Endless Chain (45 page)

“You’re here.” He took her hand. “I don’t believe it. And I’m touching you. Am I dreaming?”

“They dropped the charges in Guatemala.”

He closed his eyes. She thought he might be praying. When he opened them, they were suspiciously moist.

“Tell me,” he said. “Everything.”

“They haven’t gone so far as to arrest anyone else. I don’t know if they ever will, Sam. But under pressure they ruled there was no reliable evidence against me, and Morales has removed himself from the race for president and gone into seclusion. It’s not enough, but perhaps it is something.”

“Then you’re free?”

She wasn’t, not really. Although she was no longer wanted for Gabrio’s murder, she knew that traveling back to the country of her birth was not, at least for the time being, safe. Her story had been documented, and so had her brother’s. There was nothing to gain by their murder now, no information that could be suppressed. But retaliation was another matter, against her and anyone she embraced as a friend or tried to help.

“I am free here, in this country.” She smiled when he touched her hair, pushing a lock over her shoulder. “I don’t think I can go back to Guatemala to live. Not yet. Perhaps when the climate there is different, when we have new leaders who are serious about setting the past to rest at last. Perhaps even if Morales is arrested and tried for Gabrio’s murder.”

“And Ramon?”

“He missed three years of his education, but the year he spent hiding in Guatemala, he read every book his mentors could find for him. And his education was superior before….” She lifted her hands. “He is passionate about going back to school, about becoming a doctor and specializing in public health to honor Gabrio. It’s what Gabrio would have wanted. Ramon will find a way, and I’ll be there to help him. For now we’re living with Helen, and he is studying. When he is not playing with your dogs.”

Helen, who didn’t believe in “pets,” had insisted that Sam’s dogs needed a country vacation and made Zeke build them a large dog run in the back. Cissy, Zeke and Reese were home to stay, and now the old “Stoneburner Place” was alive with activity again.

Sam seemed pleased at that picture. “And you, Elisa?”

She was not ready to continue. She had waited too long for a real conversation, for details of his life. “No, first you. I know you still have a job. Helen tells me the board agreed unanimously not to accept your resignation. In her words, they would just appreciate you staying out of trouble in the future. If you’re capable.”

He grinned. “George Jenkins went into treatment and is off the board at last. That’s the only reason the vote was unanimous.”

“He’ll be back,” Elisa said. “Adoncia told me Diego is managing the business while he is away, better than he did himself. Diego came to see me in jail. He was sorry he told Leon’s father who I was, genuinely sorry, I believe. It took courage to face me. He has had many talks since Christmas Eve with his priest.”

“And he and Adoncia?”

She shrugged. “She is not yet ready to take him back, but if he proves he is sincere, she might. Still, he will have to jump through many hoops.” She almost felt sorry for Diego.

“Jenkins will probably continue to cause trouble.”

“Leon came to see me, too. I was the talk of the jail, with all my visitors.”

“This has been difficult for him. I saw a lot of Leon before I surrendered.”

“Even after his father returns, Gayle wants Leon to stay with her. Until he is absolutely sure it’s a good idea to go back.”

She realized suddenly that Sam hadn’t said he planned to stay on as minister of the church. “I said you still have your job if you want it, but do you?”

He struggled with his answer. For a moment she was filled with apprehension that he had made plans that did not include her or a life with her. They had pledged themselves to each other, but so much had happened since, and months of separation had passed.

He looked up from their clasped hands. “Do you believe in revelation?”

She was surprised. She had not expected theology but something more alarming. “Mountaintops and stone tablets? Burning bushes?”

“No, I mean the kind that comes to each of us at quiet moments. The kind we probably don’t even deserve. That moment when, zap, we understand exactly who we are and what we can do with our lives?”

“The day I decided to become a doctor.”

“You do understand.”

“And you have had this kind of revelation?”

“Elisa, I’ve struggled for years with the kind of ministry I want to do. And now I finally know. I’m going to begin a prison ministry.”

She sat back and catalogued a new ease in his expression, a peace that hadn’t been there before. “Yes,” she said at last, “it only makes sense.”

“I can’t tell you if God put this in my path or if I’ve just finally made sense of random events in my life. It doesn’t even matter. I do know that this is what I need to do, that it’s the best way I can serve God.” He smiled, almost as if he were embarrassed. “I’m thinking of these months as my internship, so to speak.”

“Then you’ll give up the church?”

“No, I’ll talk to the board and see if they’ll bring in an assistant pastor. The way we’ve grown, we need one anyway, and they can cut my salary if they need to, to make up the difference. I’ll do the prison ministry part-time, at least at first, until I’m established. I feel sure I can work this out and do both. And I can bring lessons from one to the other, even involve Community if they’re willing.”

She could almost see his mind spinning, making plans, following the path he knew he was intended to pursue. “I know you’ll find a way.”

He leaned forward. He stroked her hair. “And you? What are you going to do, since you can’t go back to Guatemala yet?”

A female officer as large and intimidating as any of the men came into the room and walked toward them. For a moment Elisa was afraid Sam was in trouble for touching her, but the officer dropped Elisa’s folder on the table, turned and left.

“What’s this?” Sam asked, reaching for it.

Pleased, Elisa slid the folder toward her instead. “Something I brought for you.” She opened it and pulled out a dozen photocopied pages, and put them in front of Sam.

“What’s this?”

“Letters from Sarah Miller to Amasa Stone.”

“The letters Martha mentioned?”

“Yes. I don’t know if she didn’t want to tell me where they were because she wanted to be able to tell the story herself, or if she simply didn’t remember. But when Martha went into the nursing home, she gave her most treasured belongings to Dovey. Dovey was too kindhearted to get rid of anything, just in case Martha ever asked for it. So she has boxes of Martha’s stuff stored in her basement. When Dovey learned who I was, she decided I should have everything important, including Martha’s old treadle sewing machine. It is a wonderful gift.”

“Does Martha know who you are now?”

“After the arrest, Dovey decided not to tell her, in case…” Elisa knew he understood.

“And now?”

“Ramon and I went to see Martha the day after we were released. I told her who we are. I don’t think she will remember, but during our visit, I think she understood. She even called me Alicia.” She smiled, remembering. “It was a good moment, Sam.”

“And the letters?”

“While I was detained, Dovey went through the boxes and separated the things she thought I should have. And she found them. These are copies. The originals will need to be preserved.”

“I’ll look forward to reading them. They’re a real treasure.”

Sam was hanging on every word and devouring her with his eyes. Elisa thought he would be only a little less enthused if she was describing the finest points of postpartum care. She felt the same way.

“They are more than a treasure,” she continued. “They are the answer to a puzzle.”

“Whether Sarah went on to rescue more slaves?”

“No, the puzzle of what happened to Dorie.”

“But I thought Martha told you the end of that story?”

“Not quite, and I’m not sure why. I think she probably didn’t remember. But, Sam, it is…well, it’s in the last two letters.”

“Tell me. I’m sure not going to read it right now, not with you sitting right there looking so beautiful.”

For a moment, gazing at him, she forgot what she’d been about to say. Then he clasped her hand, and she recovered.

“Jeremiah went to find Dorie. We will never know how exactly. Sarah does not give details, but she does tell Amasa that her brother has gone, and that Jeremiah has information he thinks will lead him to the right place.”

“And that’s all?”

“No, not quite.” She removed the bottom letter from the stack. “She says it best. This is the last letter Dovey found. And now, you see, we would know, just from these letters, that Amasa went back to Toms Brook, because these were in Martha’s possession. Amasa must have brought them back with him when he left Lynchburg to marry Sarah and take over the farm. That’s the only way Martha would have had them.”

“One happy ending, at least. And Dorie and Jeremiah?”

“Let me read a little.”

She gazed down at the paper in front of her. “My dear Amasa. How I wish you were already here beside me. But I have news I believe will bring you faster. Today I received a letter from my brother.”

She looked up. “That’s even more proof that Sarah and Amasa were reunited. She says ‘already here.’ But there’s more to come.”

He played with a lock of her hair. “Go on.”

She cleared her throat. “Jeremiah found Marie in Kentucky. Against everything we believe in, he paid for the child and her freedom, something he could not have done when Dorie was with us, because the trail would have led right to the child’s mother.

“Now, with Marie at his side, he will continue on to Ohio, where he hopes to find Dorie. There are many places near Cincinnati where a woman might hide as she tries to discover news. He is confident that he will be able to trace her, if she indeed made the journey that far with success. And, Amasa, my beloved, if prayers gave Dorie’s feet wings, if prayers kept her from discovery and capture, then she is safe in Ohio now.”

Elisa looked up. There was a lump in her throat. “This is difficult to read out loud.”

“It’s difficult to listen to.”

“I will only read a little more.” She looked down once more to finish.

“Jeremiah wishes us both God’s grace, and he hopes that we will find happiness together. He counsels me to be strong, to think carefully before making decisions and to pray for him. But most important he says not to pray that he will ever return to Toms Brook. He asks me to pray that he will
not,
for if he does not, then he has made a new life in Canada.”

She slid the letter under the pile in front of him and took a moment to compose herself. “After she read the letters, Dovey went to the courthouse and searched for information. The very next year after this letter was written, the farm was titled to a Sarah Stone, and Jeremiah’s name was removed from the deed. And that’s all we’ll probably ever know.”

Elisa saw that Sam understood what this final letter meant to her. She had given up on happy endings, certain from everything that had happened to her that they were not possible. Now, she was beginning to believe again. She would never know for certain that Jeremiah had found Dorie or, somehow, despite the odds, made a life with her. But now she believed it was possible. She could see that Sam, too, realized that the letters were about more than the lives of people long dead.

“What are
you
going to do now?” he asked. “Now that you’re free?”

“There’s work to do in the Valley. I want to find a way to help the Latina women I’ve met. To be licensed to practice medicine in Virginia, most likely I will need to do another residency.” She made a face, trying to pretend this was of no importance. “Years of no sleep. I remember it well.”

She realized she had averted her eyes. She made herself look at him and saw exactly what she hoped to see in his expression. “You could, perhaps, live with years of little sleep?”

“I expected little sleep once we had children. I’m resigned.”

She laughed, because the only alternative was a return to grateful tears. And she had cried enough. “We could do that, as well. We can work out the timing.”

“Elisa.” He shook his head. “Did you think that the months apart had made any difference to me? Did you really doubt I still loved you?”

“I don’t think a man or a woman can go to prison and not come out changed.”

“Yes, and I’m more sure after all this that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t want to waste another day apart.”

She saw he was waiting to hear the same. “This time a wedding ring? A church and people we love as witnesses?”

“It might be easier to explain than the way we did it before.”

She smiled, wanting badly to kiss him, knowing they were probably being watched. “I will marry you again anywhere you say. Again and again if I have to.”

“Once more should do the trick.” He stole a kiss anyway. Quickly, but with promise.