Ten

WHILE WE WAITED FOR Abraham to pick us up from school on Friday, I asked Luke, ‘Has he said anything to you? Has he told you what’s in his mind?’

Luke shrugged. ‘Not a word. When I tried to talk to him, he just went off about the Elders, especially Elder Stephen. Some days I think, Yes, he’s definitely leaving. Then the next day he’ll be happy again. He loves his work. That’s the only thing keeping him here, I’m sure of it.’

‘Will Elder Stephen do what he did to Malachi?’ I shouldn’t have said that in front of Zillah — it was only one more thing for her to worry about — but it was too late now, so I went on. ‘Malachi loved his work too. Rebecca would be married to him and still here if Elder Stephen hadn’t stopped him working in the gardens.’

Sure enough, Zillah flicked her eyes between us. ‘What do you mean? Who is Malachi? I thought Elder Stephen wanted to marry her. Tell me!’

Luke gave me a look, but she knew so much of our story now, she might as well know the rest — especially if Elder Stephen reassigned Abraham like he’d done to Malachi. I said, ‘Malachi was betrothed to Rebecca, but he left the Faith because Elder Stephen said he had to be a plumber instead of a gardener.’

Zillah gasped. ‘Will he do that?’

Luke shook his head. ‘Abraham thinks Elder Stephen is too cunning to do that. He thinks the Elders are trying to get rid of him without being obvious about it. Everyone would know why he left if they said he couldn’t work with machinery. It’s too much the same as what they did to Malachi. People might start to ask questions.’

‘No, they won’t,’ Zillah said. ‘Nobody except us asks questions.’

She sounded definite. ‘How do you know?’ I asked. ‘They wouldn’t talk about it where anybody else could hear them.’

‘Sharon doesn’t think the Rule is dumb. She’s always telling me off — she says, Think of your immortal soul, Zillah Pilgrim.’ It was a perfect imitation of Sharon’s way of speaking. ‘Eunice and Joy — they like the stupid Rule.’ She kicked the gravel, sending a stone bouncing off into the grass. ‘Sharon doesn’t kick stones. Joy and Eunice don’t either.’ She kicked another one.

Abraham pulled up in the car. One look at him and we could see his mood was dark. He even made the engine sound angry. Luke said, ‘Chill, brother. What have the twelve old men done today?’

Our brother slowed down, but sighed from the depths of his endangered soul. ‘Nothing! That’s the trouble. Father asked them to give me permission to do an electronics course. No prizes for guessing what they said.’

Father actually asked the Elders to break the Rule about worldly education?

‘Go, Father!’ Luke said. ‘You’ve got to admit it, Abraham. That’s a huge thing for him to do.’

‘Yeah. I know. He prayed about it for ages.’Abraham sighed again. ‘He’s a good man, I know that. But I wish he wasn’t so fixed on that bloody Rule. It’s all stuff the Elders make up, so why can’t he admit it?’

My stomach hurt. Abraham would leave. Neriah’s family had gone. Our own father had asked the Elders to break the Rule.

‘Elder Stephen says the Lord speaks to him. How do you know he makes stuff up?’ Zillah’s eyes were huge.

Abraham shrugged. ‘We can’t prove it. But nobody ever asks if he can prove the Lord does speak to him.’

‘Then why do you stay? You could easily get another job.’ I couldn’t believe I was saying these things out loud, but I wanted to know, to understand — to prepare for the shock of him leaving. ‘You could go to university like Daniel did.’

He would leave us. We’d lose a second brother. Nothing in my life felt certain any longer.

Zillah said, ‘Is it your immortal soul, Abraham? If you go away, will you worry about your immortal soul?’

We went round two corners without getting an answer, and we had reached the bottom of our street before he said, ‘No, brat face. You lot are the only reason I’m still here. Don’t get excited. If those bloody Elders do one more idiot thing, then I’m off.’ He held up a hand to stop our protests. ‘I won’t disappear without telling you. How many times do I have to say it?’

We had to be content with that.

Sunday came. My hands were healed enough for me to help Mother make potato salads to take to worship for lunch. She lectured me non-stop on the sin of making myself ill.

Abraham drove us to the temple, perhaps for the last time. I wanted to pray for him, but I didn’t know what to say until I remembered Luke’s prayer to the nice Lord. Lord, we pray for our brother Abraham to be able to use the talents You have given him. We pray for his life to be filled with your love and grace.

It was easy to pray to Luke’s Lord.

As we walked into the temple, Zillah whispered, ‘Salvation.’

I gave a choke of laughter. I was glad she wanted to play our game. I was glad she wasn’t terrified Elder Stephen would have some new way of punishing our family. ‘Do you think he’ll say it more than five times?’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘because Abraham wants worldly education.’

She was smart, my little sister. If she could have worldly education, she would go to university just like Daniel had, I felt sure.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice Elder Stephen was talking until Zillah squeezed my hand, and then again. Two salvations in his first sentence.

He was preaching about disaster. I tried to listen only for salvation. Our leader’s disaster sermons always frightened me, but today my attention was caught, for he was talking about Auckland, where Abraham wanted to study. What disaster had befallen the city?

‘The Lord in his wrath has brought affliction upon a sinful people. My children, be warned! Flood, earthquakes, famine — all are manifestations of the Lord’s wrath.’

I felt ill. How many people had perished?

None.

‘The Lord in his mercy has sent the city a warning. The floods have destroyed property, not people. But be warned, my children, the wrath of the Lord is fearsome. Keep your feet on the path to salvation lest you too suffer the affliction brought upon you by the wrath of the Lord. Obedience will save you. Only obedience to the Rule will lead you to salvation.’

Usually our game made the long hour bearable. Today, it had lost its power.

As was the custom, there were announcements once the sermon was over. Sometimes Elder Asa would read them but today Elder Stephen did it. ‘Your Elders have been praying about the matter of worldly education.’

From the corner of my eye I saw Abraham jerk upright in his seat.

‘We have prayed to the Lord, and it has come to us that certain skills are required for the Children of the Faith to conduct their businesses efficiently among worldly people.’ He paused, letting the people absorb the impact of his words. Some of the men sitting in front of us glanced at one another.

Abraham was sitting forward, one clenched fist on the back of the seat in front of him. He looked as if he was waiting for something.

He was right. There was more to come. Elder Stephen stared out at us with his sorrowful eyes. ‘My people, the Lord has spoken to me. It is His will that any man may undertake an appropriate course of study if its sole purpose is to enhance his business.’

Abraham still didn’t relax. What was he waiting for? Why wasn’t he jumping out of his seat with excitement?

‘My people, your Elders are very mindful that with our bountiful families there is need for us to take advantage of specific aspects of worldly education.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, held the pulpit, and rocked back and forth on his feet.

I thought he wanted us to imagine the Lord was speaking to him as we watched. I heard my brother hiss, ‘Just get on with it, will you!’

Mother gave him a sharp look. He didn’t notice.

Elder Stephen opened his eyes. ‘The Lord has directed me to inform you that the soul of any man who undertakes such education with a pure heart will not be in danger. Your Elders have prayed and it has come to us that any married man may undertake worldly study to help his business.’

Abraham slumped back in his seat. His lips formed words. I was sure they were You old devil.

As we walked to the dining room for lunch, Zillah asked, ‘He’ll leave now, won’t he? He’ll be so angry and he’ll leave today.’

All I could say was, ‘He’ll tell us. He won’t just vanish without telling us.’

Such small comfort.