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"So," said the Reverend, "you&039;ve had a good year, theni"

"Yes, sir Very good," Peter Lindsay answered "a bumper crop of corn, apples a&039;plenty, and pumpkins still on the vine You must have seen them, out in the field"

"I did Peter, you&039;re a blessed man To have such a far with a fellow not long ago about greed You kno greed can lead a ood that you&039;re not greedy, Peter, and that you&039;re satisfied with your position in life"

"I alories of the far his chin with one forefinger, which had a long and ragged nail

"The glories of Heaveni" asked Peter&039;s wife, Faith, as preparing the lory of its own: clean and tidy, alls of pale yellow pinewood, an orderly arrangement of cups and platters on shelves and in the arched fireplace itself the frying pans, trivets, spider skillets, iron pots, bake kettle, pot hooks and other vessels and tools that kept a home in operation and the faest child, Robin, had been helping her mother Now she came toward the reverend, who sat at the head of the table nursing a cup of cider, and showed hiht froht years old, blonde-haired, and very proud of her small embroidered pillohich indeed had upon it the representation of a robin perched on a tree branch

"I made this myself," said the child

"You didi Hoonderful! Now, you&039;re saying your hti"

"Well " The child grinned Her eyes were a bright, warot ot me finished"

"Oh ho! But I&039;" He handed the pillow back "ah, what&039;s this, theni" The middle child, the thirteen-year-old tow-headed boy named aaron, had come forward as well to show off his favorite possession "a fine collection," said the ht variety of different colored marbles within "How many do you havei"

"Twenty-two, sir"

"and you use them for what purposei Gamesi"

"Yes, sir But just to look at, too"

"I&039;d think any boy would like to have these"

"Yes sir, any boy sure would"

"aaroni" said Faith Lindsay "Don&039;t bother Reverend Burton, now"

"He&039;s no bother Not at all Here you are, aaron" He returned the jar of aze at the eldest child, who stood next to the fireplace in the process of helping her mother cook the cornbread, the beans, the baked apples and the piece of ham for this special occasion

She was sixteen years old, with the pale blonde hair of her h cheekbones, and the lustrous dark brown eyes of her father She stared fixedly at Reverend John Burton, as she paused before spooning the beans into a bowl

"Would you like to show , Larki" the man prodded

"No, sir," ca" Sitting opposite the reverend, her father-a wirya blue shirt and tan-colored breeches, his face lined and freckled by the sun and his scalp bald but for cropped reddish-brown hair on the sides and a solitary thatch at the front-glanced quickly at her, his thick eyebrows uplifted

"Go right ahead, please," said the reverend, in a gracious voice

"Why are your fingernails like thati"

"Lark!" Peter frowned, the lines of his face deepening into ravines at the sahter and shook her head

"It&039;s all right Really it is" Reverend Burton held his hands up and stretched the fingers out "Not very attractive, are theyi It&039;s a pity I couldn&039;t keepthe Indians My travels a the tribes unfortunately did not include weekly use of scissors I presuht use lateri"

"Yes, we do," Peter said "Lark, what&039;s gotten into youi"

She almost said it, but she did not I don&039;t trust thisof a reverend, a servant of God, was enough to o to the floorplanks She began spooning the beans into the bowl, her shoulders slightly bowed forith the weight of what she was thinking

He looks at ry," the reverend said, to no one in particular "Ravenous would be the word"

"Done in just a minute," Faith assured him "Robin, would you put the cornbread on its platteri"

"Yes, Moood napkins, aaron"

"Yes, ma&039;am" He put the jar of prized marbles down on the table and went to a cupboard

Lark Lindsay glanced quickly at Reverend Burton, and then away again; he was still watching her, with eyes the pale blue color of water The water of Christ, she thought hercan drink fro out the beans, set the bowl on the table in front of her father, and then her mother asked her to refill the reverend&039;s cup of cider fro so she turned her attention to that task

He had arrived about an hour ago Lark, her father and brother had been out in the orchard behind the barn, filling up more baskets from God&039;s bounty, when aaron had said, Papai Somebody&039;s on the road Comin&039; this way

It was rare to have a visitor The nearest , which itself was al the road They had been overjoyed to have a guest, and Lark knew her father would take it as a sign of the beneficent grace of the Lord, which he talked about often The landa trial, Peter Lindsay said, but all you had to do to touch God in this country was to reach up Which Lark had always thought was a roundabout way of saying that if you worked hard enough, God would reward you But sometimes that wasn&039;t exactly true, because she remembered several years when everybody worked themselves to the sweat and the bones, but the crops were paltry and all reaching up did was give you a withered apple froher branch

She refreshed the reverend&039;s cup of cider He shifted his leg slightly; beside him, on the floor, was his haversack My Bible is in there, he&039;d said I like to have et to it fast when I see a sinner coh, seeing as how sohter-and aaron and Robin had sh, but Lark had looked at Reverend Burton&039;s face and wondered why it was so scratched up, as if he&039;d been running through bra at her mother&039;s apron, the nice blue one with the yellow trim instead of the older scorched one she usually wore "Is this all righti" She showed that the cornbread had crumbled and fallen apart a bit when lifted from pan to platter, but Faith said it was just fine, dear

Upon his arrival, the reverend had made himself comfortable in the kitchen and had told therown up as a vicar&039;s son in Manchester, and how he in his e had crossed the atlantic on a vow to his father to bring salvation to the Indians He had been aes for ht into land was calling him home, he&039;d said There to find a new place of service, and new flocks to tend "We&039;re pleased to have you here after you&039;ve travelled so long and far," Peter said as aaron brought the good napkins to the table

"Long and far, indeed and I&039;lad to find a place to rest I fear my feet are blistered, as these boots are just a shade small You have some very nice boots, I see They look coh by now, I&039;d guess"

"Hm," said the reverend, and he took a drink fro up the kitchen, as Faith always let the skin char just before she took it off the fire Burton put his cup down and held it between both hands, and Lark could not help but take another furtive glance at the long, jagged nails He had washed his hands and face in the kitchen bucket, and scrubbed the nails with a brush too, true enough, but the reverend s and far without a bath Of course, if aChrist to the Indians then what opportunity ly for her to be thinking this way, she thought Ugly as sin, to be throwing shadows on such a bright, sunny day as this one had dawned

But she couldn&039;t help it, and she thought that later-when Reverend Burton had gone-she ought to confess her sin of haughtiness or pride or suspicion or whatever it was and it wasn&039;t just the ragged nails that e beard of many colors-dark brown, red, chestnut brown, silver-with a streak of charcoal black across the chin God help her cleanse her soul of this sinful thinking, Lark thought, but it was the kind of beard that Satanto be such a cock of the walk

"Tell an to bring the plates to the table "I passed several houses back there that looked to be deserted There are no people nearbyi"

"My brother had a farm back that way When his wife-rest her soul-died in &039;99, he took the children and went to Philadelphia Some of those houses are older; they were empty e came here You knons rise up and fall, and fall and rise up But it is good land here, that&039;s for sure and I&039;race of the Lord, that on&039;t be alone in this valley too er But the nearest people froht et there, not bad"

"and I&039;d presume the road connects somewhere to the Pikei"

"Yes, sir On a few "

"I&039;d presume also that Philadelphia is probably twenty or so et another chair Faith, you and Robin sit on this side here, and aaron can sit beside Lark"

"Philadelphia is land," said the reverend Faith set the haside it the horn-handled knife sharp enough to slice through the burnt crust "another thing, if you please Your barn Might you have a horse I could ride to Caulder&039;s Crossingi as I said, these boots-"

"Oh, reverend! We have a wagon!" Faith said, as she put down the bowl of baked apples and sat beside Robin "We&039;d be honored if you&039;d let us harness the teahtful," Burton answered "This is truly an answer to a tired ht in another chair and sat to the left of Lark, who had taken a seat down by her father and was looking at Reverend Burton&039;s black tricorn hanging on one wall hook behind hi on another He&039;d come in with that coat, which appeared to be far too small for him, wrapped around his shoulders like a cloak His dirty, dun-colored clothing looked to have been worn day and night for God only kne long Still months in the wilderness, with the heathen tribes

"Reverendi" Faith looked at hih the panes shining in her hair "Would you lead us in a blessingi"

"I certainly shall Let us close our eyes and bow our heads and let et what I need, it will just take ahis Bible, she thought Had he seen a sinner coi

She heard a click, opened her eyes and lifted her head, and she saw Reverend Burton pull the trigger of the flintlock pistol he was ai at her father&039;s skull

Sparks flehite smoke burst forth, and with a crack! that rattled the panes in the sun-splasheda small black hole opened in Peter Lindsay&039;s forehead, almost directly between his eyes as he too looked up in response, perhaps, to soent than waiting for a

Lark heard herself scream; but it was not so much a scream as it was a bleat

Her father went over backwards in the chair, slinging dark matter from the back of his head onto the pineall a hand reached up, the fingers clawing

Reverend Burton laid the s pistol down upon the table, and picked up the horn-handled knife

He rose to his feet, his chair falling over behind hirasped the nape of aaron&039;s neck, as the boy looked up at him with a mixture of shock and wonder aaron&039;s mouth was open and his eyes were already dull and unfocused, like the eyes of a small creature that knows the predator is upon it Reverend Burton drove the blade down into the hollow of the boy&039;s throat until the handle could drive no deeper Then he let the handle go, and aaron slithered off the chair like a boneless, gurgling thing

The reverend&039;s gaze moved across the table The hard, frozen-water eyes fixed upon Faith Lindsay, who made a noise as if she&039;d been struck in the stomach Her own eyes were red-ried twenty years in a matter of seconds She tried to stand up, collided with the table and knocked over her son&039;s jar ofthe platters, cups and bowls Then her legs collapsed like those of a broken doll, she staggered back against the wall and slid downnoise

"Moone pasty-white She also tried to stand, and so was on her feet when Reverend Burton&039;s hand took hold of her head

Whether he was trying to break the child&039;s neck with the severeher where he wanted her to fall, Lark did not know Lark&039;s head was throbbing with a terrible inner pressure; her eyes felt about to burst from her skull The room, the air, the world had turned a blurred andnoise-nuhnuh nuh, it sounded-and watched, paralyzed with fear, as Reverend Burton flung Robin against the hearth, followed her, and picked up an iron frying pan from one of the fireplace trivets