able to get away from it. That's the way it is with me. I know my life's been a mess, but even when things are the darkest, I look back to some times when good people impressed themselves upon me. I'm sure you've read the parable in the Bible about a man who went out to sow seed. He sowed a lot of it that didn't come up, but some of it fell on good ground. I think that's going to happen to Phyllis.”

He continued to try to encourage and comfort her, but finally he was aware that tears were running down her face. It shocked him, for he had never seen her cry before. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “Maybe I can help,” he said gently.

He held her as she gave in completely to her grief. She cried openly, her body wracked with sobs. Finally she seemed to calm down and eventually became quiet. She looked up at him and he gently wiped away her tears from each cheek.

“You're going to be all right,” he whispered. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

When he pulled away, she asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Why? Why is a man drawn to a woman?”

“For a lot of bad reasons.”

“Sure. But there's one good one. A man finds beauty in a woman.” He dabbed at a tear he had missed. “And I find it in you.”

Joelle could not answer. She was so stricken she could do nothing but cling to him. Finally she whispered, “I'm too
tired to go on, Luke. I just can't make it like this.” She stood and went into the house.

Luke sat on the bench for a long time. He looked up into the stars, almost expecting to see God among them, but he saw only the brilliance of their beams. With a sigh, he finally got up and went to his room in the barn.

****

Everybody at the Haven had been on pins and needles to see if the people at church would manage to raise enough money to help Joelle make the March mortgage payment. They all relaxed—temporarily—when she made her trip to the bank, money in hand. Of course, now that it was April, the tension and drama would begin again. Luke knew that the financial pressure was still crushing Joelle, and it troubled him that he was able to do no more to help her than the few chores he had assumed.

Sunny had persuaded him to take her fishing at the creek that bordered the property. It was full of plump sun perch, none of them huge but delicious when they were fried. So the two of them had made their way there, and now Luke sat on the grass with the warm sunshine on his face, listening as Sunny chattered on.

“I'm worried about Joelle, Luke. She don't look good.”

“She's worried about losing this place,” he said.

“Why, that can't happen. Where would us girls go?”

“I don't know, Sunny, but that's what she's worried about.”

“But she don't have to worry. We can pray about it.”

Luke was amused by the girl. She had become a Christian only a short time ago, and now she wove God into her conversation as much as she did fishing or the popular songs that she liked from the radio. “You think it's that easy, do you?”

“Sure it is. We'll just pray right now.” Without preamble, Sunny started talking as if God were sitting right on the creek bank beside them. “God, you've gotta do somethin' about this problem Joelle's got. You know she's only a woman and she
can't handle everything, so I'm telling you, you gotta come down and do somethin' to pay this place off. And you gotta do it right away.”

Luke almost laughed out loud as Sunny bombarded heaven.

The girl concluded with, “Take care of it right away, God. Amen.”

“Don't you think you're pushing God a bit too hard?”

“Oh no. He likes it,” Sunny said, a serious look on her face.

“He likes to be told what to do?”

“He said if we want anything, we have to ask for it. Don't you ever read your Bible, Luke?”

“Not much anymore. I used to.”

“Well, you need to read it again. Joelle read that verse to us last Sunday. Don't you remember? If you ask anything in my name, I'll do it. That's what Jesus said, and He's God, isn't He?”

“Yes, He is.”

“So that settles it.” Sunny gave a cry and pulled a plump red-eared sunfish out of the water. “Look at that. I'm gonna eat him all by myself.” She grabbed the fish and carefully pulled the hook out of its mouth. She glanced at Luke. “Don't you worry. We prayed and God's gonna take care of it.”

“Okay, Sunny, if you say so.”

****

All night long Luke was restless. He finally got up and got dressed, although it was still dark and probably an hour until dawn. He left his room in the barn, smelling the rich, loamy aroma of fresh-broken soil. The air was sweet with the coming of spring, and he walked for some time down the path that led to the stream. He stopped at the point where he had gone fishing with Sunny and sat down, listening to the sibilant whisper of the water as the creek bubbled over stones.

Luke thought, as he often had, about the turns his life had taken. He thought of his family and how he had disappointed them. He thought of Melosa, and he was aware that the keen
grief that had practically torn him apart immediately after her death was no longer the same. Time had eased it a bit. He knew he would always remember her, but now it was easier to remember the good times they had shared.

“Maybe God's doing something in me. Taking away that bitter memory,” he mused. He thought of Streak then, and the memory was more bitter. “I'm trying, Streak,” he murmured. “I'm trying as hard as I can, but I don't see any way.” He missed the man more than he had ever thought he could miss a friend and knew that until the end of his life, Streak Garrison would be part of him.

Gradually Luke began to feel he was not alone as he sat beside the stream. He knew no one else was nearby, but even so, he felt that another person was there. He had had this feeling before—mostly when he was very young. He actually felt the presence of the Lord. “I wish I could come to you with a clean record,” he prayed, “but you know I can't do that. I feel like I'm past hope, but I've heard my folks say so many times that no one is past hope. So I'm asking you right here tonight to change my life. . . .”

Luke continued to pray, and as he did, he felt a peace begin to enter his spirit. He laid his whole heart out before God, confessing the mess he had made of his life, naming his sins one by one as he called on God. “I know that Jesus died for me, and I know, God, you don't want me to live like this. So I'm asking you to come into my life, take away this bondage I'm under with alcohol, and I'm asking you to let me be the man who can help Joelle carry the load that's too heavy for her. I promised her brother I'd help her, but you know I'm not able to do anything with my own power.”

Luke continued to pray until a gray crack of light began to appear in the east. By the time it was dawn, Luke Winslow knew he had come to a fork in the road and that he had chosen a different way. “I can't do anything myself, God,” he continued with tears in his eyes, “but I'm going to do everything you tell me. I'll join the church. I'll be baptized.
I'll go anywhere you tell me to, so just use me in a way that will be pleasing to you.”

He said amen and heard the rooster crow as he made his way slowly to the house. “Well, Judas,” he said, smiling at the ridiculous name Sunny had given the bird, “you made the sun come up, or at least you think you did.”

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had run into a wall. A thought had come to him so strangely and abruptly he knew it could not be of his own thinking. Uttering a short cry, he whirled and ran to the barn where Joelle kept Streak's plane and yanked the door open. He went inside and began to laugh. “Thank you, Jesus!” he yelled, his arms lifted. Then he turned and ran full speed toward the house.

****

Joelle heard the knock on her bedroom door and awoke with a start. Usually she woke up at about dawn anyway, but that morning she had overslept. “Who is it?” she asked, thinking it was one of the girls.

“It's me, Luke. Open the door, Joelle.”

Joelle jumped out of bed and grabbed a robe. Fearful that one of the girls was hurt or perhaps had run off like Phyllis, she yanked open the door and stared at Luke. “What is it? What's happened?”

“I was out by the creek this morning—”

“Shh . . . you'll wake the girls up.”

“Time for them to get up anyhow.”

“Come in and tell me what the trouble is.” She pulled him inside and shut the door. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong. Everything's just right! Joelle, I know you've been praying for me to find Jesus and I have this morning out by the creek. . . .” Words tumbled through Luke's lips, and Joelle stood there transfixed. “So I'm saved and I know it.”

“I'm so happy for you, Luke,” Joelle said with tears in her eyes.

“But that's not all. Put some clothes on. I've got something to show you. God's going into business here at the Haven.”

When she just stood staring at him, he said, “Hurry up. I'll wait for you.”

As soon as the door closed, Joelle changed her clothes and ran downstairs. She found Luke standing on the porch. “What is it? What are you so excited about?”

“Come on. I'll show you.” He took her arm and practically flew across the yard to the barn where the plane was kept. When he got there, he flung the doors open and then turned to face her, his eyes dancing with excitement. “Sunny prayed for God to send help, and I'm the one He sent.”

“What do you mean, Luke?”

“You see that airplane? We're going to start a crop-dusting service. We're going to make enough money to pay this place off. All the bills will be paid.”

“But it hasn't been flown in nearly a year. I don't know what kind of shape it's in.”

“I'll check it over real good. There isn't anything I can't fix on an airplane.”

“But who will fly it?”

“Joelle, you're looking at one of the best pilots you'll ever see in this world! I'm almost as good as your brother, I'll bet.”

She stood there listening as Luke waved his arms with enthusiasm. He would pause from time to time and pat the plane as if it were a favorite pet or a young child. Finally she said, “You really think we can do it, Luke?”

“Yes! I think God sent me here. I came in a mighty roundabout way, but I know we're on the right track now.” He suddenly gave her a hug that took her breath away. “You know something? I've always heard that there's gold at the end of a rainbow, but right here at this place I found my reward. I've found the gold I've been looking for.” He kissed her and said, “Here's my gold right here in my arms.”

Joelle leaned against Luke, her heart beating rapidly. He
held her tightly, and she felt safe and secure for the first time in many years.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Silver Eagle

Every member of the household had gathered outside around the silver biplane, watching with excitement as Luke went around checking the various components of the ship. It was the middle of May, and Luke had spent endless hours tuning it up and getting it in first-class condition. He had spoken with such enthusiasm about his plan that he had inspired one of the wealthier members of Asa and Joelle's church to donate the money to add tanks for the insecticides. They had been able to buy the insecticide on credit, which, of course, was a concern for Joelle. Luke had simply laughed and said, “Don't you worry. We'll have that loan paid off before you can even turn around.”

Luke pulled his helmet on and grinned at the group. “We're going to launch this thing right and give all the glory to God.”

Joelle could not have been happier with this new Luke—he was completely different from the man she had nursed back to health. Since he had found God beside the creek, he had been filled with joy and happiness, and his health had returned almost with a bound. He looked strong and healthy as he stood there before them with the morning sun coming over his shoulder.

“I'll tell you what we're going to do,” Luke said. “How many of you know how Joshua took Jericho?”

“I know,” Sunny yelled. “He marched around it seven times.”

“That's right, and that's what we're going to do. A Jericho march around this airplane.”

“Are you sure it'll fly?” Gladys asked doubtfully. “You haven't taken it up yet.”