Lily

by Michael Thomas Ford

  “It occurred to me that you must be very lonely here,” the Reverend said. “Are you?”

  Lily, who had been occupied with wondering how she might ask him about the whereabouts of Moth, realized that an answer was expected from her.

  “Lonely?” she said. “No. I have…” Caught off guard, she’d been about to mention that she had someone now. But she couldn’t mention Star. “I have you. And God.” She wondered if she should list her mother as well, but if the Reverend cared about her absence from the discussion, he said nothing about it.

  “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest!” Everyman said. “That’s from the prophet Joshua. Have you been reading the book?”

  Lily nodded, although truthfully, she had not opened it in a few days.

  “Good girl,” Everyman said. “And I’m pleased to hear that you think of me as a friend. I am your friend. But I think you would like someone closer to your own age, wouldn’t you?”

  Lily’s heart skipped. Was he talking about Star? Trying to trick her into telling him something he already knew? She hesitated.

  “Little James,” the Reverend called out. “Come in, son.”

  Lily, confused, looked behind her and saw a boy walk into the tent. Dressed in a white suit that mimicked the one worn by Everyman, he had his yellow hair slicked back in a similar manner as the preacher’s. When he came to stand next to the Reverend, it was like looking at father and son.

  “Is he yours?” Lily couldn’t help but ask.

  Everyman laughed. “This is Little James,” he told her. “One of the finest preachers I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing testify.”

  The boy grinned. His face was heavy, his neck straining the confines of his collar. Sweat glistened on his cheeks. He lifted his hands and cried out, “Hallelujah, brother Everyman!”

  The preacher laughed again. “Hallelujah!” he echoed. “Always filled with the spirit, this boy,” he said to Lily. “He’s going to be traveling with us from now on.”

  Lily was uncertain how she was expected to reply to this news. Both the reverend and Little James were looking at her.

  “Hallelujah,” she tried.

  “You can do better than that, sister,” Little James said. “After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God.” He clapped his hands together and shouted, “Hallelujah!”

  “Hallelujah!” shouted Everyman, and Lily pretended to shout along with him.

  “You and Little James are going to be good friends,” Everyman told Lily. “You’ll watch out for one another. And he can instruct you further in the ways of the Lord.”

  Little James beamed. “That I will, brother. I can tell that sister Lily has a willing heart. I see God working his miracles in her.”

  “Indeed he is,” the Reverend said. “He’s placed his hand on her. Now, we have time before the evening service. Why don’t you and Lily spend some time together before that?”

  “A wonderful idea, brother,” Little James said.

  The Reverend ushered them to the door, and Little James held back the tent flap as Lily exited into the afternoon sun. He followed, and a moment later, the two of them were walking together. Lily didn’t really know what to say or where to go, and so she went in the general direction of the midway.

  “How long have you been preaching?” she asked Little James, feeling she should say something.

  “Since I started talking. My first word was amen! My parents took me to my first revival when I was two, and I was anointed by the spirit. I gave my first sermon that very night.”

  “How old are you now?” Lily asked.

  Little James stood a bit straighter. “Almost eleven.”

  “Are your parents here with you?” said Lily.

  “Called to heaven,” Little James told her. “But that don’t matter. I have a heavenly father, and he’s all I need.”

  Lily could tell that she was expected to agree with this sentiment, but she didn’t. She missed her father terribly, and always would. Nothing would replace the feeling she got when he held her in his arms, or told her he loved her. She knew this was not how she was supposed to feel, and that she was likely offending God, but she couldn’t help it.

  “Brother Everyman tells me that your father is in hell,” said Little James.

  Lily stopped. “He said that?”

  Little James nodded. “That’s where the unsaved go. He was unsaved, weren’t he?”

  “He didn’t know about God,” Lily said. But he was full of life, she thought. And love.

  Little James smiled. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. That’s from Psalm 19. What it means is that the very sun and moon tell us that God is real. Even if we don’t know the name of the creator, all we have to do is listen and we’ll know he exists. If we don’t, that’s our own fault.”

  He continued walking. Lily, feeling as if she had been punched in the stomach, watched him go. After a moment, she forced herself to catch up to him.

  “Do you really believe that?” she asked.

  “I believe everything the word of God says,” said Little James. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be right with the Lord.”

  “But that’s not fair—there should be a second chance for those who have never heard about God.”

  “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,” said Little James. “That’s Hebrews. It means you have to decide if you believe while you’re still alive. Can’t change your mind once you’re dead. And like I said, we’ve all had the chance to know God, even if we don’t know him by his name.”

  It still didn’t seem right to Lily. Her father was a good person. His heart was open and he loved and was loved in return. Surely he wasn’t doomed to suffer eternal torment just because he’d died without knowing the god of the Reverend and Little James. What kind of god would do that to his creation?

  “Are your parents in heaven?” Lily looked up at the sky for a moment.

  “My mother is,” said Little James. “My father turned his back on the Lord and became a drunkard and a gambler. I imagine he’s burning in the lake of fire along with your father. I did my best to bring him to salvation, but I weren’t as strong then as I am now.”

  Lily was horrified to hear the boy talk like this. The worst part was that he sounded so sure of himself. He spoke of these things matter-of-factly, with no emotion except perhaps disappointment in himself for not being able to save his father. That was something Lily understood all too well.

  “I was too late with mine,” she said.

  Little James stopped and turned to her. “I know what you do,” he said. “Brother Everyman told me. Let me tell you, we ain’t the same. You’ve got evil in you that needs to come out. I’m filled with the goodness of the Lord. I do his work. You do the Devil’s.”

  “That’s not so,” Lily argued. “I tell them what I see so they can change their ways.”

  Little James laughed. “Is that what Brother Everyman told you?” he asked. “Maybe he needs to study his gospel a little more carefully. It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority. Luke wrote that in the book of Acts. It means only God knows what will happen to us. Here’s another one. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. How do you like that one?”

  He was still smiling, but his eyes were hard now. Lily had no idea what to say. She didn’t know the book well enough to quote from it. Nor did she know what most of it meant anyway. All she could do was stare at the boy.

  Little James laughed again. There was not an ounce of humor or chee
r in it. “Don’t look like that,” he said. “It ain’t your fault. You’re just broken. But God can fix you right up again.”

  Lily found her voice. “Everyone keeps telling me that. But nobody can tell me how.”

  Little James winked at her. “I can tell you,” he said. “But not now. I got to get ready for my sermon tonight. I’ll see you later.”

  He turned and left her standing there amidst the rides and games. She watched him disappear into the crowd. Part of her hated him for what he’d said. But she couldn’t help but wonder if he spoke the truth. He’d quoted God’s book so easily, and seemed to know what it all meant far better than she did. Even the Reverend didn’t quote so freely from it. Maybe the boy was the one who would show her how to escape from the curse she was under.

  She went back to her wagon and waited for the nightly service to begin. When she heard the choir singing “This Little Light of Mine,” she walked to the big top and went inside, taking a seat in the stands. The crowd was larger than usual, and there was a current of anticipation in the air that she had never sensed before.

  “I can’t wait to see Little James,” she heard a woman say to her friend, who nodded in agreement.

  “I saw him in Tuppawany,” the first woman continued. “He was so filled with the spirit that he glowed. You’ll see.”

  Lily thought back to the day she had stepped onto the bus coming to the Holy Gospel Caravan. The people there had spoken about Silas Everyman in this way. But this woman sounded even more excited.

  The service unfolded as it usually did, with the choir singing and the Reverend working the crowd into a frenzy of spiritual rapture. He brought out Martha, the bearded woman. He showed them the mouthless man and the one with no limbs. And then he brought out Star.

  Lily had braced herself for this moment, as she had on every other night that she’d watched from the stands. Whenever Star was on the stage, Lily kept her eyes fixed on her face, willing her to look her way. Lily always sat in the same place, so that Star would know where she was. Even though Star had told her that the lights made it almost impossible for her to see any of the faces in the crowd, Lily tried to will her to turn her head in her direction. And often she did. Then, as the Reverend enumerated Star’s alleged transgressions, Lily would sing under her breath a lullaby that her father had sung for her whenever she was sad or unable to sleep.

  She did so now.

  “Stars above you light the darkness,

  shine the way to heart and home.

  Follow them ’cross sea and forest,

  hear my song and come, love, come.”

  Her voice was drowned out by those of the Reverend, the choir, and the crowd. But she sang anyway, ignoring the din around her and imagining the words surrounding Star and comforting her.

  “In my arms find rest and comfort,

  in your bed sleep safe and dream.

  Night will pass in hours untroubled,

  till you wake at morning’s gleam.”

  Lily sang the words again and again, casting a spell of love around Star that she hoped would shield her from the litany of sins of which she was being accused. She shut her eyes, imagining a circle of warmth and light in which the two of them lay, embracing, unafraid.

  The presentation of the witch’s daughter was usually the culmination of the service, and as Everyman’s by-now-familiar patter came to its end, Lily started to relax. Star’s torment was over, at least for the night. And if Lily could acquire the key to her cage, they would spend a few hours together.

  But when the Reverend concluded his sermon, no one came to escort Star off the stage. Instead, two clowns wheeled out what appeared to be a box draped with a red cloth. They placed it on the stage beside the preacher, then went and stood behind Star, but did not reach for her as they normally would.

  “Brothers and sisters,” Everyman said. His voice was solemn, his expression serious. “Earlier, I told you that the girl marked with the Devil’s signs was the most unfortunate example of the results of sinning against God you would see before you tonight. But now I confess that I have one greater even than that.”

  Lily felt the crowd hold its collective breath. Already brought to levels of near-hysteria by the things they had seen and heard, they now wanted to know what could possibly be worse than the demon-marked witch’s daughter.

  “I hesitated showing this to you,” the Reverend continued. “But tonight is a special night. God’s power is everywhere. And he has spoken to me and commanded me to show you this.”

  The Reverend reached out and took a corner of the red cloth in his hand. “As Peter wrote to the churches, Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” he said. “What does that mean, brothers and sisters?” He paused for a long moment. “Demonic possession!” he shouted.

  Cries erupted from the assemblage. Everyman held up his hand. “That’s right, my friends. The Devil sends his demons to collect souls for him, just as God sends men like me to win them for his glory. We’re locked in battle every day. And tonight, you’re going to witness what happens when one of the Devil’s own comes up against a man of God.”

  He yanked on the cloth, which slid off, revealing a small cage. Inside it was a girl. Her hair was matted, and her skin dirty.

  “Moth!”

  Lily’s eyes found Star as the girl lunged forward. The clowns grabbed her, holding her back. She struggled, hitting out at them and calling out her sister’s name. The Reverend glanced at her, then turned back to the audience and shook his head sadly.

  “This child is corrupted,” he bellowed. “Her soul has been claimed by the Devil, added to his collection. But tonight, we’re going to take it back from him. And to help me do this, I have a special guest.”

  A spotlight found the stage as the choir began to sing. Little James stepped out from between the curtains. The crowd, seeing him, screamed as he walked over to stand beside Everyman.

  “Brothers and sisters,” the Reverend said, motioning for them to quiet down. “Many of you already know this child of God. You’ve heard him testify. You’ve seen the power of the Lord move through him. And tonight you’re going to see his greatest work yet. For tonight, he will snatch this girl from the Devil’s grasp.”

  Little James held up his fat, pale hands. He walked to the cage where Moth huddled, pressed against the back. He prowled around it, his lips moving silently, his hands raised up.

  “What’s he saying?” a man called out.

  Little James stopped and turned. “What am I saying, brother?” he said. “I’m telling the demon that it’s going to lose. I’m telling it that it’s going to need to find another home, because it ain’t welcome in this child of God!”

  The people cheered. Star, restrained by the clowns, attempted to break free. Lily sat, frozen, as the spectacle unfolded. She knew she could not help, but she had to witness.

  Little James thrust his hands through the bars of the cage. The audience gasped. Inside, Moth cowered. She seemed half asleep.

  Little James touched her head. “Demon, I command you to come out,” he shouted.

  “Amen!” cried Everyman.

  “Amen!” echoed the crowd.

  Nothing happened.

  “The demon is strong, brothers and sisters,” Everyman said. “It doesn’t want to let go. But brother James is stronger!”

  “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,” Little James shouted. His eyes were shut, and his arms shook, as if a great power passed through him. “And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God!” he said.

  Moth wilted under his touch. She fell back against the bars. Then she screamed. At the same time, a shadow flew from the cage and through the big top. All around Lily, men and women cried out in fear.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Little James called out. He had come to the front of the stage, where he stood, his finger pointed tow
ard the top of the tent. “It’s only the demon fleeing back to hell! Let it go. Let it go back with a message for its master — the Lord will not be mocked! The Lord will seek you out in all your hiding places!”

  The crowd clapped as amens and hallelujahs filled the air. Little James stood in the spotlight, Everyman’s arm around his shoulder, triumph radiating from him. Lily, though, was looking at Moth. The girl had not moved since uttering the cry. Now two clowns came and silently pulled the wheeled cage back through the curtains. When Lily looked for Star, she saw that she too had been removed.

  It was all terribly wrong. Yet nobody seemed to understand this. Lily, alone in her horror, stared at the pandemonium around her and wanted to scream for them to stop. But it was like fighting a whirlwind. All she could do was try to get out before she was caught up in it.

  Slipping from her seat, she ran for the exit.

  T H I R T Y

  BABA YAGA HELD the piece of cloth in front of the lantern concealed just off stage and waved it about. On the canvas wall of the big top a shadow, magnified to enormous size, flapped and fluttered. She drew the cloth quickly away, and the artificial ghost seemed to swoop across the empty space and vanish into the night.

  “What a lovely trick,” she said, although there was no one to hear her. The big top had emptied hours earlier, and she was alone on the stage.

  It had been a wonderful show. She’d watched it all from her perch high above. The new boy was a splendid performer. The girl in the cage too had delivered well, although Baba Yaga suspected that there was nothing rehearsed about her reactions. She had found a very sharp pin, the tip coated in dried blood, lying on the stage beside the place where the wheeled cage had stood. She suspected that were she to inspect the girl’s neck carefully, she would find there a tiny hole, no bigger than a spider bite.

  It was all typical theatre trickery. She’d seen its like before. (She recalled here a particularly fine version of the story of Long, Broad, and Sharpsight that she’d seen while visiting a distant cousin in Cheb many years ago.) But it was still impressive when it was done well, and the preacher and his boy were admittedly adept at stagecraft.