The Rule
At all times, people of the Children of the Faith will behave in a seemly manner.
LESSONS FINISHED FOR the year in mid-December. The market was busier than usual. The days before Christmas seemed to be hard for worldly people. When we ran out of chickens, two different customers spoke harshly to us.
‘Do not take it to heart, sisters,’ Enoch said to us. ‘Out there they’ll be rushing around thinking about all the worldly things they have to get done in the next few days. It makes them forget the Lord.’
Mrs Lipscombe, though, seemed to relish the bustle. She gave us chocolate Santas wrapped in bright paper. ‘To hang on your tree,’ she said. The bag she put them into was printed with red and green patterns. It was pretty.
We thanked her and didn’t tell her we didn’t believe in decorations, Christmas trees or presents. On Christmas day we would worship the Lord and give thanks for the birth of His Son.
We put the gift in our basket. ‘Let’s keep the bag,’ I said. ‘We’ll give it to Magdalene next time she gets upset.’
IN THE NEW YEAR, we learnt that Kezia was pregnant. She listened while we congratulated her, but just replied with, ‘Praise the Lord,’ and walked away. She was part of the adult world now and not interested in the opinions of unmarried girls.
‘Do you think she’s happy?’ I whispered to Rachel.
She shook her head. ‘She’s resigned to her fate. She’s not loud and bossy any more.’
But Kezia the rebel hadn’t completely vanished. She made Ira wait till nearly all the other men had their cups of tea before she came to get his. She didn’t put sugar in it either, and we all knew Ira loved his tea very sweet.
‘I wonder what he’s done to anger her,’ Talitha murmured. ‘I feel guilty about her. She should not have had to marry him.’
That night, I said to Rachel, ‘D’you think the Elders were wrong to make Kezia marry Ira? She’s a better wife for him than Talitha would have been, but is that a good enough reason?’
‘It’s good because Kezia’s strong enough to make sure he leads a godly life. But …’ Her voice faded away.
I sighed. ‘Yeah. I know. I keep thinking of trying to explain it all to Mrs Lipscombe. She’d throw a fit, Rachel. You know she would.’
She giggled. ‘Imagine if she knew we were betrothed! I reckon the whole market would hear her screeching!’
I didn’t know why we kept having these conversations — they always went round and round in the same rut. Yes, it wasn’t right that girls couldn’t choose who they would marry, but we also knew the worldly way of choosing a life partner was haphazard and led to much unhappiness and immorality.
Rachel checked to make sure Magdalene and Zillah were both sound asleep before she whispered, ‘I want Saul and me to be different from our parents.’ She dropped her voice even further. ‘Father never discusses things with Mother. They never laugh together either — actually, I’ve never ever heard Father laugh. Is that wicked of me?’
I shook my head. ‘Of course not.’ But my body felt hollow. She’d thought about being married — about what she wanted. I preferred to keep it a vague happening for some time a long way in the future. I breathed in, then out. ‘I think happy people find it easier to be godly. I think we’ll be able to uphold the Rule even if we do discuss things with our husbands. The Rule doesn’t say we can’t laugh — it just says we must behave at all times in a seemly manner. Well, I believe it’s seemly to laugh and smile.’
‘I think so, too. Rebecca, are you happy to have Malachi as your husband?’
Again, I felt a thump of hollowness in my stomach. ‘Yes. I think I’m fortunate. He makes me feel as if he values me.’
She nodded, satisfied — although, really I didn’t know him much better than when he’d sent me the message through Saul. All five couples were allowed to spend half an hour in each other’s company every Sunday but always we had to have a sharp-eyed married adult with us. I found the sessions excruciating. I knew Rachel looked forward to simply being in the same room as Saul.
AT THE FIRST MEET of the new year, when the time came for the business discussions, the Elders asked Brother Demas to tell us all about a new system of companion planting that was being introduced at the organic farm. He stood, but didn’t walk to the stage. ‘With your permission, Elders, I will ask Brother Malachi to speak of this. He is the one who has done the research and he understands it fully.’
Malachi walked to the stage. He was dressed like all the other men in his Sunday dark suit and white shirt — they fitted well enough, but I suspected he much preferred his work clothes of heavy boots and rolled-up sleeves. It was easy to see by his tanned skin and sun-bleached hair that he was an outdoors man.
I was anxious for him — it was a challenging thing to speak in front of everyone, though he didn’t seem to be nervous. He spoke well, and we could hear the love for his work in his voice. I was proud of him and deeply grateful he had chosen me.
When we got home, Father said, ‘He is a fine young man, Rebecca. The Lord has blessed you and your sister.’