Lena Jones 02 - Desert Wives

several more minutes as I strolled among the handmade crosses. While I was no expert on the benefits of neonatal care, it was obvious that the women and children of Purity would have benefited from some. Too bad Solomon eschewed the advances of modern medicine and relied upon prayer to treat his flock. Maybe Davis would change all that.
    Solomon himself lay buried on the cemetery’s highest point, his professionally carved granite slab protected by a low, wrought iron fence.
    Prophet Solomon Royal, God’s Own Prophet to the Community of Purity. Lifted up into the Highest Heaven.
    Highest Heaven, my ass. If an afterlife truly existed, the manipulative old goat was probably warming his toes in the deepest regions of Hell.
    Saul sat waiting on the front porch when I got back, a grim expression on his face.
    “Lena, I just received a visit from the Circle of Elders. They nullified our marriage an hour ago. They’re saying that if you want to stay here, you have to find another husband. You’ve got twenty-four hours to do it in, because they can’t allow two unmarried people to live together. That would be a sin.”
    I was so appalled that I forgot to hike up my long skirts as I mounted the porch steps, and caught my heel in the hem. If Saul hadn’t reached out and grabbed me, I would have fallen on my face. As it was, he had to help me to the porch swing, where I sat in silence for a few moments, composing myself.
    “Can they do that?” I finally managed. “Nullify a legally performed marriage?”
    He nodded. “As far as the rules of Purity go, damn right they can. Remember, the Circle doesn’t respect anyone’s laws but their own, so unless Davis says otherwise, they can do anything they want. Don’t get your hopes up there, either. I’ve seen Davis looking at you, and something tells me he wouldn’t mind your being available, you understand me? Besides, I think he’s biding his time until the next Circle meeting, where I hear he’s really going to kick some ass. Cynthia’s situation, well, that was an exception, partially because he doesn’t much care for Earl Graff. Earl and Davis are cousins, you know. Had a bad falling out just after Solomon was killed, mainly over the more liberal direction Davis wanted to take the compound in.”
    “Cousins? Davis and Earl? The hunk and the pig?”
    “Their mothers were sisters. Just about everyone around here is related in some way or another, you know that. Earl looks like his mother, except she was a lot prettier than him. Royal looks like his father.”
    I held my head in my hands. “Cousins. Oh, Jesus. It just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” I sat in the swing for a while, letting the breeze whispering down the Vermillion Cliffs cool my hot face. When I felt collected enough, I turned toward him and asked the question I should have asked immediately.
    “So tell me, my dear ex-husband, why did the Council of Elders take it upon themselves to nullify our marriage?”
    He blushed, and after a few stammering false starts, said, “Um, Ruby, um, you remember that she does the laundry?”
    I raised my eyebrows. “And?”
    “Well, she, um, Ruby noticed, she noticed…”
    He looked so miserable I decided to give him a break and finished for him. “She deducted, my dear Watson, that we weren’t having sex because there were no semen stains on the sheets.”
    He smiled weakly. “She wasn’t going to say anything, but Brother Earl cornered her when she was visiting one of her cousins at his house…”
    “At his house?”
    “Yeah, Earl’s married to Pearl, her cousin. Anyway, Earl started cross-examining her about you and me, and he scared her so bad she broke down and told him. So Earl told the rest of the guys in the Circle.”
    Poor Ruby. Although we’d never hit it off, I sympathized with her dilemma. She didn’t want to tattle on her husband, but at the same time, Earl could have scared Dracula. I sighed. “So I’ve got a big twenty-four hours to find a new husband or get the hell out of Dodge.”
    “Better start hustling, honey.”
    I stared off at the Vermillion Cliffs. Saul joined me and we both sat there miserably for a while. Then he eventually said, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Lena. I really did try to help.”
    I reached over and took his callused hand. It felt cold. “I know you did. It’s all been my fault, really. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”
    He squeezed my hand. “Or your fist out of another man’s