Final Call (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Book 4) by Terri Reid

Author:Terri Reid [Reid, Terri]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2011-06-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Mary watched Dan’s car pull away from the curb. Although he tried to insist on giving her a ride home, she really felt the walk would give her time to think. At the corner of Clark and Walnut she prepared to cross the street. The streetlights were beginning to glow and she knew within a half hour the sky would be dark.

“There you are, young lady. I’ve been looking for you.”

She turned to find Reverend Johnson standing next to her.

“Hello, Reverend, how are you doing?”

He shook his head. “Not well, not well at all,” he exclaimed. “They’re having my funeral tomorrow and I’m not dead.”

“I beg your pardon, Reverend,” Mary insisted. “But you are indeed dead.”

“I know I’m dead,” he blustered. “What I meant is that I haven’t moved on, gone to my righteous reward. A man should go to his reward before his body gets laid in the ground.”

Mary started to shiver in the cold wind. “Excuse me, but can we walk as we talk? I’m getting cold.”

“Of course, my dear,” he said, “how thoughtless of me.”

They continued up Walnut toward Stephenson Street. The sidewalks were shoveled with only a narrow path, but the Reverend floated next to Mary, not bothered by the drifts of snow.

“Have you thought about anything that might be keeping you here?” she asked. “Any unfinished business?”

“Can’t be that,” he said sharply.

“Why not?”

“I’ve always done all I was supposed to do in a timely and efficient manner,” he said. “I pride myself on my organizational skills.”

Mary waited on the corner as a snowplow drove by on Exchange Street. “How do you get it all done?” she asked. “Do you have a large congregation?”

He smiled and nodded. “I have one of the largest congregations in the community. Other churches have had to close because their flocks have decided to listen to my message.”

“You must be a powerful speaker.”

“Young lady, power is not the only part of being an excellent speaker. You have to take the time to perfect your sermons and you have to practice. I practice several hours a day in order to be sure the right words have the right emphasis.”

They turned onto Stephenson and walked away from the downtown area, toward the hospital.

“I’m confused,” Mary said. “If you spend so much time perfecting your sermon, when do you have time to take care of those in your congregation who are in need?”

“My wife sees to those cares,” he explained. “I feel that I can reach more people, spiritually, with my sermons. So, she takes care of the day to day nuisances.”

“Like what?”

He raised his arms. “I don’t know, she takes care of them.”

“But when you meet together and talk about the members of your congregation…”

“I don’t meet with my wife,” he said. “She knows the duties of a minister’s wife and she does them without any complaint or conversation. That’s what makes our marriage work so well.”

Mary nodded her head slowly. “And your children, do they help as well?”

“Of course, they know I expect them to be examples to the other children in the congregation,” he said.

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