The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

In a series of letters, Mercy admits that she is afraid too, but she also states her belief that “anything worth doing in this life requires a leap of faith” (160). Hart responds, asking her to meet him next week at a café in the town of Mayetta. Mercy is surprised that her friend lives so close by, as Mayetta is a neighboring town. She agrees and says that she will wear yellow so that he can spot her easily.

Hart is sick with nerves on the day of his meeting with his pen pal. He asks Duckers to come with him and scout out the café before he enters. Duckers teases him about his cowardice but agrees. Duckers peeks into the café and laughs. He turns and tells Hart that he was right all along because Hart’s secret friend is Mercy Birdsall. Horrified, Hart refuses to go inside. Duckers calls him a coward and insists that it is cruel to leave Mercy waiting and not to tell her who he really is. Hart makes Duckers promise not to tell anyone, not even Zeddie. Duckers leaves, disgusted with Hart.

Hart stands outside indecisively, wondering if Mercy has known his identity all along and is now playing a cruel trick on him. To find out, he walks in and approaches her. When she begs him to leave her alone because she is meeting someone important, Hart realizes that she cannot imagine the possibility that he is the letter writer. This horrifies him even more than the idea that she was playing a trick on him. Hurt and angry, he sits down to torment her.

He teases her about her “friend,” who must be extremely late, and about the book she is reading, Enemies and Lovers. He orders tea and wills her to make the connection, but she is oblivious to his oblique hint. Mercy insists that the friend she is waiting for is a better person than Hart could ever be. Hart retorts that he might surprise her if she ever scratched beneath the surface. Again, he wonders if she will notice this verbal clue, but she does not. Instead, she calls him a “self-serving, prickly, glowering nightmare of a man” (173). Feeling hurt feeling vindicated, Hart leaves.

The next morning, Mercy argues with Lillian. Hurt by the fact that her pen pal stood her up and has offered no explanation, Mercy snaps when Lillian asks about the letters. When Lillian tries to talk about Cunningham’s offer, Mercy refuses to discuss it.

The next day, Mercy argues with the manager of the lumber company, who confirms that the company has made an exclusive deal with Cunningham. Mercy furiously points out that this deal will destroy all competing businesses on the island.

The next day, Mercy argues with Roy and Zeddie. Zeddie allows their father to have all the things that the doctor has forbidden Roy to eat and drink, and she yells at them both. When Roy insists that he can take care of himself, Mercy angrily reminds him that she has been taking care of them all for 13 years. Zeddie points out that she has not been taking care of herself. Roy says he cannot think of any reason not to sell the business. Upset, Mercy asks, “So Zeddie is a reason to keep the business going, but I’m not?” (180). The next day, Mercy argues with herself about whether or not to send another letter. Ultimately, she does. The day after that, she argues with Horatio when he does not have a new letter for her.

The next day, she argues with Nathan when she goes to city hall to pay for the ticket that he gave her. He admits that he was being “a real jerk” (183) and he asks her out to lunch. He apologizes for his behavior when they were dating. (The narrative reveals that he cheated on her while she was caring for her father after the heart attack.) She accepts Nathan’s apology, which he takes to mean that they are now dating again. However, she tells him they are not right for each other. She wants someone who believes she is special, not merely something to settle for. Nathan scoffs.

On the morning after Hart’s disastrous encounter with Mercy at the café, Duckers tries to talk about it, but Hart snaps at him. Then Alma summons Hart to her office to tell him that a new regulation has been passed, requiring federal employees to use their accrued vacation days. Hart has not taken a vacation in 19 years and must now use some of his vacation time. He is not allowed to return to work for a week.

Hart travels to a nearby island that has an isolated cabin on the beach. For the entire week, he stews in his loneliness, guilt, and thoughts of Mercy. A local nimkilim delivers a letter from Mercy, but he does not open it. Instead, he returns to Tanria even though he is off-duty; he has a sudden desire to face his unfinished business there. First, he finds the place where he buried his dog, Gracie, and finally tells her goodbye. He then rides out to Sector 28, where Bill died.

At the center of the meadow stands a house that no one can see except him. It is a whitewashed farmhouse with a blue front door, and it inexplicably resembles the house that he grew up in with his mother and grandfather. Hart once told Bill about the house and the souls that he could see floating around it. Later, he and Bill returned to that house, and Bill died while Hart was helpless to do anything but watch. Now, wracked with guilt, Hart stares at the house, then turns away.

He makes a campfire, intending to burn his letters from Mercy. Instead, he opens the newest letter and reads it. In the letter, Mercy formally introduces herself and talks about her family and her work as an undertaker, having decided that if her pen pal is not brave enough to meet her, then she can at least be brave this way. Touched by her vulnerability and realizing that he misses her, Hart leaves Tanria and heads toward the town of Eternity.

Hart rides into Eternity. He had forgotten about the Founder’s Day festival, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Eternity’s founding, and he is shocked to see crowds everywhere. There will even be a dance and fireworks later in the evening. As he struggles towards Birdsall & Son, he hears the drudge warning bell. He then sees a drudge on the street, heading straight for Mercy, who has just exited her front door. She freezes, and Hart runs over with his rapier in hand.

Just as the drudge reaches her, Hart stabs it in the appendix, releasing the lost soul from the body. Mercy stares at him as he grabs her face with both hands and demands to know if she is injured. A moment later, Nathan and another deputy arrive. Nathan puts a possessive hand on Mercy, which makes Hart irrationally angry. The second deputy explains that the drudge was caught outside of town and was supposedly killed before being taken to Cunningham’s for processing. However, they clearly missed the appendix, and the drudge recovered and ambled away. Hart berates the deputies for their negligence, then takes Mercy away from Nathan and leads her gently into her office.

In the lobby, Mercy cries. Her father rushes over to comfort her. Awkwardly, Hart leaves. He goes to the sheriff’s department to file an official report and is surprised when the sheriff offers him a job and suggests that the post would be safer work than being a marshal. Hart promises to think about it. Later, alone in his hotel room, Hart stares into a mirror. He knows that he should return to his work in Tanria, but he wants to see Mercy again and make sure that she is safe. He realizes with startling clarity that he loves her.

Mercy thinks with irony that all it took to make her family forgive her was nearly being killed by a drudge. Roy, Zeddie, and Lillian crowd around her, hugging and talking. In a quiet moment alone, Lillian asks Mercy how she feels about being saved by her nemesis. Mercy pretends not to care, but in truth, she finds herself shaken by the sensation of Hart’s hands on her face and the depth of concern that he showed.

Eventually, they leave to attend the town dance. Everyone in town wants to ask Mercy about the experience. Finally, her friends Twyla and Frank protect her from further harassment. Twyla and Frank are both Tanrian marshals, partners, next-door neighbors, and best friends. They watch as Hart walks in and are shocked to see him because he never attends these town functions. Mercy is even more shocked when her family swarms around Hart and hugs him, thanking him for saving Mercy’s life. Hart looks confused and mortified. Twyla laughs, saying that Hart is not the easiest person to get to know, but he is highly respected among the marshals.

Hart approaches Mercy, and she thanks him for saving her. She is even more aware of his attractiveness and notices that he seems nervous. To her surprise, he apologizes for his behavior that night at the café, and for being “an ass” every other time they interacted. Then he asks her to dance. Stunned, she agrees, and they joke lightly while dancing. Suddenly, Nathan breaks in, accusing Hart of trying to take “[his] girl” (217). Hart backs away, but Mercy objects to Nathan’s intrusion. Then Hart leaves, practically running off the dance floor. Mercy tells Nathan that she is not his girl and rushes out after Hart.