Chapter 1: Reverend Playfair

Monday, May 16, 1814

Culverin Hill, Springwater, North Carolina

The Reverend Daniel Playfair rode his horse from Springwater towards Culverin Hill slowly. He was at best an indifferent rider and would have certainly preferred taking a carriage, but his had broken an axle the week before. He could have used one from the town’s livery stable, but he wanted his trip to be private.

Reverend Playfair intended to meet with the Master of Culverin at his home. Jacob Culverin was an apostate before God, a sinner, and wicked in the eyes of all that was holy. This was widely known to all, not least because it was the Reverend Playfair’s belief, and one that he readily passed on to everybody in Springwater as Gospel. He was also sure, beyond any doubt, that so wicked a man must have made a pact with Lucifer himself.

Daniel Playfair was a well-read and learned man, but not necessarily a wise one. His moral view was one that had gone of fashion a century or two past. Sin was sin, and there was no compromise in the man. He only wished the church had retained more influence over the civil authorities; the Salem witch trials should have been continued, and throughout the colonies and now the entirety of the United States!

This did not endear Reverend Playfair to the residents of Springwater and the members of his congregation, which had been slowly shrinking since he had taken his position as the shepherd of the flock. This was nothing new, however, and Daniel Playfair knew that within a few years he would be moving on, to preach the gospel in another town when the deacons suggested he leave. Springwater was the fourth town he had been a pastor in, and he knew the wickedness of men would force him on again.

That would be for the future, however. If he could force Jacob Culverin away from Satan and towards the Light, it would be a sign from God to the entire town! That he, Daniel Playfair, could redeem such a sinner would be heard far and wide, certainly throughout the entire state of North Carolina, and most likely through the entire south, perhaps throughout the nation!

Jacob Culverin was the wickedest man that Playfair had ever met, which would have surprised Jacob, who had known many men he considered much more wicked. To Playfair, he seemed a proud man, and haughty, and had a way of looking down upon him as if he was secretly laughing at the preacher. He had other sinful ways as well, such as intemperance since he was a maker and purveyor of whiskey. Worse, Jacob was originally a Yankee, and did not hold with slavery, which was clearly what the Bible called for! Did not the books of Leviticus and Exodus both give laws allowing slavery? Who was this Jacob Culverin to set himself up in judgment of God?

His greatest sin, in the eyes of Playfair, was that he rarely, if ever, went to church. He stayed at his hilltop estate on the hill named after him, and when Reverend Playfair had once admonished him for not attending his church, had simply smiled, and replied that he worshipped in his own fashion Sunday mornings. The women with him at the time, female relations of one sort or another, had tittered and giggled at that, rather than remaining silent when in the presence of men, as God had ordained them to behave.

That had been just a week ago, and Daniel Playfair had demanded that Culverin attend church that Sunday or face eternal damnation. Sunday had come and gone without Jacob gracing the church, so the Reverend decided to go and beard the lion in his den, much like his namesake had gone into the lion’s den. Playfair’s literary scholarship was no better than his biblical scholarship.

Reverend Playfair fulminated over Culverin’s sinfulness and wickedness and decided to arm himself for his trip. Though he was armed in the righteousness of his cause, he knew that would mean little to the wicked man he would be descending on. Therefore, he prepared for the coming battle, girding up his loins as it said in the Bible. He strapped a pistol in its holster around his waist and hung a sword from the other side of the belt. The pistol was an ancient flintlock that he had to clean and load, and both weapons were presents from his father when he had graduated from the seminary and joined the Army briefly. That hadn’t worked out so well, but he still had the weapons. He made a comical figure as he rode through town towards Culverin Hill, and several of the deacons noticed and decided their preacher had really lost his mind this time, and it was time to find a new preacher.

It was perhaps five miles by the roadway to Culverin Hill, just an hour’s easy jaunt for any sort of decent rider. It took roughly twice as long for Playfair, and shortly before he reached the base of Culverin Hill the rumblings of an approaching storm spooked his horse. With a loud whinny, the animal bolted and dumped Playfair to the ground in a muddy pool. It then turned and ran back towards town when another rumble came from the clouds.

Reverend Playfair climbed to his feet and shook the mud from his coat. He was tempted to curse the horse but realized this was simply further proof that Beelzebub was protecting Jacob Culverin. He could now face the ignominy of walking back to Springwater chasing his rented horse, or he could continue moving forward. In a way, he considered this a good sign; like Barak when he went against the Canaanites, he was moving up a hill against an enemy of God. He checked his weapons, picked his hat out of the dirt, and continued up the road. He marched with the certainty that God was with him.

That certainty was strained when he made it to the top of the hill. Though the distance was not great as the crow flew, the roadway curled back and forth up the side of the hill. It was a warm day, and it was a warmer afternoon, and Playfair suffered. The weather continued to become stormy. The rumbles that had spooked his horse were now constant, and the sky was becoming leaden with gray storm clouds. It would undoubtedly begin raining by the early evening. After facing down Culverin and forcing him to repent, he would demand lodging for the night and a carriage for his return to town in the morning.