Pilgrim's Wilderness by Tom Kizzia

Author:Tom Kizzia [Kizzia, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2013-07-16T04:00:00+00:00

Papa was happier than anyone could remember, persecuted and on the run with disciples. He renamed his followers Naomi and Ruth. Rose and the youngest children hid with their guests in the end-of-the-world cave in the cliffs. Meanwhile, a private posse ransacked the Rainbow Cross cabin. The chase continued for months as the family drove around in their fleet of hillbilly vehicles, drawing their New Mexico acquaintances into the drama. Carolyn Vail warned Elishaba over the phone that a deputy was watching the canyon with binoculars. Bill Leonard, the tough-talking Texan, declined a sheriff’s request that he go up and look for Hale, recalling his pledge to live and let live. Joseph escaped the police by darting out the back door of their accountant friend’s house in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Through it all, the legend of Preacher Bob and his family grew: Supposedly they had slipped over the high-country trails into the headwaters of the Pecos River and found temporary shelter in an Indian village. In fact, they had left the area altogether, hiding out in Idaho.

In the end, mother and child left of their own accord, husband and wife were reconciled, and no charges were filed against the “cult leader.” But the commotion made it hard to ignore God’s reminders of Alaska. They bought a small bus in Wyoming. The seller’s business, painted on the side, was Alaska Sled Dog Tours.

Preacher Bob’s children were more excited than they dared express about the talk of moving. It would be their passage out of Egypt, their Conestoga wagon across the plains, their journey through the Delectable Mountains to the Celestial City. With innocent pioneer fervor, Elishaba prayed for a chance to start over. She imagined a simpler world where it would be possible to have friends and a father who was happy.

There were details to attend to. The older children needed driver’s licenses, which meant digging out birth certificates. Elishaba was mortified to discover that she would be known on her license as Butterfly Sunstar. Attention turned to fixing their vehicles. They pulled the seats out of the small Alaska bus and rebuilt it as a camper. They outfitted the two trucks with hand-built shacks on back, finding new windows at the little cabin of their neighbor Karen Brown. Brown was furious to discover her windows missing. Long annoyed by the pious verses Bob Hale posted on signs around his place, she marched down to where the trucks were parked and used a nail to scratch across her glass: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

They could not bring everything on this first expedition. They would crowd into the Alaska bus. After a winter scouting possibilities in Fairbanks, they would return to New Mexico to gather up their other vehicles and two decades’ worth of squirreled-away material. They cut the horses loose to forage and be rescued by neighbors. The maroon Jesus Jeep was abandoned next to the cabin, to be cannibalized for parts by cowboys.

In the Eighth Month of 1998, Bob Hale and his family left the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and headed for Alaska.

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