As Louella was making peace with the God she couldn’t trace, two things happened that almost took the fight she had left.
One day as she was in the field overseeing the corn harvest, a wagon rode into the Happy Land. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that the Henderson County sheriff was guiding his horse and buggy toward the field.
Louella put a hand on Larry’s shoulder. “Let me see what the sheriff wants, and I’ll be right back.”
But Larry said, “Queen, you don’t have to watch over us. I promise, we’re out of the moonshine business. The corn will be delivered to our remaining customers, and anything left over will be kept right here for everyone in the Happy Land. You have my word.”
Louella nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “Tell the men I said thanks for all the hard work. I’ll leave you to it.” She couldn’t be everywhere and do everything on her own. She had to leave certain things in the capable hands of others and trust that they would do what was right for the kingdom.
When she walked over to greet the man who’d rode onto their property, her trust suffered a blow.
“Louella Montgomery?” he asked.
She put her hand over her eyes as the sun blocked her view. “That’s me.” She’d never had any dealings with the sheriff in these parts, but she’d seen him from time to time as they passed through Hendersonville. “What can I help you with?”
He climbed down from his buggy and handed Louella an envelope. “Your appearance is requested in court.”
“My appearance?” Louella put a hand to her chest as her eyebrows furrowed. “But why?”
“It’s in the letter, ma’am.” He tipped his hat to her. “Good day.” And then he was back in his buggy, riding down the hill toward the valley.
Louella stood next to the cornfield, staring at the envelope for the longest time. What on earth could she have done that required her appearance in court? She opened the envelope and read:
R. I. Barnwell, Administrator, seeks authority to sell property of Robert Montgomery to provide funds in order to pay debts in the amount of $500.
The letter also indicated that the property they had purchased for a dollar an acre was now worth two dollars an acre.
“You look like somebody struck you. What’s wrong?” Concern was in Brenda’s voice as she approached Louella.
Louella glanced up. She let the mountain air fill her lungs as she leaned on her mother’s shoulder. Sighing deeply, she lifted the letter. “Robert owes money to someone and now they want to take the land in order to pay his debts.”
Brenda put a hand to her cheek as her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Me too.” Louella was befuddled by this. Even though Robert had confessed about his debts, no one had bothered them for months. She had hoped they were in the clear.
“What you gon’ do?”
“Got to figure out what comes next, I guess.” She walked home with her mother, then an idea struck. “I’ll be back.” She got in her wagon and rode over to Serepta’s house.
But when Sarah opened the door with tears in her eyes, Louella experienced her second shock of the day.
“You heard?” Sarah bellowed while using a tissue to wipe her face.
Louella’s nose scrunched. She looked around, not sure what Sarah was referring to. “Did something happen?”
“It’s Mama. She’s been ill, and the doctor thinks her time is near.”
“Oh no!” Louella closed her eyes as the familiar pang of heartache snatched at her again. Serepta was eighty-seven years old, but there were some people God should let live forever, and Serepta was one of them. She was the first white person to ever show Louella a crumb of kindness.
Sarah hugged Louella as she continued to cry. “It’s terrible. I’m not ready to lose her.”
“We never are,” Louella told her. “But what I want you to consider is all the good your mama done. Think on that grand smile of hers and let that fill your heart.”
They ended the embrace, then Sarah blew her nose. “Thank you for that, Louella. Mama always said you and the others in the Happy Land were sent by God.”
“Do you mind if I sit with her? I’d like to thank her for everything.”
Nodding as a smile broke through the sadness on her face, Sarah said, “I think she would like that.”
Louella took the stairs with Sarah leading the way. She had become acquainted with love, loss, and grief. Serepta had been good to the Happy Landers, so she would not let her pass this earth without knowing how special she had been to them.
They entered Serepta’s room. It was hot outside and hotter in Serepta’s room. The fireplace was stacked high with wood, and the fire was blazing.
Louella stepped closer to Serepta’s bed.
“She keeps complaining about being cold,” Sarah told her.
Sweat beads formed on Louella’s forehead. “It’s fine.” Sitting down next to Serepta, she could see that the vibrant woman she once knew was no more. She’d lost weight, and her face was both thin and pale. Green veins ran through her frail hands as if they were mapping their way to glory.
“Came to see the old lady, huh?” Serepta said, glancing over at Louella.
Louella looked from right to left as if she was trying to find someone. “What old lady? I don’t see no old ladies ’round here.”
Serepta looked too tired to laugh, but she grinned. “I knew there was a reason I liked you on sight. You’re smart.”
No white person had ever told her that she was smart. “And you’re one of the kindest women I’ve ever met.” Louella chuckled. “Never thought I’d say that to a white woman.”
A small snicker rose up in Serepta. “You didn’t trust me one bit when y’all first arrived. Always looking at me like you thought I was saying one thing but going to do another.”
Nodding, Louella admitted the truth of that statement. “After all that had been done to me during slavery days, it was hard to trust a white person to do anything but wrong. But you’re different.”
The fire crackled, and sweat dripped down the side of her face. The world didn’t seem so black and white as Louella leaned back in her seat and held on to Serepta’s frail hand. Her chest heaved forward as she enjoyed a moment in time with . . . her friend.
“You and I had to fend for ourselves when our men left this earth. But we did it. We held on to what was ours. Yes, we did,” Serepta said as she started drifting.
Louella leaned forward. She didn’t know if she would see this kind woman again. So she had to get the words out now. “Thank you, Serepta, for everything you done for us. And you’re right, I’m gon’ find a way to hold on to what belongs to me and my people.”
Louella had planned to ask the Davises for help in fighting this court case, but she wouldn’t put her burdens on their shoulders at a time like this. She went back home and stewed around the house, racking her brain to figure a way out of the mess Robert got them into.
The Kingdom of the Happy Land was a place of peace for so many who had been wounded and scarred by slavery and the injustices in this world. She couldn’t do nothing and let them take everything they had scrimped and scraped to pull together.
The hours, days, months, and years the men spent sawing down trees and clearing the way so they could build homes for the people in their land had been too much of a sacrifice. All the aching fingers and sore arms and bad backs that resulted from the building of this kingdom weren’t for nothing.
As she entered her bedroom, the first thing she saw was William’s Bible on the table next to the bed. It was a well-used Bible with pages falling out, like Reverend Ezel’s. She picked it up and looked to heaven. “Is it all over? Did we come all this way to be left with nothing?”
Lifting the Bible up, with tears streaming down her face, she asked, “Are the words in this Bible true? Can we trust You, or are we all on our own?”
She closed her eyes as she got on her knees, wiping tears from her face. “I need answers, Lord. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve given this place everything I have, but it wasn’t enough. We’re about to lose everything, and I don’t know what to do.”
She stayed on floor long into the night, waiting for answers that didn’t come. After a while, her eyes began to droop. She stretched out on the floor with the Bible still in her hands. Louella didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but when she woke, the Bible was open to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37.
Louella was mesmerized by the words she read. Was the Lord telling her that her situation was not dead, and He was going to make sure she kept the land?
Then she heard William’s voice as clear as day telling her, “Start believing for good things, even before you see them.”
She got off the floor and picked up the court papers again. The trial would begin next month. Louella didn’t know much about the judicial system, but in these last few years, she had learned to trust God to the very end. William had showed her how.