Summary

Adelaide Lyle is the speaker, and she opens the novel by narrating the origin of the Church of Signs following, how the newspaper was put up covering the windows, and how the church was moved from it's original location following the death of Pastor Matthews and the name changed from French Broad Church of Christ. She explains the methodology of the Church, how they test the will of God by handling snakes, fire and poison. This leads her to a flashback of when she left the church, and she tells the story of the death of Molly Jameson, who was killed by a rattlesnake during the service. After the Pastor decided to move Molly's body to her garden, where it was later found, Adelaide discussed the matter with Carson and removed both herself and the bible school aged children out of the...