The Shadow Portrait (42 page)

“Oliver, do you remember when we were young and you asked my father for permission for us to marry?”

“I do remember. I was scared stiff.”

“He didn’t want me to marry you, Oliver.”

“I remember that, too. But your mother stood with us, didn’t she? I’ve never forgotten that. I always loved her for it. I still do.”

“This is a good thing. I hope you and I together can give George and Mary Ann our blessing. I give them mine, and I hope you will, too.”

His wife’s words touched Oliver greatly. He realized that at his age he might not be around much longer to make decisions for Mary Ann. And as he looked at the young man, so handsome and full of love for God and love for his daughter, he knew he had no choice.

“Be good to her, George,” he said simply.

At his words Mary Ann let out a cry and ran to throw her arms around her father. His cane fell to the floor as he put his arms around her and felt her body shaking. “There, there,” he said. “It’s all right.”

George came forward, his eyes moist, and said, “I hardly expected this, sir, but I promise you I’ll always love her and take care of her the best I can.”

“Have you heard the news?” Jolie said, coming in as the morning sunlight streamed through the window. She came
over to stand beside Avis’s bed, and her eyes were filled with delight.

“It must be good news,” Avis said. She struggled to an upright position and pushed futilely at her hair. “What is it?”

“A miracle, I think. You know how Mr. Lanier’s been adamant against George Camrose marrying Mary Ann? Well, he gave his permission last night. I just heard the news.”

“From what I’ve heard about Oliver Lanier, that
is
a miracle,” Avis said. She sat there looking at the young woman so filled with excitement and smiled at her. “You want to hear about another miracle?”

“Yes, I’m always ready for a miracle.”

“Pull your chair over and sit down beside me.”

Obediently Jolie got her chair and then sat down. “What is it, Avis?”

Avis looked down at her hands for a moment, then she looked up, her eyes filled with tears. “I’ve always heard you talk about God speaking, and I didn’t believe it. But last night I think God spoke to me.”

“Oh, Avis, that’s wonderful!”

“I didn’t hear a voice or anything like that. I was lying there thinking about my life, and mostly thinking about what you told me about Jesus. The more I thought about Jesus, the more awake I became. And then,” Avis said with a voice of wonder, “something came into my heart. It was as if a silent voice said, ‘I love you, Avis, and I want you for my own.’ It could only have been the Lord. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me.”

“What did you do?” Jolie said breathlessly.

“I suddenly thought of all of the Scripture that you had read to me and one verse I’ve never been able to understand. It was what Jesus said, ‘He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ I thought about that verse a lot.” Avis hesitated, then said. “I was so tired and I’ve been so afraid. Peter’s been a great help, and you’ve been a gift from heaven, I think. The way I’ve lived my life stretched out before me. I felt so
hopeless, and that verse kept coming. ‘He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,’ and then I did something I never thought I’d do. I called out aloud, ‘Jesus, I need you. Please help me.’ ”

Jolie sat there as Avis described her experience, and finally she asked, “What happened then, Avis?”

“I don’t know exactly, except that it was like a quietness coming over a noisy room. My life had been so cluttered up with so many voices, and so many things happening, and so many fears, and of course I never made any secret of my life. I’ve always been a sinful woman, and I began saying, ‘I’m a sinful person, and I can’t change myself. But I ask you, Jesus, to take me and change me. I didn’t know how to pray, but I did the best I could, and Jolie—something happened.’ I began to weep, and something came into my heart that I’ve never known. You might call it peace, but after a while I waited for the worry and the fears to come back, but they didn’t!”

Jolie suddenly threw her arms around Avis and wept, saying, “I’m so glad for you, Avis.”

Avis was weeping, too, but when Jolie moved back, she said, “Here’s the miracle of it all. I determined I’d never make a bargain with God. Like, ‘If you’ll heal me I’ll serve you,’ and I didn’t. So here’s what I told the Lord last night. ‘I’ll love you and give you my heart whether you ever heal me or not.’ ”

Jolie stared at Avis and whispered, “God must be very pleased with that. He wants us to love Him for himself, not for what He does for us—but I’ll tell you one thing,” she added with determination, “I’m still believing that I got a promise from God, and now that you’re His child, I’m going to pray even harder that one day you’ll get out of that chair and walk for the glory of God!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Three Surprises

“Hey, this note just came for you, Peter!”

Easy had come to Peter, who was bending over the engine of the
Jolie Blonde II,
and grinned as he handed the note over. “You’ve tinkered with the car enough. It’s as ready as it’ll ever be. Now, let me load it on the trailer. We’ll either win or we won’t, and I think we will. Anyhow, I got my rabbit’s foot all ready.” He fished into his pocket and held it up and stared at it. “Come on, baby, you got to win us that race.”

Peter grinned as he opened the note. “I don’t see how in the world you think the foot of a dead rabbit has anything to do with whether we win a race or not. We’ll win if we’ve got a good car, if we’ve got it tuned up right, and if we drive like a winner.”

Easy shook his head in disgust. “You’ve been too educated. Your head’s full of notions. Them things are bad for a feller.”

Peter ran his eyes over the note and said, “I’ve got to go by and see Avis. You take the car on out to the track. I’ll be there in time for the start.”

“If you don’t, I’ll drive her myself,” he warned.

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss this day, and neither would Clinton. It’s okay with you about him riding with me?”

“Sure, that boy’s earned it. We wouldn’t have any car if it wasn’t for him. Besides, he’s the second best mechanic in the United States.” He winked merrily and said, “You go on now. I’ll try to undo any damage you’ve done here to the
Jolie Blonde II.
”

Peter tossed his oily rag at Easy’s face, who caught it deftly. Then Peter turned and walked into the house. He passed Mrs. Mason on the way in. “Well, it’s the big day, Hattie. I’m going to expect you to be there to watch me win.”

“I hope you will, Peter,” Hattie Mason responded. “And I was only teasing you about keeping the car in the backyard. You can keep it there as long as you please.”

“If we win this race, I’ll have enough money to rent a garage, so don’t worry about it.”

Quickly he went into his room, cleaned up, and dressed, putting on the clothes he planned to wear for the race. There were no uniforms for the drivers, but he wanted to look his best and chose a pair of dark blue trousers and a snow white shirt with the words
Jolie Blonde
embroidered carefully by Jolie herself over the right front pocket. He smoothed his hair down and pulled on a soft dark blue cloth cap and then grinned at his image in the mirror. “Here we go! I’m gonna look like a winner whether I am or not.”

Leaving the house, he took a cab and directed the driver to Avis’s address. When he reached her house, he went in and hurried down the hall and knocked on her bedroom door.

Avis said, “Come in, Peter.”

Opening the door, he pulled his cap off and asked, “How did you know it was me?”

“I saw you out the window.” Avis smiled and said, “You look beautiful. Like a movie star.”

“Don’t tell me that.” Coming over, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “How do you feel?”

“Fine. How do
you
feel? Are you nervous?”

“To be truthful, I am, but don’t tell anybody. I’m trying to put up a good front.”

Avis smiled and gestured to a chair. “Sit down. You have a minute, don’t you?”

“Oh sure,” Peter assured her. “Easy and Clinton are taking the car to the track. The race doesn’t start till two o’clock, so I’ve got plenty of time.”

“It means a great deal to you to win this race, doesn’t it, Peter?”

“Well, yes, it does. It’s what I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”

Avis listened as Peter continued to talk about the race. She saw the excitement in his eyes and was glad for him. Finally she said, “I’ve got something to tell you, Peter. I’ve really got three surprises for you.”

“Well, I hope they’re good ones.”

“I’ll let you decide.”

“What are they?”

“Surprise number one,” Avis said. “We’re not going to get married.”

Peter stared at her and blinked with surprise. “But, Avis—”

Avis held up her hand. “It was the most generous thing I ever heard of, Peter, your offering to tie yourself to a crippled woman for the rest of your life. I know what you think about marriage. It’s forever—in this world, anyway.”

“That’s right, Avis, and I want to marry you.”

“No, you don’t,” Avis contradicted him. As she studied him carefully, there was peace in her green eyes. Now she said quietly, “You wanted to make up for being responsible for the accident. But you weren’t responsible for it, and you might as well get that out of your head. Don’t argue,” she said, holding up her hand as he attempted to speak. “I’m thinking some pretty deep thoughts these days, learning how to follow the Lord, and I’ve been reading the Bible with Jolie’s help. I’ve been asking a lot of questions, too. Brother Camrose has been by several times, and I’ve asked him some hard ones. One of the things I asked him about was marriage.”

“What did he say?”

“He said the Bible teaches that what God has joined together let not man put asunder. In other words, it’s a lifetime proposition, and I’m not ready for that, Peter, and neither are you. Not with me, anyway.”

For some time Peter argued rather vigorously, but in the
end Avis simply said, “Peter, my final answer is no! This is not up for debate. You don’t love me, and I don’t love you. Not in the way a husband and a wife should love. Isn’t that true?”

Peter flushed. He had known all the time this was going to be a marriage of convenience, and Avis had put her finger on his motive. “I do love you, Avis, and I think you care for me. But maybe you’re right. It’s not in the way a husband and wife should love. I’ve seen in my parents what it means to have a good, long-lasting marriage, but I feel so . . . so guilty!”

“Well, you can stop. Are you ready for surprise number two?” As Peter nodded, Avis said, “All right. Here it is.” Throwing the blanket back, she pointed down at her right foot. She was wearing a pair of soft slippers and said, “Watch this.” Mystified, Peter looked down at her foot, and suddenly he felt as if a bolt of electricity shot through him. The toe of Avis’s shoe lifted once, then twice.

She laughed, saying, “Do you see that, Peter?”

“Avis, you moved your foot!” Peter stood up at once and came to stand over her, his face alight with joy. “Has the feeling come back?”

“Yes. It started three days ago in my right toe. I couldn’t move it at first, but it kept getting stronger.” She reached down and touched her thigh and pinched it. “I can feel here, and already the feeling’s coming back into my left foot. I can twitch the toe just a little bit. You can’t see it with a shoe on, but it’s just like the right one.”

“We’ll have to get you to the doctor to see what he says.”

“He’s already been here, and he was so excited, Peter. He said it was a miracle from God, and science had nothing to do with it. And I couldn’t agree with him more. He says it will keep getting stronger and stronger, and I’ll be able to walk as good as ever.”

“Avis, I’m so happy,” Peter said. He suddenly reached over and picked her up out of the wheelchair and, carrying her like a child, swung her around. He let out a loud, yelping cry and danced around, yelling like a wild Indian.

“Peter, stop it!” Avis cried, but she was laughing. “Now, put me down. No, wait. Hold me up and see if I can put a little weight on that right leg.”

Peter lowered Avis carefully. She held on to him, and a surprised expression crossed her face. “My legs are like rubber, but look, I’m putting my weight on this foot. I’m healed, Peter. God has healed me!”

Peter could hardly speak. He put Avis back in the chair and said, “You’ll be out of that chair in a week, Avis.”

“I really believe that’s right. I don’t understand faith, but somehow God has answered. I asked George Camrose why God didn’t heal everybody. He said he had no idea, but he also said that anyone who had a need could call on God. God might say, ‘Wait awhile,’ or He might say, ‘It’s not good for you to have that right now,’ but He always hears.” Tears came to her eyes, and she said, “It took me a long time to find God. I’m convinced now that the accident that put me in this chair was the best thing that ever happened to me. I would never have met Jesus Christ if I hadn’t been beyond my own resources.”

Peter stood there staring at her. Finally he said, “I’m happy for you, Avis. Not just that you’re going to be able to walk again, but that you’ve found the Lord.”