Then the rest of us in the room who were in that first class repeated the same words, in unison, as we'd done back in the day.
Mrs. Barnes beamed at us before going to the chalkboard. She wrote those same words on the board, as she'd done that very first day of school.
I traveled back in time, seeing before me the wisp of the young woman she'd been as well as the shocked faces of my classmates. I hadn't known what to think.
At dinner that night, my brother and I had told our parents about what she’d said. Isak had imitated her scrawling the words across the board with her precise handwriting. My mother had said in her thick accent, “She must be a remarkable woman. How lucky you are to have her as your teacher.”
As I stood watching her tonight, I couldn't agree more.
Nora Cassidy stood and began to speak. “None of us are perfect. No one in this room can say that, now can we? We all do our best with what we're given. I know Flynn Barnes. I've known him since we were children.” She made a gesture with her hand to indicate a small stature. “What he did may not make sense to us. We may condemn him for it, but he had his reasons. He's a good man. One who may have made a decision that in the end was the wrong one. But I can guarantee you he did not make it solely from a place of greed. His father taught him that community was more important than the individual. When he is well enough, he will explain himself, and we will have a better understanding of why. Whatever it was, he almost paid for it with his life. Our work as Christians is to forgive, not judge. Please, I'm begging you, join us. Do not be afraid. In numbers, there is power.” She sat, a flush to her cheeks.
To my surprise, my father stood. I'd never seen him say a word in public. He barely spoke to his clients, let alone in a public forum such as this.
“Lord Barnes, I think I speak for many of us when I say my family would not have the life we have if it weren’t for you. You've not asked anything from us, and I have no intention of turning my back on you when you need me. My sons and I will be there.”
“Thank you, Anders.” Lord Barnes scanned the room for further questions.
Isak, up at the front, turned to the audience. “What about the rest of you? Do I have to toss some sweet rolls your way, or are you with us? Raise your hands if you’re ready to protect our town?”
One by one, the men raised their hands.
“May God be with us tonight,” Lord Barnes said.
Pastor Morris called out, “May I pray for us?”
“Yes, please,” Lord Barnes said.
The pastor prayed over us without any mention of fire, brimstone, and damnation. Perhaps he was coming over to our ways after all?
Mrs. Barnes, still at the lectern, smiled out at the room. “Be here a quarter before the hour. Ladies, anyone who would like to wait with me at the church is welcome to do so.”
The crowd moved out of the building and into the night air as if they were the flow of the river. Soon, it was empty save for only me and the Barnes family. Cymbeline came to stand beside me. I took her hand in mine. She trembled against me. Fiona and her mother and father remained at the front of the room, wearing the same tight, fearful expression.
Lord Barnes and his wife came to stand next to us. “Viktor, Theo, Phillip, and I will be at the front of the line. We'd like you to stand with us but understand if you'd rather not.”
“No, sir. If I'm to be a part of this family, then I stand with you.”
Fiona's bottom lip trembled. “I'm afraid.”
“Don't be.” A voice near the door drew our attention. Li Wu stood there, carrying a rifle. It was such an odd thing to see him with a weapon instead of an instrument that I could scarcely believe my eyes.
“There is power in numbers.” Li strode across the room to stand with us.
“Li, you have a gun?” Fiona asked.
“I owe my life to your father,” Li said to Fiona. “Now I will stand with him. Anyway, I will not sit back and let these pigs hurt the people I love. Your brother has made a mistake, but haven't we all benefited from his businesses? Working at the club has allowed me enough to build my own house. Nothing is as black and white as piano keys, Fi. If anyone knows that, it is I.
“It is my pleasure, Lord Barnes.”
Fiona ducked her head but not before I saw the tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes. She's in love with him, I thought. It was as plain to see as the freckles that spotted Cymbeline's pert nose.
“I should like to be here too,” Cym said. “I’ll fight with the men.”
“Cym, no.” Lord Barnes shook his head. “Not this. Please. If anything were to happen to you, I couldn't bear it.”
“But the boys are doing it. What's the difference?”
Lord Barnes seemed to crumple like a piece of tissue, as if it were too much to hold up his head. “Oh, Cym.” That's all he said. Then he turned away and headed for the door.
“Papa?” Fiona asked, turning as if to follow him.
“Let him go,” Mrs. Barnes said. “His heart is broken today. He needs time to think.”
“I won't do it then,” Cym said. “If it upsets him.”
“Thank you, darling,” Mrs. Barnes said. “Girls, shall we head off to the church?
Cym gave my hand one last squeeze before leaning close to my ear. “Please come back to me.”
“I will.”
“Li, be careful,” Fiona said. “I can't be a duet without you.”
“And protect your hands,” Cym said. “God knows we're going to need some music after this.”
“I'll do my best,” Li said.
The women left, leaving me with Li. “I've got to drive home and get my gun. Would you care to accompany me?”
“If you'd like company,” Li said, “then I shall provide it.”
We walked outside. The air had dropped to below freezing. Above us, the stars shone with a confidence I did not feel myself. A new worry had come to me. What if someone in the crowd lost their temper or panicked? If one or both of the men were killed, the man they worked for would bring his wrath down upon us.
I said a silent prayer before Li and I walked across the quiet street to Lord Barnes’s lot behind his office building.
We didn't speak as we got into the car and drove out of town. I didn't know him well, other than our interactions when we were boys. He'd always been quiet and reserved, preferring to communicate, at least it seemed to me, though his music.
The road was clear this evening. It had been several days since the last snow, and the plows had cleared the main roads. Albeit frozen, the ground was not slick.
Soon, we arrived at my house. I pulled my watch from my pocket. We had another half hour before we had to be back in town. “Do you want to come in? Get warmed up before we have to head back?” I asked Li.
“Please. That would be most appreciated.”
We went into the house. Embers in the fire were resurrected easily with a few small dry logs.
“I could make us some coffee,” I said.