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The next Sunday morning Carl walked up to the village to attend the Sister's service. He
arrived late and stood at the back, trying to remain inconspicuous. However, his presence
was quickly noted as more than half the women there had been from the Dentonsville
Brigade and they greeted him eagerly, seeking news of men whom they had not seen in
over a year. Some also made sarcastic comments about how much better off he looked
than they did and one or two made eyes at him, though he considered none of them
attractive. Eventually the chatter he caused resulted in so much disruption that the Sister
had to call for order. 'Ladies,' she announced from her vantage point on a chair overlooking the standing congregation, 'we are here to worship God by our prayers and song and if the presence of a man among us is going to cause us to forget our Maker in the future I shall have to ban all men.' Carl did not enjoy the service. The singing, led by nurse Charlene in a piercing, unpleasant voice recalled many of the less pleasant aspects of his life in Dentonsville and the Sister was no expert either. Her religious training had been severely truncated by the exodus to War and the proceedings rambled on uncertainly. Also, there was no sign of Elizabeth. 'She said she might come,' said Helen afterwards, ' but I'm not surprised. Mr. Bluemud's back from the foundry and when he's around she doesn't usually come though she said she was going to try to persuade him to come as well. I didn't think she would succeed. Imagine! The Devil himself coming to a service of God's Church. Here, make yourself useful, Carl. Put this table up.' The next week however, Elizabeth was there. Arriving even later than before Carl saw her almost at once, standing at the front. Immediately he had eyes for no-one else. He had forgotten how beautiful she was, how radiant and serene, a queen from a far-off land. He would have dearly liked to have pushed through the crowd to get close by her but he knew the women would make jokes and comments about him and, after the commotion he had caused the previous week, he did not try. When the service ended he stood nearby as the Sister and Elizabeth chatted briefly. His heart was pounding but, though he was the only man present, Elizabeth did not notice him in any way. After she had left he felt flustered and angry that he had not been able to introduce himself and he dawdled on the road back to the barracks in the hope that she might pass but she did not. By the third week, impressed by the fact of Elizabeth's attendance, most of the foremen, including O'Grady and his wife Edna were planning on attending the service. Carl went up on his own and thought of nothing but seeing Elizabeth and, in fact, a half mile before the village she came trotting by and he ran trying to keep her in sight. However he could not and, though he reached the hall early and full of anticipation she was not there and did not attend the service. The next week the same thing happened: she passed him on the road but did not attend the service. 'Oh!' said the Sister disgustedly, 'there's nothing I can do about it. She comes when she feels like it, that's all. She has other things to do.' By then the construction of the schoolhouse had begun and each morning thereafter Carl, in the company of two marshals armed with guns from Bluemud's own store, led a gang up to the village. Elizabeth often came to observe the progress of the work but it was always to either Helen or, occasionally Vincent, that she addressed herself. She never gave the slightest acknowledgement of Carl's presence and, as far as he could see she had never spoken personally to any miner since that day when he had arrived. Carl grew very frustrated. He would have liked to have approached Elizabeth when she came to watch the men at work and say, 'I am Carl Relyt, the leader of these men; the one who saved their lives and the future of this valley last winter. I am the best organizer of people's daily lives that there is. See how the schoolhouse goes up in record time, with no fuss at all?' But he was afraid that Elizabeth would say something like 'Hello, Carl, What unusual behavior! Good dog, Carl, well done.' Which was the implication of her bearing. He began to linger in the village on Sunday afternoons, helping the Sister with various things and she was glad of his help. 'It's nice to have a man around,' she said. 'You should come in the mornings and help me then as well.' The Sister also began to invite various women to be around while Carl was there in the hope that he would take one of them as his wife but Carl was no longer interested in such women. Had even Theresa or Vereen suddenly appeared on the doorstep of the church and begged him to take them back he would have sent them away without even a second glance. He became addicted to the sound of Elizabeth's horse and the sight of she whom he adored upon it, flying into the breeze. So many times she had passed him on the Sunday morning road and he had been trying to find a place where he could easily see her, where he could be seated as she approached, where she could not avoid seeing him as she passed by. There was such a place three-quarters of the way to the village at the top of an incline where her horse had to walk and some big rocks overlooked the road where it came up from the river. There, sitting on the rocks, he would be at about the same level as she and she could not fail to notice him. Thus, on a Sunday morning towards the end of June in the middle of a heat wave with the air about him bustling with insect life and the glittering sun standing on the valley crest, Carl sat in his chosen spot like some self-appointed Demon of the Past. It was, in any case, a favorite spot for Demons, the people said. He could feel them all about him in the sun and he saw them running with her, the woman of his ambition, as she came up slowly, the horses head straying from side to side, careless and happy. Then Elizabeth smiled at Carl. It was just a little smile but a beginning. |
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