The First Veil (pgs. 1-22) Summary

The novel opens with newlyweds Ellen Cherry Charles and Boomer Petway motoring down the highway, riding in a "turkey" while traveling through the West. It's only been a week, but Ellen Cherry Charles is already having second thoughts. She thinks to herself that Boomer tricked her into marrying him. Back in Colonial Pines, Virginia, the congregation, which includes Patsy (Ellen's mother) and Verlin (Ellen's father) Charles, meets in a small white church, listening to a fiery sermon by Buddy Winkler about the end of the world. The sermon is also being broadcast on the radio.

Riding in the turkey, Ellen Cherry hears the sermon and is shocked to hear Reverend Buddy all the way out in the West. A passing truck nearly hits the turkey, almost taking off "a leg." Later, the turkey stops in...