Wrapped in Rain(42)

Then she whispered, "I am here for one reason. So please leave all church matters to me."

Rex's wheels were turning and he knew he'd never find another Miss Ella. If he fired her, he'd have to become a dad for more than five seconds, and he didn't want that. He backhanded her hard across the cheek and spit in her face as he screamed out of the kitchen, "You watch your mouth, or you'll find your ugly little butt back in the fields where you belong!"

Miss Ella wiped the blood off her lips and I crawled out of the pantry. I placed an ice cube inside a wet rag and handed it to her. I was too scared to speak, but she could read my face. She smiled, lifted me onto her lap, and nuzzled my nose with her forehead. "Child, don't you worry. I'm fine." Her eyes followed the smell of Rex. "Never better."



Katie and I walked down the single center aisle. Katie brushed the pews with her hand and said, "I used to dream of doing this."

"What's that?"



"Walking down the aisle."

"What, with me?"

"No." She hit me in the shoulder again the same way she had in the barn. `Just in general, you codfish."

"It's been a long time since you called me that."

"Yeah, kind of weird. Anyway, Trevor was never a big fan of churches."

The pews were fitted up next to the windows so the person farthest from the middle could lean against the wall. I pointed beneath the second pew. "One day she found me curled up under here, hiding. I think I was about seven. It was getting late and Rex had been himself."

Katie nodded and put her hands in her jeans pockets. She wore no wedding band, but the thin pale line showed where it had been. Her hooded sweatshirt hid her neck but not her worry. Last night's sleep had helped, but she'd need more than one night to smooth the wrinkles. I continued. "Miss Ella sat me up and said, `Child, what's wrong?'

"I said, `Miss Ella, I'm scared.' She walked me up to the railing and we sat down right about here with our backs to the altar, looking that way." I pointed down and out the front door. "She scooted up next to me and pulled me under her wing. `Tucker, haven't I told you,' she said, smiling, `I'm not going to let anything happen to you. The devil can't touch you. Not ever. Before he can, he's got to ask the Lord, and the Lord's just going to tell him no. So you just shut your eyes, and lay down right here. I'll protect you.' I spread out on that purple pad and put my head in her lap. I remember being really tired. She put her hand on my cheek and said, `If you get scared, you just remember that `no weapon fashioned against you can stand."'

"I think that was one of her favorites."



"She had lots of favorites."

While her ears were trained on me, her eyes were not. Ever since she had arrived at the house, Katie had looked perched to spring and her head moved on a swivel. From her anxious perch, she could view the end of the drive and Miss Ella's cottage.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Katie." She didn't see it coming and flinched. "It's just me." She smiled and took a deep breath. "He's not here. And he's not going to find you here. If he does, I've got a really big baseball bat and I can still swing it."

She laughed uneasily.

"If that doesn't work, I've got a few really nice goldinlaid shotguns that ought to do." She brushed my hand away, and I tried to make light of the moment. "Besides, you've got that Dirty Harry thing stuck up in the closet. With a little practice, you might hit the broad side of a barn."

"Okay, okay." The smile was real this time. "I hear you."

"Katie"-my tone softened and grew more serious"and if none of that works, I know this lady in heaven who's got a front row seat. She can bring down thunder, and she's not afraid to do it either. I'm speaking from experience."

Katie sank down against the railing, let out a deep breath, and focused about a hundred miles out the back door. I walked through the pews, circling around like a maze, letting my hand gently rub the tops of each. "When I got a little older, maybe I was nine, I walked in here and found Miss Ella leaning against the railing with her knees about where you are." Katie looked down and brushed the dilapidated purple velvet with her hands.

"Tears were running down Miss Ella's face. I ran up alongside and put my arm around her like she always used to do me. `Miss Ella, you okay?' She nodded and wiped her eyes. `Well,' I asked, `what are you doing?' She turned around and sat about like you are now and said, `I'm asking God to protect you. To keep the devil from ever putting a finger on you. He's already been whipped once, so I'm just asking God to keep it up. To keep sticking it to him.' I liked the idea of somebody other than me getting a whipping, so I sat down next to her, leaned against the railing, and pulled a squished and warm peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of my pocket. I licked around the edges and asked, "Miss Ella, do you talk to the devil?'



"She shook her head. `No, not really, other than to tell him to get back in hell and stay there.' She pointed down into the earth, and that got us laughing, which we needed, so we laughed another minute and let our giggling fill the room.

"Miss Ella poked me in the stomach and said, `And I told him I hoped it was hot too.' She put her arm around me and tore off a corner of my sandwich. `Give me some of that sandwich, boy. I'm hungry too. Wrestling with the devil always makes me hungry.' We chewed a minute or two, and with peanut butter stuck to the top of my mouth, I said, `Miss Ella, does my daddy have to ask your permission before he can hurt me?' She swallowed her corner, picked me up, and gently pointed my chin toward her. `Absolutely. Nobody can touch you without talking to me first. Not the devil and not your father.'