“Once you have the gallows, you’ll find new reasons to hang people from it.”
“Why are you being so spiteful?” asked Verily. “New England hasn’t added a capital crime in the two hundred years since it was founded. And some former capital crimes haven’t led to the gallows in a century. You have no reason to think that a decent society will go mad with the power to kill.”
“New England didn’t need new reasons,” said Purity, “because it had such a fine catchall. No matter what someone did, if you want him dead, he’s a witch.”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Verily.
“You said it yourself,” said Purity. “Everyone has a knack. They hide it out of fear and call it humility. But if someone wants to kill a man, he only has to detect his knack and denounce him for it. So anyone can be killed at any time. Who needs new laws, when the old ones are so broad?”
“Did you become this cynical in the past few hours?” asked Verily. “Or have you always taken the lowest possible view of human life?”
“Human life is wicked to the core,” said Purity, “and only the elect of God are lifted above human wickedness and caught up into the goodness of heaven. To expect wickedness from human beings is the best way I know of to avoid surprises. And when I am surprised, it’s always pleasantly.”
“Ask her the question and have done,” said Alvin.
“And if I say I don’t want to travel with you?” said Purity.
“Then we’ll travel on without you,” said Alvin.
“Doing me no harm?” asked Purity.
Verily Cooper laughed. “Even if we wanted to, Alvin wouldn’t let us. When a bee stings him, he puts the stinger back in it, heals it up, and sends it on its way.”
“Then my answer is no,” said Purity. “People will be looking for me by now. If you want to be safe from inquiries, you’d best let me go and be about your business.”
“No,” said Arthur Stuart. “You got to come with us.”
“And why should I?” asked Purity. “Because you spin a good tale?”
“I told you the truth and you know it,” said Arthur.
“Yes,” said Purity, softening. “You did believe every word you said. But it has no bearing on me. I have no part in what you’re trying to do.”
“Yes, you do!” cried Arthur Stuart. “Didn’t you get the point of my story? Somebody’s in charge of all this. Somebody gave Alvin the powers he’s got. Somebody led his family to Horace Guester’s roadhouse, so Little Peggy would be in place to watch over him. Why did my mother fly so near to that place, so I’d be there waiting when Alvin came back? And Mike Fink, and Verily Cooper—how did they get to meet up with him? Don’t tell me it was chance cause I don’t believe in it.”
“Nor do I,” said Purity.
“So whoever led us to Alvin, or him to us, that’s who led you here today. You could have walked anywhere. We could have been anywhere on the river, bathing. But here we were, and here you came.”
“I have no doubt that we were brought together,” said Purity. “The question is, by whom?”
“I don’t know as it’s a who,” said Alvin. “Arthur thinks God’s in charge of all this, and I don’t doubt but what God has his eye on the whole world, but that don’t mean he’s spending extra time looking out for me. I got a feeling that knacks get drawn together. And the power I was born with, it’s right strong, and so it’s like a magnet, it just naturally grabs hold on other strong people and links them up. It’s not like good folks are the only ones as get drawn to me. Seems like I get more than my share of the other kind, too. Why would God send them to me?”
Arthur Stuart didn’t seem to be swayed by Alvin’s argument. Clearly they’d been down this road before. “God brings some, and the other one brings the others.”
“They just come natural,” said Alvin, “both kinds. Don’t go guessing what God’s doing, because them as tries to guess always seems to get it wrong.”
“And how would you know they was wrong,” said Arthur, “lessen you thought you had a scope on God’s will!” He sounded triumphant, as if he had at last landed a blow on the body of Alvin’s argument.
“Cause it works out so bad,” said Alvin. “Look at this place. New England’s got everything going for it. Good people, trying to serve God as best they can. And they do, mostly. But they figured that God wanted them to kill everybody as used a knack, even though they never found out how to tell if knacks came from God or the devil. They just called all knacks witchcraft and went off killing folks in the name of God. So even if they got all the rest of God’s will just right, look what they done to Miss Purity here. Killed her folks and got her brought up in an orphanage. It don’t take a scope on God’s will to know New England ain’t got it figured out yet.”
“You sound like professors arguing over an obscure point of Latin grammar, when the passage itself is a forgery,” said Purity. “Whether I was led to you by God or nature or Satan himself, it doesn’t change my answer. I have no business with you. It’s here that my destiny lies. Whatever I am and whatever happens to me, my story begins and ends with the ... with New England.”
“With the courts of New England,” said Verily.
“So you say,” said Purity.
“With the gallows of New England,” Verily insisted.
“If God wills,” said Purity.
“No,” said Verily, “you’ll meet the gallows only if you will it.”
“On the contrary,” said Purity. “Meeting you has been the most important lesson of my life. Until I met you, until I heard your story, I was sure my parents could not really have been witches and therefore a great injustice was committed. I didn’t really believe that witches existed. But I have seen now that they do. You have powers far greater than God meant anyone but a prophet or apostle to have, Mr. Smith, and you have no qualms about using them. You are going about gathering disciples and planning to build a city. You are Nimrod, the mighty hunter against the Lord, and the city you mean to build is Babel. You want it to lift mankind above the flood and take men into heaven, where they will be as God, knowing all things. You are a servant of the devil, your powers are witchery, your plans are anathema, your beliefs are heresy, and if my parents were one-tenth as wicked as you, they deserved to die!”
They all stared at her in silence. Arthur Stuart had tears streaking his cheeks.
Finally Alvin spoke—to the others, not to her. “Best be on our way, boys,” he said. “Arthur, you run and tell Audubon to dry off and get dressed.”
“Yes, sir,” said Arthur quietly, and he was gone.
“Aren’t you even going to argue with me?” asked Purity.
Alvin looked quizzically at her for a moment, then walked away toward where Mike Fink had gone to stand watch. Only Verily Cooper remained.
“So you admit that what I said is true,” said Purity.
Verily looked at her sadly. “What you said is false as hell,” said Verily. “Alvin Maker is the best man I know in all the world, and there’s no trace of evil in him. He’s not always right, but he’s never wrong, if you understand what I’m saying.”
“That is just what I’d expect a demon to say of his master the devil.”
“There,” said Verily. “What you just said. That’s why we’re giving up on you.”
“Because I dare to name the truth?”
“Because you’ve latched on to a story that can capture everything we say and do and turn it into a lie.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Purity.
“Because if you don’t believe these stupid lies about us, then you have to admit that they were wrong to kill your parents, and then you’d have to hate them, and they’re the only people that you know. You’d be a woman without a country, and since you’re already a woman without a family, you can’t let go of them.”
“See how the devil twists my love for my country and tries to turn it against me?” said Purity.
Verily sighed. “Miss Purity, I can only tell you this. Whate
ver you do in the next few hours and days, I expect you’ll have plenty of chance to judge between Alvin Smith and the law of New England. Somewhere inside you there’s a place where truth is truth and lies get shed like raindrops off oil. You look in that place and see which is acting like Christ.”
“Christ is just as well as merciful,” said Purity. “Only the wicked claim that Christ is only forgiving. The righteous remember that he denounced the unrepented sin, and declared the truth that everlasting fire awaited those who refused to choose righteousness.”
“He also had sharp words for hypocrites and fools, as I recall,” said Verily.
“Meaning that you think I’m a hypocrite?”
“On the contrary,” said Verily. “I think you’re a fool.”
She slapped his face.
As if she hadn’t touched him, he went on in a mild tone of voice. “You’ve been made foolish by the harm that’s been done to you, and by the fact that the wickedness of this place is so small compared to its goodness. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real, and hasn’t poisoned you, and won’t kill you in the end.”
“God dwells in New England,” said Purity.
“He visits here as he visits all places, and I dare say he finds much to be glad of in these farms and villages. A garden of the soul. But still aslither with snakes, like every other place.”
“If you plan to kill me,” said Purity, “you’d better do it quick, because I’m going now to denounce you and send them after you.”
“Then be off,” said Verily. “They’ll either find us or they won’t, depending on what Alvin decides. And if they do find us, keep this in mind: All he wants is for people to have a chance at happiness. Even you.”
“My happiness doesn’t depend on a witch!”
“Does so,” said Verily. “But up to now, the witches it depended on were dead.”
Tears appeared in her eyes; her face reddened; she would have slapped him again except she remembered that it did no good. Instead she turned and ran from him into the woods, almost bumping into Alvin and Mike Fink, who were returning along the path. A moment later she was gone.
“I think you lost, Very,” said Alvin. “Or was that your plan?”
“She’s not at her best,” said Verily. He looked from Mike to Arthur to Alvin. “Well, is it time for us to put on seven-league boots?”
Alvin grinned at him. “Wouldn’t you rather we tied you to the mast as we sailed on past the siren?”
Verily was startled. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that I saw how you were looking at her. She struck something in you.”
“Of course she did,” said Verily. “She’s been strangled by the need to hide her very considerable knack, and now she finds that her parents were killed for the same cause. She has to distinguish between herself and those who knowingly do witchcraft. She has to draw the line of virtue and stand on the right side of it without denying what she is and what she knows. I lived that life, except that my parents were fortunate enough to stay alive. I understand something of what she’s going through.”
“Inconvenient time for her to come to her crisis of faith, don’t you think?” said Alvin.
“Don’t make more of this than it is,” said Verily. “As I told her, if she denounces us the authorities will either find us or not, depending on what you decide.”
Mike snorted. “That’s an easy one.”
At that moment Arthur Stuart and a dripping, somewhat-dressed Audubon appeared. “She’s gone,” Arthur Stuart said.
“That is good, the way I am dress,” said Audubon.
“She’s gone to report us,” said Mike Fink, “and here we are jawing.”
“It’s up to Alvin whether we run or wait,” said Verily. “She might not denounce us.”
“But then she might,” said Mike. “And if she does, let’s not be here.” But Verily and Alvin were looking at each other, deciding some question that the others hadn’t heard.
“Is there some reason,” Alvin asked, “why I might choose to let them find us?”
Still Verily declined to answer.
“To save her,” said Arthur Stuart.
Now they all looked at Arthur. He looked at Alvin, just as intently as Verily had the moment before. Alvin had the distinct impression that he was supposed to understand some unspoken explanation.
“How would it save her, for us to be caught?” asked Alvin.
“Because the way she’s acting,” said Arthur Stuart, “she’s going to get herself killed. Unless we save her.”
Mike Fink came between them. “Let me get this straight. You want us to get locked up and tried as witches so we can save her?”
“How would us getting locked up help her?” said Alvin.
“How many birds can I paint in jail?” asked Audubon.
“You wouldn’t stay in jail long,” said Verily. “Witch trials are notoriously quick.”
“What is it about a woman that makes her life worth the lives of four men and a boy?” demanded Mike.
Verily laughed in exasperation. “What are you thinking, Mike? This is Alvin Smith. The Maker of the Golden Plow. How long do you suppose he’d let us wait in jail?”
“You really don’t want to leave her behind, do you, Very?” said Alvin. “Or you neither, Arthur Stuart, is that right?”
“Sure is,” said the boy.
“That’s right,” said Verily.
“Goodness gracious,” said Mike sarcastically. “Is this love we’re talking about?”
“Who’s in love?” demanded Arthur.
“Verily Cooper’s in love with Miss Purity,” said Mike Fink.
“I don’t think so,” said Verily.
“He must be,” said Mike, “because he’s let her go off to denounce us to the authorities and he wants us to get arrested because he thinks that’ll make her feel bad and she’ll change her mind about us and she’ll recant her testimony against us and then she’ll decide to come along with us. Which is a fine plan, except for the part where we get hung and she kneels at the foot of the gallows weeping her poor little eyes out she feels so bad.”
Arthur Stuart looked at Verily, calculation in his eyes. “You think we might change her mind about us by getting arrested?” he asked.
“Mike is wrong, it’s not pity I’m counting on,” said Verily. “It’s fear.”
“Fear of what?” asked Alvin.
“Fear of the working of the law. Right now she believes the law is just and therefore we and her parents deserve to die. She’ll change her mind quick enough when she sees how witch trials go.”
“You’ve made a pretty long chain out of one link,” said Mike.
“Give her a chance,” said Arthur Stuart.
Alvin looked at Arthur, then at Verily. Who ever would have thought this man and this boy would be rivals in love? “Might be worth a try,” said Alvin.
“If they arrest me they’ll take my paintings and destroy them,” said Audubon.
“I’ll keep you and your paintings safe,” said Alvin.
“And if they kill you,” said Audubon, “what will happen to my paintings?”
“I won’t care,” said Alvin.
“But I will!”
“No you won’t,” said Arthur Stuart. “Cause if Alvin gets killed, so will you.”
“That is my point!” cried Audubon. “Let us run away! This greensong that you speak of, for hiding in the forest while running very fast. Sing!”
“What I got in mind,” said Alvin, “is more like a saunter on the riverbank. And remember, all of you—confess to nothing. No witchcraft. No knacks. Don’t even admit to being French, John James.”
“I ain’t going to lie under oath,” said Arthur Stuart.
“Don’t lie, just refuse to answer,” said Alvin.
“That’s when they torture you,” said Verily. “When you refuse to say yes or no.”
“Well, they hang you when you say yes,” said Alvin, “and I ain’t heard of them
just letting you go if you deny it.”
“If you don’t answer, you can die without ever going to trial.”
Alvin began to chuckle. “Well, now I get it. You want to go to trial. This ain’t about Purity or being in love or any such thing. You want to take on the witch laws.”
“Well I don’t,” said Mike Fink. “I sure don’t have to answer under oath when someone asks me if I ever served Satan.”
“It seems to me,” said Alvin, “that if you want to have your day in court, Verily, you ought to do it as a lawyer, and not as a defendant.”
“And you oughtn’t to drag along folks as don’t want to stand trial,” said Mike.
“Not that any harm would come to any of us,” said Alvin.
Audubon threw his arms heavenward. “Listen to him! Alvin has the... hubris. He think he can save everybody.”
“I can,” said Alvin. “That’s just a fact.”
“Then let’s stay around and save her,” said Arthur Stuart. “We don’t have to get arrested to do that.”
“I want to do more than save her body from death,” said Verily.
“Please don’t tell us what more you want to do to her body,” said Audubon.
Verily ignored him. “I want her to learn the truth about her parents and about herself. I want her to be proud of her knack. I want her to come join us in building the Crystal City.”
“Those are all good things to want,” said Alvin. “But just at this moment I have a keen memory of the months I spent in jail back in Hatrack River, and I got to say I don’t wish even an hour in such a place for any of this company.”
“Yes! The wisdom of Solomon!” cried Audubon.
“Which ain’t to say I don’t see your point, too, Very,” said Alvin. “And as for you, Arthur Stuart, I can see as how a young man like you sees a damsel walking straight to the dragon’s lair and he’s plain got to draw his sword.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Arthur.
“Saint George,” said Alvin. “And the dragon.”
“The boy will not let me to kill birds,” said Audubon, “but dragons.”
Mike Fink looked puzzled. “Ain’t no dragons around here.”
“Fall in line behind me,” said Alvin, “and say nothing, and touch nothing, and don’t stray from the path I mark.”
Heartfire: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume V Page 14