Deep in the Heart by Gilbert Morris

Author:Gilbert Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-05-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Athought came to Jerusalem as she pinned one of Brodie’s shirts on the clothesline. She looked up into the steel gray sky. Removing the clothespin from her mouth, she spoke aloud her thought: “Well, here you are, 1834. I sure hope you’re better than last year.” She waited as if the sky could speak back, then shook her head. “I’m talking to myself now. That’s the last stage, I reckon.”

She hung up the rest of the wet clothes and turned to go to the house, but looking up she saw a wagon coming down the road. It had rained slightly the night before, so no dust arose as it did in the hot, dry summers. She recognized Rhys Morgan and waited until he pulled up in front of the house. He jumped out, walked over to her, and removed his hat.

“Hello, Jerusalem,” he said. “I think we have got some bad weather headed this way.”

As always, Jerusalem was glad to see Rhys Morgan. It had been two months since he had brought Zane back, and in that time he had covered more ground preaching than any other man in Texas. He stood before her now, his black hair falling down over his forehead in a curly lock, and smiled at her. He was a cheerful young man of twenty-one, well-built and neatly dressed. He’s fine-looking, but he doesn’t know it. Jerusalem had thought this before, and now she said, “Come along. I heard a rumor that preachers like fried chicken. Anything to it?”

Rhys patted his stomach. “I’ve got a fried chicken graveyard down here, ma’am, but plenty of room for one more.”

Jerusalem carried the basket to the porch, and as they walked around the house, Rhys spoke of his travels. He was not allowed to hold meetings, for Protestants were forbidden by law to do such in Mexico, or in Texas for that matter. Still, he had made a habit of simply stopping by houses, and Protestants who had agreed to become Catholic gathered with neighbors and held services.

Reaching the backyard, Jerusalem stepped inside the fence. She’d had to fence the chickens in because of the coyotes, foxes, and other varmints. Now she stood in the middle and clucked to the chickens, tossing them some grain she kept in a can on top of a post. They came running and surrounded her in a flurry of feathers, clucking and pecking at the grain. For a moment she was undecided, then she waded through the bunch to find a mottled hen and reached down and picked her up.

Rhys opened the gate for her as she stepped outside, and he grinned, saying, “Why did you wade through all the rest to get to that one? It almost makes a man believe in predestination.”

“I only kill the stupid ones,” she said, laughing.

Jerusalem wrung the chicken’s neck with one quick twist and stood there watching as it flopped around wildly for a few seconds. Jerusalem had a way of making odd statements and changing

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.