Forever Young

Chapter 3

By the time they reached the front doors of the church, everyone else had already gone inside. The girls sat on wooden benches to the right and the boys to the left. Every boy wore the same gray trousers and vests with white shirts. The mischievous gleam in their eyes as they sized up Samantha like a cat about to pounce on a mouse made her want to bolt for the exit. The girls whispered as she passed, some stifling a laugh by putting a hand to their mouths.

With nowhere else to sit, Prudence led Samantha to the front pew, occupied only by Miss Brigham. "Oh, you look lovely," Miss Brigham whispered.

"Thanks," Samantha said. With her feet still throbbing, she felt anything but lovely.

All whispering and giggling stopped the moment a side door opened. From what Prudence and Miss Brigham had said about the reverend, she expected a stern old man. Instead, Reverend Francis Crane's face had smooth, tanned skin and a thick head of sandy hair. Beneath his black suit she could tell he had a lean, firm body. She blushed at those thoughts and looked away as Reverend Crane ascended the steps to the podium.

"Blessed be thee, my children," the reverend began. "The Lord has brought us another beautiful morning to praise His name. We begin today by reciting the Lord's Prayer."

Samantha did her best to follow along, trying to mimic Prudence as she recited the prayer. The other kids spoke the words in a rote deadpan, as if they'd been saying them their whole lives. From what Prudence had said earlier, Samantha figured they must have been saying them their whole lives.

When the prayer finished, the reverend began his sermon. He leaned forward on the podium as he spoke, his eyes burning with passion. Prudence kept her eyes on the floor while Samantha met the reverend's gaze and thought she saw a hint of a smile pull at one corner of his mouth.

"My children, there are many temptations in this world. Many of them are not obvious to us. Satan couches his evil words in the sweet and loving voice of an angel to make sins seem harmless. He starts us down the dark path by suggesting we are only telling one small lie. When we give in to this temptation, he sends us farther down his dark road until at last we become lost from God's way."

"This is why we must at all times adhere to The Way for it alone will lead us to salvation." The reverend continued speaking about the importance of The Way, but Samantha could not pay attention. In the pew behind her, she heard a rustling and sensed trouble a moment before something dry and rough touched her neck.

She turned around to see a black snake looking back at her. She screamed and jumped off the bench, stumbling backwards to trip over a step and crash next to the reverend's podium. The entire church erupted into laughter, except for Reverend Crane, who glared down at her. "What is the meaning of this?" he said.

"I saw a snake," Samantha said. "A black one. It touched me on the neck."

"A serpent? How could a serpent get into God's house?"

"I don't know. Someone must have brought it in."

"Indeed." The reverend looked over the other children as Samantha staggered back to her bench. Prudence continued looking down at the floor as she had for the entire service, but her leg tapped against Samantha's as a sign of support. "One of you children has sinned in the Lord's house. Out with it now. Which one of you has transported the demonic beast into God's sanctuary?" When no one answered, he turned to Miss Brigham. "I want everyone to empty his or her pockets. We will find the culprit and dole out appropriate punishment."

"Yes, Reverend Crane," Miss Brigham said. She commanded the boys to line up against one wall and the girls against another. One at a time she searched each child's pockets, looking for the snake. Samantha studied the faces around her, seeing a satisfied grin on Helena's face. Among the boys, a dark-haired boy received congratulatory punches from some of his friends. They must be working together, Samantha thought.

The search of the dark-haired boy turned up nothing, nor was the snake in Helena's pockets. Miss Brigham completed the search and then shrugged at the reverend in bewilderment. The reverend called Samantha to stand in front of his podium as though she were receiving a judge's sentence. "What is your name, child?"

"Samantha Young."

"Samantha, you have disrupted this congregation and have falsely accused your fellows. How do you answer for this?"

"I didn't mean to disrupt anything and I didn't lie. I saw the snake."

Miss Brigham rushed to her side and put a hand to her forehead. "She was suffering from a terrible fever. Perhaps she's still a little under the weather," Miss Brigham said.

"Be that as it may, I cannot let this sinful behavior pass without due punishment. Since you have befouled the Lord's house with your lies, you will clean it after our service is completed. For now, remain standing as you are and contemplate the wrongness of your actions. The rest of you come forward to receive communion."

"But, this isn't fair! I didn't-"

"Be still, young lady. You're in enough trouble without raising your voice to the reverend," Miss Brigham said.

The children filed past Samantha one at a time to stand before the reverend. He gave them a crust of bread, calling it the body of Christ and a drink from a silver cup, calling it the blood of Christ. Then the children went to the back of the church, the boys and girls assembling in separate groups. Prudence went last, followed by Miss Brigham. She opened the church doors and led the children out, leaving Samantha alone with Reverend Crane.

"Come forward, my child," he said. She shuffled forward in her painful shoes and knelt down as the others had. He gave her the crust of bread and she stuck it in her mouth, nearly choking on the stale, tasteless crust. Then he held the silver cup out to her. It contained not blood or wine, but water. She took a sip as the others had and marveled at how sweet it tasted. She tried to stand, but the reverend told her to remain kneeling.

He left out the side door for a few minutes. When he returned, he carried a bucket of water and a scrub brush. "Now, my child, time to serve your punishment. Though you are new to our congregation, you must learn we do not tolerate those who stray from The Way."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Words are meaningless, easily twisted by Satan. You must atone with your actions." Samantha took the brush from him and set to work scrubbing the floors. Reverend Crane watched her for a little while before going out the side door again. Samantha used the opportunity to drop the brush and search the area where she'd sat.

At first glance she saw nothing out of order. Then she looked more closely at a floorboard and found she could lift it up with no effort at all. Beneath the floor, she found the black snake the other children had used against her. She reached out gingerly towards it, but it never moved. She picked up the snake's form.

She considered finding the reverend to show him the evidence, but shook her head. He wouldn't believe her; he'd probably think she'd planted the snake herself. Samantha dropped the snake back into its hiding place and sat on the altar steps, wondering how this day could get any worse.