Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [2]
All ten years of their lives, the girls had done things together. They sat in pews at the same Conservative Mennonite church, learned their multiplication tables at the same blackboard, and played tag with the same ornery boys. But their personalities were as far apart as the tips of a triangle. They went to all the same potlucks, but their plates never looked identical. And although Lil and Katy hardly ever agreed on anything, they loved each other something fierce. When they didn’t remember that, Megan reminded them.
“Why not three strands to a rope? That’s cool.” Megan fingered her braid. “Like this.”
Lil crossed her arms and wouldn’t budge. “Three Bean Salad.”
Katy glared. She could blackmail her, threaten to tell Mrs. Landis about Lil’s shorts, but Megan would never permit it. So because their leader chose that moment to blow her pink whistle, Three Bean Salad it remained for the rest of the week.
The campfire events rocked. A new word Katy had learned. As the highlight of each day, it opened Katy’s eyes to a world that existed beyond her sheltered home life. She didn’t miss how Megan leaned forward with starry eyes during the mission stories. When they lay in their bunks at night, while Lil and their leader, Mary, did sit-ups on the cabin floor, Megan chatted about Djibouti and Tanzania.
For Katy, the singing rocked most, even though she knew she sang off-key. The words expressed her heart, and she felt like she might burst with love for Jesus. She wished the world could share her happiness. It saddened her to watch Lil mimic the other girls from their cabin.
She glanced sideways now. Lil’s freckles practically glowed in the firelight. She was happy, but Katy wished she could hug her friend to her senses. Lil pulled her blue sweater tight around her shoulders, her gaze wistfully trailing the kids now breaking the circle, some heading toward the cabins. “I never want this week to end,” she murmured.
“Me either,” Katy whispered.
Lil glanced into the shadows where their leader stood talking to another camp counselor. “She’s so beautiful.”
Megan and Katy leaned forward and looked to their right at Lil.
“Who?”
“Mary.”
“Oh.” They leaned back. All three girls had fallen under Mary’s spell. She was kind, patient, and told great Bible stories. To Lil’s fascination, she was also beautiful and planning a wedding.
Lil clenched her fists. “I know how we can make this last. Let’s make a vow tonight that when we’re Mary’s age we’ll all move in together. It’ll be like camp. Only forever.”
Katy furrowed her brow. “We’ll probably get married.”
“Just until we marry. And we’ll be each other’s bridesmaids, too! Oh, swear it!”
Feeling sad that Lil caught so little of what camp was really about, Katy frowned. “You know Mennonites don’t swear or take oaths.”
Lil placed her head in her hands and stared at her borrowed jeans.
Megan, who was seated on the log between them, reached out and clasped each of their hands. “The Bible says where two or three are gathered and agree on something, that God honors it.”
Twisting her ponytail with her free hand, Katy frowned. “What?”
“Sometimes my parents remind God about it when they pray.”
“Really?” Katy asked, amazed.
Megan nodded, and her voice grew grave. “We can agree, but we must never break a promise.”
Katy swallowed. Her heart beat fast. Lil’s gaze begged. “I promise.” Katy squeezed Megan’s hand. “And I already know who I’m going to marry.”
The other two whipped their gazes to the left. “You do?”
“Jake Byler. He always lets me cut in front of him in line.”
Over the next decade, Katy wondered if Lil had made a second oath that night. She must have vowed to never let them break their promise to each other.
CHAPTER 1
Ten years later
Katy Yoder skimmed a white-gloved finger across the edge of the fireplace mantel. The holiday decorations, such extravagance forbidden at her own home, slowed her task.