The Innocent (37 page)

The Scripture calmed her and she nodded off. The sound of the key turning in the lock brought her instantly awake. It was still dark. Sister Edna must have awakened and assured Eldress Lilith of Carlyn’s innocence.

The doorknob turned, but slowly, almost furtively. Carlyn’s heart started pounding again.

“Who’s there?” She hated the way her voice quavered.

There was no answer as the door was pushed open. The
draft extinguished the candle but not before Carlyn recognized Elder Derron. Her knees went weak with relief. Relief that was short-lived.

He held his hand out to her. “Come, Sister. It is not safe here. Sister Edna was right. The man is here and he knows where you are.”

“What man?” Carlyn stayed where she was. The elder sounded odd.

“Whitlow. You are right to fear him. He has evil intent against you. Against us all.” The timbre of Elder Derron’s voice went up, pushing fear into the room.

“Curt Whitlow is here?”

The elder’s face was shadowed by his hat. “Yea. Mother Ann warned me in a vision of what must be done.” He motioned for her again. “Hurry. While there is yet time.”

Her heart pounding, she followed him out into the night. She didn’t know why her feet were so hesitant. Elder Derron was with her. Curt wouldn’t bother her with him beside her. Even so, the dark seemed to reach toward her, warning her of unseen dangers. It would be good to be back inside with the sisters around her.

The elder rushed her along the pathway. Disoriented by the night, she didn’t realize at first that they were going away from the village instead of toward the Gathering Family House. When the rock pathway gave way to dirt, she slowed her steps. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.” He looked back at her.

She stopped walking. “But this is the wrong direction.”

“Nay. This is the way we must go.” He grasped her arm. “Mother Ann has revealed to me what must be done.”

“Your Mother Ann may be wrong.”

“Nay, that cannot be. Mother Ann has shown me how to protect our Society.”

“We should go back to the village.” She tried to pull free, but he gripped her tighter.

“Nay, the danger is real. I have been warned that it is so. Those wishing to do evil have been seen near the houses. They might even now be lurking in the darkness around us.” He tugged her forward. “It is my duty to make sure all is safe. To see to you. There is no turning back.”

She looked behind her. The village seemed even farther away and the shadows darker. Curt could be hiding in one of those shadows waiting for her, and here, this far from all the Shakers, no one would hear her if she cried for help. No one but Elder Derron, who appeared to be unhinged by the night’s happenings. Unhinged or not, it might be best to stay beside him. She stopped pulling against him and continued down the path with him. He did not let go of her arm.

The farther they went, the more it felt wrong, but what choice did she have? She knew what Curt was capable of doing. Elder Derron only wanted peace. Even if he was seeing visions, he would not harm her.

He pointed toward a root cellar. “Whitlow will not bother you here.” He pulled her down some stone steps and opened a wooden door.

“Nay.” Carlyn dug in her feet. “I will hide here in the shadows.”

The elder breathed out a long sigh. “Sister Edna warned me that you continually rebelled against her instructions. Such a rebellious spirit does not become a Believer.” He grasped her arm tighter until his fingers were bruising her arm. “You must do as you are told.”

“I am not a Shaker believer.”

“Yea, not all can be so blessed.” Elder Derron leaned closer to her. “It is very dark. Come. Here’s a lantern by the door.” The handle of the lantern screeched metal on metal when he picked it up.

“Light it first so that we can see.” She needed light.

“Nay. Best to wait until we’re inside to light the match. Such a flare of light out here could draw the wrong eyes and increase the danger. Mother Ann has revealed to me that I must take the light into the darkness in order for all to be well.”

When Carlyn still hesitated, he went on. “I promise there are no spiders or snakes.”

If only she could see his face, but she could not. Nor could she pull her arm free of his iron grip. He tugged her into the root cellar and pulled the door shut behind them, closing out the scant light the moon had afforded them.

“You won’t be found here.” At last he turned loose of her arm. “Stand still while I light the lantern. You wouldn’t want to fall over something.”

Her heart pounded up in her ears as she rubbed her arm. She had been in root cellars many times, but never in the pitch black of night. She pulled in a breath to calm herself. A bad smell assaulted her nose. A dead mouse perhaps. The elder had not promised no mice.

He was fiddling with the lantern. When he struck the match, the flare blinded Carlyn for a second. Then the lantern light played on the earthen walls and revealed the source of the unpleasant odor. Curt Whitlow slumped against one of the walls. Though his eyes were open, the light did not bother him.

Carlyn ran for the door, but Elder Derron stepped in front of her. A moment ago, she had wanted to see his face, but now the sight of it terrified her. His eyes were focused on a spot beyond Carlyn as though seeing spirits.

“Mother Ann is merciful.” His voice was as chilling as the damp, cold feel of death.

33

“Dear God,” Carlyn whispered. Then no more words would come.

“Prayers are good, but a proper Believer speaks them silently.” The elder’s eyes came back to her. “That is as the Bible instructs. To go into your prayer closet.” He looked around. “This can be your prayer closet. A wonderful place for prayer. I daresay even Mr. Whitlow said a few prayers in his time here.” He gestured toward the body.

Carlyn kept her eyes on the elder. If she could distract him, she might get past him to the door. He did not seem to have a weapon. Then again, Curt was dead. Very dead.

“You killed him.” Carlyn’s voice sounded hoarse.

The man looked surprised. “Nay. That is not so.”

“But he’s dead.”

“Oh yes, quite dead. But not by my hand. Mother Ann punished him for bringing trouble to our village. She was ready with her help since she knows I was merely trying to increase the Society’s land holdings when I was enticed into
Mr. Whitlow’s nefarious dealings. She is ever ready with her protection. First Brother Henry, poor soul, and then Mr. Whitlow.”

“You killed Brother Henry too.” Trembles swept up and down Carlyn until she could barely stand.

Elder Derron frowned. “Nay. How can you think I would kill Brother Henry?”

“If you set the fire, you caused him to die.”

“You accuse me wrongly. I would never intentionally harm my brother. Even if he did threaten to report to the Ministry my errors in judgment.” Elder Derron wrinkled his brow in bewilderment. “Poor Brother Henry was excitable. He no doubt was troubled with such panicked feelings when the barn began to burn. He was dedicated to his duty of caring for his horses. He would not have left any behind without trying to save them.”

“You knew that, so you set the fire.” Carlyn understood panicked feelings. Her heart was thumping in her ears.

“Nay, Sister. Stop and think. It is against a Believer’s spiritual core to destroy anything. Certainly not a well-built barn or our good horses. Those of the world have no such qualms as they follow the devil’s lead. But Mother Ann can defeat the devil. She took that evil and used it to protect our Society.” He shifted his feet and the shadow the lantern cast on the wall behind him grew more menacing.

She couldn’t worry about shadows. It was the man making the shadows she had to fear. He was insane, but if she could keep him talking, she might find a way to escape. “Your Mother Ann protected you by letting Brother Henry die?”

“What is death to a Believer except a step across a divide into a better realm? A place where all is peace and perfection.
Try as we might here at Harmony Hill, the world continues to sneak into our midst and bring trouble.” His face went dark. He waved his hand toward Curt’s body. “Like him.” Then he turned his eyes back toward Carlyn. “Like you.”

“Nay. I wish you no trouble.”

“But you have caused trouble. You are the reason Sister Edna was watching me.”

“Sister Edna was a watcher long before I came to Harmony Hill.”

“Yea, but she did not watch me until you spied Brother Henry and Mr. Whitlow arguing.” He narrowed his eyes on her until they were little more than slits. “What did she tell you when you found her? Did she say someone pushed her?”

“Nay.” Carlyn pretended not to suspect him. “Do you think someone did?”

“Perhaps you.”

“You know I did not.”

“True. It is too bad you chose this night to become concerned for your sister. Because of you, I had to go all the way to the far end of the house to the other stairway and could not be sure what Sister Edna might have told you in her anguish.”

“I told you what she said. That he was there.”

“So you did.” He breathed out a long sigh. “If not for you with your ready ears, no one would doubt that poor Sister Edna tripped over her own skirt tail. Which perhaps she did. Those steps are very narrow and steep. It would be so easy to fall.” A strange smile slid across his face. “Especially if Mother Ann was displeased with our sister’s refusal to stop poking into affairs that had naught to do with her. Mother Ann may have seen the need to protect us.”

“If you have done no wrong, why do you need protection?”

“Not me. Us.” He moved the lantern and the shadows seemed to dance with evil intent. But his voice stayed level and calm. “I have ever labored to be the perfect Believer. I willingly shouldered the burden of dealing with those of the world. The Ministry trusts me completely. Much harm would come to our Society if that trust was broken by those who do not know our ways. Mother Ann would never allow that.”

“I thought your Mother Ann hated evil. That’s why you have so many songs about chasing away the devil.” Carlyn considered doing one of the stomping dances right then in hopes it would chase Elder Derron away.

“Yea, you begin to understand. At first, I wondered if I should confess my trouble with Mr. Whitlow and resign my position. But then Brother Henry died in the fire, and Mother Ann whispered in my ear that all would be well if I continued to be open to her leadership.”

“Surely she would not sanction murder.”

“Murder is a harsh word and one you use erroneously.” His frown deepened. “No one has been murdered. Rather we have been gifted with an unfortunate series of events. Brother Henry perishing in the fire. Sister Edna tripping on the stairs in her haste to return to her sleeping room.”

“What about him?” Carlyn motioned toward Curt’s body without actually looking that way. “He is dead.”

“That he is.” The elder nodded his head a bit. “I plan to give him a proper burial before the sun rises. The earth awaits him.”

“But you killed him. That’s murder.”

“Nay, Sister. I merely locked him here to give him time to
see the advantage of not bringing a claim against the Society for money he thought was owed to him. It had to be done. He was threatening to take possession of some of our best crop land. Mother Ann couldn’t allow that.”

“He’s still dead.”

“Not from my hand. Perhaps Mother Ann loosed demons on him in the night.” He looked toward Curt’s body.

She turned her mind away from the thought of demons. “How long was he here?”

“Not that long. Plus, I supplied him sustenance. I am not a fiend.”

She couldn’t believe she was feeling sorry for Curt, but she was. Locked in this dark place. Where it appeared the elder meant to lock her. She had to make him see that what he was doing was wrong and not part of a holy vision.

“Of course you aren’t.” She kept her voice soft. “You treat everyone with kindness. That’s the Shaker way. To do good to all you meet. Sister Edna taught me that.”

“Yea, but sometimes one has to consider the greater good. Mother Ann has revealed thus to me.” He set the lantern down on a flat rock beside the door. “I must begin. The night is fleeing.” He picked up a shovel that was propped against the wall.

“I can help.” Carlyn tried to sound strong. “I can dig.” She remembered hearing the sound of a shovel striking rock the night before.

“Digging graves is not sisters’ work.” He turned toward the door.

“Please. You can’t leave me in here with him.” She could not keep the panic out of her voice.

“He cannot hurt you now, Sister.” His voice was almost
kindly as he looked over his shoulder at her. “He has gone beyond.”

She ran for the door then.

He threw out his arm and knocked her to the floor. He stared down at her. “You cannot leave. Not until Mother Ann says you may.”

She scooted back from him and scrambled to her feet. “What happens until then?” Her voice trembled, her courage gone.

“Nothing for you to fret about. Nor is there reason for you to worry about Mr. Whitlow. As I said, he is quite dead, but if it will make you feel better . . .” He set the shovel down and picked up something else.