KIM AND RUTH and Kathleen were all excited by the ‘Miracle Tour’. They had persuaded Martha that it was the only way she could get to see so many people and promised her there would be no cheap showmanship or freak show element to her visits to specifically chosen venues across the country.
‘There’s enough money in the bank account to pay rental on the first few halls,’ confirmed Ruth, who had taken over organizing the finances, ‘and to cover transport and accommodation.’
Unsure about the increased expansion of her healing and realizing it was unfair to expect her friends to put in so much work without payment, Martha proposed they should all take some form of salary.
Evie and Rianna said they didn’t need it but Kim and Ruth admitted that with the hours they were putting in, it was welcome. Martha left the arrangement of insurance, tax, and charity status to Ruth, who was the expert.
The ‘Miracle Tour’, as the press called it, hit the road that fall, starting off in her home area and travelling up first of all to New York and New Jersey. Martha met hundreds of people as word of her visit spread. She tried to limit the size of the crowds so that she would have time with the sick, the hurt and the lonesome who came to her for comfort. She told them of their own energy and how they must harness and use it as she struggled to remember their names and faces.
Kathleen and Ruth had volunteered to come with her to Chicago and California, but Evie was unable to leave her shop. Because of the distances involved, Kim and Ruth had decided to use an events organizer to book the halls and make arrangements for them and do some low-key publicity.
In Chicago, over a month later, it lashed rain, but even the downpour could not deter those who came along to meet her at the converted gospel hall. Every race, every creed, excited and hopeful, were there ready to believe in her and the miracles. They opened themselves to the healing energy and her exhortation that they should try and heal themselves. Some sang, some prayed out loud as Martha worked.
Back in her hotel room Martha felt so alone, wound up, her thoughts racing after the session, with no-one to talk to as the others had gone to bed. She missed the kids and resolved to phone them before she caught her early morning flight, glad that Mike had agreed to move back in and mind them for her for the few days.
California was different. She felt more relaxed as despite the three shows that were booked she was getting a chance to visit with her brother Brian and his wife Lisa, staying in their beautiful home in Mountainview, about an hour out of San Francisco.
They’d always been close as kids and when her older brother had pulled her into his arms asking, ‘What’s up, sis?’ she could honestly have wept.
They’d sat over a bottle of red wine late into the night, Lisa discreetly slipping away to bed so brother and sister could talk. She told him about the collapse of her marriage to Mike, the fights and bitterness between them, and the mounting pressures that had been too great to resolve.
‘Are you still speaking or communicating at all?’
‘We see each other once a week when he comes to dinner or when he collects the kids, and at the moment he’s staying in Mill Street whilst I’m here,’ she said.
‘Well, that’s something!’ her brother agreed, raising his eyes to heaven. ‘You know, Martha, I still can’t believe it, the things you’re doing. Jack and Annie were telling me about all the people you’ve helped. That sure must feel good!’
‘Sometimes. Other times it’s not so good,’ she said softly, telling him about Cass.
‘God, if the old man were alive he’d have you running for Congress!’
‘Oh hush, Brian!’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m fine, not really tired at all. Believe it or not, my energy seems to go right up when I need it, when I’m healing.’
‘I don’t know how in the hell you’re keeping this all together, what with the kids and Mike. I honestly don’t.’
‘I’ve got good people around me, old friends like Evie and Kathleen. I don’t know what I’d do without them. Then there’s Kim and Ruth and a whole bunch of other people that you mightn’t know.’
Her brother topped up her glass with more wine, then sat on the couch. His dark curly hair was now receding, and he’d grown a beard since she last saw him.
‘How’s Mom doing?’ he asked.
‘She’s fine. She and Bee play bridge one day a week and keep themselves occupied with all sorts of things.’
‘How’d she take you and Mike splitting up?’
‘I guess she was shocked at first, but she’s just getting used to it. The fact we still see each other and speak makes her kind of hopeful that we’ll get back together again!’
‘And will you?’
Martha considered. ‘No, I don’t think so. Too much has changed between us and there’s probably no going back at this stage.’
‘I’m sorry, sis. I wish Mom would come visit. I know if she spent time with Lisa, and gave her a chance and got to know her, she’d realize what a great girl I married.’
‘I know, Brian, but you know what she’s like.’
Martha couldn’t figure why her mother had taken Brian’s remarriage so badly. Brian, her firstborn, had always been her favourite. When his marriage to Gail had broken up after only two short years, her mother had prayed and said novenas in the hope that they’d get back together. Maybe her brother’s refusal to tell their mother of his wife’s affair had insulated her from the true reasons for his divorce, but surely she couldn’t expect someone as loving as her brother not to want to settle down again.
‘Maybe Bee and Mom could fly out and stay with us. We’d love to have them! Please try and persuade her when you get back home. You know she listens to you.’
‘I’ll try, Brian, I’ll try,’ she promised.
Martha had a radio interview at 1 p.m. and a scheduled walk around the impressive modern university hall they were using for the healing session afterwards.
Leaving the TV studio she was amazed to bump into Dan Kendrick, recognizing his huge frame in a lightweight suit walking slowly along the corridor ahead of her. She didn’t expect him to remember her and was just about to pass him when he stopped.
‘Martha, don’t tell me that you’re about to walk by me!’ he said accusingly.
‘No, Dan, of course not!’
‘Well, how’s my favourite healer?’ he joked, amused by her embarrassment.
‘Fine.’
‘I read about your visit in the papers. You’re getting to be quite famous.’
She grimaced.
‘Not something you enjoy, I gather?’
Martha shook her head.
‘Would you like to join me for lunch and I can show you my good elbow again?’
She burst out laughing. ‘I’m sorry, Dan, but I’ve an appointment that I’m already late for.’
He looked wounded. ‘Well, what about tomorrow?’ he suggested.
‘No can do!’ she apologized. ‘I’ve a packed schedule and we’ll be flying out this time tomorrow.’
‘Dinner tonight?’
She shook her head again. ‘I’ve got my session on.’
‘Well, a quick bit of supper afterwards, then! I could pick you up about ten, and you can fill me in on how Bob and Gina are coping with parenthood.’
She didn’t like to refuse him, and was in such a rush she agreed to see him later, without thinking.
Kathleen and Ruth were already in the circular hall checking the layout. There was enormous interest in Martha’s work and a camera crew from the local TV station had asked if they could film during the event.
‘No!’ She was adamant. ‘No.’
Ruth and the guy from the events company were trying to persuade her otherwise.
‘I will not have cameras used during the healing session,’ she insisted.
‘What about before or after, when the crowds are coming out?’ suggested the events man. ‘It would give you a lot more publicity!’
‘The people that come tonight to meet me deserve their privacy. There can’t be cameras at any stage, I’m sorry but that’s it,’ she said, digging her heels in, not wanting to break the trust between herself and those who came to see her.
That evening when she entered the hall Martha tried to hide her surprise when she saw a few members of the waiting crowd wearing T-shirts with the word MIRACLE on them. Who had made them or sold them? she wondered. Ruth just shrugged her shoulders and laughed when she pointed them out to her.
The hall grew hot, as the air conditioning worked haphazardly. Martha felt herself get warmer as she dealt with one person after another, sometimes barely having time to talk to them or find out their name or their particular problem. Ruth fetched her a jug of ice cold water and a fan. There were two couples with toddlers and she insisted on meeting them first, her heart going out to the young parents of sick children. As always she couldn’t believe the huge range of problems that beset humankind and asked the Good Lord to help and guide her in his healing work.
Exhausted at the end, all she longed for was a cool shower and to fall into bed between fresh sheets. It was only as she walked out through the main entrance hall that she remembered agreeing to meet Dan Kendrick. Kathleen and Ruth were still inside dealing with things, wanting to go back straight to their hotel to put the money collected into the hotel safe until the morning.
‘Oh, Dan, I’m sorry! I . . .’
‘San Francisco is full of restaurants,’ he began. ‘So, tell me what kind of food you’d like! I’ve a favourite Cuban one, but that may not be to your taste.’
‘Dan, I’m really sorry but if you took me to a restaurant now I’d probably just fall asleep at the table, so please don’t waste your money.’
He stopped talking and looked down at her.
‘You look beat. Did you get anything to eat earlier?’ he asked.
‘I’d a salad sandwich at about four o’clock.’
‘Then you’re hungry.’
‘I suppose,’ she agreed.
‘What about a walk down on the pier and grab something there? Then I’ll drop you straight back to your hotel.’
‘I’m actually staying with my brother Brian in Mountainview,’ she explained.
‘Even better then – it’s on my way home.’
The harbour area was lit up with strings of coloured lights that danced and reflected on the still water, Alcatraz out there in the far darkness. Gangs of tourists and couples hand in hand paraded by them. Martha appreciated the fresh air and the slap of the seawater against the pier as they strolled along the waterfront. They bought fresh fish and chips from a streetside vendor then walked along eating it out of paper containers. Dan treated them to two chilled pints of beer, served in plastic glasses.
‘How’s that husband of yours?’ he enquired politely.
Martha was embarrassed as she told him briefly about the break-up of her marriage.
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he responded.
They wandered into one of the gift shops that opened late on the pier. Martha was unable to resist the music boxes. Dan helped her to choose one for Sarah, Gina and Bob’s new baby; it was covered in bluebells and hidden fairies and she added one for each of her own girls, white unicorns for Mary Rose and mermaids for Alice. The night air was warm with a slight salt breeze; a lone seal was barking below in the distance as they strolled, Dan telling her about his tough Chicago childhood and Martha telling him of the rich Irish-American network that had sustained her family over the years. Dan eventually talked of his wife Teresa, who had died ten years earlier following a brain haemorrhage, and how lonely it had been since then. ‘I still miss her,’ he admitted.
Martha instinctively took a hold of his hand as they walked.
Later he drove her back to Brian’s house. The fresh air and food had definitely revived her, as she felt more invigorated.
‘That was the perfect dinner!’ she teased, asking him to come in and meet her brother and his wife.
‘No thanks, Martha, I’d best get home and anyways you have an early start tomorrow.’
They sat in the darkness, reluctant to end the night.
‘You feel like any more midnight walks on the pier, let me know!’
‘And you feel like any more cheap fish suppers you let me know,’ she responded.
‘Have a safe journey to Boston tomorrow, Martha,’ he said quietly.
‘And you take care of yourself, Mr Kendrick.’
Dan kissed her cheek politely before she got out of the car, Martha rushing inside like a guilty teenager.