Jenny Plague-Bringer: (Jenny Pox #4) by J. Bryan Read Free Book Online Page B

I’m filled with the Spirit and the light.”
    The entire audience stayed silent.  After a minute, the rattlesnake relaxed and turned
     away, crawling back down his arm.  The preacher resumed his sermon, while his three
     acolytes walked to different areas of the stage, letting the audience see the snakes
     in their hands.
    He spoke on and on, like the previous preacher.  As he wrapped up, the three men returned
     their snakes to the basket and picked up buckets on long rods.  They held these out
     to the audience, collecting coins and cash from the stunned crowd.
    The next preacher was a different sort.  He wore an odd pastel-colored suit, and his
     dark, curly head of hair looked like a wig to Juliana, because it didn’t quite match
     his handlebar mustache.  He was followed  by a chorus of three young women wearing
     high-neck dresses and no makeup, who stood together at one corner of the stage.  Behind
     him, a black man in a green snap-brim hat and matching suit took over the piano.
    The preacher walked to stage center, looking around, apprising the crowd, with the
     automatic bright smile of an experienced showman.
    “I hope this is him,” the woman from the wagon said. “I’m exhausted.” Night had fallen,
     and the rain hadn’t let up, so the tent remained crowded and humid.  Everyone was
     sweating.  Juliana worried that her sweat might fall on somebody, like one of the
     two children who insisted on staying close to their pet carnival girl.  She didn’t
     know whether her sweat could harm anyone, and she certainly didn’t want to find out
     the hard way.
    “He don’t look no healer to me,” commented the woman’s husband, Henry.
    “I’m sleepy,” their little girl complained.
    “I want to play with snakes!” the older boy announced.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, let us pray,” the preacher finally said. 
     Nobody was going to argue with that, so everyone lowered their heads and closed their
     eyes, and many grasped the hands of the people around them.  The little girl, Izzy
     May, grasped Juliana’s gloved hand and wouldn’t let go, which made Juliana edgy and
     nervous.
    “...as Your wonders are limitless, oh Lord, we beseech you to bless this humble house
     of worship with Your grace today.  As Your Son healed the blind and the sick, we ask
     that You pour Your love upon our brothers and sisters here, those who are in need,
     those are ill, those who live in pain...”
    Juliana opened her eyes and looked up.  Maybe this was the healing preacher, after
     all.  If so, he didn’t inspire much confidence.
    “Amen,” the preacher eventually said, and many people echoed him. “Children of the
     Lord, we have been called together for a great purpose today,” he began. “And that
     purpose is to recognize the Lord’s place in our lives...”  As he spoke, the piano
     player went to work, providing a backdrop of fast, punchy notes that helped rouse
     the crowd as the preacher continued.  Soon the preacher was keyed up, racing around
     the stage. “...and when trouble arrives, what do we say?  We say oh, precious Lord,
     take my hand!”
    This was the cue for the three women to sing the hymn ‘Oh, Precious Lord, Take My
     Hand,’ a hymn which a lot of the crowd seemed to know, because they sang along.  The
     piano player immediately switched from his jazzy melody to a deeper gospel sound.
    When the song ended, the preacher resumed strutting up and down the stage, talking
     up the healing powers of God and recalling the stories about Jesus and the lepers. 
     He grew more and more animated, slapping his hands together and stomping his foot
     for emphasis.
    “Hallelujah!  I feel the Spirit!” cried out one of his chorus girls.  She closed her
     eyes as if in ecstasy and brushed her hands from her bosom down to her hips. “It’s
     in me!” She moaned and toppled backwards.  The audience gasped as the two other girls
     scrambled to catch her.  It