Free Equal Access by A. E. Branson

others, but his personal experience demonstrated more “quality”
than quantity. Begrudgingly he became an attorney. At least his
marriage to Dulsie seemed like a celestial reward. But now he had
to struggle with what to do about Wally.
    And the very fact he harbored reluctance
about investigating the man produced evidence Shad had been
assigned the obligation to do exactly that. For many reasons it
would be easier to turn his back on this discovery and convince
himself that Wally was no longer a threat, rather than contend with
such a difficult assignment.
    But children’s lives could be at stake. And
if Shad became an attorney because he was supposed to defend the
rights of the disadvantaged, then he had to fulfill his
responsibility. Giving up this challenge would only be an act of
cowardice and a mockery to his family.
     

Chapter Five
    See, I refine you, but not as silver; I test you in
the furnace of affliction.
    --Isaiah 48:10
     
    The meeting house for the local congregation
of the Society of Friends, better known to most of the world as
Quakers (when they weren’t being confused with Amish or Mennonite),
was a simple, white, rectangular building that stood amidst trees
along the rural highway. There wasn’t any kind of signage to
designate the structure’s purpose, and this was mostly because no
name had ever been assigned to it. The Friends of Osage County
didn’t need to differentiate themselves from any other groups of
Friends in the area because there were none. In a county where the
Catholics outnumbered every other variety of denomination, the
Osage Friends congregation was the smallest of the small.
    Comprised of never more than a dozen
families, mostly farmers, they were one of the groups that
continued clinging to many of the old traditions while other
Friends churches across the country had changed. These people still
revered silence. Naturally there had been a few changes over the
years. The men and the women no longer sat on opposite sides of the
room. Family and friends stopped referring to each other as “Thee”
long ago. And nobody dressed like the dude on the oatmeal box,
although simple, “classic” clothing was preferred.
    Once upon a time the group eschewed wedding
bands with all other jewelry, but Margaret Leeds had been the first
to break that tradition in this congregation. Her argument was that
marriage was a sacred state of union instituted by God from the
beginning to bring humanity closer to Him. For a husband and a wife
to make and keep a promise to each other was a reflection of the
promise God makes and keeps with His people. The Church was, after
all, the bride of Christ. Therefore married people should have an
outward “sign of the covenant” to silently proclaim God’s
promise.
    Margaret Leeds showed up in the congregation
shortly after war broke out between the states. She was still only
a fourteen-year-old girl. Margaret was from Kentucky, the daughter
of a “mixed-blood” Cherokee mother and a slave trader father.
Unfortunately for her father’s profession, Margaret had become an
abolitionist and even helped some slaves to escape. When her father
discovered Margaret’s “treachery,” he threw her out of the
house.
    Margaret stayed only briefly with some
Friends she had come to know while helping with their “line” of the
Underground Railroad. She feared if she lingered too long, her
father would cause them harm. The Friends told her they had some
relatives who lived in Missouri, in a town near that state’s
capital, which was surely far away enough to keep everybody safe.
While en route to her destination, Margaret received divine
inspiration that she should become a member of the Society of
Friends. Thus convinced, she entered the congregation and
eventually gained such renown locally that Margaret continued to be
referred to as “Leeds” even when she got married shortly after the
war ended.
    Shad couldn’t imagine belonging to any other
denomination,