Sarah was startled awake...she rubbed her eyes....immediately covered her breasts with her hands and screamed,"Washington!" He had already turned away from her and was frozen in place. Washington cried out,"Oh Miss Sarah...I didn't see nothing....I came through the garden fence and the doors was slightly opened....oh...oh...Miss Sarah...I have to go shine something....damn.....I got to help Gretchen shine the silverware!"
As he walked towards the kitchen...Sarah giggled and gently shouted,"Did you pick up the new brass candle holders I ordered?" Washington kept walking...not looking to either side...shouting back,"Yes Miss Sarah and I'm gonna shine them too." Sarah laughed as she rushed to her bedroom. As she got dressed...she repeated her dream out loud so she wouldn't forget it. She walked in the kitchen...looked out and saw Washington buffing the silver Pierce-Arrow.
Gretchen was putting away the food in the cupboards and asked,"What is wrong with Washington...he walked by me on the porch like he had seen a ghost....almost ran into me." Sarah smiled and said,"He's fine....sometimes men get a little over exited about simple things." Gretchen shrugged her shoulders and finished putting away the groceries.
When Wednesday rolled around....Sarah was sitting on the porch steps..playing with a black ant. She was letting it crawl on and off of a leaf. She saw Pastor Saylen coming down the lane on his horse. She sighed and spoke down at the ant,"Better run on home little fellow...unless you love drama."
Sarah looked up...she couldn't see Pastor Saylen's face but she could feel something was terribly wrong. She stood up as he handed the reigns to Washington who told the Pastor he would water the mare and give her some feed. The Pastor thanked him and looked at Sarah with a profound sadness in his eyes. Sarah asked,"What is wrong...are you OK? Pastor Saylen stood at her side for a moment...the sat on the third porch step. Sarah sat beside him.
He rubbed his hands over his face and said,"I no longer have a church." Sarah looked puzzled and asked,"What do you mean?" He looked down...saying,"They called me for a meeting in Indianapolis....four Pastors were there along with Jess and Hilda Hollman. He went on,"Hilda accused me of running a brothel in the Lord's house.....Jess backed her up and told the Pastors that you seduced him in the balcony."
Sarah gasped and angrily said,"Jess Hollman is a liar...he blackmailed me into servicing him!" She went on,"Oh Pastor...I am so sorry....so sorry...this is all my fault." Pastor Saylen tugged at the top of his knee length boot and said,"No Sarah...it isn't your fault..it was my uncontrollable anger." Sarah asked what happened? He said,"Near the end of the meeting...one of the Pastors called you a useless whore....I slapped him with the back of my hand and shouted at all of them!"
Sarah wanted to grin but didn't and asked him what he shouted at them. He said,"I told them that salvation was as free as the rain...that they dare judge any effort towards any soul that belongs to God...I told them they they were not worthy to be the dust at your feet." Sarah was stunned....she wanted to cry, laugh, hug him, dance and scream with joy all at the same time. She calmed herself within and said softly,"Pastor....that is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me."
A tear ran down his face as he said,"You don't have to call me Pastor anymore...call me John....I am no longer a man of the cloth." Sarah put her hand on his shoulder and said,"Maybe not a man of the cloth...you are still a man of God." She added,"I already knew the words when you read them from the bible....I loved hearing your voice...so deep and filled with faith." John looked at the sky and said,"What is a preacher without a church?
Sarah thought for a moment...smiled and said,"Earth was the church of Jesus....colored skies were his windows....timbers of the beautiful living forests were his walls...hills and mountains were his pulpits." A little smile came on John's face as he said,"I do love the way you describe things...yet I feel so broken."
