Dance with the Deacon

"Deville, you owe me for his life. My price is this church. If you are a man of honor, I expect you to pay your debt. If not, I will collect my debt I promise you that."

From out of nowhere Edith appeared. She did not have her bag so she ripped a cloth from the alter to stem the flow of blood. "Someone help me get him flat."

As men helped to lay him on the table in front of the pulpit Edith gave me a look of disappointment. It was my guess that I was no longer to be her hero. Since it was never my intention to be anyone's hero I felt only a slight loss.

The kid came around quickly. He was trying to get up before Edith finished sewing him up. Hell once he was awake he spent most of his time whining. I stood patiently until Edith finished. The congregation sat quietly mumbling to itself. Finally I tired of it all.

"I suppose we have had all the excitement we can handle for one day. I suggest we close this service. There will be a service next Sunday and every Sunday there after. Since this is your church not mine I think a final prayer should be offered by one of you. How about you decide who should represent you? You tell me who should speak to God on your behalf this morning.

The mumbles continued for a moment then a name was presented. I did not know the man. He was a miner. I called the name of Simon Tims. Simon came forward. He was almost shy as he began. He ended his prayer with a powerful voice the transformation was wonderful to see. His last sentence was the essence of it all.

"Thank you Lord for bringing our church back to us. Even more for bringing us back to your church. We had lost our way but your servant Deacon Burke has shown us the way home."

That one shook me to the core. I had only intended to hide out not be a beacon in the dark. I smiled inwardly at the thought of it all. Edith was still holding the younger Deville down as the congregation left.

"I will see you at home Edith." It was John Wilson who spoke.

"Yes husband," Edith did not lower her eyes as she spoke. Edith was never going to be a submissive wife. To John's credit he seemed to understand and accept it.

A few minutes later Edith stood, then stretched. Deville helped his son from the church. He did not speak. Edith looked up at me. "Am I forever going to be sewing up or burying your enemies?"

"Hardly, I think this one ends it all." I meant it when I said it. "I think I can send the wire to Saint Louis now. The real preacher will be on the way in a few weeks." I hoped it would be at least spring before he arrived.

"I expect this battle is over Deacon, but what about the next one?" She looked at me just as she did her husband. She did not blink nor look away.

"The next battle will not be here in Sadie's Gulch. I expect things to be peaceful here."

"I know that. I know that asking this may make me a bold harlot in your eyes. When you leave here Deacon will I be going along?"

The remark caught me off guard. I stood dumbfounded.

"I see that answers for me." Edith turned to leave.

"No Edith, it does not. Turn around and listen to me."

"There is no need to make it easier for me Deacon. I can see it in your eyes."

"What you saw was surprised. I had no idea that you had any feelings for me." I hurried on with my stumbling. "I have thought of you often Edith. I have to admit I have thought about what I will do next. In those thoughts you do appear. I just never had any idea you considered the same things."

"Deacon, you have no idea who you are do you?"

"Yes Edith, I do know who I am."

"No Deacon, you don't have a clue. You my dear Deacon are Lancelot of the lake."

"Okay then I don't know."

"Well you don't have to know. I promise you this will not end the same. When the new preacher arrives you, Jessie, Sheba, and I will leave this place together."

"I will have to leave the church you know?" I said it trying to act sadly. What I was doing was to cover my bases.

"Deacon, you can fool all the others but you can not fool me."

I didn't even try to argue with her. "Should I kiss you?" I asked it as a joke.

"Not till we leave here. I will stay John's wife and you will stay the Deacon until we are gone from this place. The Church must not suffer for our weakness." If she really felt it a weakness, she was holding up well. She had the most catlike smile on her lovely face. I would have argued my case had it been anyone else. With Edith I knew arguing was a waste of time. We all know that waste is a sin.

I simply reached out, wrapped her in my arms. I pulled her to me, then kissed her. The kiss began with fire then built. When the kiss ended I had no idea what emotion filled Edith but I was filled with pure animal passion. I tried to pull her to me but she fought me. She put up enough of a struggle to convince me it was real. She stepped back. I expected to see anger in her eyes. Instead there was smoke but a different kind.

"I will not do this Deacon. I will not make love to you then go home to sleep in my husband's bed." She looked at me with something akin to anger but I knew it was not.

"Why not? You told me yourself he wouldn't be in it."

"I know Deacon but it is still his bed."

I hung my head then turned away. It was a good thing she had stopped me. It would never do for someone to have walked in and caught us making love on the floor of the church. I would never have been able to explain that one.

Edith walked up behind me. I knew it only from the touch of her hands on my hips. "Deacon, it will be as you wish but we must wait."

I turned to her. When I did she kissed me gently on the lips then hurried out of the church like a school girl. She wore probably the happiest smile I had ever seen on her face. I was sure it was the happiest one since our trip to Sadie's Gulch had ended.

I sent the wire the next day. I addressed it to the church which had sent the dead deacon to Sadie's Gulch. I figured to leave a few days before the new preacher arrived and hope nobody described me to him. With a little luck I could slip away clean.

The answer to the wire was better than I feared but not as good as I would have liked. I had two months or more to wait for the preacher. That was good. However I had no more than four. The new preacher could be expected in the early spring. I would have liked for it to have been a little longer but then I wasn't really in charge.

I spent the next few weeks organizing the church along the lines of the one I remembered from my childhood. The cleaning and repairs on the building took up only a small amount of my time. I spent some time writing talks to give on Sundays. I tried to toss in a few bits of Scripture that I remembered. I also read pieces of the Bible to get new ones. I was more than a little surprised to find that I understood the passages much better as an adult.

Just as I expected Deville sent men to remove the machinery he had stored in the church yard. He did not bother me or the people who came to my church. I expected it was less to do with any change of heart he might have had, and more to do with the fact that I promised to leave his welp alone as long as he left my church alone. It was an unspoken promise as was the veiled threat.

By the end of the first month the women of the church were so well organized that even Deville would have been hard put to close it. The women had used the church as a place to begin the civilizing of Sadie's Gulch. They planned functions to raise money and to lift the moral level of the town. I barely managed to head off a drive to force the whores from town. I negotiated a compromise. The ladies who had plied their trade inside the town limits agreed to move their tent houses to an area outside of town. Their little compound was on the opposite side of town from the married miners little village.

No one seemed to notice that Edith joined in every function of the church. Those who knew her should have wondered at it. No one mentioned it even if they noticed. But then in Sadie's Gulch no one recognized her as John Wilson's second wife. Those facts allowed Edith and I to meet. The meetings appeared to be harmless to anyone who observed them. That is because no one observed her slipping into town well after midnight. Edith and I came awfully close to sleeping together but always managed to stop short.

The town seemed none the worse for the church women's efforts to tame it. I personally was happy to see it. I got a great deal of satisfaction, not to mention home cooked food, from it all. I should have known there would be a day when the man upstairs would collect payment for the easy ride I had.

It came during my second month as leader of the church in Sadie's Gulch. Sheba informed me of the approach of someone. The someone turned out to be Tom the night deputy. "Deacon you got to come to the mine. There has been an accident."

"What kind of accident Tom?" There aren't many harmless accidents in a mine. None that I could imagine to send Tom out in the middle of the night.

"The main shaft caved in. There are a lot of men trapped down there." Tom had already turned to leave. I might have gone back to bed had I not known I would be expected to join the others in a vigil.

I was torn. The mine was no more than a short walk from town. I could go out there in the cold and try to comfort the waiting wives. I could also stay in the warm church. I could allow it's use as a comfort station in the cold night. The third and least appealing of the options was to go help dig the men out.

Fortunately, I was spared the decision. Edith showed up soon after Tom left. She had been summoned to help with the injured. She barged into my tent. I suppose I was visible through the canvas while sitting in the lantern light. I was making coffee. It seemed she had been called long before me. Which was as it should have been. She could at least help the living remain alive.

"Deacon, what are you going to do?" she asked it knowing I would do something.

"I am going to finish breakfast. Then I am going to build fires in the church. Once that is done I am going out to the mine to bring the wives back to the warmth of God's house."

"Then what?" Edith asked it for some reason I did not understand.

"Then I am going to take a shovel and go into that damned mine." I hoped it wasn't just for her that I said it. It was a definite possibility that it was just that. It could be that Edith had shamed me into doing the right thing. It was then that I realized the true power of a woman.

"Deacon you don't have to do that. You can do more good comforting the wives of those poor men."

"No Edith, like you said I can fool the others but I can't fool either of us. You comfort them. I will try to save their husbands. I don't expect that we will, but I will try.

There were a few more than twenty women in the church when I left for the mine again. I left them with the instructions to keep the church warm both for themselves and the injured who might be taken there. Edith stayed with them to help them as best she could.

When I arrived at the mine for the second time I was shocked to see the men who had been in the mine during my first visit. They were sitting around the few fires in silence. I found one of the men I knew from the few church services we had held. "Herman, is there another group of miners working down there?"

"No Deacon, ain't no use. There must be a ton of rock between us and them men. I expect they are all dead."

"Well we ain't gonna know that till we get to them." I looked around at the men. They were beaten. Physically and emotionally beaten.

I almost said something then figured there was no way I was going to be a preacher that day. I found Deville standing talking to one of the foremen. He was as clean as he was on the day he barged into my church. I walked to where he stood.

"Well Deville, I am going to make you a damned legend." I whispered it to him. "You and me are going to walk over to that pile of tools. You are going to get a shovel and I am going to get a bar. Then Deville, you and I are going to walk into that mine. We are not going to make speeches. We are just going to go dig out your men."

It took him about thirty long seconds to decide. I had no idea what his motives were. He simply said to me, "After you Deacon."

The murmur started at our backs as we walked past the men. They all knew Deville and I hated each other. The iron bar was heavy and I knew it would get heavier as we worked. I looked over to see Deville grin.

"I am going to work you into a heart attack Deacon. I am going to get rid of you after all."

"Deville you done had yourself too many years of the Widder's cooking. Let's me and you get to it."

I followed his lantern as he led the way to the end of the tunnel. Without a single word I began prying at a rock. I chose one larger than I could pry loose. I was no miner that was for sure. Deville stood leaning on the shovel.

Suddenly I felt the bar moving. It was not because I had gotten stronger or God had intervened. It was because someone was helping me on the pry bar. When the rock moved Deville began loading the smaller rocks it pulled loose. He was joined by more men at the task. Still others wheeled them away then returned with an empty wheel barrow.

An hour later every bone in my body hurt. I was filthy and bleeding from blisters which had burst. I looked over and was gratified to see blood on the handle of Deville's shovel. Deville and I were rested the others had been working hours before we arrived. That extra energy made it possible for us to keep up with the hardened miners.

Deville was determined to work until I dropped. I was just as determined to see him on the ground. He and I worked through meals. The others came and went. At least I think so. Somewhere along the way I had drifted into a place where I didn't think I just reacted. The first break in the wall of rocks did nothing to lighten our mood. There was only silence from the cave like area behind the wall.

We had found a few mangled bodies along the way but nothing could prepare us for the sight in that cave. The men had suffocated. Some showed signs of a struggle others had just found a place to stretch out while awaiting death. We had just been too late. The worse thing of all was that the bodies were still flexible. I was afraid we were late by only minutes. I collapsed against a rock wall.

Deville looked inside the cavern then walked to me. "Come on Deacon. We have to talk to the wives."

I followed numbly behind Deville as we exited into the night yet again. Could we have been working only hours. Was it possible that we had moved that much rock before sunup.

Edith was suddenly at my side. "Deacon are you all right?" Her question did what Deville could not do. I dropped to my knees.

"Get away," I heard Edith say. "He is praying."

She knew it was a lie. I suppose she wanted to maintain the myth. I didn't know or care at that moment.

After few moments I looked up. I took the dirty hand that was offered to me. The hand belonged to Deville. "Come on Deacon, you need a decent meal and some rest."

It was all I could do but I said, "Send someone ahead, then lets go eat in your dining hall."

"You are determined to show me aren't you?" Deville was not smiling.

"Not really, it won't make no difference but you ought to see it once."

"I have seen it just never ate there. If they know I am coming it will be better than it would if they didn't know.

"Good, I don't want the eat that slop they usually serve."

Deville laughed.

"You know Deacon, I sure feel sorry for that preacher coming here." When I gave him a blank look he added, "Ain't no way he is gonna fill them boots."

"Well you are going to help him ain't you?"

"Hell no, but I wont hurt him either."

"That sounds fair to me."

"You know Deacon there are two things I ain't never gonna forget."

"What is that?" I asked it trying to walk straight.

"The sight of those poor devils who knew they were gonna die. Some of them fighting it and some just laying down peaceful."

"I know what you mean it was a powerful difference."

"What was the second?" The voice came from our rear. It belonged to Edith.

"The sight of that skinny assed Deacon trying to pry that big damn rock loose."

"Well it got moved."

"Not by you alone," Deville was smiling.

"No, but it got moved that is what counts."

After that night I was pretty much secure in the belief that Deville posed no further threat to the church. I began to sleep in the open inside my tent. I no longer coward under the one table waiting to kill or be killed.

My immediate threat changed completely. The threat became Edith and that I would lose my cover. More and more it became my desire to leave Sadie's Gulch with Edith and Jessie in tow.

To make matters even worse Edith began finding excuses to throw us together. I had a feeling it would soon be evident to John Wilson what was going on. After he became aware it would be even more dicey. If I were forced to kill Wilson it would not be good for Edith or me. Still I continued to hope it would all somehow work out.

It was the dead of winter when Sheba alerted me that someone approached the tent house. From old habits I removed the heavy colt from the holster by the bed. I had it pointed at the flimsy door when I heard the voice of a younger man.

"Deacon it is me Michael Thomas can I come in?"

"Of course Michael." The young man of about twenty entered the tent. Even though he was not armed I made absolutely sure he was no threat before I put the colt away. "What can I do for you Michael?"

"Miss Wilson said to get you quick. My wife Thelma is having a baby. I am afraid something is wrong."

"Okay Michael," I said it as I pulled on my pants. I had returned to sitting on the edge of the makeshift bed with the blankets covering my long johns. I quickly slipped into my wool pants. I dressed quickly but not as much from the urgency of the mission as from the cold.

During the walk to his tent house Michael Thomas spoke not a word. He was worried sick. We were almost at his house when I asked. "Michael is this your first?"

"Yes Deacon, I know if we come to church more you would know but we just ain't your faith sir."

"Oh and what faith would that be son?" I asked it because everyone in town asked it sooner or later.

"I am not sure what your faith is preacher but Thelma and me are quakers. Ain't none of us around here." He didn't seem a bit concerned about his lack of support.

"Well Michael, I do think it is the same God we worship. You and I might differ in the way we do it but that don't make no difference to him. So when this is all over I expect to see you in the church on Sunday." Michael just nodded one of those 'sure you will' nods.

When we arrived Michael stood back a ways while I knocked softly on the door. Edith came out rather than invite me in. We walked around to the side of the tent house to speak in private.

I looked to make absolutely sure Michael was out of hearing and sight. I quickly kissed her before she could move away. She didn't resist though she did make sure it was a quick kiss.

"So, what's up?" I asked after I reluctantly released her.

"Thelma Thomas is pregnant. Her time is now." I could tell from her look that Edith was not happy about it.

"So what can I do?" I tried not to act irritable. I could see no reason for having sent for me unless it was to hold her hand which I would gladly have done.

"The baby is coming out wrong." Edith said it with a finality in her voice. Somehow she managed to impart to me that it was a deadly situation.

"This means something bad I assume." Like most men I knew little or nothing about child birth.

"I can't save them both Deacon. I can save one or the other but not both."