Grace House: The Trial of Obscurity Read online



  Grace House: The Trial of Obscurity

  Book 2 of The City Allegories Series

  By Rob Summers

  Copyright 1998 by Rob Summers

  Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

  No actual persons are represented in this book.

  Table of Contents

  Part 1 The Pride Story

  Chapter 1 The Heaven House

  Chapter 2 Obscurity

  Chapter 3 Pitfall and Pinch

  Chapter 4 Bits Bitterly

  Chapter 5 Hedges, Walls, and Fogs

  Chapter 6 Distractions

  Chapter 7 Pinch and Obscurity

  Chapter 8 Red Handed

  Part 2 The Siege of Grace House

  Chapter 9 Reinstatement

  Chapter 10 The Limits of Public Approval

  Chapter 11 The Snow Dance

  Chapter 12 The VEDs

  Chapter 13 The Press Conference

  Chapter 14 Religious Backflip

  Chapter 15 The City Limits

  Chapter 16 The Blizzard

  Chapter 17 The Cloud of Obscurity

  Part 3 The Trial of Obscurity

  Chapter 18 The Necessity of a Trial

  Chapter 19 The Damning Evidence

  Chapter 20 Pinch in Purgatory

  Chapter 21 Grace’s Defense

  Chapter 22 The Witness Honesty

  Chapter 23 The Witness Obscurity

  Chapter 24 The Witness Pinch

  Chapter 25 The Dead Cat Dice

  Chapter 26 The Verdict

  Part 4 The Dilemma of Power

  Chapter 27 Invitations

  Chapter 28 The Dilemma

  Chapter 29 The Banquet of the Blessed

  Chapter 30 In the Study

  Chapter 31 Finding the Door

  Chapter 32 Obscurity Rock

  Chapter 33 The Doors Swing Out, the Lights Go On

  Other Titles by Rob Summers

  About Rob Summers

  Connect with Rob Summers

  Preface

  The key to the allegory is that the houses represent persons; and the characters in a given house represent various character traits of, and influences upon, that person. Therefore, there are much fewer persons in the City Allegories books than there are characters (character traits).

  Part 1 The Pride Story

  Chapter 1 The Heaven House

  Captain Ether stepped out of his aero-car and looked down a wide and lengthy passage, all garish in red and black. This was Dr. Wurldspel’s stronghold, the gigantic air-fortress called Monolith. Orbiting the earth, it now controlled the thoughts and actions of captive humanity. Only Captain Ether could prevent the evil genius lurking within from forever ruling the world.

  Ether’s face, strong jawed below and masked above, was a few fearless lines, his form a cartoonish mass of muscularity. “Wurldspel!” he challenged. “Come out of hiding and face me. I’ve come to put an end to your hideous plots.”

  The background music was ominous.

  With her ten-year-old heart pounding, Peace Orchard wriggled a little closer to her sister Goodness. The wall clock told her that the episode would be over in five minutes, and she knew Captain Ether would win as he always did; but Dr. Wurldspel always scared her.

  “Watch out for traps, Captain Ether!” yelled Goodness’ twin brother Gentleness. “Oh no! What’s coming out of the walls?”

  Small doors snapped open in the passage walls all around Captain Ether, and rope-like cartoon lines, pulsing and serrated, shot toward the crime fighter. In a moment his arms were pinned to his sides.

  “What’s this?” Ether said. “Can’t see what’s holding me! How can it be?”

  As he struggled to free himself, the evil doctor appeared, old and gray headed, chuckling at Ether’s predicament. “It’s no use resisting, Ether,” he said in triumph. “Even your super strength can’t break my invisible bonds of Heartstone! You’re my prisoner!” Wurldspel laid a finger on the glowing button of a remote control. “And now, down you’ll go into my Wurld-cell, never to be seen again!”

  With a clatter of machinery, a split appeared in the floor beneath Captain Ether and began to widen. He spread his brawny legs to keep from falling through to the prison room below.

  “It’s no use, Wurldspel,” he cried out bravely. “Your evil schemes can’t stop me from bringing you to justice!”

  Wurldspel only laughed, showing widely spaced teeth in a broad mouth. “What can save you now, Ether?”

  The opening below Captain Ether grew wider, the music rose to a crescendo, and—the scene faded away.

  “Stay tuned for more of Captain Ether.”

  On the screen blue sky and white clouds appeared, forming a stylish letter ‘H.’ “You’re watching the Heaven Channel,” said an announcer, “your twenty-four hour a day source for Heavenite news and entertainment. At eleven-thirty today, watch Goldstreet News, featuring the latest report on the sustained lion market that has raised spiritual values to all time highs. After that...”

  Peace looked around at her eleven-year-old brother Self-Control, at the eight-year-olds Goodness and Gentleness, and at her six-year-old brother Kindness. Their eyes never left the screen for a moment. Their faces were expressionless. None of them seemed at all worried about Captain Ether.

  “How’s he going to escape?” she said quietly.

  “He’ll just fly out,” said Gentleness, demonstrating with a ‘flying’ hand.

  “No way!” said Self-Control. “He’s tied up in Heartstone. He’s got to break free!”

  A commercial came on, halting the discussion, and Peace almost forgot about Captain Ether. The children made loud, approving remarks as a lively jingle began.

  The Heaven House, it’s heavenly blue,

  With lamps and stairs and furniture too.

  The televised scene was a living room with excited children gathered around a gigantic doll house, taller than themselves. All the features of the house appeared in rapid succession.

  The doors swing out, the lights go on,

  And sprinklers sprinkle on the lawn;

  And when the doors are opened wide,

  The magic takes you right inside!

  On this last line, the children on the screen were shown miraculously shrinking to doll size and floating into the open doors at the front of the house. A kid’s voice excitedly announced, “It’s a real house! Everything works. Even the grass grows. And when you order the Heaven House, Paradise Toys makes sure it’s exactly like your house. Available through the Heavenly Embassy. Order today and delivery is guaranteed by Christmas.”

  Across the bottom of the screen appeared the web address www.heaventoys.com.

  “Cool!” shouted little Kindness, whose enthusiasm was no less for having seen this ad twenty times. “I want it!” So did the others. The Orchard kids chatted about this super toy until the Captain Ether show resumed.

  The opening in the floor was a little wider, Dr. Wurldspel’s laugh a little harsher. “There’s nothing you can do to save yourself now, Ether!”

  “No, Wurldspel? What about my Spirit Blade?”

  The Captain detached from his belt a handle-shaped item that hovered in the air and telescoped into a full sized sword. The blade glowed in multi-colors and crackled with energy. Dr. Wurldspel dropped back, shielding his eyes. Zip! Zap! The blade cut through the Heartstone bonds, and Ether leaped away from the opening of Wurldspel’s prison. He seized the blade from the air and brandished it, facing the docto
r.

  “No more tricks, Wurldspel. Your foul plot is finished. What the...? He’s escaping!”

  A door had opened behind Wurldspel. He fled down a passage and into a slant-winged emergency escape vehicle. As he blasted away from Monolith, his voice blared at Captain Ether through loudspeakers.

  “You win this one, Ether, but I’ll be back!”

  “And I’ll be ready for you, Wurldspel,” said Ether. “Your kind will always pay the price for your crimes.”

  The Captain Ether Song began to play, just as a firm hand shut off the set.

  “Aw, Mom!”

  “Time to get outside and get some fresh air,” Faith Orchard announced. “Just make sure you all wear gloves and hats.”

  While the other children dispersed to their rooms to dress, their feet clattering on the old stairs of Grace House, Peace followed her mother into the kitchen.

  “Mom, I want to ask you something.”

  Faith did not look up from the casserole she was putting together on the counter. “No, Peace, you kids can’t have the Heaven House for Christmas.”

  “Mom!”

  With the back of a wrist, Faith brushed a strand of blond hair away from her pretty face. “We’ve been all through that.”

  “But I thought that if we don’t get anything else at all but just the house?”

  Faith looked down at Peace with a sympathetic smile. “It’s not possible, sweetie. If Aunt Reason and Uncle Dignity are to publish their book, they have to have money. They can’t count on some publisher doing it for them. So we’re all on a tight budget this season.”

  Reason and Dignity were not actually related to the Orchards. The two were second cousins to one another and original inhabitants of the house from the time when it was called Pride House. Faith and Humility and their children had moved in just a year ago when Dignity had given up the house to the Heavenly Embassy. Now even Ambassador Grace lived in the roomy, old place.

  “Well, can’t they get a publisher?” Peace asked. “Won’t they? Have you asked them?”

  “Why don’t you ask them? They’re in the library.”

  Peace scuttled for the door.

  “You’ll be very polite, sweetie?”

  “Sure, Mom.”

  Peace ran upstairs to the library, on the way passing the door of Miss Worry, who boarded at the house. As she ran by she thumped the door with her palm and then giggled to hear Worry’s bleating voice respond from inside, “Dreadful! Stop it, children, stop it! Will they never give me any peace?”

  She slowed down passing the door to the music room, for her older sisters Love and Faithfulness were playing guitar and piano together and singing (to the tune of ‘Sweet Betsy From Pike’):

  To see what I long for

  I have to look down

  On a very high hill in a miniature town,

  Where sits a fine tower

  With gates far too small

  For my monstrous, fat spirit to fit through at all.

  (And each verse ended with a ‘Singing turelie, urelai, urelai-ay. Singing turelie, urelai, urelai-ay.’)

  To be where I want to

  I have to go stand

  On a very long road in a postage stamp land.

  Still, it’s there that I’m headed,

  So that’s what I’ll do.

  But I find that it sticks to the sole of my shoe.

  The devil showed Jesus

  In the blink of an eye

  All the kingdoms of earth and their glory passed by;

  And he said, ‘It’s all yours

  If you’ll just worship me.’

  And Jesus said, ‘What are those specks? I can’t see.’

  Once I dreamed I went swimming

  In money and fame,

  And the size of my pool and the world was the same.

  When I looked in a mirror,

  I found I was fond

  Of a very big fish in a very small pond.

  I might live in a nutshell

  And think myself king,

  But I’d rather live under a seraph’s soft wing

  And have no desires

  Or any bad dream,

  Like a very small fish in a very large stream.

  Running on, Peace came to the door of the library, paused, and peeked in. The late morning winter sunshine was on the book shelves. Aunt Reason and Uncle Dignity were standing by the long table, looking down at two photographs laid side by side, and Reason was pointing to one of them while glancing up at her tall cousin. (Reason herself was just five feet tall and decidedly pregnant.)

  “But the title is The Pride Story,” she said wheedlingly, “not The Pride and Fame Story.”

  Dignity picked up the photo, which was of himself and Fame Vainglory. More than a year earlier they had posed, while on a date, in front of Numb’s Place, a stylish local night spot. At that time, before giving up his house to Ambassador Grace and the Heavenly King, Dignity had been named Pride.

  “I’m not disagreeing,” he said to Reason. “It’s just that we both know it’ll sell better with her picture on the cover too. Actually, though, we might run into legal problems; and besides—”

  “Besides, it’s despicable to use her face to sell the gospel,” Reason finished for him.

  “Exactly.”

  “So we use this.” She held up the other picture, a studio quality portrait of a smiling Dignity, handsome and well dressed. “As for Fame, she’s in the subtitle.” She traced a finger across the bottom of the picture to indicate where the subtitle would be on the book cover. “‘The Former Boyfriend of Fame Vainglory Tells How He Found God.’ How’s that?”

  Dignity nodded. “That’s smart packaging. And you say the writing’s all done?”

  “I printed it out this morning. All we do now is send off queries to publishers.” Her brow wrinkled. “It’s almost too easy. This is such a hot manuscript. Anything having to do with Fame.”

  “You mean you think we might get more than one offer?”

  Reason laughed self-consciously. “Honestly, why not? And then we’ll have to decide.... Oh, who’s this come to see us?” Peace had finally been noticed. “Come in, what’s up?”

  Peace left the doorway and came to look more closely at the pictures. She had once seen the gorgeous redhead Fame Vainglory in person. It seemed odd that she and Uncle Dignity should be in the same picture.

  Dignity crouched down to her and grinned. “We’re going to spread the word about Heaven. We’ll put this picture on the cover of the book Reason ghost-wrote for me. Then maybe other houses will become Heavenite. Won’t that be great?”

  Peace already knew all about these plans and was unimpressed. She did not smile back. “You need to get a publisher so there’s money for Christmas stuff,” she said.

  “Yes, we will,” said Dignity, straightening up. “We were just discussing that.”

  Peace’s tone stretched tauter and higher. “We can’t get the Heaven House if you don’t!”

  Dignity looked baffled. Reason, better informed, patted Peace on the shoulder. “Yes, I know about that toy. It’s a real marvel. We want you kids to have it. But, sweetie, we expect to find a publisher who will pay us for the book. That will free up the money that might have been used to publish at our own expense. You’ll know when that happens, because there’ll be a big celebration.”

  “Well—can’t you—I mean—” Peace obviously was not satisfied.

  “No, we can’t promise anything,” Reason said. She looked to Dignity. “We’d better come through, or there will be some long faces on Christmas morning.”