Nathan Snake's Arc

Chapter 9 of 13

Nathan held the rusted bow in both hands and turned it over slowly. The initials J.F. were worn but clear. He tested the metal against his palm and felt how brittle it had become after forty years in the soil. This wasn't just evidence. It was the last piece of a woman the deacon's family had buried along with her name. He carried it to the church at midmorning when he knew the deacon would be alone in his office. He walked past the front doors and around to the side entrance where a stone marker stood near the wall. The marker listed the families who'd built the church generations back. Nathan knelt and traced his fingers along the carved names until he found what had been chiseled away. A smooth blank space where a woman's name should have been. He set the bow across the top of the marker where sunlight caught the initials. Then he went inside. The deacon was standing at his desk when Nathan entered without knocking. He looked up and his face went tight. Nathan told him the bow was outside on the marker and asked how long before he'd have it destroyed. The deacon said nothing for three breaths. Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a folded cloth the color of burnt earth. He unfolded it carefully. It was a cape with frayed edges and a bronze clasp still attached. He said it had belonged to his aunt. The woman who gave away the family land to build a place for the poor. He'd kept it hidden for forty years because admitting she existed meant admitting the church had no right to sell what she'd given. He told Nathan the bow would be gone by evening and the cape would follow. But if Nathan wanted the land secured he'd have to act before the family found out what he'd uncovered. Nathan took the cape and felt the weight of fabric that had outlasted the woman who wore it. He told the deacon he already had the deed and the boundary was marked. What he needed now was the deacon's silence while he made the land defensible before winter. The deacon set a sealed letter on the desk. He said it was addressed to the council and would confirm the church's false claim unless Nathan gave him reason to burn it instead. Nathan picked up the letter and saw the wax seal shaped like a wolf's head. He asked what the deacon wanted in return. The deacon said he wanted Nathan to bury the cape with the bow and never speak his aunt's name again. Nathan folded the cape and walked out. He burned the letter in the graveyard that afternoon and buried the bow where Ivor had found it. But he kept the cape. Some promises were worth breaking.