Nights at the Pump - Chapter 7 Conclusion

Chapter 7

All the worrying I did about having to go to church was a waste of time. I had forgotten there was no service tonight. That solved one problem. The other problem was weather. It looked very rainy.

About three thirty that afternoon I went over to Harold’s house. He and his brother were playing basketball with a couple of friends from school. I joined the game and we played until Harold’s brother, Art had to leave. Harold and I played with Art, he always won.

When everyone else left, I told Harold about the wire. We thought maybe it was a burglar alarm and had something to do with the blue light. There were too many people around the neighborhood who were outside for us to go and take a look. Pretty soon the girls came over and we played a few rounds of twenty questions.

I told the girls about the wire. Barbara said it sounded like the kind of wire her dad used for his ham radio antenna. None of us knew what a ham radio was. She explained that it was a short wave radio used to connect with people all over the world. She said her dad was a ham radio operator.

She went on to say it was his hobby. He talked with other operators all over the world. She said he’d been a radio operator during World War II. He used the radio to stay in touch with friends from his time in the army. She also said he talked to someone who lived around here but she didn’t know who.

We began talking about how and who would try to get a look at the congregation tonight. We were pretty sure the service started around seven o’clock. It was still light then so we’d have to wait a little while before we made our move.

We were going to need a ladder. All of the windows were pretty high off the ground. There was no way we could see inside without a ladder or something to stand on. I knew we had an old wooden ladder that was kind of shaky. That just might have to do.

Ginger said they had an aluminum ladder but it was an extension ladder and each section was twelve feet. That would be too clumsy to carry and Ginger lived farthest away from the house except for Barbara. But Barbara didn't have a ladder anyway.  

It started to rain.

We all went and sat on Margaret’s porch. We had barely gotten seated when Margaret’s mother came out and said she had to go inside. I was getting hungry too so we split up and promised to meet at six thirty if the rain stopped. I said I’d get the ladder.

By six the rain had stopped. It had cooled off quite a bit. I put on a dark shirt and sweater with blue jeans and went to the garage. I got the ladder and put it by the side of the house. Harold was just crossing over to my house. We went to the pump without the ladder.

When the street light came on we started to get ready. At seven fifteen Harold and I took the ladder across the street and hid the ladder in the lilac bushes by the big blue house. The girls made a lot of noise playing and screeching, like girls do, to distract any attention from Harold and me.

We could hear the music inside so we got the ladder out and very carefully placed it under a window. We wiggled it into the ground so it had a solid footing and then it was time to see what was going on inside the Church of Spiritual Holiness and Mystic Missions.

I stepped on the first rung of the ladder and shifted my weight back and forth to test the security of the footing. Solid! Carefully, slowly, I made the next step keeping my head to one side to avoid showing the top of my head before I could see what was inside. I looked down at Harold. He was as tense as me. I took the last step.

There were curtains on the windows that looked very old, the kind that have lace and sheer panels. They were yellowed with age and were dusty. But I could see the inside of the church well enough to see something I never expected.

Orman Krasner was there and the only light was several tall white candles flickering and making the room look ghosty.  I felt a chill as I watched him. It looked like he was reading something from a very old book. It was then I noticed the pictures. All around the room there were pictures of men and women in uniform. But, there were no people inside except Orman Krasner.

The loud screech from the radio was almost enough to throw me off the ladder. I hadn't seen it when I had my first look inside but now it was reporting in a level solemn voice. And Orman Krasner was speaking into the microphone in response as the candles flickered on the faces of those faces in the picture frames.

Epilogue

It would be weeks before the mystery was solved. But years later we learned that Orman Krasner was a retired Chaplain in the United States Army. He had served during World War II and was greatly loved by those he served and served with. His devotion to his congregation never stopped.

The Church of Spiritual Holiness and Mystic Missions had originally been the property of his grandfather, who left it to him as his only surviving relative. It was far too large for Mr. Krasner to use and maintain so he turned it into a church to serve the soldiers who had perished in the service of their country.

Every Sunday he had an appointment with other ham radio operators who had served in that Company. He would give a short sermon on the radio and they would name each deceased member who gave the greatest gift of all in the service of freedom and the American way of life. Over the years a large number of relatives and friends would join the service from all over the world.

What about Arianne? She married the Chaplain’s grandson.

The End

Herb Ratliff, October 31, 2012, All Rights Reserved