The Old Traveler

It was an old white-haired man who was standing at the door when Levi Johansson responded to the knock.

"Good evening, lad," he said. His voice was hoarse, but gentle. "I was told in the village that you might have a room to rent for the night?"

"Yes, sir, I have several," he answered with a smile. "Please come in. Olivia!" he called over his shoulder. "We have a guest!"

Olivia came briskly into the room. "Good evening, sir. Will you be staying with us tonight?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Certainly not. How many are traveling with you?"

"It's just me, young lady." His temples wrinkled with his smile.

"Welcome! I'll put out an extra setting at the table. Let us know when you're settled and we'll start supper." She walked briskly back to the kitchen.

"Do you have a horse I can take back to our stable?" Levi asked.

"No, young man, it's just me." He smiled at Levi's surprise. "I haven't owned a horse since my last one died. I figured it would do me good to walk more."

Levi ushered him back to the only guest room that was on the ground floor. The room was simple, but welcoming. It had a generous bed to the right, a dresser with mirror to the left, and a small writing table and chair opposite the door next to the window. On the dresser was already a pitcher of water and a filled cup, courtesy of Olivia. The room had some simple country decorations on the walls made of natural elements from the countryside: a bouquet of dried cactus blooms hanging on one wall, and a large palm frond arranged like a fan attached to the wall above the bed. "Here you are, sir. Make yourself at home. There's a wash room out the door across from yours. If there's anything that we can do for you, please just let us know."

The old man set his modest travel pack on the floor and took up the cup of water. Levi saw him begin to drink heartily as he left the room. When the man joined them for supper, he looked refreshed.

"I didn't get your name, sir," said Levi.

"My name is Ken Wright," he answered. "And yours?"

"My name is Levi, and this is my wife Olivia."

"There are no children about," Ken stated as a matter of curious observation.

"Our children are grown," said Olivia. "They live in their own houses in the town now. We see them often, and our eleven grandchildren." She and Levi shared a glowing smile at the word.

"And the twelfth on the way," Levi added.

"Yes, grandchildren are a blessing," Ken said with a smile. "At my age, I have great-grand children. Every one of them is different. Trying to keep up with them keeps you young! I look forward to being with them again soon."

"Are you traveling to see them now?" Olivia asked.

"No, I'm on an errand for my brother. He's near the end of his life, and he is trying to set some things right. Years ago he had a falling out with one of his children - one of his daughters - and it grieves him. He wants to make amends, but he doesn't have the strength to make the trip. I told him I would take the trip for him, and try to persuade his daughter to come home for a visit. So I traveled to the last address that we had for her, but I found out that she had moved on several years ago. So now I'm trying to find her."

"Several years ago? That seems like an impossible task," said Levi.

"She is a very private person, but I found in the town those who knew her, and they told me that she had traveled farther south. So that's what I'm doing. I'm hoping to find her at the next town south of here. Unless you had someone join your community several years ago."

Levi and Olivia looked at each other thoughtfully. "We've had the Wallins," Olivia offered.

"Yes, but that was more than a few years ago, and it was a whole family." To Ken, he said, "you said she was a very private person? Does that mean she was unmarried?"

"Yes, son. As far as we are aware, she never married."

"The Wallins moved into that farm by the creek a few years ago..." Levi said thoughtfully.

"Oh, no - you don't suppose..." Olivia began.

Levi frowned. "I may have some bad news for you, sir. An older woman traveling alone stayed with us a few years ago, which by itself is a rare event. We had had an unusual amount of rain, and the creek through some of our farms was flooded. There was an accident, and one of our family's little girls was drowned. So was the woman who had been staying here."

Ken looked shocked and crestfallen. "Was her name Mariam?" he asked tensely.

Levi and Olivia looked at one another. "Yes sir, I'm afraid so."

His head dropped into his hands, where it remained for a long minute. Levi and Olivia bowed their heads in quiet respect.

His voice quivered. "Alvin will be crushed," he said at last. He raised his tear-stained face. "Is there a grave? May I visit it tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course," said Levi. "I'll take you there."

After breakfast the next morning, Levi and Ken walked to the community graveyard. Levi led him to a simple headstone with the name Mariam Walker engraved on it. They stood there for long moments together.

Levi finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry your journey had to end like this. None of us knew how to find any of her kinfolk. Please convey our heartfelt sympathies to your brother."

Ken nodded. "Would you tell me more about what happened?" he asked.

"I'm afraid there's not much more to tell. None of us know why she was near the creek. But two of our girls fell in, and one was spared. We can only guess that perhaps your niece was the one who tried to save her. We've credited almighty God for sending us a saving angel that day."

Ken nodded. "It's the kind of thing she would try to do," he pondered. "Even though she should have known better at her age. I understand. I probably would have tried to do it too."

"Me too," Levi nodded.

After several more minutes of silence, Ken asked, "do you know what became of the girl she saved? I won't tell her why, lest it make her uncomfortable, but I would like to meet her."

Levi sighed. "I'm afraid I have more bad news for you there. Their family left our community just a few days ago."

Ken's eyebrows rose. "The whole family?"

"Yes."

"That ... seems like an unusual thing."

"Yes sir, it was. Occasionally there are situations where a family can no longer uphold the ideals of our community, and we have to -" He hesitated. "We have to ask them to leave."

Ken nodded. "This is a close-knit community. That must have been hard on you all," he said thoughtfully.

"It was. The community is still grieving." After a moment's silence, Levi added, "it all happened so fast; I can still hardly grasp it all." Then he stopped himself. "My apologies, sir. I ought not be laying my burden upon you at this time and place."

"Son," said Ken, "I've counseled more men your age than there are men in this village. It's part of the privilege of living to be my age. I'll be glad to offer whatever counsel I have to you as well, and you can take whatever is helpful to you, and leave the rest."

Levi was silent for a while. Then he began, "The Josefsson's daughter Viera, the one who it's likely your niece saved. She was such a sweet little girl. We loved her. All our children loved her. Of course you would expect that surviving a thing like that would change a person, especially wherein your best friend perished. It was so sad to witness, though. We all mourned the loss of who she used to be. But then, just a few months ago, it's as if she came back to life - like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. It was wondrous, and in the opinion of most of us, miraculous. It was as if the old Viera had returned. But then, just a few days ago, everything went wrong. Some of her friends brought ... an evil report concerning her. When the elders investigated to see if it was true, they found out that it was." He sighed. "I just don't understand it."

"What kind of evil report?"

"The worst kind. That she had made some kind of bargain with the devil."

"A bargain with the devil that restored life and joy to a little child? That's a bit incongruous."

"Yes sir, I agree. I could make more sense of it if she were older, but she's only eight; still under her parents' authority. I wouldn't have thought such a thing were even possible."

"Does no one think perhaps she saw a vision from the Lord?"

He sighed again. "I'm not one of the elders. I'm not privy to the details."

Ken stood thoughtfully for a long moment. "Since you are a religious man, I will frame my counsel in these terms," he began. "When the scriptures say that God created everything that has 'life in itself', we think we know exactly how that should look and act, and yet the scriptures themselves are full of examples where they don't, like Aaron's rod that budded, or the donkey that spoke to Baalam. We call these things miracles, but I submit to you that things like that happen more often than we are aware, and our jaded eyes just refuse to acknowledge them. But often children's eyes see them. That doesn't make it the work of the devil. Such children, I'm afraid, are destined to go through life misunderstood at best. It makes them reclusive. I know this is what happened in my niece's case, and it was the cause of her falling out with my brother."

After some contemplation, Levi responded, "I'm not sure if I can accept that."

"Like I said, take what is helpful and discard the rest. I fear for the Josefssons and little Viera, though. Do you know where they went? I'd like to visit with them, if I could."

"No, they didn't choose to tell us."

"I imagine not."

The pair walked back to the Johanssons' house, where Ken asked, "do you have a mail stop here?"

"No sir," Levi replied, "but one of my sons travels to the town to the north twice a week, and there is a mail stop there."

"May I impose upon you for a sheet of writing paper and an envelope?"

"Certainly."

Ken returned to his room, and came out again about half an hour later, packed to travel. They settled the bill, and Ken handed the envelope to Levi. "This is a letter to my brother, informing him of the conclusion of the matter with his daughter. Since I didn't encounter a family traveling north as I journeyed here, I am going to continue south until I reach the port in hopes that I might catch up with the Josefssons and see if I can be of some benefit to them. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, sir, and Godspeed." Levi was impressed at the strength Ken exhibited as he began his trek down the trail.

That evening, Levi was pleased to see his son standing at the door when he answered the knock. "Welcome back, son, how did -" His smile faded when he saw the perplexed expression on his son's face.

"It went well in general, father, but please tell me about this letter you asked me to deliver." He held up a mangled and dirt-infused envelope.

"Oh, no! Son! What happened?!"

"It must have shaken from the bundle of letters I was carrying and gotten under the horse's hooves, the wagon wheels, or both. I didn't realize it was missing until I found it along the path on the way home. You need to look at it, father. Something is amiss."

"Son, it's not our business -"

"Look at it, father."

Levi studied the earnest expression on his son's face. Finally, he looked down at the exposed torn paper within the remnants of the envelope. That was strange. He wiggled it carefully free and unfolded it. It was blank.