The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman

Author:Karen Cushman [Cushman, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

"Oh California,

That's the place for me.

I'm off to Sacramento

With my washbowl on my knee."

Everyone sang especially loud when they got to the word "California," except for me. I sang "Massachusetts" instead, just as loud as I could.

Brother Claymore made ready to pass his hat, saying: "All those who wish to lie down in everlasting darkness may leave; the rest stay and be counted," but I didn't feel threatened. You had to know that Brother Claymore's God would never really send anyone to Hell. He might pinch your cheek or give you a licking for something real bad, but eternal damnation? Never.

Except for Amos Frogge, the congregation slipped away, some to the card parlor, some to a whiskey bottle, others to the back of the saloon, where a number of fights were already starting, and us into the cool spring evening, fragrant with the smell of pines and so quiet after the frenzy inside.

When Brother Clyde came back to the boarding house, I asked, "Are you a shepherd with sheep now, Brother Clyde?"

"One sheep, Miss Lucy. Brother Amos has chosen the path of righteousness."

"Only one?" I felt almost guilty at my pleasure in his failure. "Then I reckon you'll be leaving here soon for the old states."

"Not hardly Miss Lucy! Praise the Lord, this is my beginning. A soul saved is a soul saved. Thank you, Jesus!" And he fell to his knees right there and started talking to God.

Doomed. I stayed up late, writing to Gram and Grampop by the light of a candle stub, the sound of Brother Clyde praying soft on the air.

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