Eden Springs

Part 2

Part Two IMPORTANT NOTICE Owing to the desire of many to come to the House of David faster than we are able to build and prepare for them, we wish it understood by all such that in order to save us and themselves much unnecessary trouble, that they should correspond with us before making arrangements to come. ( Shiloh’s Messenger of Wisdom ) ( 41 ) L ena left the door to the Diamond House open behind her, and the afternoon light poured into the waxed and formal darkness of the parlor. She tiptoed into the kitchen, where Estelle was whistling “Skip to My Lou” and punching at a loaf of dough, her braids all loose and floury behind her. When Lena got close enough, she reached out and grabbed Estelle around the waist with one arm and put a hand over Estelle’s gasping little mouth. She quit whistling fast. “Don’t scream,” Lena said in a low voice, pretending to be him, “or I’ll pull up your skirts and take you right now.” “Lena!” Estelle snapped when she managed to struggle away from her. Laura Kasischke ( 42 ) And it was a struggle. Lena was stronger than Estelle, who was small as a doll—seventeen, but could have passed for twelve. In her anger and embarrassment, Estelle’s cheeks were brilliant pink. The flour that had been on her hands was all over the yoke of her dress now, and she was panting. “Lord. God. Are you plain crazy, Lena? You scared me half to death, and look—you tore a button off my blouse.” There was a gap in the floured white cloth of Estelle’s dress where Lena could see a bit of her flour-white flesh. “Sorry, sweetheart,” Lena said, still in Benjamin’s voice. “Maybe a big kiss’ll make you forgive me.” She stepped toward Estelle with her arms open and then grabbed Estelle’s arm when she tried to get away, pulled her back, kissed her on the mouth. The kiss was fast, and mostly bumping teeth, but Estelle staggered away, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, tears in her eyes. “You’re wicked,” she said, looking hard into Lena’s eyes, holding up a hand to keep her away. “Yep,” Lena said, and put a hand on her hip. “But you know what else is wicked?” Lena could see the girl was trembling. The big kitchen was filled with humid and yeasty air. The dough on the counter had begun to rise again, and there wasn’t the slightest imprint of Estelle’s last punch in it. “What else is wicked,” Lena went on, “is Miss Moon writing on Elsie Hoover’s death certificate, Struck by Lightning .” Estelle just stared, still with that hand held up to keep Lena back. Her eyes were very pale and rather small, and Lena liked to think they made Estelle look plain and dumb Eden Springs ( 43 ) despite her rosebud mouth and the lightness of her tiny feet when she danced or ran. “Well,” Estelle finally said, “being as you weren’t there, what do you know?” Lena laughed and shook her head. She said, “Well, I know there’s a slim chance a girl got struck by lightning in the middle of the orchard on a sunny afternoon. I guess I do know that.” Estelle narrowed those tiny eyes, and then she turned her back. “Lena,” she said over her shoulder, sounding weary. “I’ve had enough of your nonsense, and if you bother me any more I’ll get Cora, or Brother Vaughn. I don’t got to put up with this. I got twelve loaves of bread to bake today, and since I know you got nothin’ to do, why don’t you either help me or get out of the way?” Lena smiled at Estelle’s back and said, “Well, I guess I’ll just get out of your precious way,” and then she turned and pretended to skate in her stocking feet across the kitchen floor before turning again and saying to Estelle’s stiff spine, “Besides, who says I got nothing to do today?” Q. What representations did they make to you? A. That they were living as one family. That it was the only place to make eternal life; they represented that I would live forever. ( Harry Williams’s statement, Nichols trial notes ) ( 45 ) C...