Capture the Wind for Me (48 page)

Before the service, Celia hugged me hard the way she'd done the day before, when I'd picked up Greg at her parents' house. I thought Danny a strikingly handsome man, but in a far different way than his brother. Danny's hair was light brown, and his eyes were the greenest I'd ever seen.

“How are you all today?” Celia whispered.

“Daddy's really tryin', but he's not doin' too well.”

Miss Jessie joined us, and she and Celia exchanged a look. Miss Jessie ran her fingers over my hair. “We'll talk after the service, okay?”

“Honey, honey.” Mrs. B shuffled over to rest her fingers on my shoulder. “Chil', I've been prayin' so much for your family. That Katherine May. I'd just like to strangle her.”

One by one, it seemed as though every person in that sanctuary asked about Daddy, many with eyes misted for Katherine and him. Even my friends, who'd been dying to see Greg again now that they knew who he was, merely greeted him quietly, then turned to see how I was doing. Folks hugged the Kings, women clutching Miss Connie's hand as they spoke of how they'd been praying. I felt a rush of guilt, watching Katherine's parents. So worried over my own daddy, I'd forgotten how much they had to be hurting, losing Derek and now Katherine.

Derek.

I sought Greg's eyes, a sudden lump in my throat. They gazed back at me, full of love and trust.

I herded Robert and Clarissa into the pew with the Matthews family. Clarissa just had to sit on the other side of Greg. Pastor Beekins preached a muted sermon. I tried to sing the hymns, but the words caught in my throat. Just before the benediction, Pastor sent up a special prayer for Daddy and Katherine, for us and the Kings. The moment before he prepared to dismiss the congregation, an amazing thing happened. Celia Cander stood up.

“I'd like to say something,” she announced. And in her own pew, Miss Jessie also silently stood.

You have to remember the independent, fighting spirit that has always described Bradleyville. The way it was founded—settled in the middle of nowhere by Celia's great-granddad, an upstart Christian man with the dream of building a Christian town. The way its people have stuck together for almost one hundred years. Bradleyville folk built the town, ran the town, took care of the town. And the town took care of its own.

“Except for perhaps the young people here, you all know my story.” Celia's fingers worked a tissue, and in that action, I saw the courage it took for her to speak so freely. “I fled this town in a weak moment, and it cost me seventeen years with the man who is now my husband. Seventeen
years.
I don't want that for Katherine. And . . .” She balled the tissue, nails pressing it into her palm. “Bobby's been through enough.”

She looked to Miss Jessie, suddenly helpless.

“I tried to leave, too.” Miss Jessie took up the speech. “Many years before Celia was grown. Now, I'm not as stubborn as Celia, mind you.” Lee snorted. She gave him a look as the congregation tittered. “Well, I'm not. Only took me a little over three hours to come back. And I've been stuck with this man ever since.” Her husband aimed an innocent look at the ceiling. “Thank God. But it seems to me that each time, this returnin' business gets harder. Me at three hours, Celia at seventeen years, and now Katherine. She called me yesterday, talked to me for quite a while. And I can tell you somethin'; I know my niece.
She
won't come back at all.”

Miss Jessie's eyes traveled over the congregation. “Unless we give her a little help.”

Reaction buzzed through the pews. Katherine's mama lowered her head, mouth trembling. Mrs. B breathed an “amen.”

Miss Jessie lifted her chin with determination. “So I say we do some-thin' rather unprecedented, even for Bradleyville. I say we go after her.”

My mouth fell open. Church or not, my hand scrambled automatically to find Greg's as the buzz through our sanctuary grew louder. Clarissa leaned over Greg to whisper to me, her eyes wide. “Jackie—”

“Ssh.”

Jason King pulled slowly, almost painfully, to his feet. Everyone fell silent. He gripped his wife's shoulder. “It's true. I don't think she'll come back. It's not that she doesn't want to. It's just that, with all that's happened, Katherine's not thinkin' straight. Plus, she's forgotten what God has done for her. She's fallen back into bad habits, lettin' the past pull at her, and she's runnin' scared. Katherine's overlookin' how much she really loves Bobby and his family, and even this town. So—what I'm tryin' to say is, I agree with Jessie.”

Folks all began talking at once, throwing out questions. How? When? What could they possibly
do?

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Pastor Beekins held up a hand. “All right, now. Jessie, tell us your plan.”

“We know where she's stayin',” Miss Jessie told the congregation. “It's a long drive, I realize that. By the time we got there and came back, it would be late. But today is our chance; tomorrow we all go to work. And the longer we wait, the further Katherine's head's goin' to turn from here. Who knows how long she'll even stay in Lexington.”

Pastor Beekins drummed his fingers against the pulpit. “Seems to me, though, we can't do this without Bobby's consent. Goin' after Katherine is really something he needs to be doin'.”

Almost instinctively, then, all eyes snagged on me—the daughter who'd done so much to help her daddy. Who knew him so well. I looked around at all the faces, tongue-tied, nerves tingling. Suddenly, I felt like a tiny child. After all I'd done, was God giving me the chance to help make things right?

“Tell them, Jackie.” Greg tugged my hand, nudging me to rise. “Tell them he needs help.”

If Greg hadn't been there, I never would have spoken. But with his encouragement giving me strength, I pushed myself out of the pew. Clasped my wrists. “The thing is . . .” My voice wavered.
Oh, Lord, please help me.
I did not want to cry in front of the whole church. If I started, I might never stop. Greg gave me a little nod, urging me on. “The thing is, well, as you can see, Daddy's not here. He's not doin' very well. He's talked all he can to Katherine, but she won't change her mind. So now he's . . . given up.”

“Do you believe that?” Miss Jessie asked gently. “You know better than anyone how Katherine's been with your family. Do you think she really wanted to leave?”

Tears pricked my eyes then, no way to hold them back. I shook my head. “Mr. King's right. I just think she's . . . mixed up and afraid. And the longer she stays away, the less ties she'll feel with us. She needs to be reminded of what she's left.” I pressed my lips together to keep my mouth from quivering. “She needs to see Clarissa and Robert,” I declared, my voice rising. “She needs to see
Daddy.”

“Then we'll just have to persuade Bobby to go,” Danny Cander spoke up. “We'll go by his house and get him, no taking ‘no' for an answer.”

Imagine that. Danny Cander speaking up to help my daddy.

And that's just what we did.

I drove home first with Clarissa and Robert and Greg to give Daddy fair warning. The folks who decided to go hurried to their own houses to change clothes, then began to line their cars in our street. Katherine's parents, and Grandpa and Grandma Delham came inside.

“No fightin' this, now, son,” Grandpa told Daddy matter-of-factly. “We've already decided. This'll teach you to miss church.”

Daddy appeared more than speechless. He was downright flabbergasted. When he found his tongue, he threw out one argument after another. He'd already tried to talk to her and nothing had worked. What was the point? He'd drive all that way, and she wouldn't even let him in the door. Besides, maybe he'd decided he
didn't even want her anymore!

“Oh, peanuts, who do you think you're foolin'!” Grandma grabbed him by the elbow and steered him toward the door. “Fetch your coat now, it's cold.”

chapter 56

W
e made quite the procession, winding through those Kentucky hills. Woodenly, still not quite believing what had happened, Daddy drove our car, hemmed in—Lee and Miss Jessie before us, a dozen vehicles behind. Robert sat in our front seat. An excited Clarissa shared the backseat with Greg and me. “We're gonna bring Katherine home, we're gonna bring Katherine home,” she sang, bouncing up and down. “I can't wait to tell her what I did to Alma Sue!”

Fiercely, I shook my head at her, warning her to be quiet. Daddy did not need the commotion. The creases on his face bespoke the nausea in his stomach. He'd found himself at the wheel only because he'd been so pressured. Now, surely, he deplored what he'd agreed to do. How could he face Katherine, just to be told no all over again?

Celia and Danny rode with the Matthews. Both sets of our grandparents went, Grandma Westerdahl fuming all the while, so I later heard, about Katherine's unreliability. Saying her son-in-law would just be better off without the woman except that he seemed intolerably miserable, so what could she do but try to help? The Beekins joined our group, and Lyle Roth and his wife, and, of course, the Kings, who rode with Lee and Miss Jessie. Mr. and Mrs. B wanted to go in the worst way. “But honey chil',” Mrs. B shook her chin at me, “if I sit that long in a car, I'm afraid I'll never get out.” Mr. Luther, who'd always admired Katherine so much, said he'd ride along with the Clangerlees. He'd managed to get home first and grab a new bag of Tootsie Rolls to hand out “when Katherine changed her mind.” Numerous other friends came with us too.

The drive took over four hours. Clarissa fell asleep on my shoulder. Greg and I entwined our arms and fingers—and prayed.

“Daddy,” Robert asked when we were about halfway there, “do you think she'll come back with us?”

An interminable moment stretched out as I waited for Daddy to answer. “I don't know, son.”

“Yes, she will, Daddy!” I burst. “She
will.
” I could not bear to think of anything else. The mere idea of her denying Daddy a second time—in front of all his friends and family—left me cold as ice. Daddy would not survive it.

Still, Daddy's answer got me all riled up. The more I envisioned the scene of Katherine's turning away, the more panicked I became. What had I led our family into? We'd all rushed like idiots, not thinking this through. It really could turn out very badly; Daddy was right to think we shouldn't come. We could be
worse
off than before.

I checked the clock. Three hours. Somewhere in this area years ago, Miss Jessie had turned around. I wondered why. Some day, she would have to tell me her story.

Please, God, help us. Please.

Daddy's shoulders drooped. He flexed them tiredly. I leaned forward to rub them. “I love you, Daddy,” I whispered.

He managed a smile.

We hit the interstate, heading north. The last time I'd been on this road, Katherine was driving me to Greg's concert. The memory knifed through me, cold and clean. What a fun companion she'd been that night. Spontaneously, I squeezed Greg's hand, bringing it to my lips. How very much I owed her.

Darkness was falling by the time we entered the city of Lexington. Lee knew the general direction of the apartment building. Near Turfland Mall—not far from New Circle Road. Our lineup meandered a bit looking for the building, having to turn around at one point like some ungainly caterpillar. I could hear Daddy deep-breathing. I perched on the edge of my seat again, pressing fingers into his shoulders. By the time we pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, his hands fairly trembled.

He spotted Katherine's car. “Well, at least she's here.”

I floundered then, not quite sure what to do. “Do you want everyone to go with you to the door, Daddy? Maybe you want to do it alone.”

He slipped the keys out of the ignition. “I'm . . . not quite sure yet.”

Car doors opening, people getting out, stretching, breath misting in the frigid air. Streetlights washed the pavement in pale yellow. Apart ment twelve, Miss Jessie had said. Our group straggled together, a motley crew of stiff backs and stubborn hearts.

“Who's goin' in?” someone asked.

“We should ask Bobby what he wants.”

“How we all gonna fit in one apartment?”

“Well, that's what we came for, isn't it?”

Daddy stood gazing at the apartment building, a grim look on his face. My pulse kicked into high gear. How would he stand it if Katherine refused him now?

Surely God's providence intervened at that moment. The door to the apartment house opened, and Katherine May King walked outside, hands in her coat pockets, purse over her shoulder. Headed somewhere. We all fell silent like some trapped flock of birds. Katherine stepped down from the porch onto the parking lot. Someone in our group sneezed, and her head came up. She slid to a halt and froze.

Nobody moved. I couldn't tell which of us had frightened the other more. Her mouth opened, but no words came.

“Katherine!” Clarissa tore from my side and bounded to her, throwing both arms around her chest. The hit pushed Katherine back like a puppet. Robert followed Clarissa, flinging his arms around her from the side. A cry escaped Katherine's lips. Slowly, almost as if in a dream, she moved to hug my brother and sister. Then she nudged them away. “Clarissa. Robert.” Her voice shook. “What . . . why . . .”

“Katherine,” Daddy called gently. He emerged from our crowd but did not approach her. “We've come to take you home.”

Katherine made a little noise in her throat. She tossed her head and faded back.

No!
I cried and threw a glance at Daddy. He watched her with pain on his face.

“Come on, Katherine,” Celia called. “We know—”

“Stop!” Katherine raised her hands, palms out. “Please don't do this to me. You don't know what you're doing.”