The Teacher and the Preacher by Victoria Phelps

Author:Victoria Phelps [Phelps, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781645630913
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2019-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Caroline

Caroline had lost weight since the wedding. She was a scrawny bird. Her shoulder blades poked through her dress like fragile wings. Her legs and arms were sticks, twigs really. Sven begged her to eat. He even threatened to spank her if she didn’t consume the tiny portions he laid on her plate. She tried. Truly, she tried, but her throat clutched shut when she attempted to swallow and not a single morsel could pass. Sven would not spank her for this. She knew he hoped his half-hearted threat might work, but he also knew she was not being willfully disobedient. He was worried. Worried and sad.

Caroline twisted her hands in her lap. Her fingers white claws that scratched at her skirt.

She sat, as always, in the front pew on the left side of the church. The spot reserved for the reverend’s wife. Caroline did not look behind her, but she felt emptiness at her back. A room once full of life and breath was near vacant. For the second Sunday in a row, the town had turned its back. The few people present shifted restlessly in their seats. The service should have begun, but their minister sat in a straight back chair staring at the floor between his boots.

Long minutes passed before he rose and surveyed the little group.

“Thank you for joining us today,” he began. “I’m pleased to announce that Granny Wilkins has recovered.” He gestured at an older woman in a plain brown calico dress. “Welcome back,” he said.

Granny Wilkins rewarded him with a near toothless grin.

“Let us pray,” Sven said. “Lord, thank you for community. Thank you for the goodness of friendship and the joy of love. Amen.”

The congregation lifted their heads and glanced right and left. That prayer was mighty short and a little odd.

Sven stepped to the front of the platform. “I had a different verse in mind for today, but in my meditation, another came to me. It is Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Caroline slipped to the front of the bench. Her bottom poised on the edge. Her emotions raced from joy to despair and made a few stops in between as she observed her husband. Poor Sven. He’d lost weight, too, she realized. Being so big, it took longer before the change was noticeable. His beautiful pale eyes were bruised. She scolded herself. What kind of a wife was she? A wife, especially a minister’s wife, should be a helpmeet. Why, she was nothing but a burden to the sad, sorrowful man. She held her breath. The prickling in her stomach warned her of, well, she didn’t rightly know. Her husband rose and moved to the center of the platform. His eyes scanned the half-empty church and hovered for long moments on her face. Caroline flinched at the sound of his scratchy, rough voice.

“I have disappointed this community that I love so much.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.