All the Bishop's Children

Episode 7

Chapter 19

Rosalind received a phone call from her mother three weeks later. "I'll be riding down with Elijah next time he's going down that way. The family in Alabama says the house is almost ready."

"That's... good news," Rosalind said. Elijah was Dwight's brother who came to visit twice each year.

"I'll be closer to you real soon," Rosalind's mother continued. "Then I'll get to visit my grand-babies more often. Rosa, I'm so glad. You all still want me to come over?"

"We'll be looking forward to seeing you, Mother," Rosalind said a little despondently. I forgot she could come and visit any moment. I hope this does not hinder us from what we are doing at our new church. Rosalind said a hasty goodbye to her mother and resumed looking over her Bible lesson. Maybe it won't be that bad. She could help with forming a choir and even teach one or two of the Bible lessons while she is here. It could work out to my advantage after all.

Rosalind's mother settled down in Augusta, Georgia, with her daughter and son-in-law two Saturdays after her phone call to Rosalind. She planned on spending at least two weeks with them before moving on to Fairhope, Alabama, where she planned on spending the remainder of her years. She was in church with her daughter her first Sunday there.

____________

Although the women of Church of the Living God Pillar of Truth continued coming to the Tuesday evening meetings, it seemed that too many of the regulars were absent for Sunday services. It did not take Apostle Dunbar long to figure out what Rosalind and her friends were up to. "Has she said anything else to you?" he asked his wife.

"No. Nothing more. But, I didn't feel the same energy in our last two meetings. I don't know what they're up to," Ketura said.

"I've noticed a coolness among the women, in general," Apostle Dunbar said. "Something is brewing."

Apostle Dunbar and his wife stopped by Rosalind's house one Sunday after services. She was not home.

"I was under the impression she was worshipping at your church today as at other times," Dwight said to Apostle Dunbar and his wife. "Mama Tess, did she say anything to you about going somewhere else?"

"No, she didn't," Mama Tess called from the living room.

"She hasn't been in the services for the past month. We thought maybe she was sick or something," Apostle Dunbar said. "I did hear that she may have started her own church. Do you know anything about that?"

"That's news to me," Dwight said. "But like I said, I thought she was worshipping with you all. Her mother even went to church with her today; she's visiting with us for a while."

"Let her know we stopped by," Apostle Dunbar said as he and Ketura said goodbye.

"Now, what was that all about?" Dwight said to his mother. "Where could that woman be going for a whole month without letting us know what she's doing? And how in the world could she start a church? Where would she get a building? She had better have a good explanation for her absence."

"You know Rosalind has always been restless," Mama Tess said.

"And she's been taking the children with her. What if something were to happen to them? And she took her mother with her this morning. I wonder if Mother is in on whatever she's doing?" Dwight said.

"We'll be finding out soon," Mama Tess said as the noise of a car pulling into the driveway reached their ears. Mama Tess adjusted the pillow behind her back and tucked her afghan around her legs. She interlocked her fingers and rested her hands on her lap.