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Ann Ward Reviews For THERE IN THE MOON MIST by Lee Ann Ward No reviews posted yet. Sample Chapter For THERE IN
THE MOON MIST by Lee Ann Ward
“I can’t do it, Reverend. Please don’t ask me to. I just thought you would—” “I would what, boy?” Lucas swallowed hard, his dry eyes fixed
on Lacy. It was hard to breathe past the lump in his throat. “I just don’t see how hurting her can solve this thing,” Lu-cas answered, his eyes widening. He’d never stood up to the reverend before, and it was hard to hide his fear of him. “She is to be your wife,” the reverend added, placing a hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “She is defiant, disobedient. She has upset the harmony of the house.” He snapped the leather strap cradled in his palm. “And she is yours to discipline.” Lucas took the strap and fixed his eyes on Lacy as she crouched on the floor, her pink, bald knees tucked under a de-termined face. He knew it would take more than a leather strap to break her. “Don’t try to fool me, Luke,” the reverend warned, open-ing the door to exit the penalty room. “I’ll check her for marks.” He left the room, placing a large bar on the outside of the door. Lucas moved toward Lacy, his hands visibly shaking. She stood, stumbling back until her body pressed against the wall. “I don’t want to do this, Lacy.” “Then don’t,” she pleaded. “Let’s stand up to him.” “To God!” Lucas shouted, his voice trembling. “How do we stand up to God?” “He’s not God,” Lacy replied, “and I can prove it.” Her memories chipped away the hours. Why did Reve-rend Way’s sermons have to be so boring? Terminally boring. Lacy couldn’t help but scan the starving eyes of the others, glued to the reverend as if his words were food and they were hungry babies. But not Lacy Grayson. Her baby days were long gone, and her brain didn’t need the washing the others seemed to welcome. She viewed the reverend’s impromptu lecture from her eyes within, seizing the opportunity to remember her daddy and the way things had been before he died—before Mama brought her to this place. “Lacy,” her mother whispered through clenched teeth, “are you listening?” Lacy returned a glare and half nod. How could she help but listen? It was impossible to blot out the reverend’s voice as it roared and pounded in her head like an unwelcome drum line. These were the sermons she hated most—the unplanned ones, called spontaneously in the middle of the night because someone had upset the harmony of the house. The reverend had called a lot of these meetings lately. Sometimes Lacy thought the reverend just liked to hear himself talk. All he did was talk. Why wouldn’t he just shut up? * * * * Lacy stood behind the crescent rock that lined the brook. It wasn’t much of a hiding place; but she wasn’t really hiding—just resting. Her head pounded from exhaustion. The reverend had managed to pull another all-nighter, yet the group was still expected to go to their jobs the next morning. Lacy was a house worker, one of many women employed for cooking meals and cleaning the house. She had graduated into the position since Mama had always been a house worker, too. What was it about living this way that attracted Mama? Attracted the others? Why did they believe everything the re-verend taught? Lacy wasn’t sure she believed any of it. She had sensed something peculiar about this place from the start. Lacy was twelve when they came to Cedar Creek, Alabama, to the house for members of The Way. She remembered that sick feeling—the pinch in her stomach that wouldn’t let up. Reve-rend Way didn’t carry himself like God; not like any God Lacy could imagine, and he was certainly a sorry replacement for her dad. Why did Daddy have to die? The reverend was cold and controlling—an overzealous soldier in a one-man army. Why would God need to treat His people that way? Why couldn’t she just get out? It had been almost nine years since
Daddy died and she came to this place. Lacy swore she could smell Daddy’s
co-logne in the sprays of water that sprung from the brook as she feverishly
skipped rocks. She wasn’t sure why throwing the rocks made her
feel better, but it did. Maybe it was the free-dom in the release, or
maybe it was because she was out of that place, even if it was only
for thirty minutes. Lacy turned to reply, her knees wobbling from exhaus-tion. “Hey, Alaina. You finished in the kitchen already?” “Yeah, Betty said I could go.
Hardly no one ate breakfast this morning anyway. I think everyone was
running pretty late for work. Guess there are benefits to being a house
worker sometimes, huh, Lace? Alaina stood close to Lacy and whispered, “Keep your voice down.” She peeked over her shoulder and added, “I think you hate everything he does.” Lacy didn’t hesitate. “I do.” “Aren’t you scared you’ll go to Hell if you don’t listen to the reverend?” Alaina snapped. “I mean, God sent him here to teach us. He came straight from God. You know that.” “Do I?” Lacy moved away from the brook, brushing a stray piece of yellow hair from her face. “Alaina, you mean to tell me you’ve never questioned, not even once, that everything the reverend says might not be true? What if none of it’s true, if it’s all lies? What then?” “It has to be true, Lace. I mean, my parents follow the re-verend. They say he saved them from the sin and evil of this world. He takes care of us. And just look at him. He looks like God.” “Since when do you know what God looks like?” “Well, I just mean…” “You just mean he yells and screams and intimidates eve-ryone. Keeps us up all hours of the night until we’re so ex-hausted we can barely think. And, as far as him taking care of us—how? Alaina, we all live in this house together. The reve-rend takes the money we make, throws it in a big pot and ra-tions it out to us like we’re his children and he’s giving us an allowance. He’s taking our money, Alaina. Think about it. It’s just another way for him to keep us under his thumb. And what about the beatings?” “No one’s been disciplined in a while, Lacy.” “So, that makes it all right? Alaina, the reverend beat Jeff Davies so badly he could barely move the next day. Jenn Cas-sidy said he raped her. Rape, Alaina. She even threatened to go to the police. Think about it. Living this way can’t be right.” Lacy locked eyes with Alaina. “It’s never felt right to me.” “Jenn Cassidy just didn’t want to get married.” “Neither do I,” Lacy blurted. Alaina looked flustered. “My parents
said she just made up the rape so she could leave the house.” “Don’t be silly,” Alaina replied, averting her eyes from Lacy’s face. “When we break God’s laws, we must be pu-nished. It’s not the reverend’s fault when someone is disobe-dient.” “Do you even hear yourself?” Lacy shouted, feeling the heat racing up her neck. “When someone is disobedient? What gives any human being the right to beat another? It can’t be justified, Alaina. Not to me, anyway.” “But God sent him, Lace. The reverend is straight from God, and God knows best. We have to do what He says.” “Alaina, what if the reverend doesn’t let you marry Sa-muel—if he doesn’t pick you for Sam? Are you going to just listen blindly to what he says then? Huh? I know how much you like Samuel. Anyone here with half a brain can see it, and Sam likes you, too. What if the reverend sees things differently and picks someone else for you to marry?” Alaina’s face reddened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not quite time for my marriage selection anyway. Why are we talking about this now?” “Because I don’t believe he’s God’s messenger, Alaina. That’s what this is about. I’ve never believed in him.” Lacy skipped another rock in the brook. “My Dad would roll over in his grave if he knew Mama brought us to a place like this. I hope wherever he is, he can’t see us. He warned my mom about The Way—told her to stay the hell away from Cheryl. Why wouldn’t my mom just listen to him? He never believed the reverend’s teachings. Never.” “But, your dad’s been dead
for years, Lace. Maybe he was wrong about Reverend Way. And we know
he was wrong about Cheryl. I mean, she’s practically your mom’s
best friend. And, that was a long time ago.” Alaina softened, moisture threatening to fill her eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just…well…if you hate it here and you hate the reverend, then why stay? Why don’t you just get out?” “My mom,” Lacy stammered, “I can’t leave Mama. Since Daddy died, she’s the only family I have. When I leave, if I leave, she has to be with me.” “But your mom’s happy here.” “Happy? How happy would she be without me? The reve-rend won’t even let her get married again—ever. You know that, Alaina. If I left, she’d be totally alone.” “What if she never leaves? Do you keep pretending to be-lieve in the reverend, or just wait until you’re discovered and purged?” Purging. That’s what Lacy feared most. She’d seen other members purged in the past—thrown out of the house and banned from any contact with their families who remained as members. The reverend called it “house cleaning”, but Lacy knew the truth. It was really disposing of the independent thinkers, the reverend’s greatest threats. The ones like her. The reverend would view her as a threat if he knew how she felt, so she would keep living the lie of the cult lifestyle until Mama came around to her way of thinking. She’d already lost her daddy. She wouldn’t lose her mama, too. She’d do whatever it took to get Mama to leave with her and break free of the reve-rend’s grip. “It’s crazy, Lacy. I don’t know why you have to doubt the reverend. This is our life. We are members of The Way. We’re family. Why can’t you just find faith and contentment in that? You know I love you. But what would the others do if they heard all the things you tell me about the reverend?” “I love you, too, Alaina. You know I do. You’re my best friend and I won’t say anything to get you into trouble, okay? If you’re happy here, then I’m fine with that. I’m just telling you, I can’t keep living like this. I just can’t.” “Living like what?” Lacy lost her breath. Alaina gasped. It had to be Lucas. Lacy gained her composure, desperate to keep her secret, and moved to greet him. “Hey, Lucas. I don’t think I can keep living this tired. I need to get some sleep tonight.” “Gee, look at the time,” Alaina blurted. “Let me get out of here.” “I’ll help you.” Lucas clasped Alaina’s hand to ease her from the bank of the brook, and she winced slightly. Lucas knew his handshake hurt people, but didn’t seem to care—even when offering his hand to a lady. |