After Life (26 page)

could, concentrating, searching, listening for the voices, reaching

deeply. There was nothing dark, nothing sinister.

The nurse set up the bed table.

Do you want me to feed you, Mrs. Overstreet? she asked.

No, no. I can feed myself. I'm not a helpless child, she snapped. A

thread of hope renewed her strength. She took a spoonful of oatmeal and

then sipped some tea.

That's a good girl, the nurse said. I'll be right outside, Father, if

you should need me.

We've got things under control here, Suzanne, he said. Mrs. Overstreet

is fine.

Jessie listened for the nurse's departing footsteps. The moment she was

gone, she dropped her spoon and turned to the priest.

Father, my husband is in great danger if he is not already lost, she

began. You must believe me. You're my last hope.

I'm here to help you, my dear, he said.

You believe in the devil, in Satan's existence, don't you, Father?

Yes, I do.

Can he be defeated? Is there anything we can do to overcome his hold on

us? she asked desperately.

Lead a good life, keep our fortress strong, love the Lord, and do His

bidding. The devil can't plant his seeds of evil in a garden of

goodness.

But we all sin, Father.

Alas, we do, but we must be remorseful and repent, and then the devil is

driven out of our hearts. I will pray with you, my dear, he said.

Together we will ask the Lord for forgiveness.

Father, I will do that, but we must do something to keep the devil away

from my husband now, and my The Lord understands that, my chi;d. We p y

for him, and I assure you, God will listen.

No, Father, Jessie insisted, it's too late for only prayer. We must do

more.

Do more?

Father, I beg you. Don't think I'm crazy.

You're not crazy. You're upset. I understand and- No, you don't,

Father. Let me tell you all of it, s said, and began with the first

night they had arrived and the voices she had heard wailing in the

cemetery.

I' m not sure I quite understand what you mean when you say the devil is

exchanging souls, Mrs Overstreet, Father Rush said after Jessie had

brought him up to date.

She had been encouraged by the way he sat quietly and listened, never

interrupting, never trying to tell her she was mistaken or

hallucinating. He sounded thoughtful, concerned, and nowhere near as

skeptical as she had feared He was especially attentive when she had

described the way Dr. Beezly had metamorphosed during his examination

of her, and how Satan had tried to rape her. Her description of the way

she envisioned Satan had apparently struck a note with the priest.

Furthermore he didn't challenge or express incredulity when she told -

him Dr. Beezly was evil.

Somehow he is replacing the souls of these people with souls from hell.

Maybe . . . maybe it's the way the devil rewards those who are most

loyal to him in hell. And that's why these people who have been close

to death or died are so different afterward. I certainly sensed it in

Marjorie Young and Tracy sensed it in her husband. I'm sure her time is

coming, too. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it ever since I

realized why Mr. Carter was out there digging up the graves and why I

heard the wall of the dead.

She reached out and found the priest's hand. Seizing it, she cried, I

don't know why, but God has given me this power.

Perhaps for this very thing, Father Rush said soft Then you do believe

me. You do. - Let me say that I have been disturbed by many things in

our community over the past year or so.

And Dr. Beezly?

Father Rush was quiet for a long moment. Jessie was afraid he wouldn't

respond.

Father?

I have had troubling feelings about him. Yes, he confessed.

Jesse breathed with relief. She had finally found an ally.

Oh Father. It's not too late. I know it. What can we do? How can we

keep the devil away from my husband and perhaps save those souls he has

taken'

I am not an expert in demonology, but I have some knowledge of it.

Perhaps holy water, he mused aloud.

Holy water'

Yes. The devil is not supposed to be able to abide it.

Then . . . if we put it around Lee's bed, we can keep the devil away

from him?

Perhaps.

Oh Father. Let's do it. Please, she begged. If Dr. Beezly is unable

to approach my husband, that will be proof, won't it'

To us certainly.

Father, will you help me? Will you do it?

I will try, he said. He stood up.. "I'll go to the church and get the

holy water and return. Until then don't say anything to anyone. Finish

your food and rest.

Will you hurry, Father? Will you?

I'll be back as quickly as I can, but remember, we don't want to attract

attention and warn the evil souls around us, he said. He patted her on

the hand. Pray, my child. Pray, he said, and left.

She ate a few more spoonfuls of oatmeal and drank some tea. Then she

lay back against the pillows. The nurse returned.

Oh, that's good. You've eaten some of it. Now you just rest, and

before long you will feel much better. Isn't Father Rush a nice man'

she said, taking the tray.

Yes. How old a man is he?

Oh . . . I'd say he's in his fifties.

How long has he been in this community?

Almost twenty years, I think, she said, and then she laughed.

What's funny'

Oh, it's just the way everyone in the parish puts it those who have

lived here for years and years, that is.

Puts what?

Father Rush's arrival. They came about the same time, you know.

They?

A doctor of the body and a doctor of the soul. That's the way the

parish puts it.

A doctor of the body and a doctor of the soul?

Dr. Beezly and Father Rush. One day one was here the next day the

other. Now you just lie back and rest. I'll be right outside if you

need anything. Here's the buzzer, she said, putting the button in

Jesse's hand But Jessie didn't feel it; she didn't feel anything.

Weak with disappointment and still strapped firmly in the hospital bed,

Jessie lay there as still as a corpse.

For all the good she was able to do Lee and herself, she might as well

be dead, she thought. Why was the devil so powerful? Why could he

reach almost anywhere he wanted in order to get his way? Where was God?

Father Rush had told her that God permitted the devil to exist so that

man could make moral choices. In rejecting evil, man became good and

was embraced by God.

But after what the nurse had told her, Jessie thought the priest was

simply justifying the existence of evil.

And yet she had to wonder why she had been given this power, this

ability to see and hear beyond. Was it meant to be some exquisite

torment? What were her great sins? Why was she being punished so? She

knew that Lee believed he was being punished for his sins when they had

had their accident and she had been hurt so seriously. It was part of

the reason why she had accepted her fate so stoically: she knew how much

he blamed himself and how the weight of that guilt could destroy him.

Now he was being destroyed by the Prince of Evil himself and there was

nothing anyone could do. May be it was best she died with him, she

thought. Leave this world, a world Satan was claiming. If she were to

believe tradition, Satan had tried to claim the world after God had

first created it and had created Paradise and Adam and Eve. The devil

had been defeated, but not before he had corrupted Adam and Eve and had

left enough of himself behind to set the stage for his second attempt.

This was the beginning of that new attempt, and Lee, she, and the others

were the first to fall victim.

She was too weak and frustrated to cry, almost too weak to care. Let

sleep come. Let it all end, she thought.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but suddenly she felt someone

unfastening the belts that strapped her into the bed. In moments her

thighs and legs were free. She sat up quickly, about to scream. Father

Rush put his hand over her mouth.

Shh, he said. We don't want anyone to hear or know what we are about to

do.

Her heart pounded. The evil ones were going to make sure she presented

no more danger to them. Surely that was their purpose now.

Father Rush took his hand from her mouth and pulled back her blanket so

she would be able to get out of bed.

Then he went to the closet and got her clothes.

I'll watch at the door while you get dressed, he said, setting the

clothing on the bed. 'hurry. The nurses are taking a break.

Jessie said nothing; she hadn't moved.

You've known Dr. Beezly ever since he arrived here, haven't you' she

asked quickly.

Yes My nurse told me you both arrived around the same time, she said in

an accusatory tone.

Yes, we did, and for a long time--actually until up to a year or so

ago--Dr. Beezly and I were very good friends. We often dined together,

and he was a member of my church. He was a warm person, compassionate

and very intelligent. We had many philosophical and theological

discussions.

Then why are you doing this? she demanded. Dr. Beezly is highly

respected in this community. Aren't you afraid you will get into

trouble or look foolish?

Those who do the work of God can never look foolish, he replied. I know

there are many who don't believe the devil exists the way we believe he

exists there are even many in the Mother Church who don't but I have

reason to know it is so, he added softly.

What reason? My story?

No. He returned to the side of the bed and took her hand into his. I

myself have been tempted by Satan, he confessed.

How? she asked. The priest was quiet for a long moment.

All of us, being mortal, have our weaknesses, even priests.

And even Dr. Beezly?

Oh yes. He was a man who had his own weaknesses and sins, some more

serious than others, perhaps. Perhaps there were sins he didn't want to

confess, sins he hadn't repented.

Suddenly he stopped coming to church, and in fact, those whom he had

treated for serious injuries or illnesses stopped coming as well. I

found him a changed man yet a man who still had a major influence on

others even me.

How? Jessie asked.

Dr. Beezly developed an uncanny knack for knowing what our weaknesses

were and finding ways to tempt us to damnation through those weaknesses.

That's what I meant when I told you I've had troubling feelings about

him, especially during the past year.

Jessie still didn't move.

You don't trust me, I see. I can't blame you. Under the circumstances,

if I were you, I would probably be the same way. Is there anything I

can do to convince you that I have reason to believe your story?

Jessie thought.

What was your weakness, the weakness Dr. Beezly appealed to and almost

caused you to damn your soul?

Father Rush hesitated.

I should confess only to another ordained priest, he said. And then,

after a moment, in a low voice, he added, There was . . . is . . .

a married woman in town. I have always had strong romantic desires for

her. Of course I told no one, least of all Dr. Beezly. But one night

he invited me to his home for dinner. He hadn't been coming to church

and we hadn't seen each other for so long that I readily accepted the

invitation. She was there without her husband, and never did she look

more beautiful}, more enticing.

I drank some wine . . . too much wine, and suddenly she became

amorous and Beezly left us alone. Only my faith gave me the strength to

resist.

If you hadn't, Jessie said, you would probably have become a candidate

for a deadly resurrection your self and been a victim of an accident or

some serious illness.

Yes, Father Rush said. Now, because of you and the things you have told

me, I believe that. Up to now my own failures, weaknesses, have

prevented me from helping the people I should have helped. I was

blinded by my own sinfulness. I have not been a good soldier of the