Decoration Day Read Online Free Page A

the deceased by making this cemetery look beautiful?”
    “Ancestors,” Horace stated. “They are not deceased.”
    “I’m sorry,” David said. “We can still celebrate their lives by decorating their graves.”
    “Markers,” Nahum said. “Graves are for the dead. These are our ancestors.”
    David had no idea what these men meant. All the headstones he’d glanced at so far had birth and death dates on them. He would play along. God pulled so hard on his will he thought he might pass out from the overwhelming desire. He stepped onto the entrance stoop.
    “I would like to see inside,” he said.
    “I don’t recall a minister so excited about our faith,” Dmitri said. “Ever.”
    “God has called to me about this place and this church.” David looked at the elder. “I’ve been struggling with my faith for a long time. This place revives it.”
    “So he knows nothing about our ways?” Dmitri asked Marsh.
    “I plan on talking to him after he sees our church,” Marsh said. “I’m sure his enthusiasm won’t have waned after that.”
    The conversation between the two men piqued David’s interest. Something seemed off about it. He wondered if they practiced some strange version of Christianity. Perhaps they handled snakes. He didn’t like the idea of that but felt he could convince them that it was better to handle metaphorical serpents. He noticed that the elders spoke and held themselves better than the other townspeople.
    Marsh stepped past him, carrying a large iron key in his hand. He unlocked the door and swung it open. The heavy iron hinges ground together with teeth-jarring metal on metal sound. A rush of stale air hit David in the face as he walked inside.
    A very small vestibule gave way to the sanctuary. Small, solid oak pews lined a narrow aisle. The space between pews left little room for legs if the people were as tall as Marsh. David ran his hand over the smooth, oiled wood of each bench as he passed.
    The only light in the room came from the leaded windows, but a large candle chandelier hung from the ceiling about where the spire steeple jutted from the roof. He figured that the metal spire helped to hold up the chandelier.
    “How do you light the candles?” he asked, staring at the chandelier in wonder.
    “With a long match,” Nahum said, obviously as a joke, but sounding devoid of humor.
    “We have an altar boy for that,” Marsh said.
    David looked at him. “So this is a Catholic church.”
    “Not exactly,” Dmitri said.
    “Episcopal?”
    “Not that either,” Horace said.
    “We have our own altar boys. We don’t hold to an orthodox faith,” Marsh said. “After you’ve had time to settle in, I will educate you on the esoteric nature of our faith.”
    David’s jolliness wavered. “I don’t know if I can satisfy your needs. I have a very specific form of preaching. It might not match yours if your faith strays far from mine.”
    “You should have vetted him,” Dmitri said.
    “Perhaps you would like to be the minister with Decoration Day so near,” Marsh said. “You are the most versed in Scripture, Dmitri.”
    “No,” the other man answered.
    Marsh looked at David. The gaze provided no comfort. “I have total confidence in your abilities, Reverend.”
    “So you like the idea of a decoration day?” he asked.
    “Believe it or not, our decoration day is this Sunday every year,” Ebenezer broke his silence. “We were afraid that we might not have a preacher for it.”
    “How lucky I happened upon your town when I did,” David said. “God works in mysterious ways.”
    “Indeed he does,” Marsh said. “Let’s continue the tour.”
    Marsh walked past David, directing his attention to the pulpit. Carved vines snaked the sides of the oak podium. Tiny spikes like briar thorns jutted from the carvings. David imagined they represented the thorns used to make Christ’s crown. Now that he thought about the symbol on the steeple, he imagined it represented the Star