Sacred Ground

“Put it all on the bed in the other room, because we’ll have to go through everything. Put it in neat piles, Drew. Don’t just throw the things on the bed,” he’d added, knowing his brother’s tendency to do just that.

Now he stretched, put his clasped hands beneath his head and contemplated his immediate future as he watched the trees moving gently in the March wind.

Had anyone told him a few months ago that he’d interrupt his and Drew’s lives to come to a nowhere town in South Carolina, he’d have told them they were out of their mind. Yet here he was, expected to look for something in this big house filled with the accumulated living of two people. He didn’t even know what it was he’d be looking for. How could he recognize it when he saw it? Drew thought it’d be a treasure like a chest of jewels or money, but Gabe didn’t think it would be anything so obvious.

Ezekiel’s mind was more subtle than that. His will had told Gabe that he was to explore, discover and carry out the treasured destiny the property had held for six generations. The word destiny was the most intriguing part of the whole business.

He’d marched along in his ordinary life not doing anything unusual from day to day, just going to his job, doing some volunteer work, hanging out with his friends Calvin and Webster, having two unsuccessful love affairs, and that was all until Pop and Ma had died. Their deaths had been the major events of his life and had left him with Drew and a new sense of responsibility.

Those were the facts of his existence so far. But destiny seemed to have a different meaning, like a course of action that had been determined way in the past and couldn’t be changed. You were chosen and you couldn’t escape it. You could turn and shake and wriggle and run but it caught up with you because it wasn’t happenstance. It was destiny.

Gabe felt the hair on his arms stand up. Destiny was a powerful word, a concept not to be taken lightly, he thought, as he lay in the bed of the man who had devised the term for him, Gabe.

Today was Sunday. He wasn’t a churchgoer except in the past when, on occasion, he’d escort his mother, but it might be a good idea to take Drew and walk over to the Grayson Community Church for its eleven o’clock service.

He needed to know the people here and what they could tell him about his great-grandfather. The best way to begin in this small town was at the church.

Also, he needed all the assistance he could get from whatever source if he was to carry out his destiny.

Makima got to church at ten-thirty. She loved being in the main auditorium by herself. She would sit in the corner, close her eyes and absorb the sense of peace and tranquility the sanctuary gave her. Her forbears had obtained the land and built the first church on this spot. Sometimes it seemed to her that she could feel their presence and their joy at how the church had grown to serve and nourish the community.

It was here that she’d finally come to terms with the senseless death of her sister. It was here that she came to pray over the knotty problems encountered with the clinic project. And it was here that she’d come for healing after Reggie had walked out of her life.

She hadn’t slept well last night. She’d dreamt that the flirt from the foundation had followed her to the restaurant and had tried to get her to sit at his table at the same time that the tall stranger in the black jacket had snatched their food away. She’d made herself wake up, got a drink of water, and eventually had gone back to sleep.

She hadn’t felt rested, so she’d paid special attention to her appearance as a way of getting herself in the proper mood for church. She dressed in a navy blue two-piece knit with white trim, navy pumps and perched a stylish confection of blue straw and ribbon on her hair.

Now as she sat with a bowed head, she prayed for a peaceful mind and spirit so she could ascertain God’s will for her next step about the clinic. Surely it was His will that such a facility be built, since its whole purpose was to serve the people. That being so, surely He would make it possible for her to obtain the land Mr. Zeke had promised her. She asked God’s blessing on her negotiations with the New York man, the heir to the property.

Makima lifted her head as she heard the first footsteps of people coming for the morning service. She slipped out the side door and made her way to the vestibule to her place as part of the welcoming committee whose function was to greet the worshippers.

An unbroken stream of people came up the steps where they were welcomed, handed a program and ushered through the double doors, which now stood open. Once the choir marched in they would be closed.

Makima greeted Miss Selina Moore, who was walking with a cane this morning. “Let me help you to your seat. Arthritis bad again?”

“It sure is, honey, but I wasn’t going to let it keep me from coming out. Your folks all right?” Miss Selina was a retired teacher who’d taught school when Makima’s father had been the principal.

“They’re fine. They had to go to Orangeburg today but I’ll let them know you asked about them.” She settled Miss Selina in her favorite seat and hurried back up the aisle.

The vestibule was crowded with almost-latecomers. Deacon Miller called her over.

“Makima, I want you to meet someone. This is Mr. Zeke’s great-grandson, Gabriel Bell, and his brother, Drew Bell. They’ve just arrived from New York.

“Gentlemen, this is Miss Makima Gray. She knows everything about our church and about the community, too.”

Makima felt the blood drain from her face as she met the eyes of the tall stranger from the restaurant. Only her iron will and pride kept her on her feet as she extended her hand to the Bells and made a polite response.

“Shall I show you to your seats?” she asked as people moved in behind them.

“No, thanks. We can seat ourselves,” the tall one said formally. He was evidently as shaken as she was. The boy was different. He was trying to keep from smiling and there was a sparkle in his eyes when he looked at her.

A few moments later the choir marched in and the vestibule doors were closed. Makima usually sat in the front of the church to be on hand if needed, but now she crept into the last row and was thankful to make it there before she collapsed.

She was numb.

How could this have happened? The man she’d spilled her salad on was the same man she had to persuade to sell her a piece of the land he’d inherited.

Was this some cosmic joke being played on her?

She opened her bag after a few minutes to look into her compact mirror. She was still colorless so she made quick repairs and settled down to try to compose herself. It was useless. All she could think about was that Gabriel Bell lived right here in Grayson and now that she’d seen him here, somehow she had the impression that he was not going to be the kind of person who took one look at Grayson, tucked in his tail and ran back to the city.

He’d looked solid in his dark gray suit, white shirt and blue tie. A man not interested in staying would hardly have made it his business to come to church the day after he’d arrived.

She wondered what he’d thought when he saw her and realized from Paul Miller’s introduction that she lived in Grayson.

She closed her eyes. Images have power, and probably his image of her kneeling at his feet and dabbing ineffectually at his jacket would always be with him and associated with the name of Makima Gray. She’d have to change that.

She began to look around for him and his brother. Had they sat in the central section or on one of the side sections? There they were just four rows in front of her in the central section.

Gabriel sat up straight; she liked that in a man. His dark hair was cut short, his neck well trimmed. When he’d looked at her, his eyes hadn’t been as cold as they’d been in the restaurant. His primary emotion, like hers, had seemed to be astonishment.

The church secretary read out the names of visitors and invited them to stand and be recognized. There was warm applause when Gabriel and Drew Bell stood. Later when the minister came to the pulpit he greeted them again.

“Mr. Ezekiel Bell was a founding member of this church,” he told them. “Everyone called him Mr. Zeke. He was known throughout the community as a caring man who would help anyone when help was needed. His wife, Miss Sarah, taught school here many years and together they contributed a great deal to Grayson. He was a magnificent craftsman, as his house will testify. He lived well beyond his three score and ten years, for which we are all grateful. He will be missed and we are happy to welcome you, his great-grandsons, to Grayson.”

When the service was over, people were going to want to meet him and his brother. It was her job to see that it happened.

Personal discomfort had to be put behind her. She was in God’s house doing God’s work.

When the final prayer was over, she straightened her shoulders and went to the aisle. She ignored Gabriel’s look of surprise.

“I’d like to take you around and introduce you to some people,” she said with a warm smile. “Miss Selina Moore wants to meet you because she was a dear friend of Miss Sarah’s and they taught school together.”

Mr. Nelson came next, then Mr. Weber who had the only drugstore in Grayson, and after them enough people that Makima felt it was time to move the Bells out of the church. Gabriel was friendly and relaxed but Drew was looking dazed. Maybe they didn’t do this in New York churches.

As they came out onto the steps, a stylish young woman flashed a smile at Gabriel, stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Alana Gray, Makima’s sister, and I’ve been waiting to meet you.” She was one of a small group of young people.

“Glad you waited,” Gabe said, returning the handshake and the smile. “I’m Gabe Bell and this is my brother, Drew.”

“I’m Bobby Gray, Makima’s brother,” said the man in the group. “And this is Valerie Wolf and her brother, Jeff.”

Valerie was a petite brown-skinned girl with a Cupid’s-bow mouth and long eyelashes. Jeff looked to be about Drew’s age.

Alana seemed to have taken over the conversation with her exuberance as she explained that they were all planning to go to a movie in Swinton later and then get something to eat and asked if Gabe, Drew and Makima wanted to join the party.

Gabe glanced at Drew and, seeing that he and Jeff were talking, excused himself but said Drew might want to go.

“I have another engagement,” Makima said. “I won’t be through in time to go with you. What’re you going to see?”