The Crossroad Read Free Page B

perched on the wooden bench, she felt the warmth caress her back.
    “Had a letter from Adele … a few weeks back,” Lavina said.
    Rachel was surely glad to hear this interesting tidbit. “Well, if it’s any of my business, what did she have to say?”
    “Doctor’s givin’ her a different medicine. Seems to be helpin’ some.”
    Rachel was curious, though she was too hesitant to ask. Had Adele mentioned anything of Philip Bradley in her letter?
    But Lavina was off on another tack. “Sometimes I wonder if’n folk who knew ’bout Adele and Gabe’s affection for each other … ever questioned why me ’n her never visited through the years,” she remarked.
    “I’ve wondered that myself.”
    “Me ’n Adele didn’t write all that much—mostly just Christmas cards and birthdays.”
    Rachel perked up her ears. The woman was talking up a blue streak!
    “‘Twasn’t my idea for Adele to stay put in Reading—not come to visit me none. But … well, we’d killed off her one and only love, so ’course she wouldn’t wanna come back—not here.”
    “But you invited her plenty, didn’tcha?”
    Lavina was quiet again, then she replied, “Adele was happiest teachin’ school close to home.”
    Rachel could understand that. She, too, was a homebody. “Did she ever leave Reading?”
    “Far as I know, never did.” Lavina sighed and her breath sputtered a bit. “Doubt she ever forgave the bishop for Gabe’s dyin’ an’ all.”
    “For goodness’ sake, why not ?”
    “We’re sharin’ secrets today, ain’t? So I got one of my own.” Lavina drew in another deep breath. “It’s been a-troublin’ me for years, now.”
    Rachel felt herself tense up, wonderin’ what was coming next.
    “Adele did write me onct … ’bout the bishop and Gabe.”
    “She did?”
    “Jah. Guess I oughta try ’n look for it … so’s you know for yourself what I mean,” Lavina said, excusing herself.
    Rachel heard the quick footsteps on the stairs, and after what seemed like a long time, the woman returned. “Listen here to this. Back in 1963—one year after Gabe’s death—Adele wrote this to me.”
    Lavina rattled the letter and, with great effort, began to sound out the words: “‘Something tells me things were … horribly strained between Bishop Seth Fisher and Gabe … prior to the accident. You may not know it, but Gabe once told me … that the bishop had … threatened his life on more than one occasion.’”
    Rachel was aghast. “Threatened his life? Whatever for?” She thought back to Adele’s story. What had she said about any of this?
    “‘Twasn’t any secret … some of the People thought the bishop put a hex on Gabe.” Lavina’s voice trembled momentarily.
    Rachel felt breathless all of a sudden, as though someone had knocked the air out of her. “The bishop ? A hex ? I hate hearin’ suchlike.”
    “Well, I, for one, never believed it. ’Least I didn’t want to. And now it’s mighty hard to know for sure, really.”
    “What with most everyone who knew anything ’bout it long passed on to Glory?” asked Rachel.
    “Jah.”
    “Bishop Fisher’s still alive,” Rachel offered, hoping to draw more of the story from the one and only person who might know something ’bout her great-uncle’s untimely death.
    “Well’s … there’s no talkin’ to him .”
    “I s’pose. The way Gabe up and died … I hafta say I thought it seemed awful peculiar,” Rachel replied. “Too abrupt it was, and right after he’d started preachin’ so strong against powwow doctors and all. Does seem right suspicious, really.”
    “Best to just leave it be.”
    Leave it be… .
    Lavina’s words churned in Rachel’s mind. Her own father had said something similar when she’d asked questions about Gabe’s unjust shunning and ultimate excommunication. Rachel knew from Adele’s lips the stand Dat and others had taken in their hush-hush approach to Gabe’s ousting.
    The women’s talk eventually turned to