Remembrance
Page 15
“Professor Barkley’s what?”
He waved her question away. “I’ll explain later. So, Eliza, will you?”
“Will I—?” The snowflakes spun in a dizzying whirl of fairy dust.
“Oh, I still haven’t asked you, have I?” Silas’s cider-colored eyes shone behind his glasses. “Eliza, will you marry me?”
Everything changed. The moon glowed brighter; the stars glittered with a brilliant light. The leafless tree branches waved their approval in the evening breeze, and the flutter of wings and the hoot of an owl became a melody that floated on the night air.
“Yes,” she responded, not sure if she were whispering or shouting. “Yes, yes, yes!”
He rose to his feet and wrapped her in his arms. “I love you, Eliza. Here, with God as my witness, I promise to love you always. Our love together, our life together, is just beginning.”
A double wedding. What could be more perfect?
❧
“You’re sure, aren’t you?” Uncle Edward asked his nephew.
“I am.” Silas leaned against the doorjamb. It had been a magical evening, and he was reluctant to let it end. After he and Eliza had told Hyacinth and his uncle the news of their engagement and suggested the double wedding, the plans began to spin out from all four of them with great speed.
An August wedding, they decided, would be ideal. They wouldn’t be rushing into their marriages, and they would have time to finalize living arrangements and the final transfer of the business.
They’d be married, of course, in the church in Remembrance, with Hyacinth and Edward taking a long honeymoon trip to Duluth. The lakeshore would be a nice setting for a post-wedding vacation.
“How could two bachelors-for-life like ourselves have ended up with such extraordinary women?” Uncle Edward mused. “In this great huge world, and in this tiny little town, how did such a marvelous thing happen?”
Sometimes, Silas thought, a Patented Five Year Plan was a good thing, but even Professor Barkley couldn’t create a better system than their heavenly Father already had.
Silas looked upward and smiled. “God knows. God knows.”
❧
Bees buzzed lazily in the hot August sun, but inside the church, Eliza was in a tizzy. Just minutes ago she’d had her bouquet of flowers, tied with blue string to match the new Bible Silas had given her as a wedding gift. But now the flowers were gone, and the ceremony was about to start.
“Look again,” she told Hyacinth. “Maybe I left them in the wagon?”
“They’re not there. I already looked. Are you sure you brought them with you?”
“I know I did. I had them with me when I got in, because a bee was overly interested in the daisies so I battled it the entire way over.” Eliza put her hands on her hips and surveyed the back of the church. “They can’t be that hard to find. This church isn’t very big.”
A sound under the pew made the two women step backward. They’d had the doors open for almost an hour now, and obviously some animal had joined them.
“Oh, please don’t let it be a skunk,” Eliza said. “Can you imagine what would happen if—”
At that moment Tiger stepped out, pulling the now bedraggled bouquet in her teeth. Eliza reached down and rescued the flowers. “How did you get over here?” she asked as she picked the cat up.
A small face poked around the corner. “I thought Tiger should be here,” little Mark Robbins said. “I’ll bet Tiger hasn’t been to any weddings.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Eliza said. “Did you go over to Birdbath House to get her?”
He shook his head solemnly. “I think she has a secret door or something because she keeps getting out and coming to our house. I tell her she’s not supposed to do that, but she doesn’t listen. I think maybe it’s because she likes my mother. Or me.”
She had a sudden inspiration. “Mark, do you know what a wedding gift is?”
“I sure do.” His face fell. “I don’t have one for you.”
“But I have for you! Mark, do you think you could take care of Tiger for always?”
“You’re giving her to me? Really?”
“She’s for all of you. She’s now Tiger Robbins. Isn’t that a great name?”
The little boy hugged the cat. “Thank you, Miss Davis! Oh, you still are Miss Davis, aren’t you? You’re not Mrs. Collier yet?”
“I’m still Miss Davis. But you’d better run home. You’ve got to come back here with your family for my wedding! And make sure that Tiger doesn’t get out again.”
He left, grinning from ear to ear and talking constantly to the cat. “And you can sleep in my bed on Tuesdays, and Brian’s on Wednesdays. . . .”
Hyacinth smiled. “You’re giving up Tiger?”
“She’s over there all the time anyway, so I might as well. Plus we got another wedding present last night. Carl brought us Slick Tom. Apparently the cat liked living in town and has moped around since we took him back to the farm, so he’s ours now. Just let any mouse try to drop by for a visit!”
Suddenly the church began to fill with sound as the wedding guests arrived. Hyacinth and Eliza hustled into the tiny room at the back.
“Not too much longer,” Hyacinth said. “Honey, are you through trying to shred that bouquet?”
“First the cat, and now me.” Eliza’s fingers trembled as she tried to save the bouquet. “Hyacinth, were you this nervous before your wedding to Mr. Mason?”
“My knees were knocking together so hard I was sure people could hear them,” the older woman said. “I was so fidgety that I didn’t even remember the ceremony. Suddenly someone was pronouncing us man and wife, and that was it. I guess I promised the usual things, although I could have vowed to plow the fields all the days of my life, since I didn’t hear any of it.”
Eliza moaned. “Oh, I am so nervous!”
“There, there,” Hyacinth said soothingly. “Soon it’ll all be done with, and you’ll go on as Mrs. Silas Collier, and I’ll be Mrs. Edward Collier.”
“It has a lovely sound, doesn’t it?” Eliza laid the repaired bouquet on the Bible. “Any last-minute tips for me?”
“Love is fun. There’s less of the drama that came during courtship, and you’ll find yourself being settled in. It’s good. Enjoy yourself, Eliza. Silas is a good man.”
Sounds at the door announced that the wedding would shortly be underway. “Hyacinth, I have never been so scared in my life.” Eliza picked up the bouquet and knotted and reknotted the ribbons.
Reverend Tupper popped his head in. “I think it’s time we proceeded with the ceremony.”
One last hug, and the two brides stood together, their hands clasped together.
I’m getting married, Eliza said to herself. I’m getting married! Thank You, dearest God, for bringing Silas and me together. Hyacinth squeezed her hand, and Eliza added, And for giving Hyacinth and Edward to each other.
The Robbins family, including Mary in her lavender dress with the ivory flowers, clattered in, despite the father’s admonitions for silence. “Sorry,” he said in a low voice. “That cat—”
“No need to explain,” Hyacinth said with a laugh.
Eliza noted the suspicious bulge in Mark’s shirt. Tiger apparently had made it to the ceremony after all. She chose to ignore the furry guest. “We haven’t started yet. Analia, here’s your basket. Remember, you lead us off.”
Analia went first, dropping wildflower petals along the aisle of church. Behind her floated Hyacinth, resplendent in her yellow silk dress with the lace edging and pearl buttons.
Eliza followed her. Now she knew why brides carried bouquets. It gave them something to hold onto so their hands could stop shaking.
Silas stepped from the side and met her in front of the altar. Her husband.
The wedding ceremony was a blur. Suddenly Reverend Tupper declared them to be husband and wife, Silas was kissing her, and she was married.
Just like that.
❧
> “I think Hyacinth got her good love story and her happy ending,” Eliza said after the wedding, when they waved good-bye to Edward and Hyacinth, who were leaving for their honeymoon in Duluth. “What more could anyone want?”
“We do have it good,” he said, putting his arm around her waist. “Think how well it all turned out. Edward and Hyacinth aren’t moving to Duluth after all. They’ll stay here. I like that.”
As the wagon carrying Hyacinth and Edward disappeared in the distance, they walked back to the house.
“You know,” Silas said, “they’re so happy together, even if they do get silly sometimes. I guess that’s a blessing of its own, isn’t it?”
“Speaking of silly, what did you do with Professor Barkley’s Patented Five Year Plan for Success ?”
He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ve got my own plan for success. It’s called love.”
About the Author
In first grade, JANET SPAETH was asked to write a summary of a story about a family making maple syrup. She wrote all during class, through morning recess, lunch, and afternoon recess, and asked to stay after school. When the teacher pointed out that a summary was supposed to be shorter than the original story, Janet explained that she didn’t feel the readers knew the characters well enough, so she was expanding on what was in the first-grade reader. Thus a writer was born. She lives in the Midwest and loves to travel, but to her, the happiest word in the English language is home.
Dedication
To Kevin, always. . .and forever
A note from the Author:
I love to hear from my readers! You may correspond with me by writing:
Janet Spaeth
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