Last Bride, The (Home to Hickory Hollow Book #5) (24 page)

M
andy baked enough chocolate chip cookies that Saturday for the entire church gathering the next day. She lost count after two hundred and fifty cookies and guessed she had enough for the youngsters to have two or more each, though since quite a few older folk had a sweet tooth, as well, she’d just kept baking cookies all afternoon.

Mamma had been over earlier, a sparkle in her eyes as she said,
“Somethin’ wonderful-
gut
might just be happening to
Tessie Ann.”
But she didn’t reveal what, and when Mandy asked, Mamma simply said they’d all have to wait and see. But it was a consolation to Mandy that her mother’s face was beaming with happiness—and this in spite of tomorrow’s hoped-for confession.

Mandy glanced at the wall clock and guessed Sylvan might be home in another hour or so. Meanwhile, she washed up the cookie sheets and wiped down the counters, then dried them nicely.

While she was washing her hands, she heard a knock at the back door and went to see who was there. She opened the door to see Norm Byler standing there.

“Is Sylvan around?” he asked, looking a bit sheepish.

“He’s over at Nate Kurtz’s place.”

Norm nodded and handed her a black book. “I found this in the very back of Marcus King’s former bureau drawer when I was packing up my things. Thought you could give it to your sister, maybe.” He hesitated a moment, then went on. “It belonged to Marcus, but out of respect, I didn’t feel I should read it.”

She glanced at the book. “Is it a journal?”

“I think so.” Norm’s face was expressionless. “Well, would ya mind tellin’ Sylvan I dropped by?”

She said she would, and a silence fell between them. She made no gesture to invite him inside, given Sylvan was gone, and she was keenly aware of the faintly mulch-like smell of plowed soil hanging in the air behind Norm.

“I’ll be goin’ now,” he said, turning, then stopped. “I’m awful sorry for any pain I caused ya in the past, Mandy,” he said with a quick look back. “I truly am.”

She raised her hand to her cheek—she understood now that life’s losses ultimately brought an unsought yet profound sense of release. She experienced this again even now as he expressed his embarrassment at leaving her without explanation those years ago, asking her to forgive him.

“No worries, really,” she replied. “I’ve already forgiven you.”

He glanced at the sky, then continued. “Did ya know it was your father’s worry that pulled us apart—his grave concern
at the possibility of genetic diseases in our offspring if we married?”

Tessie Ann had shared that very thing. But Norm had never spoken to her about it, and Mandy felt the need to lighten things up. “I daresay Dat’s more of a worrywart than any of us knew.”

“It’s why I left so hastily back then.”

“Understandable,” she said.

Norm nodded, then waved to her.

“Have yourself a
gut
and happy life out west,” she said.

“Same to you, here in Hickory Hollow, Mandy.
Da Herr sei mit du—
the Lord be with you.”

“You too.
Hatyee!
”

He bobbed his head and said so long to her, as well.

Not lingering, she closed the door and went to the kitchen table and sat down with Marcus’s ledger. Carefully, considerately, she handled it—
words from the recent past
—then she opened it, not expecting to see what looked like a legal document of some kind tucked inside.

When she looked more closely, she let out a gasp. “A marriage license? What on earth did Marcus and Tessie do?”

Seeing the date—September twenty-seventh last year—and realizing that her sister had gone and married Marcus King, Mandy couldn’t help herself. She began to read his first entry:
Went to Chester County with Tessie Miller to apply for
our marriage license.

Mandy did not stop until she’d read every page, including Marcus’s last entry, written on the morning of his fatal fall.

“Ach, Dat needs to see this!” She closed the journal and took it upstairs to put in her own dresser drawer. “So Tessie
Ann was right all along—she did not commit a terrible sin.”

Why didn’t she just say so?

Immediately following breakfast the next morning, Tessie slipped on her coat and went to the bishop’s place without telling her parents. She must hurry, as there was little time before Dat wanted to hitch up to leave for church this Lord’s Day.

Mamma had said yesterday that it behooved Tessie to let the bishop know one way or the other what she planned to do about his request. In any case, Tessie would be considered rebellious if she didn’t “come under” and make her contrition known to the Gmay.

With everything flitting around in her head, she hadn’t slept well. Levi’s words were like a pealing bell, beautiful and strange.
“I’m here to love
you. . . .”

The fact that he’d believed in her before he even knew the full truth stirred something up in her, moving her repeatedly to tears. Now, as Tessie hurried across the road to the minister’s lane, she searched for the right words to say to the man chosen by God to shepherd them. Oh, she could not bear the thought of his piercing eyes studying her yet again.

Today was close to the coming season of preparation for their twice-yearly church council meeting, which would be followed on Good Friday by a day of fasting and prayer.
“It’s imperative the membership be in one accord,”
Mamma had said, not mincing words.

There was ever so much to ponder this Sunday morning.

After her visit to the bishop, Tessie Ann took a reverent posture outside the house where worship was to be held, stepping into line with the other womenfolk, right behind her sister Molly, who was holding her little girls’ hands. Oh, to have a small child’s hand in hers, Tessie thought.
And
to lead my own little one into the Preaching service . . .
She daydreamed of the name she’d picked out for her son.
Marcus.
Her sweet baby stirred within her, and just then, Tessie dreaded hearing the outcome of the People’s vote, wondering just how long her excommunication might be.

Inching forward as the women’s line expanded behind her, Tessie was relieved her moments with the bishop and Mary were behind her. She glanced around discreetly, wondering where Mandy was, because she always sat to the right of Tessie, since they filed in by gender, according to age.

Tessie happened to notice Mandy uncharacteristically standing over near the men’s line, trying to catch their father’s attention. It looked like she was giving something to him—a black book, maybe—prior to the menfolk going into the house by way of their separate entrance. Bobbing his head right quick, Dat looked embarrassed that Mandy had ventured over there, seeking him out that way.

What’s she doing?

Then, just as quickly, Mandy rushed back to take her place beside Tessie, not saying a word.

The women and children began to move forward, heading inside to find their seats on the long benches facing the men on the opposite side of the room. Tessie watched her
father and saw his head go down in prayer the minute he was seated. Then, oddly, he looked up and caught her eye for the longest time before bowing his head once again. Was he perhaps reading whatever Mandy had given him? All of this was so very strange.

The ministers headed upstairs for their usual
Abrot
meeting prior to the sermons while the congregation began its familiar ritual of singing for the next thirty or so minutes. Tessie tried to focus, to get herself into an attitude of humility and prayer. Now wasn’t the time to speculate on whatever Mandy had given Dat, nor to whisper a question to Mandy, seated beside her. Tessie had never whispered during church that she could remember.
I wanted to do everything right, under God
,
she thought, knowing she’d fallen short. She was beginning to think she and Marcus had been proud before the heavenly Father, taking the timing of their marriage into their own hands.
Weren’t we?

She felt weighty conviction during the singing and as each reverent moment passed.

Levi had encouraged her to tell today what she’d revealed to him two nights ago—
“for the sake of harmony
,”
he’d said. No matter what, she would have to endure a temporary excommunication, which would prohibit her from attending church—the place where she drew the divine strength she so desperately needed.

Trying not to concentrate her thoughts on what was to come, Tessie lifted her voice with all the others, singing “The Praise Song”—
“Das Loblied”—
their sacred hymn. The ancient song had twenty-eight lines, long enough for her to move into a better stance for adoration of the almighty One. “‘Your
goodness exalt,’” she sang, hearing Mandy’s clear soprano voice next to her.

Tessie yielded her thoughts to God, keeping her head bowed.
His
goodness,
she thought as
der Vorsinger—
the song leader—rose and blew the pitch pipe for the next hymn. She realized the ministerial brethren had not returned from their meeting just yet, taking longer than any time she could recall.

They’re deciding about my discipline.
With that sobering thought, she bowed her head even lower.

M
andy could feel the tension coming from Tessie next to her. All during the singing, their older sister Molly had shared the
Ausbund
hymnal with little Manny while his twin brother, Matthew, helped hold another hymnal with his mother. Mandy wondered why Tessie hadn’t helped him with it.
Is
she
all
ferhoodled
?
Mandy hoped not, because Tessie needed to finish what she’d started last time—Sylvan had said as much earlier as they’d ridden to Preaching service.
“
You
must
not
know
my
sister
very
well
,”
she’d replied, and her husband had given her a noticeably serious look.

There had been no further talk of it between them, and Mandy had spent the rest of the trip to church praying for a swift end, worried her sister was seemingly determined to stack sin upon sin—at least in the eyes of the People.

They were already singing another lengthy hymn, which meant the ministerial brethren must be having a difference of opinion during their upstairs meeting. Preacher Yoder and
Bishop John were the more strict of the four men, so no doubt there were at least two stern opinions vying for precedence. It had been a very long time since any young woman had caused such a stir as Tessie. Everyone just assumed she was with child out of wedlock, Mandy was sure, so it wouldn’t surprise her if they decided to make an example of her sister.
If only she’d speak up and
tell what really happened!
Mandy thought, recalling the lines from Marcus’s journal.

Mandy searched for Sylvan across the room and saw him singing animatedly, sitting with his next older brothers, all of them in a row. Her heart swelled with love for him; she was still getting used to these new yet very welcome emotions. It was a puzzle how all of this had come about between them—there had to be more behind it than Sylvan’s reading a book.
Surely Gott had a hand. . . .
Nevertheless, Mandy could hardly wait to have supper alone tonight with her husband, since Aunt Elaine had already said she was expecting company later. The thought made Mandy smile so big, she was afraid someone might think she was not being worshipful in church.

At that moment, the four ministers at last came filing down the row to take their seats in front. They sat quietly for a few moments till one of them stood and made introductory remarks about the order of service.

Mandy wanted so badly to reach over and clasp Tessie’s hand, but poor Tessie had her hands folded on her lap . . . clenched and bright red.

O God our Father
, we praise You and Your goodness exalt,
Tessie thought, rehearsing the first line of “Das Loblied,” the hymn they’d sung earlier. The words ran through her mind as the first minister gave the opening sermon, introducing the biblical topic for today’s meeting—“the declaration of guilt,” he called it.

She trembled.

Then the deacon rose and read the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, beginning with the third verse, “‘Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.’”

Tessie folded her hands all the more tightly as she listened. The People were so still, she could hear Mandy’s breathing beside her.

Once the deacon had closed his Bible and quietly sat down, Preacher Ephraim Yoder got up from his seat and stood before the congregation. As he began to preach in a singsong voice, he also paced, flawlessly weaving Bible stories together to demonstrate the eternal consequences of one’s life journey—the sins that so easily besieged folk and the victories they had over them in Christ Jesus. His caution to flee from temptation at all costs and to practice obedience daily, along with acts of humility, penetrated Tessie’s heart. The long sermon eventually pointed out the importance of being willing to yield to God’s supreme will, and to the church.

Dawdi Dave’s words rushed back to her as Tessie and all the others turned and knelt, leaning their prayerful hands on the
wooden bench where they’d just sat.
“Think ’bout what kind of legacy you want
to pass on to the next generation . . . and the next
,”
her grandfather had admonished.

After the closing hymn, when the unbaptized youth and children had left the room, the members’ meeting began. Tessie answered the bishop’s call to go forward, and she dropped to her knees near the ministerial brethren. Quickly, she lowered her head and folded her hands.

Behind her, she heard the scrape of a chair, and when the bishop touched her shoulder and pointed to it, she knew she was expected to offer a sitting confession instead, reserved for a lesser offense.
Of all things!
She was so surprised, she could hardly speak.

Bishop John commenced to ask the same questions of her as two weeks ago, and Tessie acknowledged she was ready to give a complete confession. “I wish to be in fellowship and faith with the church, under the Lord God.”

The bishop went to sit with the other ministers, and Tessie felt the unspoken approval of the congregation as she began. “Marcus King and I were secretly married last fall on September twenty-seventh,” she stated. “We disobeyed my father and ran off together—eloped.”

There was sheer silence in the room.

She heard whispering then from the men’s section, and an unexpected commotion followed. Looking up, she saw Marcus’s father stand, a deep crease of a frown on his face. “That is
ummieglich—
impossible,” Lloyd King said sharply. “I knew my son, and he would
never
do such a thing!
Nie net—
never!”

Bishop John rose to his feet.

Tessie Ann cringed.
What will he say to that?

“Let our sister proceed,” the man of God said firmly.

But now Tessie’s father was getting up out of his seat, also, two rows in front of Lloyd. He held a piece of paper in the air, waving it high. “I would like to say, if the bishop and the membership permit, that I humbly admit to having failed to believe my daughter.” He paused and glanced down at something in his other hand. “But now I stand corrected, as I hold the proof of it all right here.”

“Please bring this proof to me, Ammon,” the bishop requested.

Her father moved into the aisle and came forward. “This is Tessie Ann’s marriage license, signed by two witnesses.” Dat handed the paper to the bishop.

An audible murmur, like a rushing wave, ran through the length of the room. Stunned, Tessie was relieved, yet unsure what to do.

Marcus’s father raised his voice. “I’d like to see that so-called document,” he declared.

Just that quick, Tessie was ushered out of the room by the deacon, who followed behind her down the narrow aisle, through the kitchen, and into the utility room. There, she was left alone, though she could still hear Lloyd King’s voice inside. Shaking her head, she tried to grasp what had just happened.

In a minute’s time, Mandy had joined her, asking if she was all right.

“I’m fine. What a blessing, truly,” Tessie whispered. Then, looking at her sister, she searched her face . . . her eyes. “It was you who saved the day, wasn’t it?
You
.” She remembered seeing the peculiar exchange between Mandy and their father earlier.

“Norm Byler dropped by our house with Marcus’s journal,” Mandy explained. “The marriage license was inside. I spared no time in reading it and knew right away I must get it to Dat . . . for your sake, and your baby’s.”

“Denki . . . ever so much,” Tessie said, holding back tears. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without such evidence.”

“Jah, such wonderful-
gut
timing.”

They embraced and Mandy remained there with her, waiting for the members to decide what to do. The longer it went, the more anxious Tessie became. After all, she had not waited to marry Marcus in the Amish church, under God and the bishop, as was expected of engaged couples. There was just no other option . . . ever.

Finally she got cold and leaned down to sort through the pile of coats for her own. When she found it, she slipped it on, still shivering with nerves and the chilly air. “Spring can’t come any too soon,” she murmured.

Mandy touched her arm. “It’ll be that much closer to knowing ’bout the health of your baby, too. Jah?”

Tessie shared about her meeting with the doctor at the Clinic for Special Children. “It gave me hope, really.”

“We’ll all breathe a sigh of relief when we know if your baby is all right.”

“Either way, he’ll be welcomed into the family,” Tessie said.

“So, you’re havin’ a boy, then?”

“Jah, I think so . . . for Marcus.”

They watched a train of birds gracefully dip and sway over the tops of the nearby trees, and then the deacon returned, saying quietly that the membership’s discussion and voting were finished.

Mandy stepped aside, and Tessie, still wearing her coat, followed dutifully behind the deacon, back to the bishop, and once again sat down on the chair at the front.

“Our sister in the Lord, due to Marcus’s untimely death and our grave concern for your unborn baby’s health, the People feel you have suffered enough,” the bishop began, much to Tessie’s amazement. Moreover, Bishop John explained that her father had testified on her behalf about her faithfulness to God and to prayer. “And you were truthful in the end.”

She caught Cousin Emmalyn’s warm look of encouragement from where she sat in the congregation.

“We do not endorse such hasty behavior, however, for any other couple,” Bishop John stated clearly. “Lest anyone else get the idea to do so.”

There was no audible amen, but many nodded in the affirmative.

The bishop asked if Tessie was sorry she had not allowed patience to do its work, according to the Scripture. “Do you regret not waiting to marry in the church, Tessie Ann?”

“I am very sorry, jah.”

“Do you confess this sin before God and the People?”

She said she did, tears falling.

“In the name of the Lord and this church, peace and fellowship are extended to you. You may continue in full membership,” the bishop announced before he reached for his Bible to read once again from Matthew. “‘Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’

“Our sister, Tessie Ann, go forth and accept the forgiveness and compassion of the Hickory Hollow flock.”

She rose before them, still glad for her coat. The bishop’s wife, Mary, came up to her and offered a handshake and a holy kiss.

When Tessie turned to join her sisters in their row, she caught her mother’s sweet gaze and cherished it most of all.