The Narrow Path

by Gail Sattler

  And she wouldn't be coming back.

  In six months, he would never see her again.

  He stepped forward so they were toe-to-toe and raised his right hand to rest his fingertips on her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm and delicately smooth.

  Ted cupped her cheek with his hand. "Goonaudee, Miranda," he muttered, his voice coming out strangely rough and lowpitched.

  Then, instead of telling her that he would miss her, he tipped his head down slowly, eyes drifting closed, and kissed her.

  At first she went stiff, but in a split second she relaxed and tilted her head just a little to increase their lip contact. Her hands settled in at the sides of his waist, and she kissed him back.

  On the street beside him, a car horn honked. Ted didn't care. He slid his fingers into her hair and slipped his other hand around her back, wishing he didn't have to hold the bag of buns, vaguely aware that he shouldn't drop them.

  Her lips were warm and soft, and the press of her body against his was exhilarating. Reluctantly, Ted raised his head and stepped back. It took him a few seconds to find his voice."I will see you again in three days."

  Before he could say something stupid, he pulled out the handle of his suitcase, turned, and walked into the building.

  It was going to be a very long three days.

  19

  Ted, can you give us all the SATB notes for the word 'joy,' nice and loud?"

  Obligingly, Ted struck the notes on the piano one at a time, bass, tenor, alto, ending with soprano. In sequence, everyone hummed and held their notes until the harmony was complete.

  "Okay, now everyone change to the word 'joy,' and do your best to round it out and take the harshness out of the 'oy."

  While they worked to even out the sound, Miranda reminded herself that this group had never been together as a choir. They didn't know the nuances of tone and resolution, nor how to smooth out abrasive syllables and words. For a new group, they were doing quite well, and she was quite proud of them.But they still needed a lot of work.

  Good thing it was only July. When September came, she would step up the practice schedule and start to demand more from the soloists. They wouldn't know what had hit them as they climbed the difficult road to excellence.

  Miranda smiled. It truly was going to be an excellent performance.The final scene would surely bring tears to the eyes of all the women and probably even some of the men, and that would mean many would return to this church to learn more about the love of their Savior, which was their goal.

  "Good! Let's finish the verse, then we'll all take five and get a big drink of water."

  As they finished off the song, she could hear every point when Ted struggled with the music. Yet, considering the short amount of time that he'd been taking piano lessons, he was doing extremely well. She would have to find some way to thank him for all his hard work.

  Maybe more cinnamon buns.

  Miranda started to cough, which distracted the choir. She waved her hand in the air to signal them to keep going, then turned her back to lessen the distraction.

  She would never be able to think about cinnamon buns in the same way again, ever since giving him that bag at the airport.

  The airport.

  The strangest things with men happened to her at airports.Back home, Bradley had proposed to her at the Sea-Tac departure curb. Then he had given her a little peck that produced more noise than contact.

  Then Ted. But that had been more than a peck, and there had been plenty of contact. That kiss had nearly melted her socks off.

  Those cinnamon buns were good, but they weren't that good.

  Later that day, she had e-mailed her father to ask if there was some old Mennonite tradition that involved a parting kiss.He hadn't been aware of anything. She knew she couldn't ask such a question here in Piney Meadows. Everyone knew she had taken Ted to the airport, and it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together if she asked such a thing.Already there was enough gossip—or rather, prayer—going around on that topic. She didn't need to add more fuel to the fire.

  Her coughing abated on the last note, after which everyone filed away to the kitchen.

  Everyone except Ted.

  "I am not doing very well with that song. When will it be possible for me to direct and cue the singers, and for you to return to the piano?"

  "You're doing great. I really appreciate all your work in learning the song. But I understand how you feel. I think by next week we'll be at a point where I can go back to the piano and you can direct."

  "This is good. Are you going to work with any of the soloists this evening?"

  Miranda checked her watch. "Yes, if they'll stay."

  "Then I will return after I drive the ladies home."

  Miranda shook her head. "You don't have to do that."

  "I want to. I will play my guitar for the soloists, and then I will drive you home."

  She almost told him she could walk the short three blocks, but she knew he would insist, so she didn't waste her breath.

  "Did those people from Los Angeles call you this afternoon like they said?"

  "Ja." He broke out in a huge grin. "They placed the largest single order we have ever had. It appears that my trip was a success."

  "That's great. Have you figured out that camera you bought yet?"

  His smile faded. "I have not had much time. It is simple to operate, but I have not yet finished reading the manual."

  "You read the manual?"

  He tilted his head to one side. "How else will I learn all the camera can do?"

  She didn't even know where the manual to her own camera was. Probably still in the box. "What are you doing tomorrow? Will you be working, or can you join us for another afternoon practice?"

  "Tomorrow is Saturday. I will not be working. I was thinking that I could arrive at your home early, and we could go for a walk." He rested both hands on his stomach. "I have been eating too much and moving too little."

  She didn't know why he had included her in his desire for a little exercise, but even without a scale, she knew she'd put on a couple of pounds too. "Sure. Practice is at one o'clock.What time?"

  He cocked one eyebrow. "How about if instead of walking through the town, I can take you to one of my favorite places.I will pick you up at eight."

  Miranda opened her mouth to respond, but she snapped it shut before she said something she would regret. If he wanted to start walking at eight a.m., by one p.m. she would probably need a nap. However, she had dragged him through the aquarium, so in order to be fair, she couldn't refuse. Maybe it would be a welcome change, even nice, to go someplace without crowds of people.

  "Sure," she said, just as the choir turned the corner, returning from their break. "Now let's get back to work."

  Wanting to end on an encouraging note, Miranda worked on the easier songs for the second half of the practice time.Everyone left with a smile and a feeling of accomplishment of a job well done.

  As promised, Ted drove everyone home who had not come with a driver, leaving her alone with Theresa and William.

  She smiled. In the last month, William's beard had grown nicely. By December, it would be perfect. By then, he might even have to trim it. Overall, he was being a very good sport. Ted had told her in confidence that William had been teased about it at work but had handled it graciously.

  "I'd like to go over your first duet, where Mary tells Joseph that she's pregnant with God's child. Not much is said about this in the Bible except that Joseph planned to divorce her after he found out. We can only guess what was said, but until Joseph was told in a dream that the baby was from God, he could only have thought that Mary had been unfaithful to him, and was pregnant with another man's child. So this is the mood we have to portray in this scene. Joseph is angry, hurt, and feeling betrayed. Mary is trying to defend herself because she's being accused falsely, and God has not yet spoken to Joseph to tell him what really happened. Are we ready?"

  Both Wi
lliam and Theresa nodded, so Miranda led them to the piano, where she did her best to play and coach at the same time.

  Through all the key parts, William tended to overact, while Theresa was unusually halfhearted.

  Miranda stopped the second Ted returned. She had already spread out his music, so all he had to do was take his guitar out of the case and sit down. "We're at bar thirty-seven, where Mary is trying to tell Joseph to trust her. Theresa, you look a little tired, so let's just concentrate on getting our pitch and timing, and we'll work on the emphatics another time."

  Both of them nodded, so Ted began to play.

  While William and Theresa sang their parts, they didn't need Miranda's intervention most of the time, so Miranda watched Ted play.

  He played the score of the Christmas production differently from how he played from the front of the church on Sunday mornings, where he only played hymns. Here, his style of the music was similar to that of contemporary choruses. He managed the difference in style with remarkable finesse.

  He was exactly the type of guitarist that she would choose as a partner for a special duet. Or he could be a perfect member for a four-person worship team—guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His playing was strong and distinct, he chose the perfect times to play a few single notes versus solid chords, and his sense of rhythm was flawless.

  All this from a man who lived in a community that had added musical instruments to their worship time only two years ago. With some real lessons and a bit of practical theory behind him, he could be phenomenal.

  When the song ended, Miranda studied Theresa. "You don't look like you have any more energy in you. Would you like to call it quits for the night and go home?"

  Theresa nodded weakly. "That sounds very good. I do not feel well. I think I will go to sleep right away, and hopefully I will feel better in the morning."

  William stood. "Then I will drive you home. Let us go." He nodded first at Miranda, then Ted, and the two of them left in silence, William retrieving his hat from the rack by the door.

  That made Miranda think of Ted and his identical hat. Ted did look good in his hat. Not quite dashing, but definitely eminent, even a little enigmatic. Maybe he was a bit of a stud muffin after all—in a traditional sort of way, of course.

  "Why are you smiling? I did not hear what William said."

  She couldn't wipe the smile off her face, even as she looked at his messy hair. "No reason. If you're finished packing up your music and stuff, let's go. After all, we're getting up early tomorrow morning. Don't forget your hat."

  Miranda watched the trees whiz past as they sped down the country highway. "Where exactly are you taking me?"

  "To a place I go when I want to get away from everything."

  "Uh . . . Piney Meadows is getting away from everything."

  He smiled, as though he thought she was joking. "I'm taking you to Cass Lake. I go fishing there, but sometimes when I need to rid myself of excess energy, I do not bring my fishing pole, but just jog down the trail around the lake."

  The few times in her life that she had actually jogged, Miranda had done it on the nice even oval track at the local park. She couldn't imagine jogging down an uneven trail dodging tree branches and avoiding wild animals. Suddenly the trees ended, and to the right she could see a calm, still lake.

  Miranda gasped. "It's beautiful! Is that an island in the middle?"

  "Ja. It is called Star Island, and the island also has a lake in the middle. It is a very interesting piece of property."

  "Where exactly is this trail? And how long is it?"

  "The trail is about a quarter of a mile long. When I was a boy, my papa would take me here with my toboggan. There is a steep hill down to the lake. Brian and I would race our toboggans down the hill and see how far we could slide onto the lake."

  "You had a real toboggan? Made of wood?"

  "Ja. What else would a toboggan be made from?"

  "Plastic, and the one I had was called a Super Saucer."

  Ted's eyebrows raised. "Super Saucer?"

  "A Super Saucer is kind of like a heavy-duty molded plastic circle, with small handles on the sides for steering."

  "If it was circular, it was not a toboggan."

  "I know, but you also have to remember that some winters Seattle doesn't get any snow at all, or it's mostly just snow showers and gone in a few hours. When it did snow, though, the schools closed and I was always ready to go meet my friends at the one of the local parks along the water with my Super Saucer. Otherwise there aren't many places to sled in the city of Seattle. It was a major outing if anyone really wanted to go.The only places that had enough snow every winter, all winter, were in the mountain passes, like Snoqualmie."

  "Is it not dangerous to do this in a mountain pass?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "Not any more dangerous than what I did when I was in my first year at college. Everyone used to go sledding on Queen Anne Hill, which is quite steep.I didn't do very well. Most of the time I just fell off and hoped no one rode over me before I could get out of the way. Most of the students didn't have anything proper to sled with, so they used plastic garbage can lids."

  Ted cringed and his mouth opened, but Miranda held up her hands to stop him from commenting.

  "I know. It wasn't safe, but we all thought we were invincible.When Justin broke his leg, we found out the hard way we weren't. So it wasn't such a bad thing when the next few years it didn't snow enough in the winter. I haven't been on my Super Saucer since then."

  "I cannot imagine a winter without snow."

  "Now that I've experienced the amount of snow you get every winter, my next winter at home is going to be pretty boring."

  Ted stopped the car in a sheltered area. "I will show you how to get to the path."

  It wasn't far off the highway, but unlike what he'd led her to believe, it wasn't much of a path.

  "You don't really expect me to run through here, do you?" Miranda said as she pushed a branch away from her face while they walked.

  "The branches do seem to be a little overgrown, so it appears that we will not be able to jog after all. Would you like to walk to the lake?"

  Miranda whipped her camera out of her back pocket. "I'm ready if you are."

  Ted grinned, reached into his back pocket, and drew out his camera as well. "I am also prepared. We should not linger.Everyone will be waiting for us at the church at one o'clock, and we should be there early to open up the building."

  "No, we can't be late. If we are, I can just imagine how everyone will be praying for us."

  "But that would be good if everyone was praying for us."

  "Not what I'm talking about. Let's go."

  20

  As Miranda approached Ted's office, Anna waved her to the side. "I wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying being a part of the Christmas musical for our church."

  Miranda smiled. Enthusiasm was often more important than talent—and that was especially true of Anna. As a high soprano, Anna simply wasn't capable of being smooth and melodic on the notes needed for the solo parts—the optimum voice for that was a low alto. If they performed any of the songs in Anna's vocal range, it would sound as if they were doing an opera.

  "I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's great when a ministry project can be fun."

  "Ja. I had a dream last night that many would come to our church and join God's family because of it."

  "I hope and pray that's true." It was certainly their goal, and the reason she was here.

  Anna glanced through the open door of Ted's office, where he was talking on the phone. "I also want to tell you that you have made the right choice in asking Theresa to play Mary.When she sings she sounds the way I imagine Mary would sound."

  "Thank you for telling me that. It was a hard choice to make. They all were."

  "They were all good. Having Elaine and Len and young Barbara and Walter play the townspeople family is perfect."

  "They're doing very well, yes." The reason Miranda h
ad selected Elaine was not so much her singing ability but that Elaine was the person in her age bracket who had shown the least fear.

  "Of course, William is perfect for the part of Joseph." Anna giggled. "Everyone thinks he will not shave the beard after the play is over."

  Miranda tried to sneak a glance over her shoulder at him so he wouldn't notice. She wasn't fond of beards, although it was necessary for this part. But it wasn't his willingness to grow a beard that had gotten William the part. He truly had a beautiful voice. Not as beautiful as Ted, but Ted had refused to be part of the cast.

  "Ryan and Steven and Edward are good Wise Men."

  "Only because Ryan is always quick to stop Edward from fooling around so much." Miranda didn't know there could be such a jokester in a community like this, but she supposed that God had to have a sense of humor, even in such a straightlaced society. "I almost made him a shepherd, but since we're using real animals, I had to pick the people who actually owned the animals to lead them."

  Anna nodded. "I hope and pray the animals behave during the performance when people are watching. I think it is a wonderful idea to have real animals, but very strange."

  "Not really. It's not like there's a whole herd. It's only one donkey and one sheep and one goat. Back home, Llinkie always loves his part acting as a camel. Of course, there is a certain liability following behind him, but one of the boys in the youth group is always prepared with a bucket and a small shovel in case of an accident."

  Anna stopped typing. "Llinkie?"

  "Yes. Llinkie Llama. One of our members has a llama ranch.Llamas are pack animals, so one of our congregation made a pack for Llinkie that looks like a camel hump. Every year Llinkie proudly shows it off as he walks up the center aisle with the Wise Men leading him." She smiled, thinking of the latest new member of Nathan's herd—Mama Llama's new offspring, Shamma Llama, a sibling to her older brother, Rhamma Llama, who would probably be the next camel when Llinkie retired.This year, no one attending Piney Meadows Mennonite Church owned llamas, but next year, maybe someone who owned llamas would join, if they even had llamas around here.