Osprey and Lila greeted the attendees at the door, where a banner hung above them which read, “ANNUAL FALL FESTIVAL”. Inside a band played loudly as men and women danced about, some with partners, and others simply enjoying the music as several children joined in. On one side of the room was a podium with a gavel placed on top, where various bric-a-brac, wall hangings, and canned goods were arranged on chairs and on the floor for auction.
Lloyd went and stood near the band contemplatively and watched others dance about with an occasional smirk on his face as an odd couple or two whirled past.
On the other side of the room, near the entrance, were a couple of long tables lined with food, as Judith helped the other women arrange their dishes. When she wasn’t looking some children feasted on chocolate cake mischievously. As Judith caught them at random, she would scat them away, shaking her head in dismay.
Then Osprey walked through the room as people respectfully cleared the way for him to get to the podium. He gave a nod to the head fiddler and the band stopped playing. He addressed the crowd. As a man of charisma, he obtained their full attention.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here tonight for the Annual Fall Festival and I would like tot extend my warmest welcome to you each and every one.”
An old man that spoke with a wisp stepped to the forefront of the group with a stagger. He saluted Osprey as his voice echoed among the others.
“It’s good to be here, brother!”
Everyone laughed, including Osprey.
“Very well then,” he continued, eager to get on with the program. “I can see the merriment has already begun for many of you. However, as you well know, tonight isn’t just about getting together and having a good time. Although that is all part of this yearly event, and don’t get me wrong, we all enjoy the band, but there is a more serious cause at hand. That is why I’m appealing to you before the auction begins. We’re here for a much greater purpose than you can see right now, and that is why the proceeds from tonight will go directly to benefit a family among us, who has a very special need.”
There was some whispering among them and Judith spoke out, addressing Osprey directly.
“Why, these are some of the best items that came from our homes! I thought we were going to buy new hymnals with the money!”
A few of the women joined her in the protest, while one of the men voiced his opinion.
“Is it anybody we know, Pastor? What’s it going to be used for?”
Osprey cleared his throat and calmed the crowd with the baying of his hands.
“I ask you each and every one. Is it the duty of the church to care only about the needs of the church itself, or for the members, which make up the body of the church?”
There was some confusion among them. Osprey walked away from the podium and got down on their level, where he could casually make sincere eye contact as he felt necessary. He shook the hand of a stout young man in his early twenties, standing alongside his sweetheart.
“Hey there, Jimmy. How did your crops yield for you this past harvest?” He extended his hand out, but went to squeezing his shoulder instead.
“My, that’s a good right arm you’ve got there!”
The man nodded in agreement, but before he could say anything in response Osprey continued on.
“Say, how’s your brother doing? Have you gotten word from him yet? You were mighty fortunate that he took your place in the war. We never know what tomorrow holds, do we?”
Jimmy stood there still perplexed by the question, as Osprey moved on to someone else.
He went over to Hugh from the local lumber mill and patted him on the back. Hugh gave a shy smile and diverted his eyes away from him.
“You’re a good man, Hugh,” he said. “Just have a look at your family. It’s a fine family. Why, you’re young sprouts will be off and married before you know it. You’ve got a good place to spend your later years though, don’t you? It’s a mighty fine farm you’ve got there.”
Hugh only nodded with a slight retreat, as Osprey moved on to his brother Lloyd.
Osprey greeted him with a frisk on the head, but Lloyd loosened his grasp and cordially pushed him away with his hands, expecting to be embarrassed.
“How’s it going, brother?” he asked. “Is your back healing up nice?”
Lloyd nodded and turned away, glancing up at the ceiling with a whistle to alleviate the attention from himself. So Osprey made his way over to Judith.
“What’s a woman like you doing with a man like that?”
Everyone laughed.
Judith too, looked away and rolled her eyes at the irony of what she knew was coming.
“He’s got his good points though. Minds the store so we all have a place to buy what we need. And I’ve seen him put a smile on your face a time or two. It’s good to have a man like that around, isn’t it?”
She scoffed, “Well!...”
Osprey turned to the crowd, standing now in the midst of them and spoke louder to the whole.
“It could be tough times ahead for all of us. Anything could happen with this war going on. Some of our own people won’t be coming back. Hey.., who are we kidding?”
He paused to look around at some of the attendee’s faces.
“It didn’t take the war to take one of our own, but he’s gone nonetheless.., and what remains is a woman without a husband, four young children without a father, and now the family is without a home. And I ask you.., what does that make them among us? Lepers? Surely, you all are capable of more than this! Why I’ve seen the way you look at them when they walk by, but then you turn the other way! It’s times like these that we should all be pulling together! Why, it’s times like these when respectable people shouldn’t have to look for good people to be around. As far as I’m concerned they should come running!”
Mrs. O’Neal stepped to the back of the room and placed a shaky hand over her mouth, as her children gathered up around her.
Hugh spoke up. “That wood you’re wanting I bet I can beat that price on having it milled!”
Osprey smiled with a nod of his head. “Thank you.”
Another man, a Lumberjack, spoke out. “I put in a long day of logging as it is, but I’d be willing to add a couple of hours to that each day!”
“That’s the spirit!”
A few men began speaking out at random. “You can count me in!... Yeah, me too!”
Osprey nodded his head at the response he was getting.
“I knew you people hadn’t lost heart.” He nodded to the band, and the fiddler started up.
“Let’s all enjoy the music! The auction will begin in an hour!”
He clapped his hands to the rhythm and began talking to some of the men who approached him.
Lloyd, scratching his chin next to the band, could see the widow in the corner. She still looked like an outcast, with some of the other women joining Judith at the tables. A sly grin overcame his face and he walked up to Mrs. O’Neal, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. She was blushing as she removed her nervous hand from her mouth. And after a moment or two, she began to get into the rhythm as Lloyd swung her around and about as he slapped at one knee. The others cleared the floor.
From the opposite side of the room, Judith paused from her conversation as she looked their way in a horrific gaze. Her mouth dropped open and three children made off with the chocolate cake.
Later that night, Lloyd sat on the steps of the porch holding a steaming cup of coffee between both hands as an occasional cool wind blew. Though an old rocker moved in the breeze and his hair rustled, he remained fixed on the tree line in the distance which made its shadow against the glow of the moon. The front door opened and Judith made her presence known, with a shawl draped tight around her nightgown and shivering from the initial cold.
“Don’t you know what hour it is? I swear by the way you’ve been acting that you just don’t want the night to end,” she
said, clearly disgusted by the scenario.
“No matter,” he shrugged her off. “I’ll be up in a bit.”
She started to turn, but then stopped.
“Whatever possessed you to carry on like that anyway? You were dancin’ around, festive as a lark, like some old fool!”
Lloyd snickered to himself at the suggestion.
“Oh, I don’t know. She just looked like she needed it.., if a person really needs such a thing,” he added.
She got smug. “Well, everybody will be talking about it tomorrow. I don’t know if I can rightly show my face in church.”
He was still lost in his own thoughts, unmoved by her insults and half-cocky.
“It’s the first time I’ve danced since I was a kid.., or even had the notion to. It did my spirit some good, it did,” he replied.
She blew some steam in his direction. “You’re talking nonsense. Come on in and get some sleep.”
He remained fixed on the trees. “Nope. You’ve been frigid for way too long. Go on to bed, woman. I don’t want this good feeling to spoil.”
She stewed at his remark and slammed the door shut, bolting it with a piece of wood. He shook his head and took another sip of coffee.
The next morning, he remained home from church and when the day was almost done, Osprey had come for a visit. Lloyd was sitting out by a walnut tree, nipping away at a sapling with a pocket knife. He had already packed a paisley garment bag with his most needed items, and Judith had been beside herself. There was not an attempt to convince him otherwise, he had already signed the papers as was headed to Virginia.
“There’s a purpose I can tend to. Judith can keep the store and with the help of a couple of good men, I’m sure you’ll fare all right with the O’Neal house.”
Osprey understood the sincerity of his actions, and knew how his brother wanted a change. “It takes a capable man to volunteer for such,” he said. “It’s not easy to stay put when men are dying by the tens of thousands out there, but I’ll hold out a while longer and look out for your boys.”
Lloyd stood up and thanked him for understanding with a firm squeeze of his hand and forearm.”
“I really do love my family,” he replied with a rugged swallow.
“I know you do,” he smiled with a sense of pride, “and they know it too.”
houses of clay