Summary
A soot-smudged fable unfurls in a clapboard hamlet where the air itself seems to judge: Lindy Gray, a wisp of a child whose parentage is a rumor, roams the dusty lanes like a misplaced cherub, clutching dented lunch-pails and a smile that refuses to die. Around her, the town’s matrons whisper behind lace curtains, their glares sharper than the foreclosure notices that threaten the sagging porch of the only home she knows—her grandmother’s creaking cottage at the edge of the woods. The girl’s sole allies are an ancient Black sexton-in-waiting named Noah, whose back bears the atlas of old cruelties, and a stray calico cat that sleeps on her pillow like a guardian familiar. Salvation arrives in the form of a new minister whose collar is still creased from seminary trunks; he sees in Lindy’s eyes the trembling reflection of a kingdom not yet come. Together they conspire to give Noah the keys to the church, unlocking both the vestry and the town’s festering prejudice. When the Sabbath’s collection plate turns up lighter than a repentant heart, suspicion ricochets from pew to pew until it lands on the orphan’s narrow shoulders. To spare her the stones of accusation, Noah wraps the guilt around himself like an old shroud, confessing to a crime as hollow as the organ pipes. The minister, however, sniffs sulfur beneath the piety, unearthing evidence that Jim—golden boy of the local gentry—has laundered the Lord’s money to pay his gambling markers. From the pulpit the preacher unleashes a brimstone laced with mercy, flaying the congregation for trading compassion for certainty. In the hush that follows, he kneels in the sawdust aisle and asks the child everybody discarded to become the woman nobody deserves.
Synopsis
Lindy Gray, a little orphan who lives with her grandmother, is ostracized by the townspeople because of the uncertainty of her birth. In spite of cruel treatment by her neighbors and the threat of foreclosure on her grandmother's home, Lindy maintains a cheerful optimism. One day, a new minister comes to town and befriends Lindy, recognizing her virtue. Lindy convinces him to hire Noah, an old Black man who is Lindy's only other friend, as the church sexton. When the collection money is missing the day after Lindy's grandmother's mortgage is due, the townspeople accuse the little girl of robbery. To save his friend, Noah confesses to the crime. The minister suspects that neither one is guilty, however, and uncovers evidence that proves that Jim, the son of the town snob, is the thief. After a stirring sermon in which he chastises his congregation for their narrow-mindedness, the minister proposes to Lindy.
