Tracie Peterson (38 page)

“Things? Such as?”

“Such as Chicago and your insistence to cast away the world you know for the wilds of the West and what you do not know.”

Dennison seemed so genuinely upset that Pierce instantly got to his feet. “I would be happy to put your mind at rest.”

He followed his father down the hall and into the library, which stood at the top of the main staircase. Dennison closed the door and motioned Pierce to take a seat, while he himself began to pace.

“I know you’re a grown man and have every right to the future of your choosing, but I cannot say that this idea of yours doesn’t bother me. Chicago is hundreds of miles away and travel is precarious at best.” He held up his hand lest Pierce offer any objections. “Yes, I know the Erie Canal is making travel to the Great Lakes much easier. I’ve even managed to obtain information on a variety of wagon trains and stagelines that go west.”

“You’ve left out the possibility of taking a sailing vessel to New Orleans and then going up the Mississippi and across Illinois,” Pierce said with a grin. “Oh, Father, you really shouldn’t be so worried. I know this is where God is directing me to go. There’s so much to be done and men of my standing, with the capital to back them, can not only make a huge fortune, but also benefit the masses who also are dreaming of a new start. Chicago has nearly four thousand residents and it is projected that by 1840 there will be twice that many people.”

“That’s all well and good, but …”

“Father, why don’t you come west with me? We could build an empire! I still own a great deal of land in Chicago and we could develop it together.”

Dennison smiled sadly at this. “I thought we were doing that here in New York.”

“But I can’t bear the snobbery of this town much longer. The prejudices are enough to drive me mad.”

“And you think Chicago will be without its own form of prejudice?”

Pierce knew his father had a point. “I’m sure they do have prejudice, but they aren’t formed around the tight little society that New York has made for itself. I’ve never known another town, with the exception of Boston, that holds its lofty council above all others and looks down its nose at those considered beneath it.”

“Then you haven’t looked very close,” Dennison said with a smile. For some reason this seemed to put him at ease and he took a chair across from Pierce and poured a cup of steaming black coffee. “I’ve traveled to some of the same places you have. London. Paris. Munich. They all have their ‘tight little societies’ as you put it. You know as well as I do how laws have been passed in Germany to discriminate against the Jews. Some towns are even forbidden for them to live in, and others are denying them the right to own property and businesses. I’m telling you, Pierce, there is no place in this world that is without its own form of prejudice.”

Pierce poured his own coffee and sighed. “I know you’re right. It just seems a shame to watch people so divide themselves. Their greeds and lusts take over and they give little consideration for those who suffer.”

“It was no different in Jesus’ time. You must understand, Pierce, there will always be those who suffer injustices. All you can do is your very best to see that you aren’t a part of it and that you render aid where you can.”

“But don’t you understand? That’s what I’m trying to do now. In leaving New York, I leave behind their ways and their snobbery. I say to them, in essence, enough is enough and I will no longer be party to your corruption. And I am already prepared to render aid. I found a Jewish doctor who is a new Christian. He desires to go west and I have offered to pay his passage to Chicago in turn for his acting as private physician to Abraham Lewy.”

“Abraham? He has agreed to go with you to Chicago?”

“No, but I’m certain that once I speak to him of the benefits he will want to go.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Pierce shrugged and pushed back thick brown hair that had fallen onto his forehead. “I don’t know. I guess I kind of figured if I made him an attractive offer, he’d naturally want to come along.”

“And Darlene? Was she a part of the attractive offer?”

Pierce grinned. “Well, of course Darlene is included. I mentioned to her the idea and told her I’d help her father establish a new shop and home.”

“And what did she say?” Dennison eyed his son quite seriously.

This question took some of the wind out of Pierce’s sails. “She didn’t think he’d want to go.”

“I thought as much. You see, Abraham and I have often discussed the matter of moving west. Many of the Jews who came here over the last ten years have done so only with westward expansion in mind. They aren’t comfortable in the large eastern cities, where people are cruel with hate and prejudice. They are more inclined to migrate west and form their own towns and societies. Abraham considered such a thing, but he was sure that his age was against him. Thinking he was too old, he settled here and found friends he could trust.”

“But I want very much for them to know peace and to be accepted into the community. Now that Abraham is a Christian, surely people will take him in and treat him respectfully.”

“They will always be Jewish by blood. They look like Jews, they sound like Jews, and they have Jewish names. People are going to know. Whether they worship in a synagogue or a church, people are going to think of them as Jews. And, you’re forgetting one very important thing. Darlene is still of the Jewish faith.”

“But it is my prayer that she’ll come to know Christ.”

“But until she does, Pierce, she is still very much separated from you in her beliefs. You have fallen in love with this woman, I know that. But I’m telling you that marriage to one such as her can only spell disaster for you both.”

Pierce only frowned and sipped at the hot liquid in his cup. He felt the familiar resentment of wanting something that he knew he couldn’t have.

“If you were to marry her without her having accepted Christ, who would perform the ceremony? A rabbi? A minister? Then, too, would you attend a church or a synagogue and when would you actually honor the Sabbath? On Saturday or Sunday? What happens, even if you both amicably decide to worship God your own way, when children come along? Will you raise them as Christians or as Jews? Can’t you see, Pierce, there is no peace in a divided house. You cannot walk both paths and remain true to either one. You are a Christian. Your foundation for living is in the salvation you know in Christ. You base your beliefs on the Christian Bible and you know that the teachings there are absolute truth. To marry Darlene would be to cast off all that you know as right.”

“But Darlene is only one small issue. Even men in the Bible married women of other cultures and nations.”

“That’s true. But Ahab married Jezebel when she was still an idolatress and it was a disaster. Samson fell in love with Delilah and it led him into tragedy.”

“But what of Ruth the Moabitess?”

“Yes, she accepted the Jewish faith and culture and so became acceptable for Boaz to marry. Do you see Darlene giving up her faith and culture for you?”

Pierce put down the cup and shook his head. “I wouldn’t want her to do it for me. I want her to know Jesus for herself. I want her to be saved because God has opened her eyes to the truth.”

Dennison nodded. “I’m glad to hear you say that, because if she changes faiths for you, and not because God has so moved her heart, it will never take root and grow in her heart.”

“I know,” Pierce replied, and indeed he did know it full well. Wasn’t it the same thing that had given his heart hours of frustration and grief? Wasn’t it the very burden he had laid at his Savior’s feet, begging for hope and a satisfactory solution?

“Are you completely certain that God is leading you to Chicago?”

Dennison’s question hit a spot deep in Pierce’s heart. “Yes. I feel certain.”

“How do you know for sure that it is right?”

Pierce sighed. “Because I have such peace about going. Even,” he paused, “when I count what I must leave behind, I know that it is the right thing to do.”

“And if those things left behind include Darlene Lewy?”

“I told God I’d leave her, too.” Pierce looked up, his eyes filling strangely with tears. “Don’t think it’s easy for me to say these things. Don’t think it’s easy for me to leave you and Constance, either. But I know that I have to do it. I know this is right. I’ve prayed and considered the matter and always the answer is, ‘Yes, go to Chicago.’ I can’t forsake what I know is God’s will for my life.”

“Nor would I ask you to,” Dennison said, leaning forward to place his hand over his son’s. “It won’t be easy to let you go again, but if you are this convinced that God is leading you, then I must have peace in it and trust Him to know the way that is best. It won’t be easy for me, either. It will be lonely here without you, and there will be a void that only you can fill. But, alas, children do grow up and find their own way. I’m gratified to know that you seek God’s counsel. It makes me confident that I have done right by you.”

“Of that you may be certain,” Pierce replied, putting his hand in his father’s. He squeezed it gently.

Outside, the wind died down a bit and as it did the sound of distant bells could be heard clanging out in the night. Fire was a common thing in New York and the fire departments were the best in the world. Each station had its own signals and this was clearly a signal for their own neighborhood.

Pierce jumped up and ran to the window, wondering if he could see where the fire might be. An eerie sensation ran through him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Inky blackness shrouded the town and even the bit of moon overhead did nothing to light the darkness. His heart began to race faster with each clang of the bell.

“I can’t see anything!” he declared.

“Perhaps Mack knows,” Dennison suggested.

Three of the Blackwells’ coachmen, including Mack, were volunteers with the neighborhood fire department, so Pierce lit out of the room on a dead run, hoping to hear some bit of news. For reasons beyond his understanding, he couldn’t shake off the sensation that something was terribly wrong. It was more than the simple signal of the fire. Fires were commonplace things. Poorly built clapboard buildings and careless vagrants were well-known reasons for fires, not to mention those finer houses that went up when lamps were knocked over or fireplaces were left unattended. It was more than this and he had to know what it was that drove him to concern.

“Where’s the fire?” he shouted, passing through the kitchen into the breezeway.

“Don’t know,” the cook answered in her brusque manner. “Nobody tells me anything.”

Pierce felt the stinging cold bite at him through the thin material of his shirt. He went to the stable, refusing to turn back for a coat. “Where’s the fire?” he asked again, this time to one of his remaining groomsmen.

“Lower end. Business district. They’re calling out extra help because the Old Slip is up in flames and their department’s hoses and pumps are frozen solid.”

“The Old Slip? Are you certain?” Pierce’s heart pounded in anticipation of the answer. Darlene and Abraham were less than two blocks up from the harbor and well within the Old Slip district.

“Aye, I’m certain. We had a rider come through afore the bells even sounded. Charlie and Mack grabbed up their gear and took off just as the signal came through. It’s going to be a bad one.”

“What about Ralph?” Pierce questioned, referring to the third Blackwell volunteer.

“He’s in bed with a blow to the head. That new bay we bought got a bit out of control.”

“Saddle my horse,” Pierce said, ignoring the news about the injured man. “No, wait, a carriage! Get the landau ready and I’ll drive it myself!” The groomsman stared at him in stunned silence. “Get to it, man! I’m going for my coat and I want it ready when I return. Oh, and throw in a stack of blankets.”

Darlene!
It was all he could think of.
Darlene and Abraham are in danger
!

He raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. His father’s concerned expression did nothing to slow him down. “It’s the Old Slip,” he called over his shoulder. “It’s bad.”

Nothing more needed to be said. Pierce knew that his father would understand his need to go. Dangers notwithstanding, Pierce had to find a way to get Darlene and Abraham to safety. His father would expect no less.

In his room he grabbed his frock coat and heavy woolen outer coat. Forgetting his top hat, he barely remembered to take his gloves and muffler.

“Bring them back here,” his father said as he passed him in the hall.

“I will,” Pierce replied and hurried off into the night. He had to find them. He had to save them.
Dear God, please don’t let me be too late!

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Isaiah 43:2

A
fter placing a kiss upon her sleeping father’s forehead, Darlene secured her bonnet and did up the buttons of her coat. She felt a new peace and excitement that she couldn’t put into words. She had accepted Jesus into her heart and the wonder of it consumed her. She felt giddy, almost like laughing out loud. What was it Pierce had told her? Something about having great joy in knowing a personal relationship with God. Was that why she felt so wonderful?

Grabbing up Esther’s newly washed pot, Darlene hummed to herself, nearly skipping down the stairs. She felt so good! Her father had been very pleased with her choice and while she knew that pleasing him was important, it wasn’t the reason she’d accepted Jesus as Messiah. No, God had done a work in her heart and she had come to Him in the full belief that there was more to life than laws and traditions.

She pulled the door to the shop closed and sniffed the air. There was a faint scent of wood smoke on the breeze, but on a night as cold as this, it wasn’t unusual for the air to hang heavy with the smoke of coal and wood. She snuggled her face into the fur collar of her coat and hurried down the street to Esther’s. She was already determined to share her new faith with Esther, even knowing that the old woman would call her a traitor and crazy. For reasons beyond what Darlene could understand, however, she knew that she had to try to make Esther see what Christianity was all about. It wasn’t leaving the Jewish faith behind. It was fulfilling it in the Messiah they had always known would come.