Destiny - The Callahans #1 (27 page)

His meeting, however, with George Q. Cannon
the previous evening had been most disconcerting. President Cannon
had, of course, been as cordial as ever and had received Bishop
Scanlan into his home with perfect civility. However, the news that
Bishop Scanlan had brought to President Cannon was not so
pleasant.

In an attempt to discover more about the
Yanqui family moving from Salt Lake City to Mexico, Bishop Hernando
Portolo, Archbishop of the Mexican Diocese, had written to Bishop
Scanlan to inquire about the Stromberg family. In his discourse,
Bishop Portolo had informed Bishop Scanlan that he was scheduled to
perform the marriage ceremony for Don Sebastian Cardenas’s only
daughter, Teresa, to one Harold Stromberg of Salt Lake City. Any
information that Father Scanlan could provide on the family would
be most helpful.

Father Scanlan was not acquainted with Harold
Stromberg, and in fact knew little of the man’s standing in the
Mormon church. Sister Mary had told Father Scanlan about Katrina
Stromberg’s visit and the fact that Harold had acted vindictively
toward their Irish friend. And Father Scanlan was acquainted with
Magnus Stromberg, as he was with most of the prominent businessmen
in Salt Lake. He had the impression that the elder Stromberg was
highly regarded by the leaders of the Mormon church. His going to
President Cannon was, then, a matter of professional courtesy. If
Harold Stromberg intended to take a second wife, it was in
violation of the Manifesto. And since it probably involved some
duplicity and a Catholic woman, both churches had an interest in
the matter.

President Cannon had received the news of the
impending marriage without comment except to say he would look into
the matter, but Father Scanlan left their meeting with the distinct
impression that the Mormon leader had been saddened by the news of
the pending plural marriage in the Stromberg family.

Now, as Scanlan approached Holy Cross
Hospital on his morning walk, he, too, was saddened by the turn of
events, for Sister Mary had been most complimentary of the young
Stromberg woman and her desire to ensure that justice was done in
the case of Thomas Callahan.

The final piece that concerned Bishop
Scanlan, and over which he was now most perplexed, was the telegram
from the western region headquarters of the Catholic church, in San
Francisco. “It is with regret,” it had announced, “that we inform
you of the unexpected death of Archbishop Hernando Portolo in
Mexico City.” His successor was not named in the telegram.

As Father Scanlan relayed all this to Sister
Mary, it became readily apparent that he actually had no one to
whom he could reply regarding Bishop Portolo’s request for
information on the Stromberg family. If he wrote directly to Don
Sebastian, he would be interfering in family affairs and, of
course, no individual had as yet come to him for advice or
counsel.

The issue for the Catholic church, at least
for the present, had died with Bishop Portolo, who, if the dates
indicated in his original letter were correct, had already
performed the marriage ceremony. Delivering the news to Sister
Mary, Father Scanlan suggested they keep the information to
themselves and let the Mormon leadership handle it as they saw fit.
Accordingly, in her next letter to Thomas Callahan, a follow-up to
her letter several weeks earlier, neither of which would be
received by Tom until the Yukon was passable in the spring, she
made no mention of either Katrina Stromberg’s husband’s duplicitous
behavior, or of the action Father Scanlan was certain President
George Q. Cannon would take concerning Harold Stromberg’s church
membership.

Father Scanlan’s observations of President
Cannon proved quite correct. Following church policy in the matter,
Harold’s bishop and stake president were advised of the situation
and asked to look into it. When questioned about his having entered
into a second marriage in violation of the Manifesto, Harold
confessed his action but argued his right to do so. In a church
court convened to try him for his membership, Harold was
excommunicated, for the practice of plural marriage, contrary to
the order of the church.

In private meetings, President Cannon
conferred also with Harold’s father, Magnus Stromberg, a
long-standing member of the church, who was well respected in the
community.

Magnus Stromberg’s reluctance to accept
church counsel left little doubt as to his stance concerning the
matter. Because the elder Stromberg had not entered into another
plural marriage since the Manifesto, even though he maintained four
wives and their families who lived in various locations throughout
Utah, there was still no charge that could be laid against him.

Where he found himself in difficulty was his
refusal to sustain the President of the church and the declared
word of the Lord on the continuing practice of plural marriage.
When pressed for his views, he finally revealed the full measure of
his apostasy and left the meeting with President Cannon in a pique
of anger, more determined than ever to bolt the church and move
himself, his families, and others who were supportive of his
position to Mexico. The excommunication of young Harold, which
followed quickly, for entering into an illegal plural marriage, was
the final blow.

Magnus arranged for immediate departure of
those families who sought to join the colony. With the number
reduced to thirty-seven from the original sixty families, Harold
was instructed by his father to make all necessary preparations to
depart at the earliest opportunity.

Katrina was not advised specifically why,
only that Harold had been excommunicated. She was led to understand
by her husband and father-in-law that it had to do only with the
Stromberg’s determination to establish a Mormon colony in Mexico,
contrary to the wishes of church leaders. Magnus Stromberg told her
that other colonies had experienced similar problems and that she
should not worry. He assured her Harold would be quickly reinstated
as soon as the colony came to be a permanent fixture and the church
leaders saw the merit in the relocation.

Katrina’s father provided a different sort of
counsel.

“This is not good, Katrina. You should stay
here in Salt Lake until the issue is settled by the church,” he
advised.

“Poppa, he is my husband. I must go with him.
You have told me many times that the wife must obey the husband and
follow his lead,” she replied.

“Ya, but he is now out of the church,
Katrina.”

“I know, but Father Stromberg told me not to
worry. All will be made right, soon.”

“Ya, well, he must know. He is longtime a
member.”

And so, against her father’s wishes, Katrina
sailed with Harold and something over a hundred others, some of
them former members of the church, as they left San Francisco for
Mexico. Having been assured by both Harold and Magnus that all
would shortly be well, Katrina was nevertheless alarmed as they
neared the Mexican coast and their destination. Harold chose a
moment when she was repacking their luggage just prior to their
arrival, to talk to her.

“Katrina, for a while, it will be best if you
pretend that you are my sister, and not my wife.”

“What!” she exclaimed.

“It’s only for a short time, Katrina. It’s
just that the land purchase is complicated, and I have many
dealings with Señor Cardenas to complete. I will need to stay with
them in their hacienda for some weeks, and it would be better if
they did not know that I was married. I’ve arranged for you to stay
with the Olsens until I can arrange for our house to be built.”

“Harold, I don’t want to stay with the
Olsens. I want to be with you.”

“I understand, dear,” he said, taking her
face in his hands. “Just be patient for a while, Katrina. I have
our best interests at heart. Remember, if you’d not learned of the
true nature of that Callahan lout, you might now be married to a
murderer.”

Katrina remained silent, though hearing such
a blatant evidence of Harold’s duplicity made her almost physically
ill. He knew Thomas was not guilty of murder, and to hear him lie
so callously was chilling.

When the ship entered the harbor at Mazatlán,
and Miguel Antonio came out to meet Harold, Katrina was introduced
as Harold’s sister. Miguel insisted that, as a family member, she
accompany them to the hacienda, but Harold deferred, stating that
she was needed to assist with the young Olsen children until the
colony was able to construct permanent housing. Katrina’s departure
with the others left Harold little doubt that she was unhappy. His
promise that he would see her in a few days did little to placate
her anger or her resentment. But looking forward to his reunion
with Teresa, Harold had little patience with Katrina’s petulance
and was frankly relieved to be away from her for a few days. He
gave instructions to three of the men in the company, whom he had
hired, to begin building a house for Katrina, and then, giving her
a kiss on the forehead, left with Miguel.

The Mormon colonists arrived in early
November and were greeted with many acts of generosity and
hospitality by the Mexicans living in and around Mazatlán.
Merchants, anxious to fill the orders for lumber, grain, and sundry
supplies necessary to outfit a new community, were more than eager
to welcome the newcomers, even though the colonists were not
Catholic.

Harold was once again warmly greeted by Don
Sebastian, but it was his welcome from Teresa that impressed
Harold, assuring him of her affection for him and the degree to
which she had missed him since his departure nearly eight weeks
earlier. They had been married only four weeks when he had returned
to Salt Lake City, and Teresa’s request to accompany him had been
difficult to deny, but eventually, with the support of Don
Sebastian, Harold had convinced her to remain in Mazatlán and
arrange for their future life together. How well she had
accomplished that task was to quickly become a thorn in Harold’s
side.

As they retired to their bed on Harold’s
first night back in Mazatlán, Teresa had snuggled close to him and
confided in him her joy that she had conceived and was bearing
their first child. The news hit Harold like a thunderbolt, and he
was relieved it was dark in the bedchamber, so that he did not have
to explain the look of panic that came over his face. Lying there
in the dark, he was able to make a reasonable expression of
happiness at the news, but in reality, it was a complication he
wasn’t certain how to deal with. He was now the uneasy custodian of
two wives, both pregnant, and each unaware of the other.

The next morning, as he woke, Harold found
Teresa up and already dressed in riding gear. She came and sat on
the side of the bed, and with her hand, tenderly brushed back the
tousled hair that she had come to recognize as Harold’s morning
trademark.

“I have a surprise for you this morning,” she
said.

“Just being with you each day is a surprise,”
Harold replied.

“Ah, then this will be extra special. I’ve
laid out your riding clothes, and Manuel is preparing our
horses.”

“Where are we going?” he asked, rising,
giving her a soft kiss, and heading for the bathroom.

Teresa followed, helping him to lather his
face and watching in the mirror as he began stropping his razor on
the leather. “I told you, it’s a surprise,” she teased.

“As you wish.” He placed his hands on her
shoulders and turned her toward the door. “I’ll meet you downstairs
for breakfast,” he said, trying to have his morning bathroom ritual
in private.

“The lord of the castle’s wish, is my
command,” she laughed. “Twenty minutes, then breakfast and off into
the countryside,” she said as she left the room.

Cantering over the hilly terrain, Harold
watched with pride as Teresa maintained her position ahead of his
mount, riding as well as any man Harold knew, leading the way
toward the surprise she had continued to tease him about through
breakfast. His love for this woman had quickly become all consuming
and he wondered how she would react when it came time to explain
the marriage practices he and his father believed in. He did love
Katrina, he thought to himself, but Teresa brought another
dimension of excitement to his life and would be able to provide
the social status in the community, which his father had determined
to retain as the family left three generations of history behind in
Utah. Marriage into the Cardenas line assured a continuation of
that respect.

After about a thirty-minute ride, Teresa
reined in her horse, looking back as Harold joined her on a small
knoll that overlooked a lush, grass-filled valley. Below them, a
small stream ran west toward the ocean, which was now in
magnificent view from the position at which Teresa had chosen to
stop. A large frame and stucco building was under construction off
to their right, slightly higher up the knoll, and workmen were
busily moving around the site. In front of Harold and Teresa,
perhaps three miles farther on, but blocked from their view by the
low, rolling hills, was the town site for Harold’s new community,
where the residents were also busy, building their new homes. The
boundary of the land that Magnus Stromberg had purchased from Don
Sebastian was just over the rise, marked by a small copse of
Mesquite trees.

“You do give a body a workout when riding,”
Harold exclaimed, catching his breath.

“I love to ride. Father took me riding before
I could sit a saddle. My equestrian instructor in Spain told me I
should have entered competition, were I not returning to Mexico,”
she proudly exclaimed. Discovering this side of Teresa had
initially startled Harold, for during their brief courtship, she
had displayed no sense of accomplishment or outward pride, other
than that engendered by her breeding. But soon after their
marriage, it was as if Teresa wanted her new husband to know of her
abilities and accomplishments, so that he might enjoy a greater
sense of her worth.