was ironing. His torso was long and seemed to have no muscle or fat or hair. He lifted his shirt off the ironing board, slid his arms into the starched sleeves, and fastened the buttons, bottom to top, slowly.
“I was looking for Owney,” Ruth said.
“He’s gone to Fort Niles to pick up Mr. Ellis.”
“Oh, really? Sorry.”
“You knew that very well.”
“Oh, that’s right. Yes, I did know that. Sorry.”
“This is not your house, Miss Thomas. What made you think you were free to wander about it?”
“That’s right. Sorry to have bothered you.” Ruth backed into the hallway.
Pastor Wishnell said, “No, Miss Thomas. Come in.”
Ruth paused, then stepped back into the room. She thought to herself, Fuck, and looked around. Well, this was certainly Pastor Wishnell’s room. This was the first room in the house that made any sense. It was stark and blank. The walls and ceiling were white; even the bare wooden floor was whitewashed. The room smelled faintly of shoe polish. The pastor’s bed was a narrow brass frame, with a blue woollen blanket and a thin pillow. Under the bed was a pair of leather slippers. The bedside table held no lamp or book, and the room’s single window had only a window shade, no curtain. There was a dresser, and on it a small pewter plate holding a few coins. The dominant object in the room was a large, dark wooden desk, beside which was a bookcase filled with heavy volumes. The desk held an electric typewriter, a stack of paper, a soup can of pencils.
Hanging above the desk was a map of the coast of Maine, covered with pencil marks. Ruth looked for Fort Niles, instinctively. It was unmarked. She wondered what that meant. Unsaved? Ungrateful?
The pastor unplugged the iron, wrapped the cord around it, and set it on his desk.
“You have a pretty house,” Ruth said. She put her hands in her pockets, trying to look casual, as if she’d been invited here. Pastor Wishnell folded the ironing board and placed it inside the closet.
“Were you named after the Ruth of the Bible?” he asked. “Have a seat.”
“I don’t know who I was named after.”
“Don’t you know your Bible?”
“Not too much.”
“Ruth was a great woman of the Old Testament. She was the model of female loyalty.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“You might enjoy reading the Bible, Ruth. It contains many wonderful stories.”
Ruth thought, Exactly. Stories. Action-adventure. Ruth was an atheist. She had decided that the year before, when she learned the word. She was still having fun with the idea. She hadn’t told anyone, but the knowledge gave her a thrill.
“Why aren’t you helping Mrs. Pommeroy?” he asked.
“I’m going to do that right now,” Ruth said, and thought about making a run for it.
“Ruth,” Pastor Wishnell said, “sit down. You can sit on the bed.”
There was no bed in the world that Ruth wanted less to sit on than Pastor Wishnell’s. She sat down.
“Don’t you ever get tired of Fort Niles?” he asked. He tucked his shirt into his pants, in four smooth strokes, with flat palms. His hair was damp, and she could see the tooth marks from a comb. His skin was pale as fine linen. He leaned against the side of the desk, folded his arms, and looked at her.
“I haven’t been able to spend enough time there to get tired of it,” Ruth said.
“Because of school?”
“Because Lanford Ellis is always sending me away,” she said. She thought that statement made her sound a little pathetic, so she shrugged blithely, trying to indicate that it was no big deal.
“I think Mr. Ellis is interested in your well-being. I understand that he paid for your schooling and has offered to pay for your college education. He has vast resources, and he obviously cares what becomes of you. Not such a bad thing, is it? You are meant for better things than Fort Niles. Don’t you think?”
Ruth did not reply.
“You know, I don’t spend very much time on my island, either, Ruth. I’m hardly ever here on Courne Haven. In the last two months, I’ve preached twenty-one sermons, visited twenty-nine families, and attended eleven prayer meetings. I often lose count of weddings, funerals, and christenings. For many of these people, I am their only connection to the Lord. But I am also called upon to give worldly advice. They need me to read business papers for them or to help them find a new car. Many things. You’d be surprised. I settle disputes between people who would otherwise