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tall, stiff Miles came from the same cloth as giggly Eloise. Mercy wished that she had met the parents that had managed to create such totally different offspring. Tall and imposing Miles, who, if he hadn’t had a successful family business to run, would have made an excellent pastor and giddy, flirtatious Eloise seemed unlikely siblings. Yet, they appeared to get on. Miles didn’t exactly smile at Eloise’s obvious man hunting antics, but he didn’t dissuade her and when Miles tended to pontificate, Eloise did little more than roll her eyes.
    Miles sat beside Mercy like a stone statue clasping a hymnal and Mercy had to peer around him in search of Georgina. She’d previously met Georgina at the Ladies Relief Society and had been impressed by not only the conversation, but of how highly her aunt had spoken of her. Georgina had a passion for women’s rights and Mercy sensed a kindred spirit and an ally. Georgina didn’t fit the dedicated social reformer stereotype. A small cupid beauty who dressed in frilly pastels, she looked like the sort of girl a boy would want to tuck under his cloak and protect.
    Seconds before the opening song, Mercy saw Georgina slip into the back of the chapel and arrange her soft gray skirts. Her flushed face struggled for calm.
    After the prayer, Mercy kept her eyes focused on Pastor Klum, but her attention wandered. How could she speak to Georgina alone and broach the subject of Lucky Island? She couldn’t speak of it in front of Miles, Eloise, her aunt… or anyone. She hadn’t quite decided on whether or not to confide in Georgina.
    Pastor Klum spoke on the Beatitudes, but his message barely scratched Mercy’s thoughts. I need blessings , she thought, as we all do, but I don’t want to inherit the earth, I just want to be able to stay in Seattle without encountering Mr. Steele . It didn’t seem an unreasonable request when the Lord was promising much greater blessing such as the kingdom of God. The poor, the hungry, the mourners -- she’d played all those roles and she hadn’t enjoyed any of them. The meek, the pure in heart, the peacemakers -- where, exactly, did she fit? Glancing around the room at first her aunt, then Miles and Eloise, Mercy’s heart twisted. She wanted to fit in with her new family and friends.
    When it came time for the closing hymn, Miles belted out Jesus Savior Pilot Me in a strong bass. Mercy cast him a glance. What if she told him her experiences with Steele, how would he react? Would he defend her? Could she hide behind him? Possibly, but that wouldn’t be fair. She hadn’t a romantic interest in Miles, although she wondered why not. Tall, handsome and kind, yes, but he had the sense of humor of a toad. He caught her watching him, and the corners of his lips lifted, but Mercy didn’t know if it was a smile or the just the necessary movement for the pronunciation of chart and compass come from thee . After the benediction, Mercy looked beyond Miles’ broad back to see Georgina slipping through the broad double doors.
    “Absorbing sermon, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Faye?” Miles stood between her and the retreating Georgina as solid and immovable as Mount Sinai.
    Mercy blinked up at him and said the first thing that came to her mind. “Yes, but why would anyone want the whole earth?” She laid her hand on Miles’ arm. “Please excuse me, Miles. There’s someone I--”
    Miles looked momentarily stunned and then, as if marshalling his thoughts said, “I do not think that was the Lord’s intention, to give the whole earth to one person, but rather to all the meek.”
    “And what would the meek do with it, and where would all the rest of us go?” she asked over her shoulder. She managed to snake past him, but he followed.
    Georgina stood on the steps. The late morning sun streamed through the shade of a maple tree and cast a dappled sunlight on Georgina’s face as she chatted with Pastor Klum. Mercy breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t yet