The Color of Ordinary Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

suit, his watery blue eyes hard and cool when I met them.
    “And this would be?” I asked Susan.
    “This is Porter, your... That is, he and your father are jointly leading the ministry now. He came up from Louisiana a few months ago. We all met him last summer during the crusade.”
    Porter and I did not shake hands, we did not smile at each other. He was tallish, and slimish, with brownish hair, and thirtyish. I would not have remarked on him if we’d passed each other on the street. Still, he had a presence about him, and a certain attractive lilt in his speech. I could sense in him the qualities of an old-fashioned fire and brimstone preacher, even if they were not apparent on the surface. Surely my father had noted the same quality in this man.
    The first thought I had was that Susan had finally succeeded where I had failed for years. She had brought another to my father’s flock. Perhaps her fiancé. I could certainly see her as willing to marry a man such as this one. Especially if my father had designated him heir-apparent. How I hated her for an instant. To have succeeded where I had tried so hard and failed.
    Then I calmed. This Porter person was not a kind or generous man, I could tell by his eyes. It would only be worse for Susan if she were to marry him. Secretly I prayed he was just my father’s successor, and nothing more.
    As if he had read my thoughts, Porter’s jaw clenched a little. I broke eye contact with him and turned back to Cortland. “How do I find this Father Felix?”
    Cortland reached into the desk and pulled out a thin yellow pages. “I’ll just look up his number for you, I’m sure he’ll be pleased to speak with you. Nice man, Father Felix.”
    “What are you doing, Keziah?” asked Susan.
    “I need to find out what damages were done to the church.”
    “You are here to bail out the Elder, and take us to Owenton, nothing more,” said Porter sternly.
    “I’m driving to Owenton, too?” I asked Susan.
    She shrugged. “The others went on already. It would be a blessing if you would take us on to catch up with them. Your father didn’t want them to miss any services.”
    Cortland handed me a yellow piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on it in green ink with a look that said he’d been wanting to beat down Porter most of the day. I couldn’t blame him, and I’d just met the man.
    “Is there a pay phone?” I asked.
    “Down in the break room,” said Cortland.
    I left Porter and Susan standing in the lobby while I made that call. Sure enough, Father Felix was on the other end of the number. Where it rang exactly I didn’t know. He agreed to meet me at the church, and then I hung up.
    Back in the lobby, I addressed Susan again. “I’m going to talk with Father Felix. You hang here a little longer. I’ll come back and pick you up, we’ll go find dinner and a room for the night.”
    “What are you up to, Keziah?” asked Susan firmly, while casting a quelling glance at Porter.
    “I’m going to see if I can make this right with the church so that there are no future legal issues, and then I’m going to have a good dinner and a good sleep. I’ll bail him out in the morning if I have enough money. Then I’ll take you on to catch up with the group.”
    “You are here to bail him out, and then take us on. Nothing more, nothing less. Keziah, you are not to take any other maters upon yourself,” said Porter, this time
very
sternly.
    “If I don’t take this matter upon myself, and they sue him, then that’s just more legal trouble for all of you. I can’t bail him out right now, anyway, because I’ll have to call my bank and get them to transfer money to the right account. It’s Sunday. They aren’t open right now. With any luck you’ll be in Owenton tomorrow for lunch. That’s my best offer.”
    “Thank you, we’ll wait here,” said Susan. It was her turn to be looked at sternly by Porter.
    “You overstep yourself, Sister Klein. We should speak with the