Glory Be

Chapter One

Two cowboys hung in the middle of town. 

A man in a formal get-up stepped forward onto the wooden stage. A breeze rustled his collar and tie. "Citizens of Red Hawk, yet again we have caught and disposed of the outlaw scum from this very earth." A cheer erupted from the crowd, just as they had done when the two fell to their deaths. The man nearly grinned, but straightened his tie instead, "Not only will our faith be strengthened from this, but the citizens of this, soon-to-be infamous town, may sleep soundly tonight."

The crowd erupted again, "I'd like to thank the Sheriff and his deputies for their hard work and effort throughout these last few years, we couldn't do it without them." The crowd cheered, and the man gave the sheriff an applause of his own, "And thank you town of Red Hawk for being such fine, upstanding citizens, I am glad to call this town home for my church and my family." The man waved to the people, "Thank you all." He commented once more as he stepped off the stage.

Immediately, men in black suits greeted him. "Shall we remove the deceased?" They whispered.

"No," The man shook his head, "Let them rot in the sun a while longer."

The men in black suits nodded and returned to the side of the stage. The man caught the gaze of his family in the front row. His pride and ego greatly relied on seeing his children all dressed up and presented properly for the public. His eldest was readily engaging with the crowd: holding hands, giving blessings, uttering biblical verses to elders. The heir was performing better than he could've ever hoped. His eyes scanned to his other children, a son, and twin daughters. His other son seemed antsy, his eyes looking around, smiling nervously when he met a glance with someone, but continued to not engage much. The man furrowed his brow and noted this. His daughters stood by their mother's side, chatting with the sheriff's wife.

"Priest Merrick," The sheriff approached, a grin on his face, "Loved your speech, you're really inspiring the town."

The priest humbly smiled, "Sheriff Stratton, thank you, it's nice to see you're in good spirits too."

"Of course, what would there to be grim about?" He chuckles with genuine mirth, "Justice has been served under your command and my gunpowder."

The Priest raised an eyebrow, "Of course violence is only a means to an end." He corrected.

"Of- Of course! That's what I meant." The sheriff agreed, grabbing his stomach as he laughed, "So, um, are you having the community dinner tonight? What's on the menu?"

"Mhm," Priest Merrick turned his chest towards the crowd, "We're working on having it every night, so no one goes hungry." He met a glance with his wife, "Anna-Marie? What's planned for dinner tonight?"

His wife immediately perked up, "Rabbit meat, bean stew, and cornbread." She said, "It'll be a delicious one, I'm sure."

The priest momentarily turned back to the Sheriff, "I hope to see you there, Sheriff." He nodded, then walked to the crowd, immediately engaging with everyone he could.

The crowd gathered around the Priest, adoring his larger-than-life presence. A teary-eyed woman gave her thanks, and a new mother asked for a blessing for her sick child. A small boy, still clutching his dad's trousers, told the Priest he wanted to help stop outlaws one day too. The priest granted the little boy a handshake and an acknowledgement of his dream. He told the child that one day he was sure the Sheriff would have room in his ranks for him.

These interactions continued for a long while, till eventually the cowboys were taken away, and brought to the morgue. A pauper's grave at the edge of town awaited their bodies. The crowd persisted past the dismantling of the gallows. All for the hope of a one-on-one interaction with the man himself.

So, only once the crowd began to diminish when the sun moved far across the sky was the Priest able to re-approach family. His family had just diminished to his wife and two daughters for a short while until his eldest left the crowd—a grin on his face.

"Father, people are in very high spirits today." His son greeted him.

The Priest smiled, "Wonderful David, thank you for helping me with the crowd today. I heard people were very pleased with you." David hid his pleased reaction, and nodded and thanked his father. The priest then turned to his wife and twin daughters.

"Anna, how did the afternoon go for you?" The Priest asked.

"Oh well, it was quite pleasant. I caught up with Emily, the Sheriff's wife, and then I spoke to a few other expecting mothers from around town. They wanted some advice," Anna-Marie replied, her hands properly interlocked in front of her.

"That's lovely, sounds like we have a lot of baptisms in our future," The Priest gave a small smile. He turned to his daughters, "Eve, Esther?" He prompted them.

"Hello Father," Eve spoke up first, "The afternoon went great, but we mainly just followed Mother around." She embarrassingly shrugged.

"Yeah, we were," Esther agreed with an amused smile.

The Priest shook his head with amusement, "Well that's quite alright girls, but try reaching out to some lady's your age and connecting. The girls nodded in understanding. So, the Priest looked to the right and left, before the incompleteness of his family clicked. He swiftly turned and searched the crowd before turning to Anna-Marie.

"Anna, where's Isaiah?" He asked through his teeth.

Anna-Marie looked to the crowd, before hesitating to say, "I'm not sure, I haven't seen him since earlier."

"David," The Priest beckoned, "Please go locate your brother for me. We must be getting back home soon. Service and dinner are to be prepared."

David perked up immediately, "Of course, I'm sure he's not far." The priest huffed and waved off his eldest.

"That boy is going to be the death of me." He clenched his jaw. A hand befell onto his back. Anna-Marie smiled warmly at him, calming the fire in his chest.

"Not all who wander are lost," She reminded, quoting Psalm 102:1-4, "Remember?" The Priest gave her a look of awareness as he churned through the passage in his mind.

. . .

Isaiah had found himself at the edge of town. A small cotton-tailed rabbit had caught his attention, and somehow, he ended up out here. He crouched close to the rabbit, holding out a kind hand, hoping the rabbit would know he was a friend. The rabbit looked at him, nose twitching. It hopped closer, taking the time to sniff and investigate Isaiah first.

"It's okay, come here," Isaiah whispered. The rabbit again hopped a little closer. Isaiah became excited, seeing its tan fur in reach.

"Isaiah!" A booming voice yelled out. Isaiah became off-balanced and fell onto the dirt. The rabbit was spooked and it quickly ran off into the desert. Isaiah whipped his head around to see his brother walking out from behind a building.

"David-?" He picked himself up from the ground, his black trousers now covered in dust, "Why are you yelling?" Isaiah looked for sight of his father, but he wasn't there. His brother stomped up to him, his taller form looming over him.

"Father told me to come fetch you." David said, judgement hanging in his voice, "You've been gone for hours. Are you just missing something in your head?"

"What? Gone for hours? I only just left," Isaiah felt David's presence become more consuming.

"So let me guess, you just got 'distracted' again?" David rolled his eyes, a steam of anger unleashing from his nose. Isaiah almost snickered at it, the way he was so unlike the persona he portrayed to the public, "Come now. Father's probably already on his way back home."

Isaiah didn't bother to say anything. Before following his brother's stride, he took one last look back at the open plains. The yellow gold desert was vast and empty, leading his eyes to the horizon. The blue sky was becoming a little more colorful now as the sun began to set. And with it, nothing mattered, and Isaiah didn't think about what awaited at home.