All the World Beside by Garrard Conley

Author:Garrard Conley [Conley, Garrard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

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A small crowd has gathered in the square. Mary Ninnens shivers in her greatcoat beside her sister Charlotte, who has wrapped herself in two cloaks. Beside them stand Chastity Overton and her husband, Levi, whose stern expression has not budged all morning since first he heard of his wife’s plan to join the others for this exhibition. “These spongers come and go,” he had said to her. “They want nothing more than to take your money for some bit of dross.”

Priscilla, equally bundled, waddles forward now, drawing closer to the white cross at the square’s center. She reaches one gloved hand toward it, bowing her head in reverence. Since her awakening, she has moved more deliberately; she has felt as though she were wading through water, though the resistance she encounters only further energizes her, for she knows the Devil wishes to see her lose her faith. At any moment she feels she might ignite in flames. She is conscious the others are watching her; they are perplexed by her behavior, for none yet know of the miracle taking place within her. She has told no one, not even her husband. Even so, she cannot help but press her hand to the surface of the cross. She holds it there, willing the Lord speak to her once more.

Goody Munn and her husband, Josiah, wait beside the barber’s, watching the crowd at a distance, cautious, ever cautious, lest they be seen by the others as overeager. From here, the people are as tiny as a cloud of blackbirds, their new prints in the snow stretching from all directions, evidence they have all come out to see the salesman. They could be traced back to their houses. They could not deny it. Goody Munn is glad the minister is not here to witness the spectacle, for though the flock is not exactly forbidden from meeting these salesmen who occasionally travel through their province, lodging in the widows’ public house from time to time, there exists a natural distrust of them, borne of the knowledge that these men could come from any place, could have been anyone at any time, could be lying about who they are. Most of all, as Josiah has pointed out to Goody Munn time and time again, they can always lie about their wares. A trinket or a charm said to be from the coast of Africa could turn out to be some Englishwoman’s old castaway.

Deborah and Robert Inverness, equally cautious, wait beside the stalls, gawking as the drunkard Hiram paces the stairs of the public house. No doubt this is more exciting than most of his days, Deborah thinks. It seems the crowd gathered about him is in a guardedly festive mood, ready to join in his merriment when the right moment arrives. Perhaps they will even take a nip at the bar after all of the commotion. As Deborah narrows her eyes at him, she wonders privately what it was that had caused her to remain on this side of drink.

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