Dungeness and Dragons
Page 29
“Where did you go, Charley?” Esperanza poked him in the arm. “Earth to Charley. Come in.”
“I am so sorry. I just got…I don’t know. So much has happened.”
“Put it all to rest, buddy. We’re here for Chiara on her big day.”
“Absolutely. To you, Chiara—the best Honorary Detective any two flat feet like us could ever wish for.”
A tear trickled down her face. “Now don’t make me cry and ruin my makeup. Geez, guys.”
The horse stopped at the entrance to the garden, where the wedding guests were sitting in rows of white chairs before a large gazebo aflame with a rainbow of flowers. The driver helped Chiara out of the carriage, while the men climbed down.
Whitehorse pointed toward the front of the gathering. “There’s Sammy, and he looks even more nervous than you.” He chuckled at the young man who was bobbing from one foot to another. “Uh, oh. He just spotted you. Yowza! Gob-smacked! Good thing his Best Man was there to catch him!”
A band to the left of the gazebo launched into an enthusiastic version of “Best Day of My Life,” and the guests were on their feet, clapping to the beat and swaying to the rhythm. The bride linked arms with the two men and began dancing down the grassy path, following a little girl in a bright yellow dress who was strewing rose petals along the way.
“This is not like any wedding I’ve ever been to,” said Esperanza above the uproar. He and Whitehorse struggled to keep in sync with the laughing sprite between them.
“Isn’t it fun, guys? Let yourselves go!”
Her joy was infectious. Gone was the anxiety, the doubt, the cares that might have marred the occasion. For the next hour, all present would be free from the worries of the world—bill payments coming due, the illness of family members, grief over losses, threats of war and riot and political unrest. They would be in an oasis of respite, witnessing the act of faith of two young people pledging their lives to each other. The dark would not be denied, but kept briefly at bay, affording refreshment of body, mind, and spirit. For this blink of time, there would be no hate, no death, no darkness—just the brilliance of love and a moment of bliss.
In a world composed of such measures of light and shadow, to dance was itself an act of faith.
The End
About the Author
William J. Cook is a Connecticut native transplanted to Oregon in 1989. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, where he received a Master's Degree in Social Work. Years of study in two Catholic seminaries and a long career as a mental health therapist have shaped (or warped!) his world view. He is spending his retirement with his artist-wife Sharon, who paints in the dining room while he writes in the kitchen. He enjoys babysitting for his fifteen grandchildren and sneaking away to mid-week matinees at local movie theaters, a vice which he claims he contracted from his mother, an inveterate fan of action and sci-fi films. He is the author of the novel Songs for the Journey Home, The Pieta in Ordinary Time and Other Stories, Catch of the Day, a collection of short stories, and The Driftwood Mysteries, including the novel, Seal of Secrets, the short story, Eye of Newt, the novel, Woman in the Waves, and the latest novel, Dungeness and Dragons.
Visit him at https://authorwilliamcook.com or at
https://www.facebook.com/writerwilliamjcook/
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Thank you,
Bill Cook