Spencerville

Wilkes added, "Our purpose is not idle gossip. We want to help, to try to head off divorces, to counsel young people who've gone astray, to keep temptation from men and women, and vice versa. In short, to save souls."

"That's very admirable."

"That's my job. Oh, I know what you're thinking. You think Spencerville has become the village of the damned. Well, most people here are good, God-fearing Christians. But many people have strayed. It's no different in other communities. I'd like you to come to church this Sunday, then join us afterward for tea and fellowship."

"Perhaps I will. But you know you're preaching to the converted. You should reach out to the others."

"They know where we are."

Keith wanted to be gone before the meeting broke up, so he said, "Well, thank you for rescuing me from the law."

But Pastor Wilkes took no notice of Keith's wanting to leave, and he said, "Mr. and Mrs. Baxter are having some difficulties, as you may know. Pastor Schenk is counseling Mrs. Baxter."

"What is that to me?"

"Someone saw you speaking to her downtown."

"Pastor, this may be a small town, but an unmarried gentleman may speak to a married woman in public."

"Don't lecture me, young man. I'm trying to help you."

"I appreciate..."

"Let me be blunt. Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife."

This did not completely take Keith by surprise. He replied, "And I would advise you, Pastor, to tell Pastor Schenk to remind Mr. Baxter of the adultery commandment."

"We all know about Mr. Baxter. What I'm telling you... I shouldn't reveal this confidence, but perhaps you already know that Mrs. Baxter is very taken with you."

This was the best news that Keith had heard in weeks, and he considered several replies, including not replying, but said, "We've corresponded over the years, and she's never indicated that to me. She's done nothing wrong."

"That depends on how you view a married woman writing her former... boyfriend."

"She's done nothing wrong. If there were any improprieties, they came from me."

"That's very noble of you, Mr. Landry. I know you think I'm being very old-fashioned, and I thank you for humoring me."

"I'm not humoring you, I'm listening to you, and I understand your position and your concern. I assure you my relationship with Mrs. Baxter has been strictly platonic."

"Well, see if you can be the strong one and keep it that way."

Keith looked at Pastor Wilkes and, against his better judgment, or perhaps because he had to tell someone, he said, "To be honest with you, Pastor, the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

Pastor Wilkes seemed momentarily speechless, then said, "I appreciate your honesty." He added, "And pleased you remember scripture."

Keith stood and said, "I should be going."

Pastor Wilkes took his cane and stood also. He walked Keith to the door, they went out onto the porch, and Keith saw that the meeting was still in progress. He wondered how many witnesses Gail and Jeffrey had assembled to confess to their dealings and intercourse with the devil. Keith turned back to Pastor Wilkes and said, "Apparently you knew more about me than you indicated when I sat down."

"Yes, but I didn't know if you were the type of man I could talk to. I saw that you were, and I gave you unsolicited advice and information. I hope you're not offended by the advice and that you keep the information to yourself."

"I'm not offended, and I'll keep this conversation to myself. But I am concerned that people are talking about me."

"Mr. Landry, you came home to a small town that is very troubled, and ironically, one of our problems, the problem of Mr. Baxter as public official and as husband, has become your problem. But don't let it be."

"Why not? Why should I do less than the people in that church?"

"You know very well why. Examine your motives, and consider the consequences of your actions."

"Pastor, since I left Spencerville, I've served as a military officer in various capacities, and all of those capacities had life-and-death consequences for me, my colleagues, and, between us, for this nation."

"Then you don't need a sermon from a country preacher."

"But I appreciate your concern."

Pastor Wilkes put his hand on Keith's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "I like you. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

"Me, neither. But if something does happen, will you see to the arrangements here at St. James?"

"Yes of course." Pastor Wilkes took Keith's arm and said, "Let me walk you to your car. Help me down the steps." As they walked, Wilkes said, "Keith... may I call you Keith?"

"Of course."

"I know that something is going on between you and Annie Baxter, and, to be quite honest, I'm not totally opposed to it. But you must go about it the right way, or it will never be right for either of you."

Keith replied, "I'm still not admitting to coveting my neighbor's wife, Pastor. But I'm listening."

"Good. Listen, and forget where you heard this." He said, "She, the woman in question, is in an unhappy and unhealthy marriage, according to her pastoral counselor. Her husband is an adulterer and a verbally abusive man. I may be from the old school, but I listen to the young pastors, and I'm convinced that she has to leave that marriage before it becomes dangerous. He's become enraged at the suggestion of counseling, and neither the pastoral counselor nor the wife in question sees any hope for a change."

Keith did not reply. He found his car and stood beside it.

Pastor Wilkes continued, "Divorce is acceptable under these circumstances. After her divorce, she is free to do whatever she wishes. You, Mr. Landry, must be patient and must not become part of the problem. This is a good woman, and I don't want to see her hurt."

Both men stood in the dark, a faint light coming from the church windows casting shadows over the gravestones. Keith said, "Neither do I."

"Mr. Landry, I'm sure your intentions are honorable, but the only honorable thing you can do now is to break off any contact with her. Things will work themselves out with God's help."

"And without my help."

"Precisely." He asked, "Do you or do you not intend to stay here to live?"

"I did, but I'm not certain now."

"I think your presence here is fuel to the fire. Can you go somewhere for a while? No doubt, your parents would like to see you."

Keith smiled. "Are you running me out of town?"

"I'm suggesting that if you leave, I can see a happy ending for both of you. If you stay, I see only disaster."

Apparently, he and Pastor Wilkes had reached the same conclusion independently of each other. Keith said, "I didn't think you were going to advise me on how to win another man's wife. I thought I was going to get hellfire and brimstone."

"That's the fundamentalist church down the road. Here we do love and compassion. Will I see you Sunday?"

"Perhaps. Goodnight."

Chapter Seventeen

As Keith pulled away from the church. Obviously, he thought, there was nothing simple about a simple rural community. In fact, life was simpler in the big city. Here, they cared about your soul and made you think about it, too, and that really got complicated.

Keith drove along the dark country road. He knew that the police could stop him anytime, anyplace, on any pretext, and he'd resigned himself to that. He'd been in the hands of the police in other countries, and he knew the drill, knew when they just wanted to scare you and when they intended to knock you around. He'd never had the experience of being really tortured and obviously hadn't faced a firing squad, though there was one time in Burma, years ago, when he knew they were talking about it.

Being a veteran of a few arrests, he couldn't imagine that the Spencerville police station could hold many terrors for him, but you never knew what they had on their minds until you got there and saw how they were acting. A more unsettling scenario than the unlikely possibility of dying in police custody was the more likely possibility of dying trying to escape arrest, which was far more common in the civilized countries. Keith didn't imagine that there'd be much of an inquiry if he was shot on a country road, especially if the police put a weapon in his hands after he was dead. But they'd have to supply their own weapon to plant, because he didn't have his with him, though he wished he did.