The Seventh Messenger

by Carol Costa

  Once the trial began, Benjamin and Jacob went to court to support Michael. During the evening meal, Jacob would give a full report of the events that occurred at the trial that day. They had hired an expensive defense attorney for Michael. Colonel Atkinson was well known in the Midwest for his aggressive and flamboyant manner in the courtroom. Most evenings at the beginning of the trial the news was not good. The prosecution seemed to be doing a good job of painting a picture for the jury of an evil man who preyed on innocent young girls.

  The Brown"s had testified against Michael, telling the jury how they had been fooled into thinking he was a good, honorable man, only to learn that he had harmed their precious daughter.

  However, the other girls the police had brought in for questioning claimed that Michael had not touched them. The prosecution was not able to use them to collaborate Joanna"s charges against Mills. Stella had arranged for the two families to leave Fostoria thereby eliminating the chance that the girls would change their minds and tell the truth.

  Alone with Mary in their room, Benjamin dropped the air of concern he pretended to have in front of the other colony members and worried that Michael would be acquitted.

  “Joanna testified today,” Benjamin told Mary one afternoon when he returned from court. “She was very convincing, but tomorrow the Colonel will have his turn at her. I want you to come to court with me.”

  “What about Hettie?” Mary asked.

  “You"ll only be gone for a few hours. Sylvia will care for Hettie while you"re gone.”

  “Why do you want me there?”

  “I don"t. The Colonel thinks that women from Michael"s

  house should be present to show their respect and affection for him. He says it will impress the jury. Jacob will announce the plan at the evening meal.”

  “I suppose Stella is going.”

  “She would have been there every day, but I convinced her that her part in Michael"s activities could lead to charges being brought against her. So far, Joanna hasn"t mentioned her, but if she saw her in court.” Ben smiled and left his thought unfinished. His distrust and dislike of Stella was becoming more evident every day.

  The next morning, Mary, Elizabeth and Daisy went to court with Jacob and Benjamin. Although attacks on the house had totally ceased since the trial began, it was the first time the three women had left the house in weeks.

  Elizabeth was a stout woman with a cheerful disposition and she and Mary had become good friends. They often worked side by side in the kitchen trying to fix meals that were filling on the limited supplies they had since Michael"s arrest. Elizabeth was about Mary"s age and had a husband who was as thin as a rail, and two rambunctious little boys.

  Daisy was a sweet girl with wide blue eyes and lots of curly blond hair. Mary often thought Daisy looked like the rag doll that Mary"s mother had made and sent to Hettie for her birthday. Daisy was a few years younger than Elizabeth and Mary. She was an orphan who had come to the Flying Rollers with her aunt and uncle. The aunt and uncle were one of the first people to pack up and leave when the trouble began. They didn"t bother taking Daisy with them. However, the girl didn"t seem to mind as she had a crush on Jacob, who didn"t seem to know she existed.

  It was a cold winter day, but the sun was shining and Mary was happy to be outside, even though she was not looking forward to being in the courtroom. As they made their way up the steps, she clung to Benjamin"s arm and tried to hide herself behind him.

  The courtroom was crowded and as the Flying Rollers entered and took seats behind the defense table, people glared at them.

  Mary felt like an insect that was in danger of being squashed.

  “Sit up straight and look at the jury,” Colonel Atkinson instructed her and the other two women. “Show them you support your friend.”

  Mary looked at the white suit that blended with his white hair, white beard and mustache. His eyes were a deep shade of blue and seemed to bore into her mind, reading the thought she harbored that Michael Mills was no friend of hers.

  “This is my wife, Mary,” Benjamin told the lawyer after he had introduced Daisy and Elizabeth. “She"ll do just fine.”

  “See that you all do what you"re here to do,” the lawyer replied in a low voice. “It"s important.”

  A few minutes later, Michael Mills was led into the courtroom and seated at the table with his lawyer. Mary didn"t think Mills looked well. He had lost weight and the suit he was wearing hung on him like he had borrowed it from a larger man.

  His hair was pulled back into a braid and his beard had been trimmed, but his complexion was a sickly color. Obviously jail did not agree with the Prince of the Flying Rollers.

  Michael turned around and acknowledged the small group of supporters with a slight smile and then faced the front again as the Judge entered and everyone had to stand up.

  The trial resumed at the point where it had left off the day before with Joanna Brown in the witness box. Mary forced her eyes away from the girl who looked so young and frightened Mary wanted to run up and put her arms around her. She thought of Hettie and how she would feel if someone ever hurt her.

  Colonel Atkinson rose and walked over to Joanna. “That"s quite a story you related yesterday, young lady,” he told the girl. “It seems you have a very active imagination.”

  The prosecutor jumped to his feet. “Objection,” he cried.

  Benjamin had told Mary that Oscar Springer seemed very concerned about Joanna when she was in the witness box the day before.

  Where Colonel Atkinson was short and spry, the prosecutor was tall and heavy and moved slowly and deliberately. He was clean shaven with short brown hair and was dressed in a wellworn dark suit.

  “Sustained” The Judge banged his gavel. He was about the same age as the Colonel with a square face and glasses. His bald head was fringed with wispy hair that curled around the top of his robe and he had bushy gray eyebrows that moved up and down when he spoke. “You"re very colorful, Colonel, but I will not have you badgering this child. Continue without the side comments.”

  “Yes, your honor,” Atkinson said. The prosecutor sat down again and the Colonel turned back to Joanna. “Tell me, Joanna if living with Prince Michael was so terrible, why did your parents allow it?”

  The prosecutor jumped up again. “That was covered in previous testimony by her parents.”

  “I"d like to hear it from the girl,” Atkinson insisted.

  “I"ll allow it,” the Judge said. “The girl will answer the question.”

  Joanna swallowed hard and answered. “They thought it was an honor to be chosen as a member of the God-Head.”

  “But you didn"t?”

  “No, sir. I didn"t want to do it, but my papa said I had to.”

  Mr. Brown lowered his head in shame at his daughter"s words.

  Colonel Atkinson paused and took a few steps away from the girl. Then, turned back to her again. “So, from the beginning you were sullen and unhappy. Perhaps looking for a way out of Prince Michael"s house?”

  “I guess so,” Joanna answered softly.

  “Tell me, Joanna,” the lawyer continued. “When you entered the colony did you write an account of your sins?” “Yes, sir. Everybody has to.”

  Suddenly, Mary felt Benjamin stiffen beside her. She glanced over at him, but his facial expression was calm, only his body had reacted negatively to Atkinson"s question.

  Oscar Springer was objecting again. “This has no bearing on anything, your honor.”

  “Oh, but it has,” Atkinson contended. “This girl has claimed to be a virgin. Her confession, which my clients and his trusted associates have read, indicates otherwise.”

  Benjamin"s hands were balled into fists now as if he were about to jump up and punch someone. Mary placed her hand over his and he relaxed again as Springer began shouting.

  “Objection! I move that counsel"s remarks be stricken from the record as hearsay.”

  The Colonel raised his voice as well. “I am attempting to es
tablish the true character of this witness, your honor. It is vital to my client"s defense that the jury know of her past associations with members of the opposite sex.”

  “All right, you may continue, but make it brief.”

  Defeated the prosecutor sat down again, shaking his head in frustration.

  Atkinson approached Joanna again. “Now Joanna, isn"t it true that your confession lists the names of boys that you were acquainted with before coming into the colony?”

  “Yes, sir, but…”

  “And isn"t it true that you engaged in physical contact with these boys?”

  Joanna began to cry. “I don"t know what you mean.”

  “I mean, young lady, that you were not a virgin. By your own hand you confessed to numerous encounters with boys before coming to the Flying Rollers. Isn"t that true?”

  “I didn"t mean to do anything wrong?” Joanna cried.

  “But you did, and now you are committing another wrong pretending to be a pure young virgin, when in truth you came into the colony as a common tramp.”

  Joanna broke into sobs and the courtroom erupted with noise. The Judge pounded his gavel and called for order. Oscar Springer rushed forward to try and calm Joanna.

  The Judge called a recess until the following day and the courtroom emptied quickly. Joanna"s parents took her in tow and guided her out of the courtroom.

  An officer came and took Michael Mills away. He and his attorney were both smiling, knowing that they had put serious doubts in the minds of the jurors.

  The small group from the Flying Rollers" house left the courtroom and walked the two miles back home. Jacob and the others seemed to be happy about the turn of events at the trial.

  “Michael will surely be acquitted now,” Jacob said over and over.

  Daisy walked beside Jacob agreeing with everything he said, although he still didn"t seem to notice the girl. Elizabeth just shrugged and kept her opinions to herself.

  Benjamin didn"t say a word, and following her husband"s lead Mary kept quiet also.

  As usual, Jacob told everyone about the courtroom proceedings at the evening meal. Again, Benjamin didn"t enter into the discussion.

  “It"s wonderful news,” Stella exclaimed. “Soon our Prince will be restored to us.”

  After supper, they all went to the meeting room and Benjamin led them in a prayer of thanksgiving for Colonel Atkinson and his courtroom expertise. Although Benjamin seemed as strong and calm as usual, Mary knew that he was very upset. He was just an expert at hiding his feelings and saying the things that other people wanted to hear.

  That night, long after everyone in the house was asleep, Benjamin crept out of his bed and went downstairs. Mary waited for a while, thinking he had just gone across the hall to use the bathroom, but when he didn"t return she went to look for him.

  Carrying a candle to light her way, Mary looked for her husband. When she didn"t find him in the dining room or kitchen areas, she went into the meeting room. She found Benjamin in Michael"s office searching the desk and cabinets.

  “Ben? It"s the middle of the night. What are you doing down here?” Mary asked in a whisper.

  “Get back upstairs and mind your own business,” Ben told her gruffly.

  “I know you"re upset about the trial. I want to help you.” “Get back upstairs.”

  Mary backed away from her husband"s building wrath. “I"m sorry, Ben. I"ll go back upstairs and pray.”

  “You do that, Mary. You just go on and do that.”

  Mary left as quietly as she had come in. She didn"t know what Benjamin was doing in Mills" office, but she had a feeling it had something to do with the trial.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  T

  he group of Flying Rollers went back to the courthouse again the next morning. This morning, Benjamin"s mood seemed better and Mary was grateful. Jacob was confident that the jury would acquit Michael and he would be released from jail today or tomorrow at the latest.

  What Jacob didn"t know was that Oscar Springer had encountered a messenger as he was leaving his house that morning.

  The messenger had given Springer an envelope that he had opened and then carried to the courthouse with him.

  Taking the same seats they had occupied the day before, Ben and Mary and their companions sat quietly as all the principals arrived in the courtroom. The jury was brought in and then the Judge came in and the trial began again.

  Oscar Springer asked that Joanna Brown be called forward again, explaining that he had some more questions to ask her.

  Joanna walked slowly to the witness box. The Judge reminded the girl that she was still under oath and had to continue to tell the truth.

  Joanna said that she understood.

  Oscar Springer took a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Joanna.

  “Joanna what does it say on the top of this paper?”

  “It has my name and the date I wrote it.”

  “And what is this paper you are holding?”

  “It"s the confession I wrote when we came to the Flying Rollers.”

  Colonel Atkinson almost fell over the table in his haste to object. “Where did you get that? That"s private property,” he yelled.

  “Your honor,” Oscar Springer said calmly. “Where I got it is not important. Yesterday Atkinson in his cross-examination of this young girl asked her about this document. Today, with Joanna"s permission, I would like to share its contents with the jury.”

  Atkinson was both eloquent and furious in his objections, but the Judge ruled that with Joanna"s permission the jury could hear and see the girl"s confession.

  Mary stole a glance at her husband. His face showed no emotion. Once again, Mary realized that something she had seen during the night had an important bearing on the next day"s events.

  The prosecutor asked Joanna if it was all right with her if he read her confession to the jury. Joanna agreed and Springer began to read.

  “I, Joanna Brown, confess my sins. I took five cents from mama"s purse to give to my brother, Harry. I let Barnaby hold my hand on the way to school. I told a lie to my teacher about my school book, so I wouldn"t get thrashed.” Springer paused and looked at the jury members, then he gave the paper to one of the jurors who looked at it and passed it on down line. “These, ladies and gentleman are the grave sins of young Joanna Brown. This is the confession of a child, a little girl, who was brutally violated my Michael Mills.”

  Springer"s denouncement resulted in angry cries of indignation from the spectators. The Judge banged his gavel and shouted for order but it was a while before the crowd quieted down again.

  Both Colonel Atkinson and Oscar Springer were allowed to speak to the jury one more time before the jury was taken to a private room to decide Michael Mills" fate.

  Mary didn"t listen to anything they said. She was too busy trying figure out how Benjamin had gotten Joanna"s confession to the prosecutor. Perhaps he had left the house last night after he had sent her upstairs to bed. She had fallen asleep so she didn"t actually know how long it was before he came back to their room.

  Mary had known all along that Mills had probably hurt Joanna, but loyalty to her friends in the colony had kept her clinging to the possibility that she had misunderstood the events of that fateful night. She had kept silent about it for months. Now she knew with certainty that Benjamin had found the girl"s confession and had somehow managed to deliver it to Oscar Springer, but her husband"s betrayal of Michael Mills was another secret she could not divulge.

  The court was adjourned and the small group of Flying Rollers rushed back to the house to deliver the bad news to the other members.

  The jury didn"t take long to bring back a verdict. The next morning, newspaper boys shouted out the words proclaimed by the headlines. “Bearded Prince Goes to Prison!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Only Stella and Jacob seemed upset by Prince Michael"s conviction. Everyone else accepted the news as if it were the outcome they had expected. Some wer
e saying that Michael was a false prophet who had brought the wrath of God upon them.

  By late afternoon, another angry mob had gathered in front of the house. They screamed insults and threw bricks and bottles at the windows.

  Benjamin and the other men moved heavy pieces of furniture in front of all the doors lest the mob tried to storm the house.

  The downstairs windows were still boarded up so the missiles being thrown at the house did not break the glass.

  For safety and comfort, everyone was once again assembled in the meeting room.

  “We can"t go on like this,” a young man named Silas Mooney complained. “No one will be able to venture from this house for fear of being attacked again.”

  “We must pray for help,” Benjamin said.

  Silas" wife Cora was holding onto his arm and she objected to Ben"s suggestion. “We have been praying night and day for months, and it has gotten us nowhere. Our Prince is in jail. Many of our people have fled this town, and those of us who remained are prisoners in this house.”

  Benjamin walked over to Cora and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Sister Cora, we must not lose faith. God will not forsake us. Gather together in a circle of unity.”

  Like obedient children the people formed a circle around Benjamin. He closed his eyes and raised his hands to pray, but instead of the comforting words that the group expected, an agonized cry forced itself from Ben"s mouth and he fell to the floor. Suddenly Benjamin seemed to go into a convulsion. As the people gasped in fear, Mary ran forward to help her husband. Her efforts to grab hold of him failed as he was rolling around thrashing his arms and legs and moaning and yelling words that could not be understood. Mary was frightened and began to cry.

  Then, as suddenly as the convulsion started it ended. Ben lay quietly for a few seconds and then with the help of Jacob and Silas rose to his feet. His face was streaked with tears and fresh tears were spilling from his dark eyes.

  “Ben, what happened?” Jacob asked. “Are you all right?”

  Benjamin shrugged off the hands of his friends and stood taller. Mary ran to his side and he put his arm around her.