The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,93

wish had not been fulfilled. And then Eulis had a thought.

“Well hell,” he said, and pulled at the brocade vest over his belly. “Maybe a real preacher didn’t say words over his body, but by God, he’s gonna spend eternity in the arms of one.”

Letty brightened. She hadn’t looked at it all that way.

“You’re right,” she said. “Come on. We’ve got to get back.”

“What for?” Eulis asked. “I done performed the wedding and buried the corpse. What else could possibly be left?”

Letty grabbed him by the arm and aimed him toward town. It only stood to reason there would be more who needed the services of a man of God. It didn’t occur to either of them that some might wonder why the town whore had taken it upon herself to be the escort for the preacher they’d waited so long to meet, and they were too busy trying to save their own hides to care.

Isaac Jessup sat on the bench in front of Matt Goslin’s general store, waiting patiently for the preacher to come back from the funeral on the hill outside of town. He knew the worthy reverend would be a busy man. He also knew that the preacher had already married some and buried another, but Isaac had his own urgent need for the man of the cloth.

He needed God to give a blessing on his one and only son. If he and Minna lost Baby Boy, she wouldn’t survive another burying. Truth was, he would lose her, too. And if he lost Minna, he might as well put a gun to his own head and do himself in while he was at it. Going on without her didn’t bear consideration.

While he watched for the preacher, Minna and Baby were inside the general store, marveling at the new-fangled goods that marked Lizard Flats as a place of unbelievable refinement. Even Isaac had been stunned to see real peaches in tin cans, and had been disbelieving of the marvel until Matt Goslin had opened a can right before their eyes and offered them all a bite.

Isaac leaned his head against the outer wall of the store and licked his lips. He could still taste the peach juice.

A horse neighed. He looked up. A man and a woman were walking down the sidewalk. Isaac took a deep breath and stood up. Although he’d never seen Reverend Randall Ward Howe in his life, he recognized the man by his clothing.

Just as Letty and Eulis thought they had things under control, a man stepped into their path.

“You’d be the preacher?”

It was more question than statement, but Eulis knew what the response demanded.

“Why, yes I am,” he said. “What can I do for you, my son?”

Isaac shifted his stance. He’d found the right man after all. The fellow even talked like a preacher.

“I reckon I’ll be needin’ you to baptize my boy,” he said shortly.

Eulis relaxed. Surely he could handle the naming of one small infant without causing a disaster.

“And where would the sweet child be?” Eulis asked kindly, hoping he sounded as fatherly as his position demanded.

Isaac turned toward the store. “Baby Boy! Minna! Come on out here! I found the preacher!”

Eulis gawked. He’d never heard a man shout that way at an infant in his life. His confusion increased when a strapping youth and a pretty woman came running from the store.

“Who are they?” Eulis asked, wondering where the baby was.

“That there’s my wife, Minna, and our son, Baby Boy.”

“But where is the child you want baptized?”

Letty elbowed him so hard he stumbled.

“That’s him, you dolt. She pointed at the tow-headed youngster at his father’s feet. “It’s got to be him. He called him Baby, remember?”

Eulis was sorely in need of a drink and an explanation. He didn’t get the drink, but he did get an explanation as Minna Jessup began to speak.

“We buried seven babies before this one here came along,” she said softly, and then combed her fingers through Baby Boy’s hair to smooth it down. “Isaac couldn’t bring hisself to name this one for fear of jinxin’ him, too. But Baby’s growed some, and he’s a mind to take a name, so we brought him along for you to give the blessing.”

Eulis swallowed a knot of panic. They want me to bless a child for good luck? Dear Lord, I haven’t had a run of good luck in so long, I wouldn’t know it if it ran up my ass and shouted whoopee!

Letty began to sweat. This