an inconvenient flame, n. goode

Chapter Sixteen

Song - "Scarborough Fair (Arr. Parkin) : Sheku Kanneh-Mason"

The next morning I awoke in an empty bed. Solomon was most likely out working. The man always is. I cleaned myself up before heading back home. No one would be asking where I was. My mother was dead and my father is a worthless drunk who couldn't give a damn if I was dead or alive.

    When I found myself back in town, everything seemed different. The food was off and everyone's spirits seemed astray.

Our mad man, Thomas, continued to spit speeches of the devil in town. "The dark one has come to harvest the bitter fruit of the evil we have sown. To feast on our misdeeds. And yet you all smile, blind to the horrors around us. But you see it now, don't you? He blocks our well, clogs it with our sin."

As I wandered over to the well that people crowded around, I ran into Sarah and Abigail.

"What's happened?" I asked.

"The bucket's caught on something" Abigail answered.

As the men continued to struggle with the bucket, the rope finally gave in and they started to pull it back up. Sarah and I stepped forward to get a closer look. People gasped in fear as they saw what the bucket had been caught on.

"Dead dog in the well!" A man alerted.

"Our water is poisoned!" A woman shouted.

When they lifted the dog from the water, Sarah and I recognized it to be her dog.

"Merryboy..." she sighed in horror.

Thomas continued to ramble on. "See? You have already drank from the cup of darkness. This is the work of the Devil. He has come to stake our land. Who among you has welcomed the Devil to Union? Who's lust? Who's sin?" Sarah and I quickly looked to each other. "Oh, foolish Union. The Devil has come and cast his darkness over us. And his darkness grows within each of us like a rot."

-

    Thomas' words stuck with me through the day. I know he is all but a drunk, but I couldn't help but wonder if he was right. What I have done with Solomon is indeed a sin, but so is Sarah's love for Hannah, but that didn't stop either of us from claiming what we wanted. Sarah and I chatted about this subject together at her house until we were interrupted by a knock at the door. I was quick to answer and delighted to see Solomon.

"Solomon." I sighed in relief as I quickly pulled him into the house. Once the door was shut, I greeted him with a kiss that he instantly returned.

"I didn't mean to stop by unexpected. I have just a, uh...a small thank you." He said to Sarah as he handed her a new knife holster with her initial engraved upon it. She accepted the gift but still held a concerned look upon her face. She then looked back to me, she was still pretty shaken up about the current circumstances, as was I. She asked me with her eyes if we should talk to him about our concerns. I nodded. "What?" He asked.

"Can you keep a secret?" She asked.

"You've been able to keep our secret, so I suppose it's only fair that I return the favor."

    I sat Solomon down next to me as Sarah explained the events of last night with Hannah in the woods. She went on and on about seeing something in the trees...a figure of some sorts. Solomon didn't know what to make of this information.

"Who was it?" He asked.

"I don't know. It was so dark. I thought it was Caleb or...or the widow. But now..."

"What?"

She stoped pacing back and forth and sat before us at the table. "Now we are tormented and the pastor is sick and...and I feel half mad, and now I wonder if perhaps something is wrong with me..."