A twitter went over the church, but the beauty of the child charmed them all.
Jeff looked back again. Leah was coming. She was wearing a white dress trimmed with lace at the neck and sleeves. The V-shaped bodice was tight fitting, and narrow pink satin ribbon ran from the high neckline to meet at the point of the V at the waist. The full skirt was trimmed with lace and embroidered pink flowers.
Jeff could hardly believe his eyes. This beautiful young woman was the girl he had thrown into the creek more than once, the one he had hunted possums with. He held his breath as she passed by.
She smiled at him. There was something mysterious and wise in her expression, and Jeff swallowed hard. He whispered to his father, “Leah sure looks good, doesn’t she?”
“She’s a beautiful woman, Jeff,” his father answered quietly.
And then the two brides came in, side by side.
Both girls wore white satin gowns with neat, high necklines and close-fitting embroidered bodices. Their skirts were very full and lace trimmed. Sarah had on a white straw hat decorated with orange blossoms and wild flowers and a dainty lace veil that draped to her shoulders. Lori wore a white satin pillbox trimmed with a sprig of orange blossom. Her short veil was of the same dainty material. Both wore white gloves and satin shoes and carried orange blossom bouquets.
When they reached the front of the church, the minister said, “You gentlemen may each take the hand of your bride.”
Afterward, neither Tom nor Royal could remember much about the ceremony except how beautiful his bride looked.
When the ceremony had ended and they had kissed the brides and fled from the church, Leah joined Jeff. “Wasn’t that the most beautiful wedding you ever saw?”
“Just about. I don’t ever remember two better-looking couples,” he said.
Eileen had been standing close enough to hear Jeff’s comment, and she whispered to her husband, “I can think of another good-looking couple.”
“You mean Jeff and Leah?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right.”
“Someday maybe. Not for a while.”
The reception was in the nature of a feast, and the church ladies and other friends of the Majorses and the Carters had outdone themselves. There were no tiny glasses of punch. There were no fragile china plates with small squares of cake. Instead there was a full-fledged wedding supper.
Tom and Royal had to endure endless torment on the part of their old comrades, who teased them unmercifully. Sarah and Lori happily escaped much of this.
And then, suddenly, there was a commotion at the front of the reception room. When Tom turned, he saw to his dismay Dewitt Falor coming through the crowd.
Oh, no! he thought. Not a fight! Not here at my wedding!
Falor planted his feet firmly in front of Tom and stopped.
Silence fell over the room. It felt as if everyone was standing on tiptoe to see what would happen. Pineville loved its drama, and here it was. One man had lost, and another had won. Now the loser had come to settle scores!
“Hello, Dewitt,” Tom said.
“Hello, Tom.”
Rosie edged closer, looking around, presumably for Falor’s friends. However, the man seemed to be alone.
Tom saw that Falor had an odd look on his face, a look he could not identify. “I’m glad you came, Dewitt.”
“I almost didn’t.” Falor stared at the floor and shifted his feet. Finally he looked up, and his face was red. “I guess … well, I guess I got to do something I never thought I’d do.”
Rosie and Jeff moved closer.
“I guess I got to tell you,” Falor said slowly, “that I been wrong about everything.”
A mutter went over the crowd, as people murmured in amazement. Dewitt Falor never apologized to anybody. Everyone knew that.
Falor’s eyes went to Sarah. “I didn’t come to spoil your wedding, Sarah, or your reception. But since I done Tom wrong in public, I felt that it was only fair that I come and apologize in public.”
Sarah put out her hand, and when Falor took it with some embarrassment, she smiled sweetly. “That’s very decent of you, Dewitt. Thank you. I’m so glad you came.” She squeezed his hand and said, “It’s a very wonderful thing your coming like this. Not many men would have had the courage to do it.” Then she added, “Someday some woman’s going to get a fine husband.”
Relief washed over Dewitt Falor’s face. He grunted and said, “Well … I guess I better go.”
“No sense going,” Tom said quickly. “Come and have some of this food. Plenty left.”
Later—after both couples had departed for some mysterious spot that they would not name to anyone, and the wedding guests had dispersed—Jeff and Leah walked the deserted street, talking about what had happened.
Jeff had been thinking about the strangeness of it all. “You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when Dewitt apologized. I always thought he was no good to the core, but I guess he’s got some good in him after all.”
“I think he has. It’s like Sarah said,” Leah murmured. “It took a lot of courage to come out in public and apologize.”
“Anyway, I’m glad it’s over. Now he and Tom won’t be walking around each other, ready for a fight every time they meet. Tom doesn’t need that.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Leah took his arm, and they walked slowly the length of the street, then back. “Both families and Drake and Rosie are going to have a snack at our house before Tom and Sarah and Royal and Lori leave on their honeymoons.”
“Who needs more food? Besides, they’ll be too nervous to eat,” Jeff said with a grin. “And I don’t blame them. I would be too!”
“Well, you’re not getting married, so you can eat all you want to. Come on, Jeff! I’ve got to help get the food ready.”
13
Happy Ending
The Carter house was bursting at its seams. All the Carters were there, of course—Mr. and Mrs. Carter and Leah and Morena, Leah’s young sister, plus Uncle Silas. The Majors families were jammed up to the table too. Nelson and Eileen sat together; Jeff held Esther on his lap across from them. And the newlywed couples were seated beside each other.
The bridegrooms had been too nervous to eat at first, but finally they managed to make a good enough showing.
Leah and Jeff sat together. Jeff now and again cast a look at the young woman beside him, unable to believe that this was the girl whose hook he’d had to bait with a worm.
Leah dropped her eyes demurely when he glanced her direction.
And then Dan Carter tapped on his water glass with a spoon. When he had everyone’s attention, he said, “I’ve eaten too much to make a speech at this family gathering. Nelson, I’m going to ask you to do the honors.”
Nelson rose to his feet. He looked around, and a silence fell across the room. “I’m thinking,” he said, “about a meal we had here five years ago. It was when the war came, and we were divided—as were so many neighbors in this country. I went South to Virginia and joined the Confederacy, along with my sons. Others stayed here.”
Nelson’s eyes lighted on Royal and Rosie and Drake, and his voice grew even quieter. “Somehow a miracle has taken place. God has kept every one of us safe, and I believe we ought to thank Him for it.”
As his father bowed his head and gave thanks for the grace of God, Jeff was surprised to feel Leah suddenly grasp his hand and squeeze it so hard it almost hurt. He stole a glance at her and saw that tears were trickling down her cheeks. He himself felt somewhat misty-eyed.
When he ended the prayer, Nelson said, “And how does a man find the words to thank his neighbors when they practically save his life? If it hadn’t been for you, Dan and Mary, I don’t know what would have become of little Esther there. She’s become almost like one of your own, I know, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I thank you for all you’ve done for my family. For welcoming us back after the war when many would not have done so.”
He paused, then said, “There
are only so many ways to say thank you, and I wish I knew them all. But you must know this, that in my heart I will never forget what the Carters have done for the Majorses.”
As soon as he sat down, Dan Carter rose, looking around the table. “I can only say this—we’ve just done what we could, and I know that the Majorses would have done as much for us.”
There was a slight ripple of applause, and Dan held up his hands. “Now I’ve got an announcement to make. All of you know what a mean, stubborn man I am.”
A groan went up, and there was much head shaking.
“It’s true,” Dan said. “I may not show it, but I get downright stubborn. I just want my own way sometimes.”
“Amen to that!” Mrs. Carter snapped, but she was laughing at her husband.
“Mary knows it’s true. Well, I’ve decided to have my own way.” His eyes rested on the Majors family. “I like to choose my own neighbors. Now, you take the Joneses that bought your old place. I suppose they’re all right, but they’re clannish folk. All stick together. Haven’t done well with that farm, either. Lost money on it every year. Takes real talent to lose money on a good farm like you left ’em, Nelson, but that’s exactly what they’ve done.”
Dan Carter went on, talking about how good it was to have people that you loved and respected on the land adjoining yours. But at last he seemed to come out of his reverie. Holding out a hand to Mary, he said, “Let me have that envelope, wife.”
From somewhere Mary Carter produced an envelope tied with a purple ribbon.
Dan took it, held it, and looked at it with a smile. “Yes, sir, I like to choose my own neighbors, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.” He shifted uneasily and looked about the room. “I’ve also got a bad habit of meddling. I call it my spiritual gift—meddling.” A laugh went around the table, but Dan held up his hand. “No, it’s true enough. I’m confessing all my faults tonight. I want my own way, and I’m a meddler.”
“I never thought of you as that kind of a man, Dan,” Nelson said.
“Well, you’re about to find out different. Here!” He thrust the envelope into Nelson’s hands.
“What’s this?”
“Take the ribbon off and look at it. You’ll find out what a meddler I am.”
Nelson looked with astonishment at Eileen, who appeared as mystified as he was.
As he undid the bow, Dan said hastily, “Now, Nelson, you’ve got to look on this as sort of a combination of my stubbornness and a wedding present for you and Eileen.”
“A wedding present?” Nelson Majors took a paper out of the envelope. He stared at it and then froze into the stillness of a statue.
In the silence, Jeff said, “What is it, Pa?”
“It’s the mortgage on our old place.” He turned to face Dan. “What does this mean?”
“It means that the Joneses couldn’t handle that farm. It was gonna be foreclosed on, so I just did a little foreclosin’ of my own. I fixed it up with Dave at the bank, and I made the down payment—and that’s the wedding present.”
In the hubbub of talk that arose, Tom said, “What does it mean, Pa?”
“I’ll tell you what it means,” Dan said. “It means that place is the Majors place. That’s all it was ever meant to be anyhow. The war came along and got us all kind of off track. I sort of look at the Joneses as caretakers while you boys was gone. Not very good caretakers,” he added with a shrug, “but they’re leavin’ for Carolina now. And you can move back into your home, Nelson, you and your family. It’s yours if you can hang onto it and make the payments.”
And then all the Majorses were up and hugging each other, and most of the Carter and Majors women were crying.
There was quite a bit of kissing going on too, and Jeff saw to it that he kissed not only Mrs. Carter and Sarah but Leah as well. As she stared at him, he said, “That’s just because I feel so grateful to you, Leah.”
“You’re a fibber, Jeff! You didn’t kiss me because of that!”
“Yeah, I guess I am a fibber.” He shrugged. But then he grinned and said, “But it’s going to be just like it used to be, isn’t it?”
“Almost, Jeff. Almost.”
It was a night that none of them would ever forget.
When the newlyweds were gone and it came time for the others to leave, Nelson Majors gave his old friend Dan another hug.
The frail, older man wheezed as Nelson released him. “Well, you don’t have to half kill a fella,” he said. He put out his hand and smiled. “Nothing has ever pleased me much more than this, Nelson—that we’ll be neighbors again.”
As the Majorses rode home in their carriage, a strange silence enveloped them for a while. “I just can’t believe it,” Nelson finally said. “It’s like something out of a storybook.”
“No,” Eileen said, “it’s like something God would do for us.”
“You’re right, Eileen, and we’ll never forget it. Not if we live to be a hundred.”
She leaned close and whispered, “Now our baby will be born in our own home.”
14
A New Generation
The day that Nelson Majors and his family moved back onto the old home place was one of those never-to-be-forgotten times.
The neighbors cleaned up the house and yard, then they helped move in the furniture the family had brought from Virginia—along with contributions of their own. Not all the neighbors were Southern sympathizers, either. Many had been strongly Union, but they came anyway in an attempt to heal the wound that still tore the nation apart in some places.
The Majorses endured the overwhelming goodwill of their neighbors for a whole day. One of them had brought half a steer, and a huge barbecue was prepared. Afterward there was square dancing on the grass to the tune of fiddles, guitars, and dulcimer.
“Come on, Jeff, let’s dance.”
“You know I don’t dance too well.”
“You do better than you did that time before the war—the first dance we ever went to.” Leah giggled. “You walked all over my feet!”
The music began picking out another melody, and soon the two were whirling around the grass.
“I think it’s nice you’re so tall,” Leah said, “since I’m tall too. It’s hard to find a man to look up to.”
“Maybe I can get some high-heeled boots so you can look up even farther.”
“No, this is just right!” They went around the grass a few times, and Leah said with surprise, “You’re a much better dancer now than you were when you were fifteen!”
“Well, I’ve had a little practice. Remember those fancy balls in Richmond at Lucy’s house?”
A twinge of jealousy went through Leah, but she put it aside. “Yes, I remember, but that’s all gone. I was really awful about Lucy, wasn’t I?”
“I suppose you were, but I was pretty awful myself. I thought for a while back there you were going to fall in love with Ezra Payne.”
They continued waltzing, and finally Leah looked across and saw Sarah and Tom. “Look, Tom said he’d never dance, but he does very well.”
“He’s going to do everything well,” Jeff said. “He set out to plow the other day, and he plowed as straight a furrow as he ever did. He can’t last quite as long at it, of course, but just give him time.”
Three days after the moving in, Charlene and Rosie were married in the same church where the other weddings had taken place.
As they came out of the church, Eileen, who had not wanted to come at all because she was so uncomfortable and felt so poorly, said suddenly, “I think we’d better go home, Nelson.”
Quickly Nelson looked at her.
“I think it’s time.”
Eileen was right, and on June 15 at 6:30 in the morning, Stonewall Jackson Majors came into the world.
Nelson, holding the red-faced infant, who was screaming with a powerful set of lungs, looked down and smiled.
“I think he’s going to be an evangelist, sweetheart,” he said. He sat down beside the bed.
“Oh, I hope not!” Nelson said in alarm. “I don’t want him to be like me! I hope he looks like you.”
“We’ll have a little girl, and she can look like me.”
Nelson bent over and kissed her. “Yes, that’s what we’ll do.”
15
Just Like in the Storybooks
Two weeks after the birth of Stonewall Jackson Majors, Jeff called at Leah’s house at dawn. She was probably still asleep, he thought, so he threw pebbles at her window.
She opened the window and said, “Jeff Majors, what are you doing here at this hour?”
“Going fishing! You want to go?”
“No!” Then she abruptly changed her mind. “I mean—yes. Let me get some fishing clothes on.”
Jeff looked for night crawlers while Leah was getting dressed. When she came out wearing a disreputable-looking pair of overalls, he said, “You look lovely, Miss Carter.”
“Oh, hush! Who wants to dress up to go fishing? Have you got enough night crawlers?”
“I guess so. Come on. I want to get to the river before it gets hot.”
They made their way along the familiar path through the deep woods, emerging at the riverbank.
“We’ll go down past the big elm where I caught the big bass. You remember? The one that had three hooks in his mouth.”
“I remember. He must’ve been a tough one to break away three times.”
“He didn’t know who he was dealing with that time.” Jeff winked at her. “But he knows now. If I remember right, he made mighty good eating.”
The morning was cool, and the wind sighed overhead in the trees as they followed the path along the river. They saw no one except a big dog fox that appeared suddenly, looked at them, then trotted off without any concern.
“I bet he’s gotten many a chicken off of us,” Jeff said.
Bring the Boys Home Page 9