The Master’s Hand

by Diane Noble

  “Do you know anything else about Brother John?” Kate asked. “Do you remember the first time you saw him?”

  “Remember it well. It was summer, I think maybe forty-nine. That was the year so many got sick, you see. We were all so busy takin’ care of each other or ourselves, we weren’t payin’ much attention to anyone ’cept the sick, especially those who were worse off—the elderly and the children. He came outta the mountains a lot that summer.”

  Kate nodded. “So he was here in 1949 or so?”

  “Yup. Then he disappeared around the time of the Korean War—or conflict as some called it. I always figured he enlisted and went off to war to fight. I only saw him from a distance a time or two after he got back.”

  Nehemiah had been listening thoughtfully to the conversation and after a moment said, “What made you think he’d gone to war?”

  “That hat he wore. Camouflage slouch hat. A lot of vets had ’em. And later, someone in town who knew him well told me he’d been attached to a MASH unit as a chaplain.”

  Kate let all the information soak in for a moment as she tried to get a handle on who this man was and how he fit with the present-day mystery. Or did he?

  “Who in town knew him well?”

  “Well, many may remember him, but as far as knowin’ him well? Hmm...I don’t recall. He don’t really leave the kind of impression folks pay attention to. He’s just there, you know what I mean? Part of our local landscape. It wasn’t always that way, but today, I’d say people are so used to seein’ him around, they just don’t think about him much one way or t’other.”

  Kate frowned. “What about the epidemic of 1949? Do any of the old-timers remember that?” She’d been wondering why no one in town seemed to notice that the things Davis Carr talked about never happened that summer, and she briefly filled Joshua in.

  Old Man Parsons sat back and grinned. “You ever thought about how many disasters little towns like ours go through? We get everything from floods to droughts to locusts, sometimes years apart, sometimes decades apart. Why, one year we had a spell of influenza come through here that had everyone on their sickbeds for weeks. I couldn’t tell you, though, what year it happened. Some folks have a knack for rememberin’ that sorta thing.” He shrugged. “At my age, people can tell me jokes over and over and I get a kick out of ’em each time, not remembering I’d heard them before.” He chuckled. “Some might’ve caught the gilded reference to the summer of 1949, but most didn’t think about it one way or t’other, is my guess.”

  After a moment, Kate said, “So you don’t know about any friends, close friends, he might have had back then?”

  Joshua paused thoughtfully, then brightened. “Well, yes, now that I’m thinkin’ about it, he did. Caroline Beauregard Johnston. They were real good friends. Helped other people together during any kind of crisis. As I recall, they made a mighty fine team, workin’ together to help others.”

  “Caroline Johnston helped families during the epidemic?” Kate wanted to make sure she’d heard right. “Renee Lambert’s mother?”

  “That’s right.”

  Kate sat back, a million thoughts running through her head. But one rose to the top of the pile: She’d known that Caroline knew Brother John, but that they were close friends and actually worked together to help others was a revelation. The not-so-good news was that Caroline wouldn’t utter a peep about the man.

  Chapter Nineteen

  On their way into town from Old Man Parsons’ house, Kate again tried to reach Paul at the church office.

  Millie answered.

  “Hi Millie, it’s me again,” Kate said. “Is Paul available?”

  Usually she chatted for a few minutes with Millie, but the harrowing experience with the pickup—and her need to tell Paul the danger she and Nehemiah had been in—just made her want to talk with him as soon as he could get to the phone.

  “I can tell something’s wrong. Hear it in your voice. You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Kate said. “I just need to talk to Paul right away.”

  Millie’s husky voice turned formal as she announced she was putting her on hold. Kate was sorry if she’d hurt Millie’s feelings, but really, all she wanted was to talk to Paul. He picked up the line a moment later. “Katie? Everything okay? Millie said you sounded brusque when you called a while ago.”

  Kate laughed. “Brusque? I don’t think so. I just wanted to get you on the phone right away. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “Nehemiah and I had a bit of a mishap coming back from Pine Ridge this morning.”

  “What happened?”

  She gave him a brief recap, holding back some of the details so he wouldn’t be alarmed.

  “Oh Katie!” After a pause, he said, “You and Nehemiah weren’t hurt?”

  “Not at all. But the car—”

  “I don’t care about the car,” he said gruffly, then cleared his throat. That meant he was probably tearing up, which melted her heart. “You’re certain you’re all right?”

  She let go of a breath and assured him they were not only okay, but they’d already been to Joshua Parsons’ to see what he knew about Brother John. “I’ll tell you more about all of this when we see you.”

  “It’s past lunchtime,” Paul said. “I’ve been in meetings all morning. How about if we meet for lunch?”

  Kate chuckled. “Nehemiah was just telling me he’s famished. We both had a brownie at Joshua’s place, but the sugar high has now plummeted. We could use some protein to balance things out.”

  “Let’s meet at the diner. I’ll take a look at the car. We’ll worry about any bodywork it needs later.”

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Kate said, glad to hear Paul’s worried tone fade somewhat.

  WITHIN MINUTES, Kate maneuvered the Honda into a parking space in front of the diner.

  LuAnne Matthews met them at the door, her smile wide. “Why you two are like rays of sunshine this morning.” She checked her watch. “Well, make that afternoon. We’ve been pretty busy today.” She raised a brow and leaned in closer to Kate. “There’s hardly an empty booth in the place, but it’s as silent as a tomb.”

  Puzzled, Kate looked around, then turned back to LuAnne. “No one seems to be talking. What happened?”

  “Follow me, and I’ll tell you.” LuAnne tucked her pencil above her ear and then led them to the only empty table toward the back of the room.

  Kate helped Nehemiah maneuver around the tables and chairs with his crutches, trying hard not to jostle anyone they passed.

  As she got him settled into a chair and then sat down across from him, LuAnne leaned over the table and whispered, “Most of the women in here are Bees, if you catch my drift.” She glanced around the room, then added, “I’m not gossipin’ when I tell you this, am I?”

  Kate swallowed a smile. “It depends on what you’re about to tell me. But so far, I’d say you’re telling me the same facts I’d pick up myself after a minute or two of observation.”

  She scanned the room again, then exchanged glances with Nehemiah. “I’d say just observing the Bees I see in this room, that they’ve decided it’s easier not to talk than to risk gossiping.”

  LuAnne beamed, her green eyes sparkling through horn-rimmed glasses. “That’s it exactly.” She slid into one of the empty chairs. “No one is sayin’ a thing.” She glanced around. “Some have friends or husbands with them, but their lips are clamped together tighter than scared clams.” She sighed.

  LuAnne stood, removed the pencil from above her ear, and licked her finger to turn the page on her order pad.

  “Salad with ranch on the side,” Kate said. “No croutons. And some iced tea. Paul will be here soon, so make that two iced teas, and he’ll probably want a turkey burger.”

  “You sure?” LuAnne quirked a brow.

  “He’d probably prefer a juicy hamburger dripping with melted cheese, but I’m in charge of worrying about his cholesterol, so we�
��ll go a bit healthier this time.”

  LuAnne grinned. “You think he’ll want fries with that?”

  “He’ll want them, but how about some sliced tomatoes instead?”

  LuAnne chuckled. “That’ll teach him to keep you waitin’.” She turned to Nehemiah.

  “As I recall, you’ve got the best grilled cheese and ham on sourdough in the county. If Loretta’s still making them the same way as always, I’ll have one of those. And a Diet Coke with lemon.”

  “Fries?”

  “For the sake of peace among us, I’ll have sliced tomatoes too.” He hesitated. “And tell Loretta to go easy on the butter and cheese.”

  Kate spotted Renee and Caroline in a booth across the room, eating in silence. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Nehemiah.

  She worked her way around a couple of tables and sat down next to Renee. “How are you two ladies doing this afternoon?”

  They both smiled and nodded but said nothing.

  Kate leaned into the table, in a secretive manner. But after exchanging glances with Caroline, Renee kept her back rigid. What had happened since Renee’s phone call for help? She was worried about the notion of the not-talking business catching on, and here she was, silent as a falling snowflake.

  “What’s happened?” She handed Renee a pencil and paper.

  Renee scribbled rapidly, then handed the paper to Kate.

  Mama said talking about Br. J. was gossip—for both of us. As sergeant at arms she “fined” us both a week of no talking.

  “But I need your help,” Kate said, softening her voice. “Really. And there’s a difference between that and gossip. You didn’t say anything negative at all.”

  They were both watching her intently, and she thought she saw a bit of wavering in Renee’s eyes.

  “Renee,” Kate said, “James may be in danger. We talked about that. Things are escalating. I really need your help—and your mother’s.”

  Then she turned to Caroline. “Joshua Parsons told me this morning that you know Brother John quite well, or used to. I’ve got a gut feeling that he may be involved somehow with Davis Carr, which might also tie him into the security company. Both have some hold on James.”

  Neither woman said a word.

  Caroline reached for a paper napkin and then rummaged in her handbag for a pen. Then she slowly, shakily drew three cartoon figures and pushed the napkin toward Kate. Kate sighed when she saw the drawings of monkeys: see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.

  Paul came in the door just as Kate was heading back to their table. They had both taken their seats when LuAnne brought their food.

  “Thank you for ordering for me,” Paul said with a grin. “Nothing better than a juicy cheeseburger with all the fixin’s.”

  Nehemiah chuckled. “True, but that’s not what Kate ordered for you.”

  Paul shot Kate a loving look. “I’m so famished, this could be made of woodchips, and I’d still eat it.”

  “You’re in luck,” Kate said with a laugh. “They have a special on ground mesquite today.”

  After a word of grace, Paul took a bite and raised his brows. “Actually, this is pretty good.”

  Kate gave Paul a rundown on everything that had happened that morning. Nehemiah filled in the details about the incident with the white pickup.

  “Paul, these guys were serious. They weren’t giving us nudges to frighten us; they wanted to run us off the road.” He paused and took a sip of his Diet Coke. “They meant business.”

  “I looked at the car. I can see how hard it was ‘nudged.’ I think we definitely need to have the mechanic take a look. The alignment—and who knows what else—may have been affected when you landed in that ditch.” He took a bite of his burger and then chewed thoughtfully. “Let’s trade cars and I’ll have it checked out.”

  They finished eating, and LuAnne cleared the table. “Anything else? We’ve got a dynamite lemon-meringue pie today—fresh-made this morning.”

  Both men looked ready to salivate over just the mention of it. Kate couldn’t resist either. She smiled at the two men. “Shall we share?”

  “Nah,” Paul said. “I’d rather have my own.”

  “Me too,” Nehemiah said.

  AS THEY WERE GETTING UP from their table, the front door opened, and James Jenner walked into the diner with Clive Garfield. James caught Kate’s eye as he pulled out a chair to sit down, then he quickly looked away.

  Nehemiah, however, wasn’t going to let James off the hook quite so easily. “Hey there, James,” he boomed as he reached for his crutches and hooked them under his arms. “I’ve been meaning to call and tell you what a great job you did hooking me up to the Web. I’m getting a real kick out of this surfin’ business.”

  Nehemiah then smiled at Clive Garfield, who stood to shake the elderly pastor’s hand. “You’ve got a very bright young man working for you this summer. I’ve known him since he was knee high to a mosquito. He’s one of the brightest and best.”

  Kate watched the interaction. There was definitely something going on in that teenager’s brain. He flushed, looking extremely uncomfortable. Maybe it was merely because he was with the boss of the company. Or was it something else?

  He gave Nehemiah a polite smile, but he didn’t glance at Kate again, and a few minutes later, she led the way to the front door as Paul helped Nehemiah navigate the tables and chairs on his crutches.

  She reached the door, facing outside, then felt a shiver travel up her spine, a tingling feeling that someone was watching her, and not necessarily in a benevolent way.

  Paul held open the door for Nehemiah and her, but before she stepped through the doorway, she looked back to the rear of the diner.

  She half expected James to be watching her leave, perhaps glad to see her go. But it wasn’t James. It was Clive Garfield. She couldn’t read his dark-eyed expression, but there was something about the intensity of his stare that made her feel like a spider had come out from hiding and was running up her spine. A very large spider.

  Chapter Twenty

  That night after Paul and Nehemiah had gone to bed, Kate sat in the living room, sipping a cup of chamomile tea. She mulled over the events of the day, trying to fit the different puzzle pieces together.

  It still struck her as odd that Davis Carr had made such a generous contribution to a little museum such as theirs. And what was Davis’ connection to Brother John? For that matter, what did Caroline know about Brother John that she didn’t want to talk about? And what was going on with James Jenner, who’d always been such a good kid. What had he gotten caught up in? And why wouldn’t he talk about it, even with his parents?

  The closer Kate scrutinized his behavior, the more she thought he had maybe taken a wrong turn. The clock was ticking for someone his age. Too easily, teens could get caught up in the wrong crowd, making errors in judgment that might affect them the rest of their lives. She only hoped that Livvy and Danny, with God’s merciful help, could turn him around before it was too late.

  The memory of helplessness as her car was pushed off the road came back to her. She felt a wave of nausea, and she sat forward and put her head in her hands.

  Had it merely been a scare tactic? Or had the driver meant business? She searched her mind for why someone would do such a thing. The only thought that came to her was that she’d been seen snooping around the museum several times in view of the Webcams and exterminators.

  She sat up, surprised it had taken her this long. Scary as the thought was, the white pickup might be the biggest clue to her solving the mystery. For the driver to go to that much trouble, there must be something even more valuable than she’d imagined in the museum. Whatever it was, someone didn’t want her to find it.

  She remembered the incident at the bathroom door upstairs in the museum. The exterminator had recognized her. Had he been in that pickup? It was white, and the bug was probably removable.

  She lifted her teacup from its saucer, noticing that her hand trembled as sh
e moved the cup to her lips. She’d hidden her fear all day, but now tears jumped to her eyes as she remembered the feeling of flying off the road. She bowed her head and thanked God again for keeping them safe during those frightening few minutes. Kate was also relieved that no real harm had been done to the Honda. The mechanics had been able to realign her tires and give it the okay. Paul would have a body shop fix the scratches next week.

  She turned out the light by the rocker, and then tiptoed to the bedroom and crawled into bed. She again pondered her list of questions. She settled back against her pillow and stared at the ceiling.

  She was about to drift off when Brother John’s image came to her...just as she’d seen him last, standing on the far side of a meadow that was covered with spring flowers. Yet he was in the shadows, deep and dark. It was surprising that she’d seen him at all. She was still thinking about the strange difference between the sunlit meadow and the dark forest when she finally closed her eyes and slept.

  Sometime in the middle of the night, she woke with a start. She blinked a few times and struggled to take a look at the clock on her bedside table: 2:57. She flopped back on her pillow and almost groaned. Not another sleepless night...

  Then she heard clicking sounds from the kitchen. And noticed the ambient light streaming in under the bedroom door, also likely coming from the kitchen.

  Nehemiah.

  She pulled back the covers, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and reached for her robe. Seconds later, she padded toward the kitchen.

  Nehemiah looked up and nodded. “You got here just in time. The museum cams are up and running.”